It's just not pleasant. We all experience things like that. How are we going to respond to those things? We think about And I think particularly First question Let's get this from verses 1 through 5. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus saw a little child under him and said, I'm not sure what the disciples had in mind when they said to Jesus, who's the greatest. I'm not sure quite what they had. But the word that comes to mind, we would think of it as Christ. Later on he would be able to walk on water. He was the greatest. The other side we don't know a lot about The opportunity He said see this little child you gotta be like this little child Unless you become like this little child, remember that. He says if you prove yourself to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We're called to humility, just as a little child nearly is not. All those things that we should know as adults, children struggle with too, but typically they're not too concerned about positions. A little child, you're not necessarily looking for the greatest status and recognition as maybe some of us adults are. Jesus has become like that. Paul said to the Philippians, Philippians 2, 3, he said, let nothing be up your strife or angury, but a lowliness in mind. Let each of you be a mother better than themselves. And then Paul goes on to explain what this looks like. He says what this looks like, it looks like Jesus, who was equal, is equal with God. And he put his head aside, his head on the rose, and he came to earth, and he was afflicted with pain, and then he died for us. That's what it means to esteem yourself others better than yourself. Am I willing to set aside the things that have fed me and the roots of pride in my heart Am I willing to consider others better than myself? That's a hard one for me. I was preaching at a church one time and after it was over, his brother was shaking hands and there was a brother at the back. He said to me, he said, that verse there, consider others better than yourself. He said, if we all do that, then it's all over. Yeah Really think about that That's an extremely challenging We're talking about tonight in the context of the family, you know, we might say what does it really matter? Be a good parent and I still shepherd my children and the answer is Is is no, you know, I'm trying to apart struggles to connect well with others And it's going to be the same with our spouse, with our children. We're really going to struggle to connect when there's crime. If we consider ourselves better than others around us, it kind of short-circuits the connection process. There needs to be humility in our hearts. We want to connect deeply and emotionally well with others. The first question was, am I alone? Secondly, the next question is, have I been offended? And we've already said that we've all been offended. Let's read along here. Jesus in verse 6, he's still thinking about the context of little children, because even as we read all down through verse 10, he's going to talk about little children, and his little ones he's referring to. So perhaps this child is still there. Jesus is beckoning to the child over there, but he goes on and continues the idea of what we can learn from little children and what we should think about. Seriously, he says, This is some of his harshest words that he ever speaks. He says, remember, Sheldon, that all of these little ones which believe in me, though maybe he's talking to still these little children, maybe he's thinking of those who are young in the faith now, those which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses. It must these be that offense has come. Woe to them if I hear the offense coming. Wherefore thy hand and thy foot have bent thee cut them off and cast them out. Better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. It be that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven there are angels who always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Jesus is continuing to talk to his disciples here, and he says, stop worrying about who's the greatest, and start caring about the little people in your life. See these little ones here? Jesus is looking at this little child, and he says, be very careful how you respond to these little ones. And then some of his precious words, and that is, we offend some of these little ones. If we respond to them in a way which causes their hearts to grow cold towards us, And we are called to take drastic action. We all have defenses. But then we have to internalize them. We've all had people say things to us that we thought And we start to live with this level of pain. And then, over time, what happens is, as we are trying to wrestle through that, the offender, us, becomes the offender. The victim, us, becomes the victimizer. The one who has taken pain becomes the pain giver. Typically the ones where that happens is the little ones of all right ones that are closest to us And the pain in our hearts is starting to spread out Offensively so there's little one around us. It's time to take drastic action In fact, it's better if you were not in the war around the net you were drowning that's what he said and those guys When there's things in your life that are going well, we're not supposed to just knock them out and act like we're okay. Come to church and smile at everyone. We're supposed to stop what we're doing. hit the reset button, and take some drastic measures to say, you know what? The way I'm living is causing lots of problems for the people around me that's up to me for leadership, my children, and I need to change this. Jesus says, in verse 10, take heed as you describe how some of these little ones, like some of you that are in heaven, their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. I don't know that there's many other versions of that, but I'm quite sure you know exactly But remember the day before Judah, when the angels, some of God's angels, came to present themselves before the Lord. There was some kind of heavenly council there. And it says Satan came also along. And remember that? And there was kind of a meeting there. And I wonder how much that meeting is still happening. It says there are angels, get this right here, there are angels, these angels are walking after our children. And they still meet occasionally with God. And God says, now how's their family doing? How's their family doing? And the angel needs to give an account for these two of them. It's all the goal, the place of peace and joy. It's a damn shortcoming, but they're quick to apologize, and they're humble with each other, and they're seeing you, and by your grace, they're doing the best they can. And the sooner we get help, the better. Years ago, at my school, I was one of the main former members of the church, and we had a new pastor, and the agent would come out, The machine wouldn't advance until it was trying The sooner things are going wrong, the sooner that you better stop and take care of it. We're working with children, right? And children are really fragile. In other ways, they're very resilient. We know that as well. But you know, they're picking up many, many things. And what messages are we sending to them? And when we realize that the messages that we're sending to them are not the good news of the kingdom of God, it's time to stop and hit the reset button. The longer we wait, the bigger mess. But we're gonna end up like, you know, in my own business, you know. We're gonna have just all fun, and everything else, and then we're not learning much. So far I've learned, what is in our hearts transfers out. And there are some days that I'll feel like, these are some days I'm not very passionate about the lesson, and then I'll pay attention as well sometimes. And I realize, you know what? This is a lesson I'm not very passionate about, no matter whether they're not here. Sometimes, And they're playing their trucks, and they're playing their games, and they're having fun with their little children. And then it's time to put children into these children's play, and tell little children something to read, right? And they grab children's toys, and they throw them off the street, into the forest, so they'll be more experienced. A lot of times, some children just have this angst, and this, you know, and... So what are we transferring to those around us when I walk into the room? What do I dream? Apostle Paul says in first Timothy chapter Now I like the posture that that is symbolized there without Is that You know just weren't very approachable And you were happy I How are you doing that? Have I been offended and how am I responding to those advances? Am I humble? Have I been offended? Number three, am I fighting against God? Well, the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man had a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the night behind and go into the mountains and see that which is gone astray? If so be he blinded, verily I say, more over that sheep than on the 99 which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your father which is in heaven, but that of one of these little ones. If I'm living with defenses, with a spirit of pride, you can be sure that I am not astray in my pursuit. Am I responding to the pursuing hand of God in my life? There are circumstances that God might be using to pursue me, and am I responding to that? Am I opening my lips? Is it pursuit or am I fighting against God? That's the question. Am I fighting against God? What should I do when I'm offended? I should seek to resolve it. Why humble myself? Why does it really matter? Well, because it transfers to those around us. The heart of Jesus for us is to pursue us. The heart of Jesus for us is that we would come to know him in such a way that we would become his agents in pursuing those around us. It's Jesus' desire that we be reconciled to Him. And then if He has sheep which are astray, that He would use us to go and reconcile those sheep. Sometimes those are children. Maybe sometimes that's your spouse. And God wants to use you to reach out and reconcile the children to Him. But if you're not yet reconciled to Him, you're not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. He cares. About the sheep that have fallen straight he cares about justices. He cares about the lost sheep and the Highlanders babies Time correction may not always seem so time of the brotherhood and on the circumstances God is bringing my life I'm fighting against and there's no way that I can actively be his agent caring for others What was it? But we are so focused internally We're going to miss what's happening around us. The tape that's playing in my mind has so much stuff going on that I'm missing what's happening right in front of me. And the care that's needed for these little sheep that are going astray. Our children are going to be connected to someone or something. And it's God's desire on their own that they be connected to us as parents. As you're older, you know how it is, you know what? They get older, they find their connection. To be helpfully connected with others and ultimately with the Lord, how are we doing? Are we invitation just as Jesus is are we pursuing justice Jesus is are we driving people away? Jesus said taking taking that you despise Children are not a convenience to your life our mission I don't know what God has promised me, if not, I pray in you. You are the heritage of the Lord. And I still focus on others. Question number four. Do I want to reconcile with the Lord? No. It would take probably a long time to unpack how to reconcile with some people who I've hurt. It's sometimes the offenses I really, really need. But a good way to start is, do I want to reconcile with There's a process Now I understand, sometimes the offenses happen many years ago. Sometimes the person is no longer willing. And you get the idea that you turn out to be very well, it's not it's a process It's the process to do this Jesus you can heal us from the inside Process with us trying to just do that Ourselves as others better than ourselves. We are really human So I really don't want to deal with it. I'm going to let my brother alone. And then if he won't listen, I'll take him or her to New York. If he won't listen, I'll take him to the church. And then I need to go past that, the excommunication. So I really don't want to deal with it. What about if, you know, we can say I can take my wall down, but what if my brother or sister won't take their wall down? And what are we going to do? What if this is a situation in which you can't seem to find a deal? And people in my life don't seem to understand. But we're so private and so we're not going to bring it to the territory. There's many such scenarios we can get into. What will I do? Well, number one, come to Jesus. Isaiah 61. We have to come to Jesus. We have to open our hearts to him. John 8, 32, Jesus says, the verse I trust. We all should have known that Jesus said, you should know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. Truth is becoming a very hard to, not commodity, but truth is becoming something that's hard to come by. And we're not being a play in the truth. The truth sets us free. When mercy and truth and iniquity is first, it's true that at times truth has been used without mercy, and used without love, and people have become afraid of the truth. They don't want the truth. The truth, when it comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, in front of his word, when it comes from the heart of love of brothers and sisters, Truth is always our friend. Hold on to the truth. Hold on to the people who have helped you. I watched it happen. I watched it happen. And I'm sure you watched it too. Running from truth. Running from people that love us. It never ends. This brings people into our life. God bless us. And we need to slowly embrace There's so many things going on in there, there's so much pain and so much fear. Fear is always behind it. Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear is always behind it. There's no fear and tell the truth. This is what happened. Jesus, please stand up and tell the church. It has to be solemn in your life. You have to start with the Lord. You have to be solemn because if you didn't slowly crack that door open, tell the truth. Come to Jesus, tell the truth. Another thing that I think is still important, there's many things we can talk about. There's some things that I don't even have in the context of some of the situations lately. And that is, the next thing is, stop being a victim. Stop being a victim. And, depending on what your situation is, you've been a victim. And there's many different scenarios. In a simple scenario, if somebody says something unkind to you, And it's not just, it's not justified to disrespect the voters. We need to stop the victim mentality. I was dealing over the last year, laying it on my heart, concerned about self-pity. And I was thinking about self-pity. I began to see that in my own life. I began to see that there's very little room in the scriptures for self-pity. Because Jesus offers us freedom from the victim mentality. We can change who we are. But obviously we can't really probably can't So, life is harder. Life is harder. Am I going to be a victim, or am I going to find healing in Christ? Adam was a victim. This is the real problem for the next 6,000 years. Adam and Eve, right? What does Adam do with his victim mentality? He blames Eve, and he doesn't blame Eve. He blames God. This woman that you gave me, no way I'm going to get out of it. It's just the best thing in the world. Just a little bit ago, 24 hours ago, and now a couple of hours later, you're blaming God for this woman. So this is something that's kind of wiring that nature that we all possess but I Know the things that have happened to us Not trying to say those things were easier that they should have happened. We're not saying that but let me share a little biblical illustration King Ahab. Remember King Ahab? He's the king of Israel. You would expect something to have a little bit more responsibility and maturity. Remember the story of Naboth? He says, Naboth, will you give me my vineyard? Naboth says, no. And he goes home, and when he does, he lays down in bed, and he looks at the wall, and his wife comes to him and says, honey, do you have something for me? And he says, I'm not going to eat. Why? I have Naboth's vineyard. She says, oh, dear, it'll be all right. And you go, and I'll find a way to get you Naboth's vineyard in a minute. Oh, thank you, dear. You know You know So we need to be careful about a lot of the things that we've experienced which are sometimes extremely difficult. Whereby then it's okay When Jesus is offering you and he's doing it It's down the victim So spiritual some spiritual the near home, you know, oh, you know the other the other Because Never treat someone like that. The way they treated my children, you know, there's that, well, you know. The way they treated my children, my children never acted like that. My children are a lot better than you, you know. Well, that's good. But, it's a victim mentality. Let's be careful about that. It's harder than anyone else. Why does that feel good? Why does that feel good to be like sitting in a corner and saying, Well, this idea of men being passive, and it's a real problem. Well, it kind of kicks the women in our life in gear. Oh, really? Okay. Can I make you a cup of coffee? What can I do? We're great for you, man. And yet that's not what God is calling us to do. So why do we like to be a victim? a little more attention, gets us a little more care. But it doesn't help us be good parents. It doesn't help us be good leaders. It helps us to show ease to the people in our lives. I'd like to read you a little poem. I met my mother this past winter, an Amish man from Missouri. And just saw him a couple of days. We were in Florida and I met him. And I was so blessed. He's a single man. He was married. His wife passed away. He seemed to be a very humble man. So I don't know if you want his name shared or not. So I'm just going to read a poem to you that he wrote. And this poem, he says it so well. And it's two columns. And the first column is going to talk about victim mentality. And he's going to switch gears. And I think you'll hear it. I think you'll hear it. You'll understand. He's going to mention, at the beginning of this poem, he's going to mention some heart-wrenching things, which are not just theoretical, but they're things that he actually experienced. At least in the first couple of stanzas here. Here's what he says. So the poem is Have You Ever. Have you ever stood with your siblings and cried and cried in the morning after you committed suicide? Have you ever held your partner as they took their last breath, then watched them close their eyes Have you ever fully trusted someone only to be betrayed? Or suffered deep heartaches from children who have strayed? Have you ever had your heart simply broken in the zoo by the one who claims to always love you? Have you ever had sadness to be your only expression, as you sank down deep into a pit of depression? Have you ever felt the problems were bigger than God, and the road ahead may look impossible to drive? Have you ever experienced so much emotional pain, Understood the value of all earthly gain and we underestimated the cost of six high pole with the whole world worth less than even one soldier Come and teach it with you and then lose their temper I've never seen someone denies real facts in an effort to cover up their own cynical acts Have you ever been criticized or falsely accused or asked to be forgiven but refused? Have you ever had a soulful wish to die We'll talk to you heard you cry How the stranger give you a holy model and you got a lot of you have you ever thank God This journey Have you ever confessed your innocence and wept bitterly for all the times you should have done differently? Have you ever accepted that the best thing you can do is to forgive everyone who has ever sinned against you? Have you ever slandered how Christ defeated temptation and did not try to protect his own reputation? Have you ever wondered how Christ could be so mean? And when he struck, he turned and never changed? Have you ever let the mind of Christ be in you and followed his example? You know, all I'm saying to you, have you ever been willing to take a huge loss and gladly accept it as bearing your own cross? Have you ever loved God with all your heart and soul and life, and also loved the ones who have been so unkind to you? Have you ever imagined how meaningful heaven would be if we overcome sin, gain eternal victory? You can't go from the first part of the poem to the second part of the poem As to how one side So we commit to this great good news that There are many things Really? You know, yes Briefly yet, Jesus here is only going to tell a parable about forgiveness. You know, that's a huge topic. Including the entire sermon, perhaps, or two on forgiveness. But, forgiveness cures many problems. Forgiveness does not say, okay, it's okay, I don't want you to use violence. Forgiveness does not say that. Forgiveness is releasing the offense to God. A lot of God care. Dropping a rock that I hear and I want to throw a rock, dropping it. There was a quote from T.S. Lewis, I think. Everybody thinks, I can't wait, I can't wait to be happy, but everybody thinks forgiveness is such a good idea until they have something to give. Somebody had printed out a poster at school and a picture of a man pulling a rock, dropping a rock. It burned you. I just want to hold on to that rock. Be it someday, we'll go back to that place. Forgiveness is hard, through the grace of Jesus Christ. It can be a journey, it is a journey. We can forgive repeatedly and again when those offenses come back to haunt us. Finally, the last question I want to leave with you this evening is, am I doing it right? Would it be possible, excuse me, not would it be possible for souls to even realize that what God really wants, the sacrifices God is looking was a broken and a contrite heart. A broken and a contrite heart of God now will not despise. God received many, many, many thousands of sacrifices in the Old Testament. David said what God really wants is a broken and a contrite heart. We are pretty good at offering God sacrifices. We already did some this evening. We came and offered the sacrifice of praise. We sang songs. And we're sacrificing something else tonight by being here. We probably have the opportunity at the end of the week or week or Sunday to put some money in the offering basket, perhaps, or whatever you do that year. So we offer sacrifices, but the sacrifice God really wants. According to what David said, a man who is in love with God's own heart. We're really looking for our hearts to be broken, contrite. You can have a horse that's not broken, and then it's broken. It's just as strong as it ever was. But before it's broken, it's dangerous. After it's broken, That's how it is with people. Unbroken people are dangerous. Unbroken people will split churches. Unbroken people will drive children away from the Lord. Broken people are useful. They will represent us in the hands of God. And they'll bring healing to churches. They'll bring healing to families. It's our choice. Broken or unbroken. Whatever you want it to be. David says God's looking for contrite parts. A contrite part is a part where the walls have come down. The walls have come down. You've all tried to maybe correct it, I hope that not all of you, but some of you have tried to reconcile some, and it falls away, and it's just impossible. I have talked with people trying to resolve offenses, and they're almost illogical in responding. There's such a stubbornness there, and such a desire to, and there's such a, in their hearts, God's looking for broken, contrite hearts. What will it be? What will it be? Jesus said, Matthew 21-44, whoever shall fall on this stone, speaking of himself, the stone which the builders rejected to save him from the hand of the Lord, whoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. While this weapon shall fall, it will grind him to powder. We have a choice. We have a choice to either follow Jesus and to be broken and to start afresh and new with him, or we'll someday have this stone of Jesus fall on us. I'm not at peace with God. I'm living with the idea of who is the greatest, I think I'm the greatest. If I'm living with offenses and I'm living looking out for me, I'm going to be someone who creates fire. Now some people are very quick to be offended. Why are some people so quick to be offended? Why do some people seem to have so much surrounding their life. You know, well, I've never gone swimming, and I've not enjoyed swimming. I learned to do swimming a little more as a children, and so, but I never was very sure. But I can get pretty anxious in water, very little, you know, because I just don't enjoy swimming. I like to stay at home more. And, you know, if you have water down up to here, You know, you can't take too much risk. You know, some people have so much going on inside their hearts, that inside their lives, they're taking more risks than halfway through. You know, any little thing, it's like, it's been longer than a lot of you, but you've got to struggle. And so, when you see that happening for you, for the people around you, don't push harder than you already are. Push harder than you already are. Push harder than you already are. And when we see that happening, And we say, what is this? What does this have to do with this? And yet, that's us. We have a responsibility. We need to open our minds. There's a paradigm. And really, we're still working on some of these things. If we can come to a place of rest in our hearts. Matthew 7? I want to close with this. Matthew 7? 21, 23. He was sentenced. It was the will of my father which is in heaven. That's what he said in part 2. He said he had... He had work in equity He gives these words to us to draw us to him Apparently some people are going to get the judgment about this year and they're going to look back And he's gonna say So that doesn't need to be us. The invitation is clear. The good news is clear. Jesus has come to preach the good news of the kingdom. And I trust, I trust. And it is changing us, and it is changing our homes, and it is changing our churches, and it is changing our community. Thank you for your kind attention. Tomorrow we really want to look at the Book of Amos, and I want to look at what is the culture in my home. Turn the time over, back over to...