Greatness Redefined

World’s Greatness

Anyone ever watched wrestling before? Man they come out so epic, they’re all greased up and oily, with music, and they got this face like this, like they’re very angry or something just tense and macho right? well, that is the opposite if what i feel like coming up here. They’re focused and oily, and I’m nervous and sweaty. Anyways, growing up, my brother and I were actually pretty big wrestling fans. Me, more so. around my 10th birthday or so we were given a video game and we would just beat up each other in that game. some of you guys are probably thinking “ew… wrestling?” and i promise you, when i was a kid, wrestling was cool where I grew up. Anyways, i was watching it more so recently, and there is this newer wrestler these days named Roman Reigns, for any of you who aren’t familiar with the new guys. And Roman Reigns, he is like the new hulk hogan basically. Everytime he enters the arena everybody gets loud i guess and starts cheering and clapping, throwing their fingers to the sky like this: And the commentator I noticed, as I was watching, kind of half making fun of it and half enjoying it like a kid. Like this is so stupid, but i cant keep my eyes off of it. And the commentators go: Roman Reigns! Greatness redefined! And I didnt think much of it at first. And then they kept on saying it about him. I know, i was watching wrestling for more than 20 minutes. Crazy. Well. I got thinking. Greatness redefined? Really? Being the champion for like multiple years is greatness redefined? Selling a bunch of t shirts, and being famous, and as my sister let me know, really good looking, thats greatness redefined? That kind of seems like greatness …. defined. Like that is what greatness is, by most accounts. tom Brady, Michael Jackson, Floyd Mayweather, Roman Reigns, Taylor Swift… that all seems to be Greatness… Defined.

But what is biblical greatness? Open your bibles up with me to

Phillipians 2:1-11

So, at our prayer meetings on Monday mornings, sometimes I stop and get a coffee at the electric brew across the street. Shoutout the Brew. Electric brew is great, steelyard is better. Anyways, so one morning i walked across the street to get a coffee after prayer, and I bumped into Lisa. And it was like hey Lisa! Hey Kayden! in her usual sweet way. And we just got talking a little bit about life in the way you do when you catch up with people in public, and we were at the time both a part of GCYA, and we were doing a Daniel Bible Study, and she brought up Son of Man. and then we talked about the study, and why we thought the Son of Man title was important. And she asked me what I thought it meant, and trying to impress a pretty girl, of course I’m like, ummmmmm, and then after like 10 seconds of awkwardness I’m like I don’t know. And then I went home and researched it so i could impress her the next time i saw her. Anyways: Son of Man: does this title confuse anyone? it did for me. Jesus’ refers to himself as the Son of Man more than any other title, and it’s funny, if you look through the gospels, people rarely identify him as the son of man. But rather, the messiah, and the Christ. But Jesus chooses Son of Man? So whtat does son of man mean? why is it important?

lets look at it. Son of Man = the outcome of the fall of adam and eve. we are all children of the Man, but Jesus’ is the capital S son of man. In adam’s fall, we are all to bear the curse of the SOn of man, which is lowly, and that we are going to die. Ezekiel 2:1 points toward the human fraility of it. Son of man stand up, get off the ground basically. And through Ezekiel, he keeps getting referred to as the son of man in a way that points towards his humilty.

Then in Daniel, we see a son of man depicted in the heavens, in glory. And it’s like hold up, a fragile human? really? in glory in heaven? So we the see the divinity of it.

Once Adam fell, the way to get to heaven was clear: live a perfect life Problem: No man is living a perfect life. They keep failing, and failing and failing, and we need a messiah and a savior

2. Jesus steps into Human suffering. Jesus’ saves us not by thundering clouds or by flashy fires, but by becoming the Son of Man. He enters into human fraility. So when adam and eve reach up (UP) for fruit, to understand good and evil, to be great in their own eyes, i mean the ego to disrespect God and reach up right? well, that’s man version of greatness. Reaching up…. putting ourselves on a throne. But Jesus reaches down and becomes the ultimate Son of Man… God himself, Philippians 2:8 “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus’ glory is not revealed to us by Him rolling in on thunder clouds, which He could have totally done by the way, God made the rules right? He could have redeemed us anyway He wanted, whether it’s thinder clouds or dunking right? and God, in His infinite Glory and Love, chooses to redeem our story not by creating a new better world, or making His greatness evident with a nice job, or by overthrowing satan with a snap, but by stepping into our suffering, stepping into the atonement man must pay, and God himself pays our price

3. This is how redemption works. God Has always been glorious. since before time began right. since before anything ever, He was all powerful and almighty, and he wanted to be involved with us. In the Garden right, God this all pwoerful being, gives humans creative control. Name everything and make babies. I mean just imagine it right, Adam! waht do you want to name that? Cheetah, okay sure buddy, Monkey, I love it Eve. love it love it live it. by the time they got to birds, they must have been tired. Really? Red-winged blackbird? I guess that’s what happend when you rely on your own understanding. guys, sorry, that was a rsally bad joke. Anyways: What does it look like for us to be redeemed now? We all know it’s grace right? But the human urge I think is to do more. You see it in some christisan circles, or in schools and what not. As if we do enough, we will be a good person. We will be great. But the whole old testament is about how that just doesn’t work, and so Jesus enters the story as fully man and fully human and lives the great life that we all think we’re capable for us: and news flash: it looks completely different than we think it should. He doesn’t save this world by living in the nicest house in the neighborhood. No, He says in Matthew 8:20 “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.””

or by gaining social media followers by posting about how “blessed and highly favored” He is, or by hangng oput with the coolest people, yeah, peter and Andrew, I’m sure they were really popular. the two fisherman brothers still living with Dad. And those are the first two disciples Jesus calls! and the church will be built on Peter later on in the gospels and up until today, the same peter who is shown time and time again in the gospels failing. the peter who tried to justify his friendhsip by telling Jesus he would never deny him. Yeahright Peter.

It’s not by being a super important person, or being from LA or New York or the nicest neighborhood in Goshen or Elkhart, no Jesus enters the story in the little town of Nazarene. One of hs disciples cries out John 1:46 “Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Let me ask you today…. where do we ask that?

What good can come out of the homeless population?

What good can come out of Los Angeles?

What good can come out of the middle east?

What good can come out of Africa?

Guys, we serve a God that dwells there. With the least, the last, and the lost, A God that points to his glory not in the way we define greatness with jobs or wealth or being a famous star , or by being a famous preacher, or by gifting us with a beautiful voice, but The Son of Man accomplishes His mission by entering ur suffering, the places we’ve deemed to cursed to or condemned to be redeemed. you want to know where Jesus can be found the easiest? Go volunteer at the soup of kitchen. My mentor and spiritual father Scott Griffey, who runs Gymtown Pantry, one friday a month they go and deliver food at the Daylite Inn in Elkhart, which is where a good portion of the homeless and near-homeless in elkhart hangout. You want to be near God? be near the least of us. That’s where god’s glory is.

Where can we be humble., when’s the last time that we’ve looked at the person the entire world has dejected and said actually, I want to hang out with them. Actually, those crazy liberals are people, and my uncle that no one likes to talk about, i want to grab lunch with him. and the 15th homeless person ive passed today, thats probably lying about what hes spending his 5 bucks on, im going to give hjim 5 $ dollars. you see, thats where God’s glory is revealed the most. It’s revealed in blessings sure, but when I saw how my mentor Scott loved on homeless people, thats when I was like, I want to be spread the gospel when I grow up. Thats where his glory is revealed. We are most Christlike when we step down into the plights of others, not when we elevate our own name.

What about me? What about my trauma? My past? Pastor Kayden, you don’t understand my past. What i did. I tried to kill myself. My parents are divorced. I’m addcited to weed, I drank last night. You should see what I’ve said to girls online, or what I used to do to other kids back in high school, or how I treat people at work, or how I cheat my taxes. Or what i look at when its nighttime and im all alone. you don’t understand Pastor kayden, and you know what you’re right! I don’t! BUT THE SON OF GOD SAYS I DO, AND LET ME CARRY THE CROSS FOR YOU, GOD HIMSELF SAYS YOU DONT HAVE TO CARRY THAT ANY MORE, I’LL CARRY IT FOR YOU. God, in his infinite humiltiy took on the appearance of man and became obedient to the point of death.

Ending altar call: there is a God of all creation, and He is kind, and loving, and graceful, and redemptive, and just, and patient, and the part of your story that you think is the least worthy part to give to him, that is where he most eager to be with you. If there is someone in the room who has a part of their story they've hidden. that they've long closed off, whether you've never heard of God until today, or have known him all your life, I think we all sometimes try to hide from Christ. Whether it's a sin from this morning, yelling at your wife, or shooting needles as a teen. Bullying. adultery. God is calling you today. And he wants to work in the parts you've covered in the most shame. You can pray from your seat, but when we step forward to the front, it's just a physical way of expressing our invitation to God, saying God I'm opened myself up, do your work. And God will. today, tomorrow, overtime, you will be redeemed and continue to be redeemed 10 fold. Wake up dead men, wake up dead women! Invite God into heal and redeem and He will!