1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,760 For our sermon series, we are continuing in our One Another 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:09,120 series looking at God's invitation to community and what 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,600 it means to be a people marked by love. 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,600 And so our scripture reading is coming from First Corinthians 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:20,440 12/24 B to 26 and it goes like this. 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,120 But God has put the body together, giving greater honor 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,840 to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,810 in the body, but that it's parts should have equal concern for 9 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:36,730 each other. If one part suffers, every part 10 00:00:36,730 --> 00:00:40,290 suffers with it. If one part is honored, every 11 00:00:40,290 --> 00:00:43,290 part rejoices with it. This is the word of the Lord. 12 00:00:47,370 --> 00:00:49,010 Thanks, Catherine. Hey, everybody. 13 00:00:49,610 --> 00:00:52,130 How we doing this morning? Good to see you. 14 00:00:52,130 --> 00:00:55,210 Good to see you. It is delightful to be here, a 15 00:00:55,210 --> 00:00:59,880 little bit cooler today. I'm grateful for, grateful for 16 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,040 the wind and the cooler temperatures. 17 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,400 Hey, my name is Josh. I'm one of the pastors here at 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,560 Reality. I say this every week, but if I 19 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:09,640 haven't met you yet, I'd love to meet you. 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:11,560 I'd love to get to know you a little bit. 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,280 We are a community, a church that aspires to be, a community 22 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,960 that can really journey together through the highs and the lows. 23 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,640 When things are going great, and also when they're not, to to be 24 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:25,800 there and to show up for each other. 25 00:01:26,330 --> 00:01:30,170 That's what this sermon series is about on these one another 26 00:01:30,170 --> 00:01:34,490 passages of scripture and if you're just checking out reality 27 00:01:34,490 --> 00:01:35,850 today, it would love to talk to you. 28 00:01:35,850 --> 00:01:38,970 Come find me, find the hospitality folk at the table 29 00:01:38,970 --> 00:01:42,010 and we'd love to to share more about the the church and and 30 00:01:42,010 --> 00:01:45,890 help you get plugged in. Well, this morning as has 31 00:01:45,890 --> 00:01:48,770 already been mentioned, we're we're in this series on the one 32 00:01:48,770 --> 00:01:52,830 another passages of Scripture. And specifically, when we say 33 00:01:52,830 --> 00:01:55,670 one another passages, there's this, there's this word that's a 34 00:01:55,670 --> 00:01:58,590 recurring theme throughout the New Testament, that's this Greek 35 00:01:58,590 --> 00:02:02,510 word, alay loan that shows up over and over again and usually 36 00:02:02,510 --> 00:02:04,990 it's translated in one another or each other or something like 37 00:02:04,990 --> 00:02:08,350 that. And when we look at each of 38 00:02:08,350 --> 00:02:12,590 these individual passages, we get a glimpse of 1 aspect of 39 00:02:12,590 --> 00:02:14,830 what it means to be community, one aspect of what it means. 40 00:02:15,350 --> 00:02:18,470 To love one another, You could almost think of it like facets 41 00:02:18,470 --> 00:02:22,030 on a diamond, if the diamond is what it means to actually love. 42 00:02:22,430 --> 00:02:24,750 When we zoom in on these individual facets, we get a 43 00:02:24,750 --> 00:02:28,550 clearer picture of what that looks like in reality. 44 00:02:28,550 --> 00:02:32,550 And so this morning we're considering Paul's charge in one 45 00:02:32,550 --> 00:02:36,710 Corinthians 12/25 to care for one another. 46 00:02:37,630 --> 00:02:39,550 What does it look like to care for each other? 47 00:02:40,670 --> 00:02:42,380 Well. Right off the bat, I should 48 00:02:42,380 --> 00:02:44,780 probably say that I don't think that I am an expert at this. 49 00:02:44,780 --> 00:02:47,540 This is probably not something that is my strong suit, more of 50 00:02:47,540 --> 00:02:50,420 a growth area than a strength area on my part. 51 00:02:51,260 --> 00:02:54,540 I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm like try to be a decent human 52 00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:57,460 and care for other people, but I just, I I don't naturally 53 00:02:57,460 --> 00:03:00,300 gravitate towards care and concern. 54 00:03:00,700 --> 00:03:04,900 In fact, I I notice as I kind of reflect back that my default is. 55 00:03:05,570 --> 00:03:08,650 And I wanna fix problems. And if I can't fix the problem 56 00:03:08,650 --> 00:03:11,530 then I usually go and try and find a problem that I can fix. 57 00:03:11,530 --> 00:03:15,370 That's something that's solvable and I don't. 58 00:03:15,810 --> 00:03:21,850 I've noticed this, for instance, with my toddler Ava, who is a 2 59 00:03:21,850 --> 00:03:24,890 year old right now, and experiencing all of the 60 00:03:24,890 --> 00:03:28,030 terribleness of that. And she will pretty. 61 00:03:28,190 --> 00:03:30,390 I mean she's wonderful most of the time. 62 00:03:30,630 --> 00:03:33,470 And then she has these moments where she just totally loses it. 63 00:03:33,470 --> 00:03:36,990 She melts down, right. And and for me I can engage 64 00:03:36,990 --> 00:03:39,670 those or I noticed that my impulse is to engage those in 65 00:03:39,670 --> 00:03:42,550 one of two ways. Either I want to be like primary 66 00:03:42,550 --> 00:03:46,150 parent caregiver who is helping to resolve the situation or I 67 00:03:46,150 --> 00:03:49,190 want to leave the room, right. There's no there's no in between 68 00:03:49,190 --> 00:03:52,510 like if if if Ali, my wife is is engaging the situation. 69 00:03:53,310 --> 00:03:55,390 I'm like, OK, I'm out of here. I don't want to just stand here 70 00:03:55,390 --> 00:03:58,870 because this is so it's so uncomfortable to be in the in 71 00:03:58,870 --> 00:04:01,670 the in the presence of somebody who's screaming at the top of 72 00:04:01,670 --> 00:04:05,310 their lungs, you know, carefully calibrated to to trigger parents 73 00:04:05,310 --> 00:04:09,150 I think. But this, this, this impulse 74 00:04:09,150 --> 00:04:12,550 shows up in in lots of ways and the more I pay attention, the 75 00:04:12,550 --> 00:04:15,310 more I notice that it's not really how I'd like to be in the 76 00:04:15,310 --> 00:04:17,470 world. I don't think it's that helpful 77 00:04:17,470 --> 00:04:22,029 this impulse to either fix or. Forget a while back, a couple of 78 00:04:22,029 --> 00:04:25,190 my friends who were married were going through just a really 79 00:04:25,190 --> 00:04:29,270 painful chapter in their life. One partner had cheated on the 80 00:04:29,270 --> 00:04:31,230 other and their marriage was in freefall. 81 00:04:31,710 --> 00:04:35,190 They were not doing well and I didn't find out about this 82 00:04:35,270 --> 00:04:37,830 directly through them. I found it out through a mutual 83 00:04:37,830 --> 00:04:41,950 friends who was connected to to both and and so it was one of 84 00:04:41,950 --> 00:04:44,550 these situations where I like I wasn't sure if I was supposed to 85 00:04:44,550 --> 00:04:46,150 know. I thought maybe I wasn't 86 00:04:46,150 --> 00:04:48,950 supposed to know and they didn't know that I knew and. 87 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:54,110 I just, I wasn't sure how to engage the whole situation and 88 00:04:54,110 --> 00:04:56,830 so honestly, mostly I didn't. Right. 89 00:04:56,830 --> 00:05:01,190 I I I would see them in Group settings and just kind of 90 00:05:01,190 --> 00:05:04,230 chitchat and I was like, maybe I should, you know maybe I should 91 00:05:04,350 --> 00:05:06,750 press in and ask. But like I don't want to make it 92 00:05:06,790 --> 00:05:10,510 awkward and I don't want to bring up like a sore subjects. 93 00:05:10,550 --> 00:05:13,310 They haven't shared it with me. Maybe it's best to just keep my 94 00:05:13,310 --> 00:05:18,270 distance and as I reflect back on that I I I think I mostly 95 00:05:18,270 --> 00:05:20,910 flubbed. The situation like it would have 96 00:05:20,910 --> 00:05:24,990 been kinder at some point to to just say, hey, I'm like in the 97 00:05:24,990 --> 00:05:29,270 loop and I care about you and I heard that this thing is going 98 00:05:29,270 --> 00:05:31,670 on and is there any way I can help? 99 00:05:31,950 --> 00:05:33,350 Is there any way I can support you? 100 00:05:34,710 --> 00:05:37,990 I don't know, maybe you found yourself in this situation as 101 00:05:37,990 --> 00:05:41,750 well, where you have this this impulse to either either to fix 102 00:05:41,750 --> 00:05:45,470 a problem or particularly, as is so often the case in life, when 103 00:05:45,470 --> 00:05:48,790 problems feel kind of unfixable to just. 104 00:05:49,410 --> 00:05:52,810 Keep your distance. I know that's true for me and 105 00:05:52,810 --> 00:05:55,730 and maybe you found yourself in a situation where there's a 106 00:05:55,730 --> 00:05:58,770 friend who's struggling with mental health issues or their 107 00:05:58,770 --> 00:06:02,290 sexuality. Maybe it was somebody who you 108 00:06:02,290 --> 00:06:06,170 noticed was in a space with their anger or their drinking 109 00:06:06,170 --> 00:06:09,770 that you looked at the situation and you were like, they seem not 110 00:06:09,770 --> 00:06:12,210 OK, right? It seems like they're not 111 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:14,850 really. Well, it seems like there's some 112 00:06:14,850 --> 00:06:17,290 turmoil and some wrestling happening here and. 113 00:06:18,150 --> 00:06:21,230 And at the same time you were just like, but I don't know what 114 00:06:21,230 --> 00:06:23,150 to say. I certainly don't know how to 115 00:06:23,150 --> 00:06:26,430 fix it. And so you just kind of held, 116 00:06:26,950 --> 00:06:29,030 held your space and stayed on the sidelines. 117 00:06:29,030 --> 00:06:33,350 One of my favorite authors, Henry now and talks about the 118 00:06:33,350 --> 00:06:37,590 challenge of compassion when he says diagnosing. 119 00:06:37,590 --> 00:06:41,590 I think, me mostly what we desire most is to do away with 120 00:06:41,590 --> 00:06:46,550 suffering, by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. 121 00:06:47,170 --> 00:06:50,690 As busy, active, relevant people, we want to earn our 122 00:06:50,690 --> 00:06:53,650 bread by making a real contribution. 123 00:06:54,330 --> 00:06:57,850 This means, first and foremost, doing something to show that our 124 00:06:57,850 --> 00:06:59,690 presence really makes a difference. 125 00:07:01,450 --> 00:07:06,530 It goes on to comment that when we allow ourselves to operate in 126 00:07:06,530 --> 00:07:09,570 this default, that we actually ignore our greater gift, our 127 00:07:09,570 --> 00:07:13,050 greatest gift, which is the opportunity to enter into 128 00:07:13,050 --> 00:07:15,170 solidarity with those who suffer. 129 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,720 I think for many of us, certainly for me, this impulse, 130 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,280 which I'm trying to change for myself, is concerning because it 131 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:31,400 it keeps us for entering in in a way of care with people who are 132 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,040 struggling in one way or another. 133 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,720 In One Corinthians, Paul is speaking to this very issue when 134 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,640 he he challenges the Corinthian believers to care for one 135 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,160 another. And and here in this text in 136 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,800 First Corinthians 12, we're actually dealing with parallel 137 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,800 imagery to to what we talked about in the book of Romans a 138 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,800 couple weeks back when we Paul used the same imagery of of the 139 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,760 church as a body. And once again he he picks up 140 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,120 the same metaphor here comparing the church to a body with all of 141 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,640 these different parts. And and it's in this context 142 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,520 that he calls the Corinthians to care for one another. 143 00:08:11,130 --> 00:08:16,130 If you were to look at a map for the city of Corinth, you would 144 00:08:16,130 --> 00:08:19,530 find that it's kind of right at a crossroads in all sorts of 145 00:08:19,530 --> 00:08:22,330 ways. It divides the northern and 146 00:08:22,330 --> 00:08:26,490 southern parts of Greece, and it also divides the Ionian and the 147 00:08:26,490 --> 00:08:29,240 Aegean Sea. In fact there's just just about 148 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:34,480 5 miles or so of of coast or I'm I'm sorry, of of land on this 149 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,240 isthmus that divides one from the other. 150 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,000 And and Corinth in the time of scripture was known as the 151 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:44,240 master of Two Harbors because it was this place where ships would 152 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,440 literally come in from one side coming from either Asia in the 153 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,080 One Direction or or Rome in the capital in the other direction. 154 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,840 And they would they would dock where they would come into port 155 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,320 on the one side of the city. And they had this crazy 156 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,840 contraption unlike anything else in the the ancient world. 157 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:02,440 It was an ancient version of a railroad. 158 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,960 Essentially they used these pavers and and and beams slicked 159 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,640 with with grease and fat in order to to drop loads of cargo 160 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,200 on them. And then they would push this 161 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,440 cargo across to the other port, sometimes even even pushing 162 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:22,880 small boats over until because of this, as you can imagine, 163 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,350 Corinth was this. This huge hub, it was the IT was 164 00:09:25,350 --> 00:09:28,230 the largest city in Greece and it was a happen in place. 165 00:09:28,470 --> 00:09:31,630 It was the center of commerce and activity kind of like New 166 00:09:31,630 --> 00:09:34,350 York today for just a quick thumbnail example. 167 00:09:34,350 --> 00:09:38,430 And and because of all of this there was a culture in the city 168 00:09:38,430 --> 00:09:43,110 of of going for it like people were ambitious in Corinth. 169 00:09:43,110 --> 00:09:46,710 People came to Corinth to make a name for themselves in order to 170 00:09:46,710 --> 00:09:49,590 get ahead, to get rich, to make it. 171 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:53,530 And and and there was this, this posture of ambition and striving 172 00:09:53,530 --> 00:09:57,170 that was characteristic not only of the city, but in many ways of 173 00:09:57,170 --> 00:10:00,010 the church as well. And we see this posture showing 174 00:10:00,010 --> 00:10:04,170 up again and again throughout Paul's letter to the Corinthians 175 00:10:04,170 --> 00:10:07,810 as he challenges them to go in a different direction, where 176 00:10:07,810 --> 00:10:10,810 instead of kind of measuring themselves against one another 177 00:10:10,810 --> 00:10:13,570 and constantly worrying about their social status and 178 00:10:13,570 --> 00:10:17,370 standing, that they would enter into this alternative kind of 179 00:10:17,370 --> 00:10:19,780 arrangement. And here in First Corinthians 180 00:10:19,780 --> 00:10:23,740 12, this is exactly what Paul is getting at when he urges them as 181 00:10:23,740 --> 00:10:29,500 the body to enter into care and concern for one another, to do 182 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:32,380 so equally in a way of of equity. 183 00:10:33,380 --> 00:10:39,460 And so Paul here challenges the Corinthian believers to to 184 00:10:39,460 --> 00:10:42,060 relate, not based on their status or the flashiest, the 185 00:10:42,060 --> 00:10:45,260 flashiness of their gifts, but just because they are brothers 186 00:10:45,260 --> 00:10:47,460 and sisters in Christ. They're part of the same body. 187 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:53,440 To show up in equity and care. And we find here specifically 188 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,480 these words in in verse 27, that you are the body of Christ, and 189 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,870 each one of you is a part of it. So within the context of these 190 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:04,470 imagery, there's two words in particular that I want to key in 191 00:11:04,470 --> 00:11:07,630 on this morning and they both come just two verses before that 192 00:11:07,630 --> 00:11:09,830 in verse 25. The first one will be no 193 00:11:09,830 --> 00:11:11,870 surprise to anybody who's been here throughout this series. 194 00:11:11,870 --> 00:11:15,350 It's kind of our signature word for the series, A Lay alone, 195 00:11:15,670 --> 00:11:18,510 which is translated in verse 25 as each other. 196 00:11:18,910 --> 00:11:21,350 But just before that we find this word translated. 197 00:11:21,350 --> 00:11:24,910 Depending on the translation you have in front of you as concern, 198 00:11:25,510 --> 00:11:30,150 or in some cases the the Nasby, the ESV render it as care. 199 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,600 And this word for concern here can can mean any of these 200 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:34,800 things. It can mean care. 201 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,240 It can mean attention, it can mean concern. 202 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,160 But it has this idea of being attentive to the concern of one 203 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,360 another and rendering support in some way. 204 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,120 Paul goes on to say in the very next verse and verse 26, that if 205 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,880 anybody is experiencing high in the community, we should and we 206 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,520 should come alongside them and rejoice with them. 207 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,880 Someone in the community is experiencing suffering. 208 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,480 If they're down, they're going through a hard space. 209 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,520 We should again come alongside them and be willing to enter 210 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,040 into suffering with them as well. 211 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,320 Over the past few years, I've become increasingly appreciative 212 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,240 of the friends in my life who do this. 213 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,160 It's part of what has sparked this journey for me of beginning 214 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,400 to push back on some of the the the illustrations that I used 215 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,440 earlier to. To try and more effectively show 216 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,400 up for folks in a in a deeper way. 217 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,120 But one story really stands out is my friend Cassandra. 218 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,040 Shortly after Ally and I discovered that we were 219 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,000 expecting our our first child, We were telling some of our 220 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,760 close friends and we were at out to dinner with Cassandra and 221 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,760 Ally kind of, I don't know, in an understated way, almost 222 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,520 sheepishly shared. Well, you know, like. 223 00:12:55,670 --> 00:12:59,910 Found out some stuff and seems like we're pregnant, like going 224 00:12:59,910 --> 00:13:03,830 to have a kid and Cassandra responded. 225 00:13:04,670 --> 00:13:07,550 First of all, I think it was like this slow motion effect for 226 00:13:07,550 --> 00:13:11,110 me, but her entire face just like started to glow and she let 227 00:13:11,110 --> 00:13:15,390 out this incredibly joyful shriek that I'm pretty sure 228 00:13:15,390 --> 00:13:17,270 everyone in the entire restaurant heard. 229 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,040 And you could just see heads turning all around like what is 230 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:26,920 going on And she was just like so excited, you know it was an 231 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,040 excitement that at that point I think felt too vulnerable, 232 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,280 almost too risky even for us to to fully state even though part 233 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,120 of us was feeling that. But Cassandra entered, entered 234 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,080 into the joy like no holds barred. 235 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,220 She was just fully in it. And it actually allowed us to 236 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:46,060 enter into that, that joy and the delight, that excitement 237 00:13:46,060 --> 00:13:47,980 that we were experiencing as well. 238 00:13:47,980 --> 00:13:52,700 But you know, it is difficult sometimes, at least for me, 239 00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:55,300 maybe not for you, but it's difficult sometimes to let 240 00:13:55,300 --> 00:13:59,940 yourself really enter into the joy of another person, to to 241 00:13:59,940 --> 00:14:04,020 fully experience it, and even more so I think, to enter into 242 00:14:04,540 --> 00:14:09,490 suffering. One afternoon in May of this 243 00:14:09,490 --> 00:14:12,490 year, Sarah, who's a member of one of our Dorchester micro 244 00:14:12,490 --> 00:14:16,530 churches, received the the shocking news that her nephew 245 00:14:16,530 --> 00:14:22,810 had found her sister dead and Sarah was, as you would imagine, 246 00:14:23,010 --> 00:14:25,730 devastated. The news caught her totally by 247 00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:28,370 surprise. Her sister was young and 248 00:14:28,370 --> 00:14:32,130 healthy, and there was no reason to expect that anything like 249 00:14:32,130 --> 00:14:36,650 this might happen. Her sister and former husband 250 00:14:36,650 --> 00:14:40,890 both lived in Georgia, and Sarah here in in Boston just really 251 00:14:40,890 --> 00:14:44,210 wasn't sure what to do with herself or or how to even be in 252 00:14:44,210 --> 00:14:46,010 the wake of such devastating news. 253 00:14:46,730 --> 00:14:48,930 In the days that would follow, she would connect with her 254 00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:51,730 family in New Hampshire and of course travel to the funeral in 255 00:14:51,730 --> 00:14:54,290 Georgia. But but in the immediate wake of 256 00:14:54,290 --> 00:14:57,330 the news, she didn't know what to do or or where to turn. 257 00:14:59,010 --> 00:15:01,730 And so one thing she did was she she messaged our our micro 258 00:15:01,730 --> 00:15:04,690 church thread. And just basically broke the 259 00:15:04,690 --> 00:15:07,130 news and said, hey, this is what's going on, could you pray 260 00:15:07,170 --> 00:15:12,210 for my family? And I was totally unhelpful. 261 00:15:12,370 --> 00:15:18,210 I was in Montana with Rashad 100% off grade at the time but 262 00:15:18,210 --> 00:15:20,810 other people weren't. Other people were present and 263 00:15:20,810 --> 00:15:24,050 and one member of our community in particular responded with not 264 00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:28,290 just, you know, the thoughts and prayers, but really said, hey 265 00:15:29,170 --> 00:15:32,210 Sarah, is there is there any way that we could be with you in 266 00:15:32,210 --> 00:15:35,270 this time? Like, could somebody drive you 267 00:15:35,270 --> 00:15:36,630 somewhere? Do you want? 268 00:15:36,630 --> 00:15:38,870 Like, yes, we're praying for you, but could we, could we get 269 00:15:38,870 --> 00:15:41,790 on the phone or could we could we get on a Zoom or could we 270 00:15:41,790 --> 00:15:43,270 come to your house to pray with you? 271 00:15:44,150 --> 00:15:47,390 Like, is there anything that we could do to to support you, even 272 00:15:47,390 --> 00:15:50,110 if it's doesn't seem like a big, like, we'll just come and be 273 00:15:50,110 --> 00:15:53,270 with you. And Sarah initially was 274 00:15:53,270 --> 00:15:55,310 hesitant. It felt like an imposition. 275 00:15:55,310 --> 00:15:58,270 It was a work day. Everybody in the group had jobs 276 00:15:58,270 --> 00:16:00,030 and, you know, all that kind of stuff. 277 00:16:01,630 --> 00:16:04,270 But in a conversation with her uncle, he really encouraged her 278 00:16:04,270 --> 00:16:06,710 to lean into the support system that she had. 279 00:16:06,710 --> 00:16:10,150 And so, with some trepidation, Sarah reached out and said, hey, 280 00:16:10,150 --> 00:16:12,390 yeah, like it'd actually be great. 281 00:16:12,670 --> 00:16:16,470 I'm slammed with this project for my floral business right 282 00:16:16,470 --> 00:16:19,470 now. I'm really not doing very well. 283 00:16:19,830 --> 00:16:22,990 If there's anybody who just has bandwidth to just come and be, 284 00:16:23,910 --> 00:16:27,670 I'd welcome that. Didn't even take a minute for 285 00:16:28,030 --> 00:16:30,390 the first person to respond on you from our community 286 00:16:30,390 --> 00:16:32,440 immediately. Dropped what she was doing, 287 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,080 messaged Sarah and was on her way to Easty. 288 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,360 Maggie, another member of our community, was right behind. 289 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,720 And so they went and they showed up and they sat with Sarah on 290 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,120 the floor. I think they hauled some 291 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,760 bouquets around, even went on a couple of deliveries for her 292 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:54,520 business, but mostly they just tried and hung out and were 293 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,040 present. The next day, another member of 294 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,960 our community, Julia, showed up and did the same thing. 295 00:17:01,390 --> 00:17:04,069 When I was debriefing this experience with Sarah more 296 00:17:04,069 --> 00:17:07,430 recently, she named that, you know, there were lots of things 297 00:17:07,430 --> 00:17:09,190 that were helpful about the experience. 298 00:17:09,190 --> 00:17:12,390 It was helpful to get some help with this project that she would 299 00:17:12,390 --> 00:17:14,869 not have gotten through for her business otherwise. 300 00:17:14,869 --> 00:17:18,589 It was really helpful to to get a check from the group to help 301 00:17:18,589 --> 00:17:20,950 offset the travel costs and some lost income. 302 00:17:21,950 --> 00:17:24,069 But the thing that she highlighted more than anything 303 00:17:24,069 --> 00:17:26,630 was just the fact that people were willing to move their 304 00:17:26,630 --> 00:17:30,870 schedule around to come and just be with her, to just. 305 00:17:31,450 --> 00:17:36,890 Be present, Her community shared her, concerned. 306 00:17:37,930 --> 00:17:40,730 It wasn't just something that Sarah was navigating, but they 307 00:17:40,730 --> 00:17:44,930 took it on and said if you are suffering, I want to be with you 308 00:17:44,970 --> 00:17:48,610 in that, even if that means suffering as well. 309 00:17:49,650 --> 00:17:51,370 They were willing to pay attention. 310 00:17:52,650 --> 00:17:56,530 And isn't this an interesting, even way of talking about 311 00:17:56,530 --> 00:17:59,170 things? In the English language, we we 312 00:17:59,170 --> 00:18:05,250 say that we pay attention. We don't bring attention or 313 00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:08,250 center attention or even manage attention. 314 00:18:08,250 --> 00:18:13,490 We pay attention. And of course, this suggests 315 00:18:13,490 --> 00:18:17,570 that to to pay attention involves a cost, right? 316 00:18:17,570 --> 00:18:19,130 There's a cost to paying attention. 317 00:18:20,210 --> 00:18:22,730 It it means that we are devoting a very limited and scarce 318 00:18:22,730 --> 00:18:27,240 resource to something. It could be going somewhere else 319 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,520 instead, right? When you pay attention to 320 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,280 anyone, you enter in with that person. 321 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,360 You you, you say no to other things, you foreclose other 322 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:40,440 possibilities that we have limited presence even in this 323 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,920 world of zoom and avatars like you can only be in one place at 324 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,160 the same time. You can only be really truly 325 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:53,400 present to one place or one person at a given time. 326 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,900 And. For both on Ye and Maggie, I 327 00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:00,820 mean a scientist and a lawyer in Boston, they got stuff going on. 328 00:19:01,540 --> 00:19:03,820 There are other things in their calendars and schedule. 329 00:19:03,820 --> 00:19:09,620 But when their friends had a concern, a moment of suffering, 330 00:19:09,620 --> 00:19:12,380 they said, hey, we share that concern and we're willing to 331 00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:16,260 drop what we have going on and to pay attention to enter in 332 00:19:16,260 --> 00:19:19,860 with you. Friends, I love this because not 333 00:19:19,860 --> 00:19:23,860 only I think is it a beautiful example of what we see Paul's 334 00:19:23,860 --> 00:19:27,700 inviting us to here in One Corinthians, but but also 335 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:30,940 because this is what Jesus did for us, right? 336 00:19:32,780 --> 00:19:38,820 Jesus healed us not from some distant and abstract theological 337 00:19:38,820 --> 00:19:41,540 transaction that happened in God's accounting software 338 00:19:41,540 --> 00:19:45,580 somewhere, but but he came to actually be with us. 339 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:51,040 This whole redemptive journey started with incarnation in 340 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,760 fleshman, him being willing to come and just be with us. 341 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,760 And so our God is named Emmanuelle, the God who is with 342 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:05,960 us and sometimes friends. I think that for one reason or 343 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:11,440 another, we we fail to follow the lead of this Jesus when 344 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,440 there are concerns that present themselves. 345 00:20:14,510 --> 00:20:17,390 You know, one of the things that I find most just transfixing and 346 00:20:17,390 --> 00:20:21,150 amazing about Jesus are the stories in his life where he 347 00:20:21,150 --> 00:20:25,830 showed up for people and he didn't really do anything. 348 00:20:26,630 --> 00:20:28,990 Right now there are lots of stories in which Jesus came up 349 00:20:28,990 --> 00:20:31,910 and you know, this God, he had lots of supernatural powers and 350 00:20:31,910 --> 00:20:34,190 cool stuff going on. So there were lots of moments 351 00:20:34,190 --> 00:20:37,070 where he, you know, created bread for the whole multitude or 352 00:20:37,070 --> 00:20:39,110 or or storm like calm the storm on the sea. 353 00:20:39,110 --> 00:20:40,470 But there were also these moments. 354 00:20:41,110 --> 00:20:46,860 Moments like with Zakhias, somebody who was a traitor to 355 00:20:46,860 --> 00:20:51,060 his community, ostracized and excluded because of the ways 356 00:20:51,060 --> 00:20:55,180 that he had oppressed others, and an outcast either either 357 00:20:55,180 --> 00:21:00,700 from a place of fear or disdain. And Jesus, encountering Zachius, 358 00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:03,260 invites himself over to the guy's house for lunch. 359 00:21:04,820 --> 00:21:07,500 He just enters in. The scripture doesn't even 360 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:10,500 really tell us anything that Jesus does or says. 361 00:21:11,300 --> 00:21:14,510 He just shows up. He's just present. 362 00:21:15,310 --> 00:21:18,110 And friends, I'd suggest to you that there is something about 363 00:21:18,110 --> 00:21:19,790 our presence. There is something about our 364 00:21:19,790 --> 00:21:24,390 attention, our care, that when we extend it to one another is 365 00:21:24,430 --> 00:21:28,230 in and of itself healing. But this is a struggle, isn't 366 00:21:28,230 --> 00:21:29,790 it? It's it's a struggle to believe 367 00:21:29,790 --> 00:21:32,910 this when when we don't have anything that we can do to fix 368 00:21:32,910 --> 00:21:36,310 it or resolve it. In fact, as I was talking this 369 00:21:36,310 --> 00:21:40,590 week with Maggie about kind of the internal turmoil she 370 00:21:40,590 --> 00:21:43,960 navigated as she I went to show up with Maggie or with with 371 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,880 Sarah. She said, you know, I had this 372 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,080 impulse of like I'd like should do something like, is there some 373 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:51,920 way I can help? Is there something I can do? 374 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,440 And it was really challenging for me to just kind of sit there 375 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,240 and just be. It felt like I wasn't actually 376 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:03,680 accomplishing anything. But I remember the story of Mary 377 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,960 and Martha from the life of Jesus and and thought maybe 378 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,960 maybe this is it, maybe I'm supposed to just be here. 379 00:22:11,950 --> 00:22:17,790 Friends, I think when we bring our attention to extend care and 380 00:22:17,790 --> 00:22:21,590 compassion to others, we beautiful model beautifully, 381 00:22:21,590 --> 00:22:25,390 model not only what it is to be the body, but what it is to walk 382 00:22:25,390 --> 00:22:28,710 in the way of Jesus. The French philosopher Simone 383 00:22:28,710 --> 00:22:33,350 Wheel once said attention is the rarest and purest form of 384 00:22:33,510 --> 00:22:36,590 generosity. Attention is the rarest and 385 00:22:36,590 --> 00:22:41,110 purest form of generosity, and what a gift it is to actually 386 00:22:41,630 --> 00:22:46,070 attend to one another. I'm grateful to say that we're a 387 00:22:46,070 --> 00:22:48,750 community that I think in a lot of ways already does this really 388 00:22:48,750 --> 00:22:51,470 well. I I told one story this morning, 389 00:22:51,470 --> 00:22:53,950 but there are countless others that we could tell. 390 00:22:54,510 --> 00:22:58,950 I know you all have rallied to provide meal trains for folks 391 00:22:58,950 --> 00:23:03,110 after they've had kids. Talking with Mandy last week, it 392 00:23:03,110 --> 00:23:05,590 was interesting to to discover that sometimes the people 393 00:23:05,590 --> 00:23:07,910 organizing the meal trains weren't even people who like 394 00:23:07,910 --> 00:23:11,370 we're friends with the people who needed the help, right? 395 00:23:11,370 --> 00:23:15,250 What a beautiful expression of community and and so many other 396 00:23:15,250 --> 00:23:19,290 ways, whether it's packing bags and and and preparing gifts for 397 00:23:19,290 --> 00:23:22,010 BPS teachers. Whether it's just calling to 398 00:23:22,010 --> 00:23:25,370 check in on somebody, whether it's raising money or or giving 399 00:23:25,570 --> 00:23:28,570 funds to support and generosity. There's so many ways in which 400 00:23:28,570 --> 00:23:32,250 our community does and continues to show up for one another. 401 00:23:33,130 --> 00:23:36,690 And this morning, I really want us to consider maybe what is 402 00:23:36,690 --> 00:23:41,760 that next step for each of us to bring attention to bear and to 403 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,280 enter into, to solidarity with one another. 404 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,480 And in order to continue into this, this next section of our 405 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,880 time together, I want to invite us to actually practice 406 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,320 something. We're gonna do an exercise, so 407 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,800 we're gonna be experiential this morning, just letting you know 408 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,200 now so you can begin to brace yourself for talking with other 409 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,440 people. But, you know, it's so 410 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,230 interesting. There are these concepts like 411 00:24:07,230 --> 00:24:09,750 care, which are honestly so simple, like even figuring out 412 00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:11,670 what am I going to stand up here and talk for 20 minutes about 413 00:24:11,670 --> 00:24:13,790 care. It's kind of like, it's obvious, 414 00:24:13,790 --> 00:24:15,270 right? We all know what it means to 415 00:24:15,270 --> 00:24:16,390 care for each other. It's not. 416 00:24:16,390 --> 00:24:20,310 It's not hard to imagine it, but but so often, for one reason or 417 00:24:20,310 --> 00:24:23,950 another, because of our own anxiety or not being sure how to 418 00:24:23,950 --> 00:24:27,430 show up or our own discomfort, we stopped short of actually 419 00:24:27,430 --> 00:24:30,350 doing. And so we're going to, in a 420 00:24:30,350 --> 00:24:33,510 moment create a very small opportunity, a window to 421 00:24:33,510 --> 00:24:37,850 actually practice care for one another for the people seated 422 00:24:37,850 --> 00:24:39,970 next to you or near you in the space today. 423 00:24:40,970 --> 00:24:43,890 But before that, I I want to invite you to just reflect for a 424 00:24:43,890 --> 00:24:49,290 moment, what is, what does care look like for you in your own 425 00:24:49,290 --> 00:24:52,690 life? Some of you I know are are 426 00:24:52,690 --> 00:24:56,090 knocking this out of the park like you default to checking in 427 00:24:56,090 --> 00:24:58,570 on people to showing up when there's a need. 428 00:24:59,170 --> 00:25:02,170 You naturally step in and and care really well, and some of 429 00:25:02,170 --> 00:25:05,560 you, perhaps a little bit more like myself, end up getting 430 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,160 taken out for one reason or another. 431 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,000 Either you're running so fast that you don't even notice, or 432 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,480 or don't have time to pivot into something. 433 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,520 Don't make the time to pivot into something. 434 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,320 Perhaps for some of us, the biggest problem is really just 435 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,640 not being in deep enough community. 436 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,120 You know, as I've kind of catalog, where do I see examples 437 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,580 of this kind of care happening most often? 438 00:25:30,580 --> 00:25:33,580 I've noticed that they happen in in relational community, right. 439 00:25:33,580 --> 00:25:36,540 They happen when we know each other, when we have the kinds of 440 00:25:36,540 --> 00:25:39,460 relationships where we feel like we can trust each other boldly 441 00:25:39,460 --> 00:25:43,020 enough to actually let each other know what's going on and 442 00:25:43,020 --> 00:25:46,820 when there's a beginning to be a culture of of that kind of care 443 00:25:46,820 --> 00:25:48,340 and generosity. It's been interesting. 444 00:25:48,340 --> 00:25:51,580 In the same group that that Sarah rendered, you know, 445 00:25:51,660 --> 00:25:54,500 expressed this need and and saw this influx of care. 446 00:25:54,740 --> 00:25:57,340 Just a month before that there was another instance and and a 447 00:25:57,340 --> 00:25:59,460 couple weeks after that there was another instance. 448 00:25:59,460 --> 00:26:03,170 And you know, I think sometimes when we begin to develop a 449 00:26:03,170 --> 00:26:06,730 culture where this is the norm, where we can count on one 450 00:26:06,730 --> 00:26:09,330 another, then we continue counting on one another. 451 00:26:10,370 --> 00:26:13,090 And so maybe for you the invitation this morning is just 452 00:26:13,090 --> 00:26:15,730 to say Pen, who are those people? 453 00:26:16,530 --> 00:26:19,010 Maybe it's a a community group or a micro church here at 454 00:26:19,010 --> 00:26:20,770 Reality, maybe it's some other structure. 455 00:26:20,770 --> 00:26:24,810 But I'm convinced that in order for us to to really live in the 456 00:26:24,810 --> 00:26:30,740 way of Jesus and press into the kind of one another imagination 457 00:26:30,740 --> 00:26:33,860 for church that the New Testament give us, we have to be 458 00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:36,700 in these kind of thick relationships with other 459 00:26:36,700 --> 00:26:39,420 Christians. So where do those relationships 460 00:26:39,420 --> 00:26:41,580 exist in your life? And and if they don't, no 461 00:26:41,580 --> 00:26:43,820 problem. But where might you begin to 462 00:26:43,820 --> 00:26:47,780 cultivate them, to begin to experience and have that for 463 00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:52,100 yourself and be able to share it with others, maybe for you. 464 00:26:52,100 --> 00:26:54,940 The problem is kind of more internal, the conversations. 465 00:26:54,940 --> 00:26:56,180 I don't want to be an imposition. 466 00:26:56,180 --> 00:26:59,730 I don't want to make things weird and it's just a matter of 467 00:26:59,730 --> 00:27:02,930 courage, of stepping in and saying, you know, I'm willing to 468 00:27:02,930 --> 00:27:06,290 be a little bit awkward in order to take a chance on extending 469 00:27:06,290 --> 00:27:10,090 love to someone else. All right? 470 00:27:10,690 --> 00:27:13,730 As we reflect on that this morning, I'm going to invite you 471 00:27:13,730 --> 00:27:16,170 into this exercise and this is how it's going to work. 472 00:27:16,170 --> 00:27:21,610 So first step is for everyone here to find one or perhaps two 473 00:27:21,650 --> 00:27:24,410 other people, preferably 1-2 if you need. 474 00:27:24,860 --> 00:27:26,740 And bonus points if it's somebody that you're not, like, 475 00:27:26,740 --> 00:27:28,620 super connected with. A lot of you are sitting with 476 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:32,420 your bestie or your partner or something like that, so you get 477 00:27:32,420 --> 00:27:34,180 bonus points if you if you skip out. 478 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:36,060 But there's no pressure. There's not a right way to do 479 00:27:36,060 --> 00:27:37,700 this. You can have an experience of 480 00:27:37,700 --> 00:27:39,980 care with whoever you're at. So I'm just going to give us a 481 00:27:39,980 --> 00:27:42,900 minute to shuffle. But everybody needs to find one 482 00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:46,420 or perhaps two other people in order to participate in this 483 00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:48,020 exercise. OK, all right. 484 00:27:48,020 --> 00:27:54,370 So shuffling commence. All right, so now for the 485 00:27:54,370 --> 00:27:56,610 purpose of this exercise, you're both going to participate, but 486 00:27:56,610 --> 00:27:59,610 you are going to participate differently, OK? 487 00:28:00,050 --> 00:28:03,610 In each group, there's going to be one person who is a speaker 488 00:28:04,370 --> 00:28:06,370 and one. Or if you're in a group with 489 00:28:06,370 --> 00:28:09,450 three, perhaps two people who are a listener. 490 00:28:10,010 --> 00:28:13,690 OK? And for both of you, this is an 491 00:28:13,690 --> 00:28:16,770 opportunity to to practice exactly what we're talking 492 00:28:16,770 --> 00:28:19,250 about, to enter into community and care. 493 00:28:20,420 --> 00:28:24,500 If you're the speaker, you're going to respond to this prompt 494 00:28:24,860 --> 00:28:27,260 and you can do it at whatever level of depth you feel 495 00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:29,740 comfortable with. There's no right way of doing 496 00:28:29,740 --> 00:28:31,260 this. But the prompt that you're going 497 00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:34,740 to answer is what is one thing you've been concerned about 498 00:28:34,740 --> 00:28:36,660 lately? What's one thing that you've 499 00:28:36,660 --> 00:28:39,580 been concerned about lately? OK, So you're just going to 500 00:28:39,580 --> 00:28:42,860 share one thing that you've been concerned about lately with your 501 00:28:42,860 --> 00:28:48,100 partner. And if you're the partner, this 502 00:28:48,100 --> 00:28:54,210 is really hard. You're only going to listen, All 503 00:28:54,210 --> 00:28:56,250 right? That means that we don't 504 00:28:56,690 --> 00:29:01,810 immediately jump off to tell the person about the one time when I 505 00:29:01,810 --> 00:29:04,850 had a similar experience that was like what you're telling me. 506 00:29:05,010 --> 00:29:07,890 But even better, right? It means that we don't 507 00:29:08,090 --> 00:29:10,890 immediately jump in with the resources that we know or the 508 00:29:10,890 --> 00:29:14,090 advice that we have or or the suggestions. 509 00:29:14,370 --> 00:29:16,650 You're just going to listen. In fact, there's only really one 510 00:29:16,650 --> 00:29:18,330 thing that I'm going to allow you to say for the purpose of 511 00:29:18,330 --> 00:29:22,920 this exercise, and that is some variation of tell me more. 512 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,320 OK, so you'd say tell me more about a specific part of what 513 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:29,280 they're asking or just about the whole thing. 514 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,680 But basically, we're going to take 4 minutes for this. 515 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,960 And if you're the listener, the only thing you're allowed to say 516 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:35,960 is tell me more. OK, Some of you have been 517 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,840 waiting for this. You're like, ah, I can say 518 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,920 something uninterrupted, All right. 519 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:47,140 And if you're the speaker, let me invite you to Again, feel 520 00:29:47,140 --> 00:29:49,300 free to jump in at whatever level is comfortable for you. 521 00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:53,020 But if there is something that's on your heart, consider whether 522 00:29:53,020 --> 00:29:55,020 this might actually be a gift, right? 523 00:29:55,020 --> 00:29:57,100 You don't have to go all the way to the deep end. 524 00:29:57,500 --> 00:29:59,380 Please don't share anything that's wildly inappropriate. 525 00:30:01,180 --> 00:30:04,380 But yeah, let people know what's what's real for you, this 526 00:30:04,380 --> 00:30:08,060 person, as they attempt to enter in and care and concern for you. 527 00:30:08,740 --> 00:30:11,500 All right, so the speaker attentive listening. 528 00:30:11,500 --> 00:30:16,370 Kim's gonna play some music underneath, and and my last 529 00:30:16,370 --> 00:30:20,610 invitation to you is as you navigate this brief conversation 530 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:24,730 between the two of you, just notice your experience, Notice 531 00:30:24,730 --> 00:30:28,850 how it is to share or to listen to another human. 532 00:30:29,250 --> 00:30:32,810 All right, so the question once more is what's one thing that 533 00:30:32,810 --> 00:30:34,410 you've been concerned about lately? 534 00:30:34,770 --> 00:30:48,580 Begin. All right. 535 00:30:48,580 --> 00:30:51,260 Thank you. Thank you. 536 00:30:54,180 --> 00:31:03,200 Thank you, friends. I wasn't in your conversations, 537 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,320 but I heard some laughter. I observed some tears. 538 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:14,080 Now, isn't it interesting that so often, I mean, we come to 539 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,160 church. We dress up. 540 00:31:17,510 --> 00:31:19,310 People say how you doing? We say good. 541 00:31:23,190 --> 00:31:25,990 They're suffering all around us, right? 542 00:31:25,990 --> 00:31:31,670 I mean, sometimes we feel it more than others, but people 543 00:31:31,670 --> 00:31:33,630 here are navigating real concerns. 544 00:31:35,910 --> 00:31:37,590 Are we the kind of people who know? 545 00:31:39,150 --> 00:31:40,590 Are we the kind of people who share? 546 00:31:42,150 --> 00:31:47,480 And if not, how might we take a step towards more deeply 547 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,480 embodying the kind of gospel community that Jesus invites us 548 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:54,720 to, that Paul writes about? I'm curious. 549 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,600 I'm gonna take just a moment, but I'm curious if there's one 550 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:03,320 or two people who just on the spot impromptu, noticed 551 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:08,160 something in this experience, whether of sharing or listening 552 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,080 and and being present to your your partner, that you'd be up 553 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,240 for. Sharon, just coming up on the 554 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,600 mic. One sentence or two real quick. 555 00:32:16,490 --> 00:32:18,090 If everybody's uncomfortable, we can keep moving. 556 00:32:22,770 --> 00:32:25,450 Hey, yeah, introduce yourself and just share. 557 00:32:25,570 --> 00:32:27,050 Introduce yourself and just share what you noticed. 558 00:32:27,450 --> 00:32:28,890 Hi everyone. My name is Trish. 559 00:32:29,250 --> 00:32:32,450 I was speaking with Emma and I was the listener. 560 00:32:33,850 --> 00:32:37,850 And I think one thing that was really hard about being silent 561 00:32:37,850 --> 00:32:42,610 was wanting to let the other person know and affirm them that 562 00:32:42,610 --> 00:32:44,610 I'm like, hearing what they're saying. 563 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,200 Yeah. So it was really hard not to, 564 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,600 like, ask followup questions. And I ended up leaning into that 565 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,800 anyway. But yeah, it's, it's hard to be 566 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:59,240 a listener because already your mind is like, oh, you could do 567 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,560 this or that. And like, yeah, drawing away 568 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,280 from that is really tough, but I think it was a better experience 569 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,000 because then you can hear more about the other person. 570 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,080 So, yeah, yeah. Thanks so much, Trish. 571 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,400 Yeah. Anybody else One more, just 572 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:26,350 something you notice please. Hey, thanks. 573 00:33:26,590 --> 00:33:28,070 Just introduce yourself and share what you noticed. 574 00:33:28,710 --> 00:33:34,230 Hi, my name is Ray and I had the pleasure of being listened to by 575 00:33:34,230 --> 00:33:38,590 Sam as I spoke and what was really powerful was just his 576 00:33:39,110 --> 00:33:42,150 question asking me to tell me more about an aspect of what I 577 00:33:42,150 --> 00:33:47,430 had shared was so. Powerful for me because it 578 00:33:47,430 --> 00:33:51,110 really meant he cared in a way that him saying he cared for me 579 00:33:51,150 --> 00:33:52,510 couldn't do. Like his. 580 00:33:52,510 --> 00:33:54,190 It was deeper than just hey, I care for. 581 00:33:54,350 --> 00:33:56,950 It was just like, oh, you want me to go deeper into what I am 582 00:33:56,950 --> 00:33:59,030 ready to shut up about Because you probably are getting bored 583 00:33:59,030 --> 00:34:01,310 to tears by what I'm saying. But no, you want more. 584 00:34:01,550 --> 00:34:03,270 But really powerful. Awesome. 585 00:34:03,430 --> 00:34:04,470 Thank you. Thank you. 586 00:34:05,390 --> 00:34:10,190 Yeah, Friends, the the worship team is gonna gonna come up and 587 00:34:10,190 --> 00:34:14,710 we're gonna enter into kind of a extended time of of response now 588 00:34:14,710 --> 00:34:17,790 as we consider this. But again, just invite you to 589 00:34:17,790 --> 00:34:21,270 consider what are some of those ways perhaps that that you 590 00:34:21,270 --> 00:34:25,070 filter rather than sharing what's really true for you or 591 00:34:25,070 --> 00:34:29,790 that you interrupt other people in various ways or or don't show 592 00:34:29,989 --> 00:34:33,909 attention and care. David Augsburger has this quote 593 00:34:33,909 --> 00:34:37,230 that I love. He said being heard is so close 594 00:34:37,230 --> 00:34:40,830 to being loved that for the average person, they're almost 595 00:34:40,830 --> 00:34:45,590 indistinguishable. Being heard is so close to being 596 00:34:45,590 --> 00:34:48,550 loved that they're almost indistinguishable. 597 00:34:50,070 --> 00:34:51,710 Friends. What might it look like if we 598 00:34:51,710 --> 00:34:55,389 were to love one another as we extend care? 599 00:34:55,790 --> 00:34:58,430 Hey, the carpets are going to be open as the music plays. 600 00:34:59,150 --> 00:35:03,630 These are sacred spaces just for you to to enter into a dialogue 601 00:35:03,630 --> 00:35:05,390 with God about what you're noticing. 602 00:35:06,710 --> 00:35:10,310 Maybe you need to receive care this morning and, and if that's 603 00:35:10,310 --> 00:35:14,600 true, I'm going to be up here. Mandy can be available, and we'd 604 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:19,760 love to just pray with you, but consider what might God be 605 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:24,880 inviting you into as we seek to be a community that cares well 606 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:25,400 for one another?