Matthew 22 - Sincere

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0:12 Alright, well good morning, it's great to be with you all. Again, my name is Blake and usually you'll find me on a Sunday morning at Resurrection Church which is in Sanford. That's where Pastor Ben is. But I'm excited to be with you all. I once heard that you are not friends with somebody until you know their birthday. So my birthday is May 11th and I would love to hear all of your birthdays on the count of three. One, two, three. Got them all. Got them all. I do like coffee a lot, I like Target, I do really like Air Jordans even though I'm not

0:46 wearing them. You don't have to give me anything for my birthday though. We just became friends so it's okay. So this morning though, we are diving into the value of sincere. We're continuing in our journey of the values within the network and they are adventurous, collaborative, focused and sincere. The reason that we're going to be looking at this value is because Jesus won over skeptics for gave accusers, healed the sick, fed the hungry and we likewise engage in the world

1:18 with sincerity and kindness. So I got a question for you this morning. When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? How many of you it was in within the last week? You wrote a handwritten letter. Okay? Wow, that's more than I expected. How many of you within the last month a handwritten letter? Okay? Six months? What about the last year? I hope you've written one within the last year. Okay?

1:49 Some hands go up there. Well I think that writing letters is something we don't do enough. I would encourage you to go and write a handwritten letter this week. But back when I was in second grade, I had the lovely assignment of having a pen pal. Did any of you have a pen pal back when you were in grade school? Okay. So I was in second grade and we would write to another second grader and it was usually nothing of substance. It was like, hey, do you have a dog? What colors your hair? What does your school look like? What does your teacher like?

2:20 And so we would write to our pen pals and my poor pen pal had to read through my poor grammar in my terrible handwriting. But somehow they understood what it was. Anyways, at the end of this letter, I would sign it sincerely Blake. Now there were two issues with this. The first was that I could never spell sincerely right? That was the first issue. The second issue was that I had no idea what it meant.

2:53 All that I knew is that my letter wasn't complete unless I had sincerely Blake. So now that I'm not in second grade anymore, I do know what sincere means. Just as a refresher for us this morning from Miriam Webster, this is what sincere is defined as having or showing true feelings that are expressed in an honest way, genuine or real, false, fake or pretended, honest, pure and true.

3:29 When hearing this definition, it's a no brainer as to why this is one of our values. I mean, when you think about who Jesus is himself, he is the most honest, pure and true person that we know, that we read about and that we get to engage with. And even within ourselves, we want to be that right? We want to be honest, pure and true. I've never met a person in my life who has said, I really wish I wasn't an honest, pure, true person. As a matter of fact, it's always been the opposite when even for myself, when I'm not

4:00 honest, when I'm not pure, when I'm not true, I somehow try to justify how I'm one of the most honest, pure and true people that I know, which isn't true. But it's one thing to hear about what sincere is, and it's another thing for us to see and observe how Jesus lived this out. So church this morning, I just want to remind you that we serve a sincere God. The God who cares about the creation that he has made and that he is designed in Genesis,

4:35 we look back, everything that he has created, it was with purpose and intention. Of course, then Genesis 3 happens, the fall happens. But God doesn't stop being sincere. Although things look just a little bit different, as he sends Adam and Eve out of the garden, he still does something very incredible. He shows grace and forgiveness to them. In Genesis 3.21, this is what it says in the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife,

5:06 garments of skins and clothes them. God was still sincere in his love, even after the fall. However, things just now look a little bit different. That is until Jesus arrives on the scene and it is in Christ that we see the fullness of God's sincere love for his creation restored. God's love brought to earth to teach many different things, but to also be a living example of what it means to be sincere.

5:39 In my morning devotions, I am currently reading through the book of Matthew. In Matthew 22, it comes on the heels of Matthew 21, which is the triumphal entry, also known as Palm Sunday. Jesus cleanses the temple and then he is speaking in a couple of parables because he loves to do that. And then we see in Matthew 22, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they try to trick Jesus. They try to trip him up a little bit. They try to expose him to what it is that they want people to believe about him.

6:15 Matthew 22, 15 and 16, if you have your Bibles, I would encourage you to turn to that with me, says this, then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him and his words and they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodian saying, teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully and you do not care about anyone's opinion for you are not swayed by appearances. So this is in regards to paying taxes and to giving Caesar what is his.

6:52 But there's an issue here with the Pharisees and what it is that they're doing. They didn't actually fully believe all of these things about who Jesus is. They weren't being genuine. Rather, they were trying to win him over to expose him once again. In the Sadducees, they weren't being as sneaky as the Pharisees, but they go to him as well and they say, hey, when we die and we're back and we're in glory, who are we going to be married to?

7:23 And Jesus was very sincere in his response with this and he says, you all need to go back to school. You clearly have not understood or read the Scripture as well. But Jesus sensed they're in sincerity. He knew that they weren't being genuine. So I got a question for you to think about in Ponderom. When was a time where you experienced something that felt insincere or superficial?

8:01 Like what Jesus felt, each and every one of us at some point we've experienced something that felt insincere. Maybe it was an apology that didn't feel sincere or maybe it was an obligated compliment or maybe there was a promise that wasn't followed up on. And the worst part of this is I feel that sometimes this happens to us from those who we love and trust the most. Maybe it's a co-worker, a friend, family member, a spouse.

8:32 Sometimes that insincerity is not present or it's there. The sincereness is not present. And here's the thing. It's easy for us to identify this from others, but what about within ourselves? What about when we're the ones who aren't being sincere? The times where we break promises and give obligated compliments or when we ask somebody, hey, how is your day going and we don't actually take the time to listen, but instead we just keep on moving? Where human this is going to happen?

9:02 For us in our lives there are times where it's difficult to be sincere. So if that's what insincerity looks like, then what does it look like to be sincere? Jesus actually answers this in Matthew 22 verses 37 through 39. We just heard this in the children's message. And He said to Him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

9:36 This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. From this is well, love your neighbor as yourself. This is easier said than done and I understand this, but Christ is a living example of what

10:10 this looks like. In every area of His ministry Jesus displays exactly what He is preaching in these verses. There was not a time where Jesus was not sincere with what He said He was going to do, with what He taught or with what He preached. He operated out of the love of the Father and genuinely loved and cared for those that were around Him. Jesus was sincere in the calling of His disciples.

10:40 Jesus was sincere in the healing of those that came to a broken, blind and diseased. In Jesus' teachings and shareings that He preached He was authentic, honest, real, open, everything was pure. Think about the raising of Lazarus. We see Jesus being sincere with His emotion. He weeps for His friend. For the time where the little children they wanted to come and be prayed for from Jesus

11:10 in the disciples they stopped them but Jesus said, no, let the little children come to me. Or what about the woman who was in the crowd who just wanted to touch Jesus' garments because she had the faith in knowing that she could be healed. In that moment Jesus could have easily dismissed her but He doesn't, He stops and He turns to her and says, take heart daughter, your faith has made you well. Or the woman at the well.

11:41 Jesus had no business being around a Samaritan, let alone a Samaritan woman but He doesn't let this stop Him from showing compassion, forgiveness and care. Christ in His love for the Father lived a life of sincere care, love and forgiveness. And this matters because Jesus didn't come just to show us how to be better people. He came for us when we failed to love God in our neighbor and to forgive us of our insincerity.

12:14 He sees and he knows that there are times where we've just gone through the motions and we've made empty promises or cared more about ourselves than others. But here's the most sincere thing that Christ has done for us. He went to the cross taking on our shame and in exchange He gave us His Spirit so that we can continue to show His sincere love and forgiveness to those that are around us. It is in Christ that we have received a sincere faith.

12:48 It's through our faith in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that we take on this sincerity and we're able to view others that are around us just as Christ does. First Timothy 1 verse 5. I love this verse, it says this, The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

13:19 Friends these are the fruits of faith in Jesus that cannot be produced by anything or anyone else. Another question for you to think about. Have you ever experienced someone's sincere faith? Have you ever seen it? Do you know what it looks like? Do you know what it feels like? Back when I was in college I went to a small college up in Michigan and I had the opportunity

13:53 to either continue my education or my home church had asked if I had come back and lead worship be the worship leader a full-time job. So I had to wrestle with this decision and what God did is He positioned a lot of faithful people around me but one of those people was a man by the name of John Rothshy, Pastor John. And this man was one of a kind I tell you, he was incredibly faithful, he was genuine, he was loving and he was caring. I mean this guy made time for me when I didn't feel worthy, I was in college and what I would

14:23 do to bribe him to hang out with me, he was the dean of students but what I would do to bribe him to hang out with me is bring him a stale cup of coffee. So it's all I could afford, my soldiers from my dorm room. But we spent time together in his office around campus talking about life, college and faith. I remember one of the first times that we were supposed to meet up together, I like many many college students, I was flaky and something came up I probably just wanted to

14:53 take a nap truthfully. But I said, hey John, I'm not going to be able to hang out the whole time, do you mind hanging out for just about a half hour? And his response to me is something that has impacted me to this day. He responded and he said, nope, it's not how I do relationships. You deserve all of my time when we meet together and I deserve yours. So how about this, let's find a better time that works where we can commit to one another.

15:25 At that moment I realized that I wasn't just another person to John. Instead I was somebody that he cared for and valued and it wasn't until I started to be with John doing life alongside of him, learning more about his faith, seeing it lived out in action that I understood what discipleship and sincere faith looked and felt like. And John walked alongside of me and he continually reminded me of the gospel, told me again and again that I was forgiven and chosen and loved by Christ.

15:56 He would spend time to pray for me and he would encourage me to pray in all things, be patient in all things, entrust in God's timing. He's devotion to the gospel and his love for the people that were around him, it reflected the sincere faith he had in Jesus. Since your faith is not merely something we say we have, it's a faith that makes time and keeps showing up, points people again and again to the love of Christ.

16:30 The sincere faith is what makes us sincere church. The values that we have laid out before us, their values of our whole network, we're a church together although we meet in different locations. But a church that shows kindness, compassion, love and cares to whom cares for those whom they serve inside their walls and outside of them. As I was thinking about what a sincere church is, I thought of three different things and the first thing is that a sincere church shows sincere love to one another.

17:05 What I mean by this is it cares for those that they're doing church with. After Jesus' resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples, they remained together and they did life with one another and they were encouraging each other in the faith. Acts 2, 42 through 47 says this and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all who came upon every soul in many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

17:39 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. In day by day attending the temple together in breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

18:09 So this is a significant moment because after the resurrection and the Holy Spirit descends upon them, they could have just went on with their lives. But they don't. They stick together. They break bread together. They worship together. Verse 46, I read ESV, but there are some translations that actually say that they had glad and sincere hearts. They did not just simply attend the same worship service together, but they shared life with

18:44 one another. In their worship, it was genuine. It was pure. It was honest. When somebody had a need, what they would do is they would sell their possessions. Hey, let's take care of this person. They would show sincere love to one another. And what I love about this section of scripture is that God is the one who's going to add the number to the church. It was just the apostles and the people that were meeting.

19:15 They were being a visible sign of what the gospel is, a visible sign of the representation of who Christ is, a representation of what sincere love and faith looks like. How we treat each other in this place and even outside of this place. It matters. The second thing is this, a sincere church is sincere in service.

19:45 Throughout Jesus' ministry, we see him having compassion and serving a lot of people. And even though there were these big crowds and they were overwhelming, Jesus didn't treat them as an interruption or burden to his life. Instead, he saw them as people, people who were coming to him, people who were created by God, loved by him, and people who needed to be cared for. The disciples on the other hand, they sometimes struggled with this. If you think back to the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus sees this crowd and has compassion on

20:23 them, the disciples see an issue. There's hungry people we don't have, what it takes to feed everybody, let them go. Send them back home. They can figure out food for themselves. Jesus says, no. Let me show you what sincere faith looks like. Let me show you what sincere love looks like. And so he invites his disciples in and says, hey, bring me what you got.

20:53 He blesses it. It's multiplied and then the disciples, they go and they serve the crown. In this moment, the disciples, they were like, we don't know what to do, but Jesus shows up and Jesus cares for his people. Sincere's service doesn't mean that we always know exactly what to do or that we always have unlimited resources, energy or time, but it means that we're willing to place ourselves

21:23 in the hands of Jesus in trust and know that he's going to work through us in the service that we are doing. And oftentimes there might be service that we do where we are tired, we're busy, we're uncertain, but the service that we do to one another and the way that we care for each other, it shouldn't be driven by guilt, recognition or the desire to appear helpful. Because as Christ changes our hearts, we learn to serve because the people in front of us matter to him.

21:57 So when our church serves the community, welcomes the guest, cares for a family, teaches a child, visits someone who is hurting or meets a practical need, we are not merely completing a ministry task. Instead, we are serving the people whom Jesus sincerely loves. A sincere church serves not simply because there's work to be done, but because there are people to be loved. The third and final thing is this, is that a sincere church knows to whom it belongs.

22:31 As a body of Christ, it's our desire to reflect who God is and share his sincere love with those that are around us. Again, as Jesus and his ministry and his earthly life, something that he did was he reflected the love of the Father and he would often reflect back to the will of the Father. John 519 says this, so Jesus said to them, truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

23:02 For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. So it's clear in this that Jesus is saying, hey, the authority that I have and the mission that I have, it comes from God the Father, the Heavenly Father. And it's his work and we're going to continue to do it, whatever it takes to honor him. But in the same way as Jesus was living out the will of God for us, the church, the body

23:32 of Christ, and its members, it's important for us to remember that we belong to God. Jesus has claimed us through his life, his death, and resurrection. We are representatives of him. We don't simply have ownership of the church God does. Our church is not ultimately ours to control or use for our own preferences. It belongs to Christ, the network of churches that we're all a part of, that belongs to Christ.

24:03 All churches belong to Christ, the mission belongs to Christ, church we belong to Christ. But how do we know this? We hear it. But how can we be so sure? We know this because God hasn't left us guessing to whom we belong. He's revealed his heart to us through his word and he has shown us his love most clearly

24:36 in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God gave the church a sincere letter, but it wasn't just any letter. It's a 66 book love letter that was sincerely signed by God through Christ's life, death, and resurrection. And this is the most sincere thing that God has ever done for us. And what this means for us is that because we belong to Christ, we do not have to protect our image or manufacture sincerity.

25:09 We don't. Instead, we take on the image of Christ, we have a sincere faith, and we reflect the love of an all-knowing, caring, and sincere God. So church, may we grow and sincere faith. May we allow Christ to work in and through us because the work that Christ begins in

25:40 us and continues to do through us is always sincere. Let's pray together this morning. Father God, we thank you so much for who you are. Father we thank you for sending Jesus to show us what tangible sincerity looks like.

26:16 Lord as we continue to move forward and on with our everyday lives, Lord, I pray that we would be a reflection of your sincere love to those that are around us. I pray, Lord, that you would strengthen our faith in you so that we can continue to do the work in which you have given us to do.

26:48 So we thank you, Lord, for who you are. We thank you for this time. We thank you, Lord, that we have the opportunity to be a sincere church together, not only here at the cross or Lando but also within the network of churches that we're a part of. So Lord, thank you for your spirit. Thank you for this time. And may we always remember that your love is sincere to us and therefore it is sincere

27:19 to others. It's in your name that we pray, Jesus. Amen.