Elevation with Steven Furtick - Living In The Tension (Robert Madu)

Episode Date: June 15, 2020

When the pressure is on and emotions are high, we each have a choice in how we respond. In “Living In The Tension,” Pastor Robert Madu teaches on the art of empathy and reveals the necessity of living in both grace and truth — regardless of circumstances. Pastor Robert addresses this challenge by taking a look at a scene in the Gospel of John. When a crowd of onlookers wanted to stone a woman, Jesus showed empathy, saw beyond her sin, and offered her grace. God knows what you’ve done, knows what you’re going through, and still has grace for you. You don’t have to live in shame. He came so you can live in freedom –– and offer it to others in turn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. And I get the distinct privilege to introduce you to our guest today. We got a special guest. We got Pastor Robert Madou in the house, him and his wife, Taylor. are with us. And he spoke here three months ago at the beginning of this pandemic. And he's spoken here multiple times. So I think it's official. We no longer call him a special guest. We call him family. Pastor Robert, him and his wife, the Medusa, having a ministry that's happening all around the world. If you haven't had a chance to meet Pastor Robert, he's probably the sincerest, most genuine,

and maybe one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. But even more important than that, he loves the Word of God. He's a preacher's preacher, and we get the distinct privilege of him opening up God's word and sharing it with us today. So Elevation Church, you know how we do it. Let's put our hands together. Let's get ready and welcome. Pastor Robert Madhu. Somebody bless the Lord today. Wherever you're watching, come on, would you give God just the best praise that you got?

If you're in your living room, give them praise. If you're in your kitchen, give them praise. If you're in the car, give him praise. Come on, no matter what you're facing right now, his name is still worthy. He deserves the glory, the honor, and the praise. God, we lift you up because you are here. I'm telling you, I sense the presence of the Lord right here.

I don't know where you're watching from, Elevation Church, but I want you to know God is with you. His presence knows no limits. His presence knows no bounds. He is there with you right now. And can I tell you, you have a reason to give God praise today. You said, Robert, what are you talking about? You don't know what I'm facing.

If there is still breath in your body, come on, you got a reason to give him praise. If you woke up this morning, you still got a reason to give him praise. I feel you. I've had moments, especially in this last few weeks. I've just had to say, Lord, I don't know if I got it in me to lift up my voice. I had to talk to myself. I mean, you know, you're only crazy if you don't talk to yourself. I do like David did and say, bless the Lord on my soul.

And all that is within me, bless His holy name. I think in times like this, you need to lean into his presence, lean into his word. And I'm believing he's going to speak to you today, and your life is never going to be the same. Amen, amen. You got some people in the room. Y'all can be seated. I'm absolutely honored to be back at elevation. Church, there is no place like Elevation Church. I get tempted to move to Charlotte every time

that I come here. And it's pretty amazing. Pastor Elbe mentioned that I am a part of the family now. And last time I was here, we were at the beginning of COVID-19, this virus. We're trying to figure out then the challenge of the virus was how do we stay apart so we can stay together. Now, here we are again, back at elevation, and there's another virus. Virus of racism has been embedded in this nation. Now the challenge is we got to come together so we don't fall apart. And I'm telling where my hope is in. My hope is in the church of the living God.

Come on, if you're looking for hope, look to Jesus and then look to you, we are the hope of the world. And I'm believing what Jesus prayed, his last prayer, is that we would be one, that we would come together. And to that end, I'm excited to minister God's word to you today. It's going to be good. I want you to lean in. I hope you like who you're watching the Word of God with today. If you don't just move to another section, EFAM, wherever you are.

But this word is going to bless you. It's going to encourage you. And I want to jump straight into it. I do bring your greetings from the country of Texas where I live. and there with my incredible wife who is here today. Help me thank God for my wife Taylor. She's here with me. We left the kiddos at home. And, you know, there's no seminary class you can take on how to lead in a pandemic, how to lead in so much turmoil. But here's what I love is that Elevation Church is blessed with the best of the best. I want you to help me thank God for Pastor Stephen and Holly Ferdick, who have set the pace, who have set the tone. not just for elevation, but for the church at large.

Their incredible leadership and how they've led so well. And, man, if you've got something to be thankful for, be thankful for the gift that is in Pastor Stephen Ferdick. Every word he preaches has ministered to our souls. It's ministered to me, and you will not find a better preacher, and I'm thankful for his friendship. Come on, one more time, even in the chat, just say thank you so much.

Elevation Church, thank you so much. Pastor Stephen and Holly, and I'm glad to be here today. I want you to go with me to the gospel of John today. John chapter number eight. I'm going to look at verses 1 through 11. John chapter 8, 1 through 11. And then I want to look at John chapter 1, verse 14. John chapter 8, starting at verse 1, we'll land at verse number 11, and then John chapter 1, verse number 14. It says, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now, early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. And he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they set her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act.

Now, Moses and the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what do you say? This they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear. He was straight up ignoring him. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, He was without sin among you. Let him throw a stone at her first. And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Then those who heard it being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, no one, Lord. Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you.

Go and sin no more. Can you say amen, EFAM, wherever you're watching? Then John chapter 1, verse 14, just one verse of scripture here. It says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld the glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth. Jesus is full of grace and truth.

Think of all the adjectives that we could describe to Jesus. Come on, we can say he's a provider. We could say he's a protector. We can say he's our peace. We can say he's our shelter. We could go on and on. But I love John because he skips the commas, makes it clear and concise. And says, when you see Jesus, you will see two things, grace and truth.

I had an encounter with Jesus. That means you had an encounter with grace and truth. the tension of grace. I want to talk to you today from this idea, living in the tension. There's so much tension right now, political tension, economic tension, racial tension. What do you do with grace and truth? Living in the tension. I mean, working out one time, and I had my weights in my hand and the trainer. While I was holding the weights, put this thing is from the devil, put one of those resistance bands on me. While I'm holding the weight, I said, I already got the weight in my hand.

What is this for? Just put the resistance band. And I had the resistance band on it. I thought it was good because it was already heavy. And the train said, no, no, no, no. You got to keep the tension in the resistance band. That's what it's for. So here I am already holding a weight, but also having to deal with the tension.

What do you do when you're living in the tension? That's what I want to talk about today. So let's pray as we go into this. Father, thank you for your word. Speak today. All the ephem said, amen, amen, living in the tension. Like many preachers during this quarantine and shelter in place and gathering restrictions, I've had to adjust how I preach and how I communicate. I've learned to calm myself down and preach while sitting in the stool. I've learned not to say touch your neighbor, but to say type in the chat, because we've had gathering restrictions.

I've learned that although we have awesome people here in the room, I've learned to make sure I stay connected and locked in to the camera. In fact, in this room right now, we got cameras. There's one, two, three, four, about four, five, about 80 cameras in this room all over. And these cameras are able to get different angles while I'm preaching, different angles. angles while I'm preaching to be able to connect to you. Different angles. These cameras will get different shots. It doesn't change me. It just gives you a different angle of me, a different view. And this is what I love about the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, because all four of these gospel writers are talking about the same Jesus, but they give us different angles.

They give us different views, these four cameramen, if you will. They all have their view on the same subject who is Jesus, but they're able to give us different angles of who this Jesus is. I love almost like four film directors who've been given the same subject to film, but have given their own cinematic license to film it. They give us a different view of who Jesus is. That's why if you like long documentaries, please read the book of Matthew, because Matthew, he's riding to a Jewish audience. So he begins this long process of letting you know that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. If you like sci-fi movies, please read the book of Luke, because Luke is the doctor. And so Luke goes in the detail to explain these miracles that Christ

did, how his miracles could do what medicine could not do. If you like action-packed movies, please stay in the book of Mark, because Mark is all about Jesus in action, a Jesus who will roll up on you and does not play games with you. He's all about the action. He's all about the action. of Christ. But John, oh, John is a love story. John is a romantic chick flick. I love the gospel of John. Who else but John, the disciple that always had his head on the chest of Jesus. He can hear his heartbeat. That's why John's gospel pulsates with the personality of Jesus Christ. He gives us insight that none of the other gospel writers give us, I love. Who else but John would tell us that God? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever would believe in him

would not perish but have everlasting light. I love John. John does not give you Jesus earthly lineage, but John wants you to understand that he is God in the flesh. He wants you to understand that he is divine, that he is a deity. That's why when he begins his gospel, it's almost like he's retweeting the book of Genesis. because he says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that has been made. And in verse 14, he turns all the way up and says, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

The Word, let me pause right there. The Word became flesh, and it dwelt among us. How many you know, there is power in that verse right there, that the Word became. flesh and it dwelt among us. That is deeper than a Christmas verse. There is power in the fact that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Hear me, the only way we can have hope in a dark world is because the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The only way we can have life and hope is because the word became flesh and it dwelt among us. You understand that the incarnation is the greatest picture of empathy. People want to know how can we change what's going on in our world today.

We need empathy, and that's what Jesus did in his incarnation. He understood that he could not redeem us from heaven. He had to put on human skin and feel what we feel and know what we go through. And the word became flesh, and it dwelt among us. Thank God for a Savior who can feel what I feel and know what I feel. And know what I'm going to be flesh. And the Word became flesh. And it dwelt among us. Thank God. Thank God for a Savior. who can feel what I feel and know what I go through and can understand when I'm weeping at night because I'm seeing senseless murders can understand why tears come down my face and sometimes I don't want to lift up my hands. He knows what it feels like to have heard and pain because the word became flesh and it dwelt among us.

Some of y'all are not getting to see. If I'm sick, if I'm sick, please don't just throw me a medical book. No, get me a doctor. You know why? Because that doctor personifies the principles that are in the medical book. If I'm in trouble with the law, please don't just give me a law book. Get me a lawyer. You know why?

That lawyer personifies the principles that are within the law book. Some of y'all are going to get it in a minute. If I'm about to lose my mind, please don't give me a book on psychology. Give me a psychologist because that psychologist is going to personify. the principles that are in the psychology book. Do you understand when humanity was lost in our sin and we had no hope of redemption? We needed more than just the law. We needed more than the Ten commandments. We needed Jesus because Jesus personifies the principles and the Word of God. He is the Word. Oh, and it made its dwelling among us and the Word was made flesh. That's what

empathy is. It's the word. Becoming flesh. He knew he could not redeem us and be removed from us. He had to come where we were. And he put on human skin. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Would you just slap your neighbor or whoever you're watching with at home and make sure you know them? And just say the word became flesh. No, tell them the word became flesh and it dwelt. among us. We beheld the wonder of his glory, the only begotten of the Father. Then it says this, that he's full of grace and truth. He's full of grace and truth. And there is the tension. How in the world can Jesus be full of grace and truth? Hold up, John. Those two words don't go together. grace and truth. How can Jesus be full of grace and truth? Come on, one of these things is not like the other.

Grace and truth. This is beauty and the beast. How can Jesus be full of grace and truth? On the surface, these two words do not go together. Grace and truth? Come on, just for a moment, would you consider, if you can, the grace of God? Come on, if you can even fathom the grace of our God to think that no matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, that God's grace can meet you right where you are. How many you know there's something incredible about God's grace? If grace doesn't make tears well up in your eyes, you don't know what grace is. To no matter where you've been, that God can reach you, no matter what you've done, that his grace can come to you. Come on, that God would go through a hell that he didn't deserve.

so that we can receive a heaven that we don't deserve. There is something about the grace of God to the point that His grace has been lavish upon us. Some people are rich in other things. God is rich in grace. His grace will never run out. His grace can meet you right where you are. That we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, with boldness.

There's nothing like the grace of God. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. His grace is powerful. His grace is intoxicating. His grace is wonderful. And then right when you're resting in his grace, then you got his truth. His standard, his holiness that is so high, that is so perfect, that is so flawless that on your best day, your righteousness is as filthy rags. On your best day, your righteousness is ratchet. How in the world can you deal? with grace and true truth? Oh, yes, his truth will set you free. But how many know, it generally will tick you off before it does? People can handle the truth. Come on, I'm the only one during this COVID-19 that was forced to look at yourself when everything went on pause and you begin to see some things, some truth that you did not like. Oh, I'm telling you, a lot of us can

handle the truth. Truth is appealed that everybody wants to be able to. to give out, but nobody wants to swallow. Even right now in the world, we're looking at some truth that is ugly to deal with. The truth hurts. His grace is wonderful, amazing grace, but then you got truth. How can he be full of grace and truth? This paradox, the tension is in the grace and the truth. And if we're honest, most of us go to one of the extremities. Grace or truth. Yeah, you got the grace people. You know where you are. You grace people cannot wait for the shelter in place and all these gathering restrictions to be gone because you just want to hug everybody. You want to love on everybody. All you grace people, you're like, grace, grace, why can we all just get along?

Can we just hug it out? Oh, grace people are quick to forgive. They're quick to love. I always got a smile on your face talking longer than you should to people. Oh, grace, grace, grace, all over the place. And they just want to the love of the problem with the grace people is sometimes in an effort to show grace, they lowered the standard of truth. Then you got the truth people. And all you truth people, you will tell it like it is. Truth people aren't afraid of anybody. Truth people will let you know what they think about you.

I mean, they will slap you and not wait to see you hit the ground. Truth people will get on your Instagram or your Facebook page and never liked a picture or said anything nice, but they will let you know what they think about you. In one post, truth people are so quick to put their finger in your face and let you know. I'm going to tell you about you. I'm going to tell you who you really are, but the problem with the truth people, they're so busy touting their truth and pointing their finger, but they forget they're going to need the grace that they refuse to give.

The tension of life is how do you balance grace? grace and truth. Because grace without truth ceases to be grace. Truth without grace crushes people and ceases to be truth. Let's say another way. Grace without truth without truth is meaningless. Grace without grace is mean. Grace and truth is medicine. And Jesus says, I am the total amalgamation of grace and truth. And it brings healing. And in the world where everything is divided, where there's chaos, how many know we need some believers who are tethered to the tension of grace and truth, showing grace when it's needed, speaking truth when you have to? Oh, not 50% truth, 50% grace, but 100% truth.

100% grace. Because hear me, the gospel flies on the wings of grace and truth. We need both grace and truth. The tension of grace and truth. It's like the strings on a violin. Grace, if it's too loose, how many are you going to get an ugly sound out of that string? But if you tighten it too tight, truth, people, you're going to pop the strings on the But if you've got the perfect tension, all of a sudden you will hear beautiful music. And the world right now is listening for believers who are full of grace and truth. Jesus lived in the tension of grace and truth. This is what the teachers of the law could not understand.

They could not understand how this rabbi, this rabbi who was supposed to uphold the truth. How he kept hanging out with shady, messed up, dysfunctional tax collectors and prostitutes. They could not comprehend that if he's supposed to uphold the truth. Why in the world is he hanging out with messed up people? This is what the teachers of the law could not comprehend, because you do know that Jesus had a reputation for hanging out with shady, messed up people. Come on, if you got issues, you are a great candidate to be connected to God because he always just had this draw, this pool of marginalized, messed up people. They loved coming to Jesus.

And I think we have to ask ourselves at the 21st century church that if we are not attracting the type of people that Jesus attracted, are we really preaching the same gospel that Jesus preached? Because sinners and tax collectors have messed up people, they were just drawn to him. He loved them. And one day he's in the temple teaching, and he sat down to teach. And it says all the people came to him. He sat down to teach all of a sudden, in the middle of his message, the Pharisees, the pretentious, pompous, stuck-up teachers of the law.

They burst in the middle of the temple with a woman who has just been caught in the act of adultery. come in, they throw the woman in the middle of Jesus preaching, and they say, Jesus, stop the sermon. You know how religious people do. They always look like they smell something in the room. They always look like they just caught a whiff or something. Just, Jesus, stop the sermon. In the middle of the message, they throw this woman in front of Jesus and say, we just caught her in the act of adultery. The law of Moses commands us that she should be stolen. But what do you have to? say in the middle of his message. I don't know how you read the Bible. Here's how I read the Bible. When I read the Bible, I jump in the page of the Bible, okay? I imagine what it would be like to be

in that situation. Can you imagine on this illustrious Sunday morning if while I'm preaching all of a sudden in this side door, somebody comes in and says, Robert, stop the sermon. We just caught a woman in the act of adultery, throws her in the middle of elevation church and says, what do you have to say? Hey, you're looking for Pastor Ferdick, I'm a dude, Ferdig. No, people get us confused all the time.

Now, can you imagine the shock, the tension in the room? See, church people don't know how to deal with tension. Can you imagine what the service would have looked like that day? Can you imagine the gas for air, the people that turned their head? Can you imagine how many people said, oh my goodness? Can you imagine the shock in the room?

Can you imagine what it would have been like to have been her? Surely she wanted to meet Jesus, but not like this. She's forced in the middle of the temple in the church. And I submit to you, of all the people that were shocked that day, of all the people that sucked in there, there was one person who did him. And his name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. He was not shocked. In fact, I think the whole thing was a setup, not by them, but by an awesome God who is trying to reveal that I know how to live in the tension of grace and truth. I think this is a good place to insert this thought,

that Jesus is not shocked by your sin. I don't know who needs to hear that today, but Jesus is not shocked by your sin. I know you're shocked by the messed up things that you did. Some of you did it last night, but can I tell you Jesus is not shocked, nor is he appalled, nor is he going at your sin. He can handle it. In fact, he came from heaven to earth to defeat sin, death, hell, and the grave. Jesus is not shocked, nor is he intimidated by your sin.

I know you're shocked, but please don't think that he was at yours. is not shocked by your sin. See, they thought they could get Jesus and pull a TMZ moment and make him go, oh, my God, he is not shocked by your sin. Oh, we get shocked. Yeah, humanity does, because we have the tendency to look at sin in categories, don't we? Come on like there's big sin and there's little sin. We, with humans look at sin and categories, but that is not how Jesus looks at it. He just sees sin as sin. In fact, that is the great qualifier of life that all have. We have seen. We're all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God. But we look at sin in categories, don't we?

We look at sin in flavors, in flavors. I'll never forget back when I could go to restaurants and eat. And my father and I, he travels with me sometimes, and we try to hold each other accountable, and we try to eat healthy. And I never forget one day we said, hey, we're going to eat right on this trip. We're not going to eat bad. We go to this restaurant, and I leave. The waiter says, hey, do you want dessert?

I said, oh, no, I'm good. I go to the restroom. I come back. My father is eating pecan pie. I said, man, what you do? My Nigerian father's eating pecan pie. I said, what are you doing? We said, we're going to eat healthy.

Why in the world are you eating this pecan pie? Of course, my dad, as only he could do as a Nigerian, said, don't worry about me, okay? Don't worry about me. I said, okay, it's cool. And the waiter came back, said, do you want some dessert? I said, no, I'm good. I'm good.

I said, are you sure? I was like, no, I'm good unless you got cheesecake or something. She's like, oh, we got cheesecake. I said, oh, go ahead and bring that cheesecake out real quick. And she brings out the cheesecake, and there I am. am eating the cheesecake. Now, how crazy would it be for me to be judging my father, eating pecan pie, when I got cheesecake all on the side of my face? Wouldn't I look ridiculous? I can't believe. You are eating that cheesecake. At least mine has a strawberry on it. I'm getting my fruit. Wouldn't that be

crazy? Because how many know, my body does not care whether it's cheesecake or pecan pie or kilon pie. It doesn't care about the flavor. It's just counting the calories. And it's eating. to look at somebody that doesn't have the sin that you have or the issue that you have and to judge them. But can I tell you what to make all of us just come to the throne of grace is to know that all of us have sin and all of us have fallen short and all of us have something? Oh, but it's easy to judge people that don't have the flavor of sin that you have. and they came in and thought they were going to get a reaction out of Jesus. We just caught this woman in the act. What do you have to say, Jesus?

And all of a sudden, tension is in the room. And they're waiting on Jesus' response, because they had planned this out for a long time. Oh, they had been waiting for this trap. They were waiting to trap. In fact, that's what the text says. All this was to trap Jesus. And let me tell you why I've got to give the Pharisees and the teachers of the law a little bit of credit because this is a good trap. Oh, this is a brilliant trap.

Because you understand that the teachers of the law were actually right. Because Moses law was clear that the punishment for adultery was to be stoned. It was in Leviticus, it was in Deuteronomy. They knew the word. Oh, they had the word memorized the first five books of the Old Testament, the whole Pentateau. They had it memorized because they knew the word. They were profound in the word. They knew it down to the letter.

Oh, they knew the word. They knew they were right. But isn't it crazy how you can be right and wrong at the same time? Isn't it crazy how you can know the letter of the law but not know the spirit of the law? Isn't it crazy like my grandmother said. You can know the word but not know the author. And they had forgotten who the author were. And they throw this woman down.

They're like, ha-ha, we got them trapped with the law. We got them trapped in the world. And it is a good trap because of Jesus stands up and says, hold up. Wait a minute. Do not stone this woman. He is now trampling on the law of Moses. And they already downloaded his podcast where he said, I did not come to abolish the law.

I came to fulfill it. On the other hand, if Jesus says, you know what? You're right. get a big rock, knock her out. All of a sudden, this Savior who's known for his grace and his mercy and his compassion, all of a sudden the Savior says, come to me no matter who you are, now the message is come to me and get stone to death. So what is Jesus going to do?

He's caught in this predicament of do I uphold the law or do I protect the woman? What do I do? He's caught in this tension of the law. do I trample on the word or do I trample on this woman? Can you see the tension that he is facing? Oh, if that was me, I don't know if life has ever hit you with a situation where you say, I don't know what in the world I'm going to do about this. If this was me, I would have been nervous. I would have been sweating. I would have been looking for a theological book to help me out. Oh, I would have been nervous because I am an ordinary man. But how many know,

Jesus was not an ordinary man. He was God in the flesh. He was the beginning and the end. He was the Alpha and the Omega. See, this is what I love about the God that we serve. It's not just that he has power. I'm glad that he has power and wisdom. Oh, it's one thing to have power. It's another thing to have power and wisdom. Anytime you have somebody that has power and no wisdom, you need to be scared of that leader. But thank God that he has all power. and he has infinite wisdom. And when you put that together, that's a God you should worship. That's a God you should serve.

That's a God you can trust because he's got power and wisdom. So my question is, why are you stressing about what you're stressing about when you've got a God who has all power and he has all wisdom? He knew before the pandemic you were going to be in that situation. But how many know he is working it out for your good? He's going to make sure that in the end you are going to win. Oh, thank God that all things work for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. I'm glad he has power, but I'm glad he has wisdom too.

Can I just stay here for a minute? I love that he has wisdom. Do you realize that your God has never thought of anything that he didn't already think of? God has never thought of anything that he didn't already think of because if he could think of something that he hadn't already thought of, that means he can learn something, and he can't learn anything because he knows everything. Let me say another way. Nothing has ever occurred to your God. God has never said, you know what just occurred to me.

No, he knows everything. That means you can trust him, even in the darkest season of your life, that he will work it out. They thought they had him trapped. So they demanded an answer. They said, Jesus, we caught him in the act. What do you have to say? The Bible says, Jesus, standing there, sees the woman ashamed and embarrassed, sees the Pharisees with hatred in their eyes.

What do you have to say, Jesus? His immediate response is to get down and he starts doodling in the dirt. All the while, they're demanding. sending an answer. Jesus, we ain't playing. Lord Moses says she should be stoned. What do you have to say? She just starts doodling. The text says he acted as if he didn't hear. That's a cute way of saying he ignored them and just starts doodling. I think they thought his silence meant that they got him. They're like, oh, we got them. Come on, Jesus. She should be stone. What do you have to say? What do I have said? He just starts doodling in the dirt. And I don't know who this is for today, but some of you need to take a cue from Jesus

and quit being so quick to react to your critics. Sometimes the best thing you can do when the enemy comes in your life with all kinds of drama and all kinds of chaos, sometimes the best thing you can do is just turn your back and get on your knee and remind yourself that God is the author and the finisher of your faith that he's got you. Quit being so quick to give a reaction. to the enemy because you do know that's what the enemy wants in your life. He loves to come in your life with chaos because he wants you to give a reaction. But how many know you don't need to give a reaction? You need to give a response because there's a difference between a reaction and a response. Oh, come on, somebody. There is a huge difference between a reaction and a response. The enemy wants a reaction. He wants you to react the chaos and the drama that came into your life. But don't be a reactor, be a responder. Oh, can I tell somebody in this season, it is important that in all the chaos you don't react, but you give a response. There's a difference between a reaction and a response.

A reaction tends to be quick. It tends to be a knee-jerk. It's fast. There's a difference between a reaction and a response. A response is deliberate. You're slow when you respond. That's why in this season is so critical to remember what. God said, and James says, he says, be slow to speak. Slow to speak. Slow to anger. Because when you

give a reaction, that's what the enemy wants. There's a difference between a reaction and a response. The enemy wants your reaction. Have you noticed, thank God, a pandemic has shown us what the essential workers are. Have you noticed that they call them an emergency response team? Not an emergency reaction team. Can you imagine if it was an emergency reaction team? And here you call 911, say, oh, 911, help, help. And the person on the other line talking about, oh, you'd be like, uh, I called you. Now, they don't give a reaction. They give you a response. And the enemy wants your reaction, but Jesus never reacted. He responded.

He took a knee and he just doodles in the dirt. Now, we got to pause here because I'm about to land the plane. Everybody wants to know, right? What was Jesus writing in the ground? Oh, come on, this is a hot topic in theology. Everybody wants to know. Many scholars and theologians have postulated what they think he wrote in the ground. There's so many different theories. Some people think that he wrote, love the Lord your God,

follow your heart, soul, mind and strength, love your neighbor as yourself. Some people say that he wrote the Ten Commandments. Some people say that he wrote Jeremiah 17, 3, those who forsake you are. are written in the dust. There's so many different theories. One theory is that he wrote the names of all of the men who gathered rocks that day, and next to their name, he wrote their particular sin. So that when they looked in the ground and they saw their name, and what they did next to their name, they were like, you know what? I wouldn't even trying to be here anyway. I had some stuff I was trying to do. I don't know if that's true, but I like that theory.

And after studying and reading everything I know to read, I have to be honest, I don't know what Jesus wrote that day. Which, by the way, you do know sometimes it's all right for you to say, I don't know. I don't know what he wrote that day. And to be honest, I don't care. Because I don't want to be so busy trying to figure out what he was writing that I miss out on how he was responding. Because when the law caught this woman in the act of her sin, Jesus' response to the law was to immediately get down on the ground and touch the dirt. And after he touched the dirt, the Bible says something interesting. It says he raised himself up.

And then he gave a response to the accusations of the law. law. When this woman was caught in the act of sin and the law wanted to destroy her, Jesus' immediate response to the law was to get down on the ground. He didn't say anything. He just got down and he touched the dirt. And then he says he raised himself up and gave a response to the accusations of the law. Did you hear what I said when this woman was caught in the act? And the The law wanted to destroy her. Jesus' immediate response was to get down on the ground. He was the only one that was willing to get down on her level and meet her where she was. And he touched the dirt. And then he raised himself up and gave a response to the accusation of the law. Come on, this is the gospel.

This is you. This is me. Humanity is this woman. We were all caught in the act. And if the law had its way, it would have killed us. It would have destroyed us. But Jesus' response was to come down from heaven. He came down to earth and humbled himself.

He touched the dirt. We are made of that dirt. He could feel our humanity. And then he raised himself up on a cross and gave a response to the accusation of the law. Oh, I am that woman. you are that woman. We were caught in the act, and Jesus' response was to come down to where we were. Oh, what would our world look like if people would just come down and humble themselves and relate to other people? He came down and touched the dirt. And then he raised himself up. He raised himself up to the point that he says, no man takes my life. I lay it down. He raised himself up on the cross, and he offered her response to the accusation of the law. When he raised himself up, he looked at it and says, he who's without sin among you,

you'd be the first to cast the stone. And the Bible says one by one, starting with the oldest, even to the last. They dropped their rocks and walked away. He didn't even wait on them to drop the rock. He went right back down to doodling in the dirt, and every single one of them walked away. He was without sin among you. You be the first to cast a stone. What is Jesus saying with that statement? What is he saying?

You know what he's saying? I see you. I know what you did. think you want to uphold the law, if you're using this woman, you've dehumanized her to trap me, and you want to uphold the law, well, I am the word, I am the law. And if you really cared about the law, the law was clear that if somebody was caught in the act of adultery, that there had to be two witnesses seeing them in the act, and the law was to bring the woman and the man, and stone both of them.

So if you're really about upholding the law, quick question, where the man? What many believe is that this whole situation was a trap. It was a set up not just to get Jesus, but they trapped this woman. And the reason the man wasn't there is because he was in on it. And Jesus could see to the core of who they were. And he says, I know what you did. You set this whole thing up. And in one statement, they were forced to do the most power.

powerful thing any human can do, and that is to look at themselves. Oh, what would our world look like? If we all looked on the inside of us, looked at the truth, asked for His grace, one by one, they came to the understanding, I'm not different than this woman who's on the ground. They dropped their rock and walked away. And Jesus was left alone with a woman, left alone in his presence. And I can see her because I think her head was down the whole time, tears coming down her face. I don't even think she noticed that they had left. Because sometimes you can go through so much and be beaten down so much and be so tired and so much pain.

You don't even realize Jesus is already taking time. care of the thing that you've been crying about. I don't even think she noticed that they were gone. And I think he had to get her attention to say, woman, hello? Hey, where are your accusers? Like I see her going, Jesus, you don't understand what's going on the world. You don't see all that. She realized that Jesus had taken care of the thing that she was weeping about. I don't know who this is for today, but you need to understand. Jesus is taking care of the thing that you're weeping about, that you're crying about, that you keep beating yourself up about. Jesus is handling it.

One by one, they dropped their rocks. You realized they were gone. She said, I have none, Lord. Are you going to condemn me? Neither do I condemn you. Go your way and sin no more. Not sin no more. Neither do I condemn you.

Walk, shame-free, knowing that I did not come to condemn you. And that woman walked away after encountering grace and truth. You know what I wish those religious stuck up Pharisees would have done? They were right to check themselves and drop their rock, but they shouldn't have walked away. They should have came and knelt at the feet of this Savior who was full of grace and truth and received him right where he was. Thank God for a Savior. who is full of grace and this Savior is reaching out to all of us today, saying have an encounter with my grace and truth. He's speaking to the church today saying, will you be tethered to my character

and will you start to show grace and truth? Oh, God, I'm praying in this season when the world is so dark that we would respond with grace and truth to the people around us. Give us the wisdom of when to show grace and when to speak truth. That's what we need in this time and in this season, living in the tension of grace and truth. I'm just going to ask, wherever you're watching this, that your head has bowed, your eyes closed no matter where you are. Maybe you're watching and you feel like this woman. So much shame, condemnation, the enemy has been tormenting you about mistakes in your past. Can I tell you that if Jesus was a condemner, God would have sent a condemner in the world,

but he didn't, he sent a Savior. No matter what you're facing, no matter what you're going through, this wonderful Savior who is full of grace and true, his arms are open to you today. If you need to receive him, I want you just right where you're watching, maybe friends are there, just lift up your hand and just as a response to say, I need to give this Savior my life, my life. Maybe you're watching a day and you say, you know what, I need to be a person that lives in the tension of grace and truth.

You've surrendered your life to Jesus, but maybe you're too much grace and don't speak the truth when you need to. Maybe it's too much truth and you're crushing people and you don't. have the spirit of grace, but I'm believing in this season especially, the voice of the Holy Spirit is going to be so strong on the inside of you to let you know when to operate in grace and truth and live in the tension of both. If that's your heart's cry, you all just lift up your head and say, Lord, let that be me. Let that be me. Father, I thank you for your word, But I thank you in the midst of a world that has so much tension.

Father, we can get stronger as we live in the tension of grace and truth. In Jesus' mighty, matchless name. Come on, somebody say amen and give God some praise today. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry. is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now

or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.