A Pierced Ear

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Well, good morning. I’m so happy you all chose to come and worship with us this morning. I just want to invite you all to just stay in and sing this out.

(Worship)

I’m Olivia, and I’m one of the leaders around here, and I just want to say that we are so excited that you decided to spend your Sunday morning with us. I also want to thank you all because these last few weeks, you’ve really made it possible for us to stay open. And we really appreciate you all wearing your masks while you’re on campus and making us able to still meet together here today. If you are new around here, whether this is your first time or you’ve been coming for a while and just haven’t gotten connected yet, we would love for you to text the Word new to the number on the screen.

Text NEW to (765)-744-1562

And that way, we can just meet you, learn your name, and learn a little bit about you. This Sunday is the second week in a new sermon series. Virgil is actually going to wrap up this sermon series today. It’s this sermon series, Whisperer. He also introduced the Compassion Project last week. So if you missed that, he’s going to go over that again today. And I’m just really excited to see what he has to add about listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Just as a reminder, when we end the service today if you do not have kids to pick up at ekids, if you could exit to either side of the stage, that will help with the flow of traffic.

We’re going to continue in worship this morning. But first, let me pray for your Heavenly Father. I just thank you for the ability to meet here together, the ability for us to come together as a community of believers and just worship you. And whether we’re here in the building or watching online, I just pray that we’re able to set aside what happened last week or what’s coming up this week and just spend this next hour with you. I just ask that your Holy Spirit fill this place. And then our hearts are open to hearing what you have to say. I heard this all in your name. Amen.

Father, I’m just so thankful that you just allowed us to get to being here this morning in person and to just. Just have this time of fellowship and worship God. I just pray that we open our arms that surrender to you completely each and every day. We love you. Amen. You guys go on ahead and take a seat.

On December 26, 2004, the third largest earthquake ever recorded erupted ten miles beneath the Indian Ocean. It registered a 9.1 magnitude on the Richter scale. It generated the energy equivalent of 23,000 atomic bombs. The shockwaves. Produced tsunami waves measuring over 100 feet in height, traveling 500 miles an hour, reaching a radius of 3000 miles. That earthquake tragically claimed the lives of 227,898 people. But there was one group of people living right in the path of the tsunami who somehow survived without one single casualty, the Mohican or Austronesian ethnic group. They live their lives on the open seas from birth to death. They are sea bass nomads. Is it that they learn how to swim before they learn how to walk. Their boats are their homes. They can see underwater twice as well as we do.

As you would imagine, they have an intimacy with the ocean. They read the ocean waves like you, and I read books on the day that the Indian Ocean earthquake hit. An amateur photographer from Bangkok was taking pictures of the Moken. There was a moment when the sea began to recede, and the smoke began to rise. They knew what was about to happen or to take place. The birds stopped their chirping. The elephants headed towards high ground, and the dolphins were swimming further out to sea the smoke and who was near the coast of Thailand. They beached their boats, and they headed toward the highest elevation. Those who were out to sea went further out to sea, to the deep ocean, where they knew that the tsunami crests would be minimal as it passed by them. The moken had survived because they knew how to look. They knew how to listen. They knew a language that others did not. Six times in the Gospels. Eight times in the Book of Revelation, Jesus says something. It’s only six words, but the words have an urgency to them. The implications are exponential. And he says, Whoever has ears, let them here. Now, he’s not talking about whether our ears that we have heard the audible voice of God. He’s talking about something much bigger than that. And we started this sermon series last weekend called Whisper, and we’re talking about learning to hear the voice of God. And we’re talking about how to somehow or another to hear the language of God. And according to Mark Patterson, who’s a pastor in Washington, D.C., wrote a book called Whisper. And in that book, he talks about these seven languages. Last week, we looked at the primary language of God, which is that of scripture.

Is that a category all by itself? It says in second Timothy 316, it says this All Scripture is God’s breath. When we open the Bible. God speaks to us. He whispers through his Word. But according to Mark Madison, there are six secondary languages of God that you and I need to master in order to hear his voice. And this morning, I want to welcome you to East Side. I’m Virgil Grant. I’m one of the leaders around here, and I’m excited about giving you an overview of these six secondary languages of God. Again, if you want to know more about these languages, go and purchase the book by Mark Patterson called Whisper. Now, what are the six secondary languages? Well, according to the book, there is the language of desire. There is the language of desire. The most famous verse when it comes to this topic of desire is found in some 37, verse four, and the psalmist says this. Take the Lord in the Lord, and He will give. Say that with me, Gil. You the desires of your heart. Now, that Word gilt literally means to conceive and other God. In other words, God will birth within you new desires. See, we have this mistaken notion that if we do what God wants us to do, He’s going to send us somewhere that. We don’t want to go, and we will do things that we don’t want to do, and we will be miserable for the rest of our lives. The folks. That’s just not the heart of God. That’s just not the way that God works. Now we have to be careful when we talk about these new desires because there are selfish desires, and then there are sinful desires. But when you and I are when we seek after God, when we seek first His kingdom above everything else, and we pursue God above everything else, then He will give us the desires of our hearts because these will be desires that will be pointing us to enhancing and expanding the Kingdom of God.

And so the secondary language that we have to learn, the first one, is that of desires. The second one is the language of dreams, is that God wants to fill you with this spirit, and the by-product of Him filling you with this spirit is that somehow or another that, you would have dreams that he wants to take those 86 billion neurons that are inside your head and look inside my head. And he wants to have them to be crisscrossed in such a way that we will be able to dream dreams. Look what it says in X to 17. It says this In the last few days. God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. And what will happen is, is that God will give you here, God. Ideal in friends. I’d rather have a God ideal than a thousand good ideals. And what are these God’s ideas come from? Oftentimes, they come from the language of dreams. Not only is there the language of desires, the language of dreams but there’s the language of doors. Now, you and I are we understand this concept of doors. We understand the concept that God will open certain doors, and he will close other doors. Now, if we could be honest, this morning, most of us, we prefer what we prefer the open doors over the closed doors. But can I just say something to you? The older that I get, the more I have come to appreciate the fact of closed doors. And one of the things that you need to hang your head on is this passage from Revelation chapter three, verse seven. He says that when he opens what he opens, no one can shut it.

When God opens a door for you, no one can shut it. And what he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See a place before you, an open door that no one can shut. And I’m grateful and thankful for both open doors and shut doors. So there’s the language of desires, the language of dreams and doors. But there’s also the language of people. Now, you will remember that God used a prophet named Nathan to confront a king named David. He used an uncle named Mordecai to encourage a queen named Esther. And then you remember that God used a spiritual father named Paul to encourage a young man in the ministry name Timothy. And here’s the thing that you need to understand God wants to speak to you through other people, and he wants to speak to other people through you. And here is God’s prayer for all of us in.

Numbers 11:29 (NIV)

I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets. 

They would stand up and speak the truth into each other lives, and that we would receive the truth from others. So there’s the language of desires, dreams, doors, and people. And then there’s the language of prompting. It’s the Holy Spirit or the God inside of us that prompts us to go in a certain direction, to do a certain thing. See, scripture is a roadmap. The Holy Spirit is there, God, but God is ordering our footsteps. He’s the one that’s prepared us in advance for the good works. Notice what he says in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 21. It says this Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way. Walk in it. And we’ve all experienced the promptings of God. But then, lastly, there’s the language of pain. C.S. Lewis said it best.

God. Whispers to us in our pleasures. But he shouts in our pain. ~ C.S. Lewis

See, folks, you can ignore the Bible. You can leave the Bible on the shelf. You may never click on your Bible app on your phone. But there’s one thing that you and I cannot ignore, and that is pain. Pain is the by-product of the curse from Genesis Chapter Three. But Revelation Chapter 20 tells you that one day there’ll be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death, no more diseases, no more tears that we will be set free. Because why? Because God has come to redeem all of us and to redeem the world. So we had better to listen to the pain. Pain is your life, coach. Pain is your marriage counselor. Pain is a professor of theology. Pain teaches us some of the toughest lessons of life and some of the most important lessons of life we could ever learn. And so we go back to this phrase that Jesus said. And throughout the New Testament and throughout the Book of Revelation, when he says, whoever has ears, let them hear, and Jesus is not just talking about our physical ears. He’s talking to us about learning the seven languages of God, learning scripture, learning the desires and dreams and doors and people and promptings and pain. And as we master that, then we’ll be better able to receive the words of God. Now, when Jesus said, Whoever has ears, let them here. I want you to understand something is that the Jewish listener would immediately go back to the Old Testament and then will go back to an Old Testament concept.

Now, listen to me just for a second. If you don’t hear anything else I have to say, I want to garnish your full attention just for the next few moments because these next few moments are some rich theology, some rich biblical truth. Now, the Jewish would hear them who have ears, let them here. They would go back to a concept in the Old Testament. They would hear Psalm chapter 40, verse number six. Then notice what it says in Psalm verse 40, Psalm chapter 40, verse six.

Psalm 40:6 (NIV)

Be still and know that I’m God

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire- but my ears you have opened.

Now that word open in the Hebrew literally means an archeological term. It means to excavate. It means to dig through dense material. But it can also mean to pierce. And what many biblical scholars believe is that David was tipping his hat to an ancient Hebrew practice that took place early on Mount Sinai. Now, you recall that the Jews would have slaves, and then these slaves would, after six years of serving on the seventh year, they would be set free. But sometimes, the slaves was so in love and so love the family and loved their master that they were willing to forfeit their freedom to remain a servant for life with this current master. And the physical symbol of this ancient ritual was a pierced ear. Now look with me at Exodus chapter 21, verse six. He shall take him talking about the servant who’s giving up his freedom. He said he should take them to the door or the door pose and pierce his ear with an owl, and then he will be his servant for life. Now, the Latin Word for obey means to give an ear in that it literally means that you’re going to give your ear to God, and God is going to be the first Word and the last Word in your life that God is going to be the loudest voice in your life, that you’re going to hear God’s whispers above all the other competing voices in your life.

Why? Because your ear is pierced, and you have an ear that’s been concentrated to the Lord. Is that surrendering yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ begins with the pierced ear. Now, here’s what I know. We talk about being a pierced ear, which is about whoever has an ear, however, can hear. Let them here. So, folks, we have that concept. But let me just say something. Is that your life is busy. And your life is very, very noisy. And that is when and how you and I forget that God is God. I love how this English poet and clergyman, John Donnelly, says. He says, I never neglect God in his angels for the noise of a fly. I mean, don’t you love that? In other words, is that he’s so easily distracted from the voice of God. Wouldn’t you agree with me that we are easily distracted from the voice of God? I love what Henry Nouwen says. Henry, Now one, is one of my favorite authors ever. And he says this silence is an act of war against the competing voices within us and around us. Now, some of you, you need to go to war right now. And with those competing voices and you need to let God’s voice be the loudest voice in your life. He continues by saying this When you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you to Beloved. Let me just ask you a question. When was the last time that you heard the voice of God whispered to you? You are my beloved. Now notice what he says, Henry Nouwen says, This is that when you pay great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the love, you discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.

In other words, once you hear that voice, you want to hear it again. You want to hear that whisper again and again and again. Now, for the past 30 years, an acoustic ecologist named Gordon Hampton has compiled what he calls the list of the last great quiet places. It consists of places to listen with at least 15 minutes of uninterrupted quiet during daylight hours. At last count, you can only take a guess how many places in America where there’s 15 minutes of uninterrupted, quiet time. At last count, he’s counted 12 places in the entire United States. And we wonder why the show suffers. And here’s what Gordon Hampton says. He says quietly is a think tank of the soul. Simply put, is that the voice of God speaks the loudest? When you and I are the quietest. And that is a challenge for us to hear the whispers of God. Therefore, my prayer for you and my prayer for myself is.

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

And it says this Be still and know that I’m God.

Now, let me give you an interesting illustration that comes right out of the book. There’s a story that’s told about European missionary missionaries who went to Africa, and they hired some local gods to guide them to the place that they wanted to go. Well, those gods were going at a much slower pace than the missionaries had wanted to go. So day one, it was a slow pace. Day two was a slow pace. So the missionaries, on day three, decided that they were going to kick it in high gear. And so they traveled twice the distance as the previous two days. The missionaries were proud of themselves. They were ecstatic that they had made up much-needed ground.

So on day four, the missionaries, they get up there, ready to break camp. They’re ready to continue on the journey. But none of the guides would move. None of the gods would get up. And the missionaries asked them what was wrong, and the guides simply said. We went so quickly yesterday that we must wait here for our souls to catch up with us. And don’t you just love that? For some of us, we’re moving at such a fast pace that our souls need to catch up with us. For some of us, it is that we have left our souls behind. And if we are going to be still and know that He is God, then we’re going to have to give our souls the ability to catch up. Now, as I’ve shared with you over the past year, one of the things that I found beneficial for me is to have a spiritual director in my life. And the spiritual director is a guy that I meet with via phone every month for an hour. And the sole purpose of me meeting with this spiritual director is for him to help me to pursue the voice of. God in my life for me to pursue Jesus above everything else. And a couple of months ago, he introduced me to this ancient ritual that is called Lectio Divina. And let’s heal. Davina is an ancient practice that involves four steps and how knowing how to hear the voice of God how to recognize God in your life. And Lectio Davina is likened to that of eating a meal. And so, you may want to jot these four things down. The first thing that he shared with me, my spiritual director, as he was sharing, like Show Divina with me, is that you start out, Virgil, by just reading the Bible and reading the Bible.

It’s like eating or taking a bite of your food. Now, I don’t know about you, but have you ever been at a really nice restaurant? I mean, like, over the years, I’ve been to, like, three or four really nice restaurants. I mean, the food is incredible. And it’s almost like, as they bring out every course, that there’s something ecstatic within you and the group around the table. There’s somehow or another you swear you just want to clap because the food is that good. Well, that is what reading the Bible should look like for you. And I see, folks, you tell me how much you enjoy God. And I would tell you what your spiritual maturity is like because folks are spiritual maturity is tied to how much they enjoy God. And one of the ways that we hear the voice of God and one of the ways that we learn about God is by reading the Word of God, but we just cannot stop. There is that we have to continue to read the Bible. And as we read the Bible, for some of you is that you’re afraid of reading the Bible, folks. God, his perfect love, drops out of fear. See, folks, when you’re successful, God loves you. When you doubt, God loves you. When you’re afraid, God loves you. When you fail, God loves you, is somehow or another, we think that God is against us, and therefore we won’t read the Bible. But we have to read the Bible to better understand who God is. But we cannot stop there. We have to meditate, or we have to chew on God’s Word. It’s not just reading the Bible. It’s letting the Bible read us. It’s allowing the Bible to judge our thoughts, our attitudes, and our hearts.

But here’s what I found. It’s just like the pace of life is the same equivalent to the pace in which I read the Bible. See, folks, oftentimes, when it comes to the difficult parts of the Bible, it comes to the convicting parts of the Bible. I just want to speed read through that, and the good parts, the parts talk about blessings and all that. Then I want to slow down and focus on the pace that you use to read the Bible and to meditate on the Bible. Has a lot to say about you having the ability to hear the voice of God. So Lectio Divina is beginning to read the Word of God. It’s meditating on the Word but also praying through the Word. Is it, folks, as you’re reading the Bible in you, praying through the Bible is that God will resurrect other verses, other concepts that you read through scripture. But it’s more than that, folks. Not only do you have to read, not only do you have to meditate, not only do you have to pray, but you have to contemplate on it. This is where we absorb the Word and the nutrients from God’s Word. And here’s the reason why all of this is important. See, folks, many of you, is that like, you know, certain verses you can quote certain passages. But the reason why we have to read, meditate, pray, contemplate on the Word of God is because that is what moves you and are from being listeners to actually being doers. And this is what.

James 1:22 (NIV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

And folks, the way that we do what the Word says is that we have a practice of digesting the Word of God.

And this is the reason why we have introduced the Compassion Project. Is the Compassion Project is designed for you and to be actually doing the Word of God rather than just knowing the Word of God. See, folks, the Compassion Project is our church’s attempt at meeting the needs of people in 2021, especially the needs of the people in this congregation and the needs of the people in this community. And the Compassion Project is all about you and I pooling our resources together. And the reason why we’re doing this is because. We believe that we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus this year at a greater record-setting pace than ever before because of all the long-term ramifications of COVID. Now there’s a driving principle that drives everything that we do here at Eastside. It’s called Eastside Community Church, and our middle name is Community. And anytime there’s something going on in the community, Eastside wants to be a part of it. But we also have a guiding scripture passage, and it’s in Acts chapter two. I think it’s like verse 42 at the end of the chapter. But how we’re going to do the Compassion Project comes right out of verse 44, and it says this.

 Acts 2:44 (MSG) 

And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and they pooled their resources so that each person’s needs was met.

Was met. And this passage is the heart of the Compassion Project. As a church, we’re going to pull our resources together to meet the needs of the people inside Eastside and inside our community. And so remember, last week, I asked you to just do one thing. I ask you to pray a prayer.

And I gave you the whole introduction to the seven-word prayer that is found in First Samuel chapter three, verse nine. I gave you the backstory of that. And this is a prayer that I challenge everyone to pray. And it’s a very simple prayer. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening, and all of the ask you to do, and I ask you to to go online and to give anything. And I ask you to make a decision. The only thing I ask you to do, the only thing the church is asking you to do, is to pray this prayer. And then whenever God whispers to you, whenever he speaks to you, then you respond. And can I just say to you, is that since last Sunday to this Sunday, we’ve already had an overwhelming response. So far, we’ve had 8500$ pledge to the Compassion Project. Now, here’s what I think God’s going to do. Here’s why I believe that God’s going to do it. God’s going to speak to all of you in his own way. He’s going to whisper to you in different ways. He’s going to say different things to you, but I think it’s going to fall into a couple categories. One of the things that God’s going to do, God’s going to wish for you and your family, is that you know what, I have blessed you so much in 2020, your finances have gone up. He said life is good. You got more money in the bank than you’ve ever had before. And what you are going to do is because you reflect on the goodness of God, you’re going to give an offering of Thanksgiving, and you’re going to make a one-time donation. You know what we’re going to do as a church is that one-time donation is a one-time donation, and we’re going to set it aside for the Compassion Project, and we’re going to use it to meet the needs of people in our church and in our community.

For some of you, is that what’s going to happen is that you’re going to decide to increase your giving over. A year ago, we did the One Fund project, where we challenged people to up their giving for one year, and that’s what me and rose I did. We upped our giving for one year, and as we upped our giving, the by-product of doing that is God met our needs greater than what we’d give. But I mean, his blessing was tenfold in return, and we didn’t increase are giving to get the blessing which is increased you’re giving. But a by-product of that is that God’s blessing was overflowing in our lives. And here’s the deal, my friends, is that for many of you, you experienced the same thing. And for some of you, you’re going to go online, and you’re going to adjust your online giving. You’re going to give an extra $5 a week or an extra $10 a week or an extra 50 or whatever that God would lead you to do When you prayed. This prayer, Lord, speak for your servant is listening. And for some of you, he said, You’re going to get in. It’s all going to do with all those increases in giving is what we’re going to do is for all the increase in giving for the next 50 weeks, we’re going to take those increase of giving that for the whole year, and we’re going to put it toward the Compassion Project for some of you. You’re going to start your generosity journey, and you’re going to join what we call our online giving team. And what is your online giving team or online giving team? Here’s where you go to East SideKY.church/give, and you set up an online giving platform, and you choose recurring giving, you choose monthly, weekly every.

The other week, twice a month. Whatever you wanted to decide on, you could just decide on how often that you give. You get to select an amount, and then you hit save. And when you set up that reoccurring pattern of giving, then what happens is you become what we call a generosity rockstar. And what we’re going to do with all of the people signing up for our online giving team, and you become generosity rockstars. Here’s what we’re going to do for the first three months. We will take all of your donations through that online giving platform, and we’re going to put it aside, and we’re going to put it toward the Compassion Project. Now, some board someone asked me this past week a great question and how to think about it. Just for a split second, someone said, well, what is your financial goal? And folks, that is a great question, but I believe it’s the wrong question. And here’s what I said to this individual, is that we don’t have a financial goal. The goal that we have is that we would turn no one away who needs financial assistance in 2021 so that we will be able to meet the needs of thousands of people in our community and be the hands and feet of Jesus. And see, here’s the reality. God’s going to prompt you to do something. If you pray that prayer. Now, some of you you texted me, some of you have called me and said, you know, Pastor, we’re maxed that are giving right now. Listen, my friends, there’s no guilt. There’s no shame. This is only an invitation. We understand where you’re at financially. And this is no pressure. This is no guilt. This is no shame. This is no condemnation.

This is only an invitation. And maybe you can’t do anything. Maybe God will bless you and the future. And when he does, you can make a one-time gift, or you can increase your giving. Then it’s not that you have to do it right now, but whenever you do it, we will know what it’s going for. So please, no pressure on our part because God loves a cheerful giver, and God doesn’t want to weigh you down and have anxiety high in your life. So please, please feel no pressure. And so thank you for sharing that with me and for just having that open dialog with me. Some of you, you’ve come here this morning, and you need your rent paid for, and some of you, you’ve come here, and you need help with your electric or water bill or whatever. You know what? We’re ready to meet the needs of the people that are here today. We’re ready to come along beside you in the name of Jesus and meet that need. And so I’m excited about what God’s going to do over the next 12 months, is that we’re going to see compassion at an all-time high. And you and I get to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and we get to be at the epicenter of what God is doing in this community. Would you pray? Pray with me right now, Father? Right now, in the name of Jesus, we come to you, thanking you. But Jesus is our ultimate model of generosity is that when Jesus left heaven and came to the earth. He left everything behind to become a baby. To take on human nature, the human body. And so that he could identify with us and go to the cross.

And die on the cross forces and be put in the grave on the third day. Come out of that grave. And because of his generosity, we are called to be in the image of Jesus. And father. It’s the amount. Does it matter to you? The amount? Does it matter to us? What matters is that we prayed this prayer. Lord, speak for your servant is listening. And Lord, when you speak. May we be obedient? Maybe, maybe the loudest voice in our lives. And, Father. Thank you. Thank you for your news. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And it’s because of your generosity that we’re able to do that. I said before, I pray. I want to remind you, guys, if you guys have kids at ekids, please go pick them up. If not, we want you to exit to the left or to the right. And I say, let me pray. God, thank you so much for this opportunity. Thank you for the message that Virgil has given us. God, I pray that we would take upon the challenge to pray to you and to ask your servant his listening. God, what do you want us to do? What are you calling us to do in our lives and to the lives of our in community? God, thank you so much for the Compassion Project. I thank you for the people that are in here and watch it online. I pray that we continue to glorify your name and be all this your name, amen.