Be With Jesus.

Well, welcome to those who are regular attenders, those who are new. This might seem weird. I'm not the pastor, so I want to just give a call out. But yes, I'm not Pastor Abbie, and I am not a pastor, period. Not yet. Hopefully someday. But I'm Ashleigh. I am just someone who works at Epic in Madison. I moved here three years ago. I'm part of the teaching team. So something unique about New Culture is that we have a teaching team of a few folks, just to bring in other voices. Something we like to do, as well, is give Pastor Abbie a little break. Well-deserved. She comes every week, but with the sermon, with the Word.

But yeah, I'm so excited to be up here with you and to share a little bit about what the Lord's speaking to me as we talk about our vision of New Culture, our mission of New Culture. And so I wanted to give that call out. If you want to join me, I'll go ahead and kick us off with reading in Luke 11. We're reading through Luke for this series. We have reading plans. If you're new, you can grab one on the way out to follow along. We'll be in Luke 11, verses 33 through 36. So I'll kick us off and pray us in with that. Verse 33 says:

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

Luke 11:33-36 (NIV)

So, Lord, we just thank you. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the ability to come here in this space and gather together and learn more about you. Lord, I pray that the scripture speaks. We thank you that every time we read scripture, something new comes up. And so I pray that this morning. I pray as we're going through scripture, as we're talking through different things of what it means to be with Jesus, Lord, that something resonates. That your Spirit is present, that people's ears are open and hearts are open to hear the word that you have for them. So thank you, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.

So as I mentioned, we've been going through Luke, talking through the mission and vision of New Culture, the rhythms we have. We have our motto: be with Jesus, become like Jesus, do what Jesus did. So we've been talking through what that means in our community. We had the Good Neighbor Gathering, which is super exciting, talking about how we as a church can be serving the community. We took a step back as well and talked about, in our church, how can we be diving into relationship with each other, through community groups, through form groups. And taking a step back this week, I wanted to talk a bit more about what we talked about last week. If you weren't here, you can catch it on Spotify. We talked about the Mary and Martha story. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus goes to the home of Mary and Martha, who are sisters. Martha is preparing food, preparing all these things to host Jesus in their home. But Mary is just sitting and being present with Jesus. She's at his feet, listening to every single word, whatever it is he's saying.

And Martha is a little bit upset, and Jesus says, hey, it's okay. She has simply chosen what is better. So Martha is like, man, why isn't she helping me? I'm doing all this work. I can't even sit and listen to you. I'm doing all these things. Why does she get to sit and listen? Why aren't you telling her to help me? And he's like, hey, Mary has chosen what is better. Mary has chosen to just sit and be present with Jesus. And so I want to dive a bit more into that, into what it means to be present with Jesus, and maybe a bit of why. I think sometimes, too, if someone is just now following Jesus, or maybe hasn't yet, it's like, why are we following Jesus? Why do we want to be like him? I was thinking about that, and so I wanted to start off with these verses in Luke chapter 11.

We are lamps

Because I think he says pretty clearly that part of it is because we are lamps. We are lights. We are meant to be shining in the darkness. And I think that's pretty clear. It's visible to those who are around us in the community. How are we reflecting? Jesus calls us in these verses to be a light. We're supposed to expose the darkness. We're supposed to show people the gospel. And that is the light. The light is Jesus. The light is the gospel, that he came and he died for us and he saved us. And so, because we're called to be lights, we need to be consistently reminding ourselves of that truth. And that means we need to consistently be present with Jesus in that.

What I wanted to highlight in these verses, too, is that it's through our eyes that we are becoming light, that we're filling ourselves. Through our eyes, our bodies are going to follow. It's what we are consuming that is determining who we are going to become. So if we're only consuming the world, media, friendships, all the things that maybe aren't the best, maybe have a lot of darkness in them, then we're going to be reflecting that. We're not going to be reflecting the light and reminding ourselves of who Jesus is, to then reflect that in our interactions. Something I really liked was another translation of verse 34. When it's talking about your eye, when your eye is healthy, it also says, when your eye is clear, in some translations. And I went a little bit deeper. There's a really cool tool I encourage people to use, Blue Letter Bible. You can look at the original translation. I feel like a lot of pastors, people who teach, use that a lot. It gives you the original translation of the words, and it gives you where it was referenced, what it could mean.

And I'm going to botch it, but the word is haplos. And this could mean simple, single, or whole. I liked that because when you're thinking through the time you're spending with Jesus, is it a whole, full attention on him type of attention? I think it adds that additional layer. And it's easy. I, as a human, am guilty of having some distracted time with Jesus sometimes. I don't know if anyone relates. Sometimes you have a background show on when you're doing work and things like that. There are times where, for some reason, I'm trying to spend time with Jesus, and then I have a show on in the background, and I'm like, it's okay. It's a show I don't care about, so it's fine. I'm a squirrel. I get distracted very easily. And so that is not a fully attentive time. I'm probably not getting all that I actually need to be getting from Jesus in that moment, because I'm getting distracted. I hear a line that's funny, and then I'm like, okay, I'm going to pay attention again. No. Having full, whole attention on Jesus is how we get fully filled up. We don't want to come out of our time with Jesus partially filled. We want to have adequate time with him. And that means being wholly present, having our eyes completely focused on him.

Something I liked, too, about what Pastor Abbie said last week was that Mary had postured herself so that when she looked up, sitting at the feet of Jesus, it's only Jesus in the center of her attention. That is her only focus, Jesus. And so how can we be making sure our eyes are wholly focused on Jesus? How can we make sure they're healthy, that they're clear, that he is the focal point? And that might mean eliminating distractions.

Another one I was thinking of: I sometimes look at Blue Letter Bible, and sometimes that means I grab my phone when I'm in my abiding time and I search something up. I'm like, oh, what's the context of this, or what is this? And then I get a notification, and I'm off again on another journey. So it's probably better if I use my computer or something like that. Looking at your habits as to when you're spending time with Jesus, and thinking through how I can make it better so that I'm wholly focused on him and fully attentive. And noticing those rhythms, too. If you know that you're getting distracted by one thing, then eliminate that. Find a different way to do it.

And then you're able to get that full fulfillment from Jesus. You're able to get what you need. And I'll get into this a little later, but sometimes what you need isn't what you're necessarily looking for in the moment. Our time with Jesus can always look different. You can always be getting different things. But I think sometimes, if we're not wholly focused, we're missing what he's actually trying to give us. So, all that to say, I think it's pretty clear that when we're focusing on other things that aren't Jesus, we're going to reflect those things. And it's kind of like, well, why Jesus then? It's because Jesus told us that we are meant to be light. We are meant to shine his gospel to everybody. And no matter what, one thing we can be certain of is that if we are focusing on Jesus, we're going to know what he wanted us to do, and he's going to flow through us. We want to make sure that we're not just staying in the dark. We want to make sure that when people meet us, they're not staying in the dark. We want to make sure that as a lamp, we are on the lamp stand. We want to make sure that we are properly exposing the darkness. That's an active thing. You're exposing the darkness around you. You want to bring the light into that. And that's the cool thing that Jesus wants us to shine. He wants us to be a part of that.

Giving Martha

And so when we're reminding ourselves of who Jesus is, I want to bring a challenge into that. Think about what you are reflecting right now. As we move through the message, just think about that. What am I currently reflecting? Am I properly serving well, in the sense of serving with joy? Like Martha. She was doing all these things for Jesus, and they aren't bad things. We're going to get into this, too. These are good things. But is she doing it with joy because of who she's doing it for? Something I was thinking about as well, sorry, my nose is running a little bit, is Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32. And this is the cool thing about scripture. When you read it, there's something new that pops out every time. This is the story of the lost son, and I am going to read. Thank you. I even thought, I was going to bring this up, and then I was like, well, I don't want to blow my nose in front of people.

Don't be offended. I've been trying to stay a safe distance when I'm talking to people, but normally I am a hugger. So in the future, I will give hugs, but not today. So anyway, the parable of the lost son. Jesus is telling a story. A lot of times he told parables, and it's for us to take away what the story is. It's making it more digestible. So I am going to read the whole thing, just in case others are not aware of how that story goes. It says:

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:11-24 (NIV)

Good stuff.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Luke 15:25-32 (NIV)

And I think there's a lot of layers to that story. A lot of times you hear this, and the parable right before that is about the sheep. A shepherd loses one sheep. He goes to find that one sheep. He leaves the 99 to go find him. So it's thinking about how we are always able to come back to Jesus. We're always able to come back to God. And that's a great piece of scripture, and a great theme to take away from that. But one of the parallels I was thinking of was the older son. He was angry, and he said, I've been slaving away for you. I've never disobeyed you. I've been doing all these things for you, and I'm not getting what I feel like I should get. This other person's getting, I'm doing these things. And it's kind of giving Martha a little bit. I'm sorry, my Gen Z language, but it is. It's kind of giving Martha in that sense. And so the thing I'm thinking of, as we go through this story, as we think about Martha, as we think about this older brother, and how being with Jesus really ties into how we're serving people, is this: when we are serving people and it's not coming from a place of loving Jesus and reminding ourselves of the gospel, we become prideful almost of that. We become kind of bitter, because we're not getting fulfilled in the way that we expect.

But even with the Father, he says, everything I have is yours. Jesus is saying he has everything for us. He fulfills us so that we can go and do those things. But those are hard things, guys. We're human. That's why it's so important to come back and be with Jesus and remind ourselves of why we're doing the things we're doing. We come back, we once again get filled with love, so that we can go and be that love to other people. We can shine that light. We can be those lamps.

And that's hard, like I said. Thinking back to Martha, she was serving, and he says, you're worried and you're upset, and you need to take a moment. You need to think about Mary. Mary has chosen to be present with me, and that is what's important right now. Getting to the why behind her serving. And like I said, the things Martha was doing weren't wrong. But she lost sight of why she was doing this. Because I love Jesus. How can you see your servitude as being present with Jesus? How can you see your service as being out of love for Jesus, so that we aren't upset when we're not getting what we feel like we deserve, or what we think we want or need? We take pride in our actions, and we have this idea of a reward in our mind, but maybe that's not the reward we should be seeking. The reason we serve is because we love Jesus, and that's what it should be flowing from. It should be coming from an overflow of love for Jesus.

What being with Jesus looks like

And so I've said a lot of that, the serving and the being with Jesus. But then it's kind of like, well, what does being with Jesus look like? Does it have to look a certain way?

Just to continue on the point of how important this is, in Mark chapter 1, verses 35 through 39, it says:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

Mark 1:35-38 (NIV)

In John 15, verses 4 through 5, it says:

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5 (NIV)

Jesus himself went and retreated to a solitary place to spend time with the Father, who he's divinely connected to. But he still went and he prayed, because he knew he needed that time with the Lord. He needed that time to remind himself, this is my mission on earth. And there are several times where he says, Lord, your will, not mine. He had a conscious awareness of the mission that the Lord had for him, and he was going to carry that out. But before that, he went and he prayed. He tells us time and time again, it is through me that you will bear fruit. It is through spending time with me that you will be able to serve and you will be able to have fruit produced. Sorry, I'm going to drink some water really quick.

And so something I want to think about is what that time looks like. He went and prayed in a solitary place. I don't know if anyone else can relate to this, but when I first started following Jesus, I was like, I need a cute Bible and I need cute highlighters. And every single time I spend time with Jesus, it is going to be me highlighting whatever verses stick out, and then I'm going to journal about it. And that was all it was. It was a very glamorized version of it. It's okay. I'm like, guys, I'm admitting I did that. That was me. It's okay if you did. And if not, I applaud you. It's great. And there's nothing wrong with that. That is a great way to spend your time with Jesus, learning from scripture. He speaks to us through scripture. It's great to journal that down. It helps you remember. There's psychology behind that. But I think I was just doing a checklist. It wasn't like I was actually gleaning anything from that. I wasn't actually taking it away. Half the time I wouldn't look back at the journal that I wrote in. Sometimes I do, and that's kind of fun, but it's not always about that. It's not always about just doing all those things. There are so many different ways that we can spend time with Jesus and really get a good experience in his presence. It doesn't have to look like that formula. It doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be that I get one single verse every single time. It can look very different to experience the presence of Jesus and have his peace and have his Spirit be filling you.

And I think about, too, in Luke 11, verses 1 through 4, he talks about the Lord's Prayer. And I also like that in Matthew, right before that, he says, don't be like the people who are out on the streets praying with all these words, seeming really pious. Go into your room and pray. And with the Lord's Prayer, it gives us a framework. Maybe you don't know what to say. I've done that, too, where I've pulled up to Jesus in my time with him and I'm like, I don't even know what to say. I just need to spend time with you, and I'm so distraught about something, and I don't even know what to say. And he gives us some practical steps, too. Well, you can just say this. It says:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

Luke 11:1-4 (NIV)

Even just that short prayer has a lot of weight to it. And I think that's what he's trying to get at. When you come to Jesus and you are spending time with him, you don't have to have a ton of words. Even just these few words that he gives us. The Our Father is great, but it doesn't have to be complex. It can be a few words where you're just wanting to praise him, wanting to receive his grace, wanting to receive his forgiveness. And that's also good. And thinking back to Mary, Mary's just sitting there, gleaning everything he said. I mean, he could have been cracking jokes. We don't even know what he was saying. She's just spending time with him, listening to every word he is saying. Anyway, sorry.

I was really struck by that when I was reading. I think we sometimes make our time with Jesus seem really complex. And I think when we're doing that, we're looking for him in a way that maybe he's not trying to speak in that moment. We're so focused on, oh, this one verse has to stick out to me, I have to make this make sense. But sometimes it's taking a step back and just listening to Jesus and seeing what it is, just spending time with him. Another form of prayer is contemplative prayer, where it's just sitting and looking into the gaze of the Father. You're imagining yourself sitting in the gaze of the Father, sitting lovingly, experiencing his love. And that is also a very great time with Jesus. So I'm going to invite maybe Alaynah just to come play piano. Just over there, as we take a minute.

So what, now what

In each sermon, we like to have a so what and a now what. The so what is, so what is scripture saying? And the now what is, so what am I supposed to do with that? And so my so what, as I was thinking about this, is that Jesus desires us to be with him and to be his light. Looking back at verses 33 through 36, I think it's very clear. We are called to be different. We're called to be a lamp on a lamp stand, spreading light, bringing light, exposing the darkness, bringing the truth of Jesus, bringing the gospel to other people.

And so the now what is to be with him wholly and notice the new ways you might be receiving him in your time with him. It doesn't need to be complex. And as we're with him, as we are getting to know him better, reminding ourselves, then we can serve from an overflow of that. We can be assured that our service is going to be out of a place of love for Jesus, a place of love for his people, a place of service. And when we have that why behind the service, we're not going to become so fixated on, well, what am I getting out of this? I'm really tired. I just don't feel like doing it anymore. We're not going to get that, because the reason we're doing it isn't to get something. It's out of an overflow of the time we're spending with Jesus and the love that he has for us. And so as we come to a close, we will say the Lord's Prayer together, just to take a reminder of how simple it can be to pray to the Lord. We have scripture, and it tells us how we can pray. So if you don't know what to do, that is always something you can fall back on. But I also have some reflection questions I want us to think about. If you have your journals, you can write them down. Just think about it.

What does your individual time with Jesus look like? Like I was saying before, I am so easily distracted sometimes in my individual time. And so I want you to think about what am I doing in my time with Jesus? How am I actually seeing him? How am I experiencing him? What does it look like right now? And maybe, too, do you find yourself even spending time with him one-to-one? I know it's so easy in community, too, to experience Jesus. We have community groups. We have form groups. Those are all great things. Discipleship is great. But that is not a replacement of our individual time with Jesus. We still need to be thinking and reflecting and getting direct time with him. And then you share that with people around you. That's your witness. That's your testimony. But I want us to think about how I can continue to be diving into my time with Jesus. Where am I struggling? How am I finding it fruitful? Where can I get ideas from other people? That's also what community is for. Maybe something isn't working. Maybe you're like, I'm just not feeling it. I don't know what to do. That's where community can help you. They can pray for you, come alongside you, and guide you.

And as you're thinking about your time with him, how else can you be giving him your full attention? What is it lately that you feel like you've been lacking? What are ways that you think you've been expecting to hear from the Lord about something, or you've been expecting to hear him in some kind of way, but you haven't? Are you open to where he might be leading you? Are you open to the things that he might be speaking in a different kind of way?

The Lord's Prayer

But yeah, I think following Jesus isn't easy. I think it's really hard. But my encouragement to you is that he desires to be with you. He desires to help you in your journey with him. And so that's my encouragement, to continue diving into time with him. Try new ways. Talk to people. Learn different ways of praying. Or if you just aren't sure, fall back to the Lord's Prayer and see what happens. Those few words have a lot of weight. You're asking the Lord for spiritual food, you're talking about provision, you're talking about forgiveness of sins. Those are deep things. Those are really deep things in such few words. But it's all good stuff. We love it. So I'm going to invite you to stand, if you're comfortable. We'll have the Lord's Prayer up here on the screen so we can all follow along and say it together. But as we do, really sit with it, too. If you haven't memorized it, feel free to close your eyes even, and really feel the words as we're saying them, because this is all of us entering together into the time with the Lord. This can have weight. This does have weight.

All right, so with that, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Thank you, Lord, that your glory is forever. Your glory is eternal. It is your kingdom that reigns, Lord Jesus. I thank you that we are all able to enter into time with you. Lord, that the veil was torn so we can have direct relationship with you. We were singing earlier, "Oh, the Cross." You tore the veil, Lord, with your sacrifice. And we thank you, Lord, that we can enter into your presence. And I just pray, Lord, that as we go throughout our weeks, as we head into communities and form groups, Lord, I pray that we can be vulnerable and share. But Lord, I just pray that we take a step back and think about our individual time with you. God, I pray that we find new ways to be hearing you and listening to your Spirit. Lord, I pray for us to then have an overflow of your love to fuel us into our service, Lord, that we can set aside pride, set aside the worldly rewards we might be thinking of, and just think about what it's for and that it's for you. Lord, I pray that we continue to remind ourselves of the gospel, of the truth, of the light that you brought, so that we can then shine into the darkness, that we can expose the darkness within ourselves and within others, Lord Jesus.

We thank you, Lord, and we pray for the rest of this day to go well. Lord, we pray for the rest of this week. We pray for your peace and your Spirit to be present in all that we do. And it's in your name, Lord. Amen. Thanks for listening. That brings us to the end. But I really pray for everyone to dive deep with the Lord this week. Dive deep with Jesus. See what he's inviting you into, what new ways he might be speaking to you. Like I said, you can talk to anybody. We're all here for each other. If you need a new way, if you don't know how to pray the Psalms and you want someone to tell you how to pray the Psalms or share that with you, let us know. We're here for that. But yeah, that's great. Hope you have a great rest of your day. It's an honor to be up here. So yeah, salute.