(Deeper 2003 - 'Let It Go') Letting Go of... - Sep 27, 2003 Am — Stephen Fenton

Because it's been already. Some of us may feel already like running away because this stuff scares us. And some of us may just have in the corner of our hearts a ray of hope that finally something real can happen in our lives.

Finally someone can come along who will not hurt us and we can trust to whom we can give our burdens. Finally we'll discover whether you're real or not, whether you're there. I just want to worship you because you know we need you and we can't find you.

You have to find us. Last night I went home and couldn't sleep so I crawled into bed at one o 'clock or so. Gee, I hope that person in the hospital bed survives. Anyway, and I was praying, you know Lord, I don't know what they're doing over there right now, but I hope somebody is really frightened.

Not in the bad sense, not in any bad sense, I can't find my notes, but Lord I hope they're really struggling with this whole question of letting go of things which is really cruel when you challenge people about it.

So I know some of you are, just because I was praying and God answers prayer. And some of you are working your way through the implications and we have to. See this is not comfortable Christianity. This is not the safe pew.

This is not the institutionalized church. This is Jesus. This is raw. This is real. And it's scary as heck. But it's the only thing that works. I believe we're at a real crossroads in our time. And God is giving you an opportunity to walk on the highway of life.

It's a phrase, highway to heaven, a phrase that Isaiah used. He's giving you an opportunity to walk in reality. To walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh. The sad truth is that a whole generation of Christians has gotten messed up.

It's a bit like you know the hippies. Remember when the hippies came? Well you don't. Somebody told me this morning they were born in 1985. So you don't remember the hippies. I remember the hippies. They were so cool.

I wanted to be a hippie. I did. But I was too young to be a hippie. I just sort of missed that generation. They were sort of my older brother type generation. I just caught the edge of the hippie thing.

Man they're so cool. And so I tried to be a late blooming hippie. And I wore pastel sort of brushed denim, deep maroon colored jeans, and then a bright yellow mustard sort of shirt. And it was one of those high neck things.

What do you call it? Polo neck things. Turtleneck. And then a green sweater. And it beads. And you know it was awesome. And I grew my hair long. Because I had hair then. You could just feel their desire to find something better.

It was genuine. And they really got messed up. And you know half of them are now dying of AIDS. And the other half are our business men. So you know the answer they found was the same one their forefathers found.

In Marguerite they came in droves in western Cape Breton to come back to the land. By the time I got there in 1985, the year that Hannah was born, there was just one hippie family left in the hills. And they were in the process of coming out of the hills.

In fact, he became an elder in our church. And every family that had gone into those hills, back to the land, back to simplicity, looking for better, starved to death nearly, froze to death, carried away by the flies in the spring and the summer, decided it's better to go back to Wall Street.

And they did. The one family that was left split. And then he searched for God. And he found Him. Or rather, he was signed by Him. But you know the hippies, they were awesome. They wanted something better.

The Search for Something Better in a Changing Church

Spiritually, we're in a generation of hippies. And I don't mean that in a bad sense at all. But see, the hippies had a search on their head, on their minds, in their hearts. Finding something better. Today, a whole generation of young people is saying, Church has got to be different than this.

We've got to find a better way. And the worship movement and the whole desire for contemporary Christianity is all about that. And it's awesome. But you know what? It'll just be like going to the hills.

Because in a while, when you get too old to dance, and your kids are tugging at your heels, and when life begins to bear down, and you have responsibility, and you've got to pay the bills, you'll go back to Wall Street.

And you will reproduce spiritually what your forefathers have produced, because that's the way of the flesh. You will. I know you will. Ten, twenty years from now, you'll be saying, Remember those days when we were looking for something better?

What happened? Because we're just the same. However, you have, you spiritual hippies, something that the hippies in the 60s and 70s didn't have. He's got God. And He wants there to be something better.

The 21st century has to see a change of such drama in the church, it will be like the 16th century when the Reformation hit. It'll be like the first century when Jesus landed. It has to happen. Because we're in the last of the last days.

Each of us, all of us feel the urgency of our times. We know that certain things are passing away, which of course is what the Bible says. And some things need to pass away, because they've become old, they've become corrupted, they've become institutionalized, they've become dogmatized, they need to die.

But there has to be something to replace it. And what is it? I think that's what Jesus is about in this generation. And He's offering, He's calling, He's touching, He's reaching, and He's saying, There is something better.

Letting Go of Control and Trusting Jesus

You have to let some things go. You have to let go of control. That is such a challenge, and it is an ongoing issue, and it will never go away. Now that you've heard it, don't think you're going to be able to forget it.

The Holy Spirit will come back at you again, and again, and again, and let go of control. You've got to get out of the driving seat. You have got to put yourself into the hands of Jesus. For the rich young ruler, that meant selling his possessions.

For you, it could mean any number of things, but it will put you in a position of need and dependence. Some of you are terrified by that. You know why? Because although you've heard a great deal about Him, you're just not really sure who He is yet.

This God, this Jesus. I mean, some of you have grown up in the church, and it's still true for you. It's still true that although you've heard so much about Him, you're just not sure. You're just not sure if you let go of control, that He'll be there.

It's a scary thought. Will He be there? Will there be something? When I let go of the control of my life, if I'm going to put myself in His hands, will He catch me? When I was younger, I used to take my kids to the swimming pool.

Some of them are here today. I'd take Micah and Sarah and Jonathan to the swimming pool. They loved to do this thing. They'd get me out somewhere in the middle of the pool, on the safe end, and they'd say, Daddy!

And then they'd run to the side of the pool, where we were, and one at a time, they'd come. Running! And you'd just see in their little faces. And they'd come, and they'd just run. Little Micah, running as fast as his wee legs could carry him.

And then he'd launch right into the deep. And of course, right at me. So, poof, they hit me. My job was simple. This was good, once. Twice. Three times a lady. No, that's... It was great. It was really great.

And Micah was a little guy, and then Jonathan would come, and he was a little bigger. I'd catch him. Yeah, this is great, son. His shoulders were about... Okay, really. Then they'd go back. Do it again, do it again, do it again.

And then Sarah would come, and she was as big as a wolf. I'd go down in the water. I'd come up and split her, and she's giggling. It's just so much fun. We had a friend visiting from Ireland with us, and his children.

They thought they'd get in on the act. My friend Brian, you know, he's a bigger, muscular, more muscular guy than me. I was already... My muscles were already sagged to the middle somewhere. You could see I was getting really tired.

My kids had done this 70 times now. Step aside. Oh, great. Yeah, thank you. No problem, man. Actually, that's quite good. And the kids all lined up on the wall, my three kids. And, you know, right into that moment, it was...

Yahoo! Let's do it again, Daddy. Let's do it again, Daddy. Let's do it for three hours, Daddy. And then Brian stepped into my place, and their little faces went... And little Micah stands off to the side, and then he takes a step back behind Jonathan, and he peeks out.

And Jonathan, he's the shy one, he stopped giving anybody in the room eye contact. He's looking at his sister. His sister is like this. Boys took the cue. There was no way. It was written all over her body.

She didn't have to say a word. Little Micah came out from behind Jonathan. Jon stood out from behind Sarah. And they all went looking at me. Not looking at him. Just looking at me. Brian was stronger than I was.

I mean, bigger. He could handle them. No problem. But what was their problem? Tell me. They didn't know him. Now, they knew me. And they knew, you know, that it was probably a bit of a risk with me, because my legs were getting sore, and they could tell I was wheezing, and maybe they'd die next time.

But still, they knew me. Jumping into my arms was not a problem. See, the thing with us, and this is what really challenges us, when God says, let go of control, you know what the real hard issue is? We're just not sure if you'll catch it.

And I know that hurts. But you know it's true. See, life has a way of warping us from... It doesn't matter if we've had a good home. It doesn't matter if we've had a bad home. It just doesn't matter. The world does this to us.

Period. The flesh does this to us. The fact that we are out of step with the Holy Spirit from birth does this to us. That we're born in sin, shaping in iniquity. This does us. We build little safe walls around ourselves.

And if we do get hurt by people, man, there are some places no one is ever, ever going to get to. The one place that we're safe. And we can build all kinds of worlds around us. All kinds of lifestyle.

All kinds of meaning, purpose for ourselves. But we will not let anyone pass. Sometimes we'll let them in little ways. But there's always that inner sanctuary. You know what I'm saying? People do this.

You do this. You know, and it comes out in your life. It comes out in your body language. You're just like my kids. Here's how it happens sometimes. It comes through this quickly, this simply. You think you're good at hiding it?

It's so obvious with some of you. All I have to do is hug you. You know. You know what I'm saying. The moment somebody reaches for you, you go. And somebody pulls you into their arms, you're pulling back.

You ever hug somebody like that? The whole experience is you're pulling them, they're pulling back. It's like baptizing somebody who doesn't want to be dead. You've probably never done this. It's an interesting experience.

You're pushing down, they're pushing up. You're standing on them, they're struggling. Just kidding. No, just kidding. There is an emotional wall. It's a barrier. You let people into a certain area of your life.

You let them into the front room of your home. But there's no way you're getting in the kitchen, man. There's no way you're seeing the dam, metaphorically speaking. And even God is held at a distance.

Because we're really not sure yet. Life sucks. And we find ourselves in pain constantly. And we find ourselves longing. Just longing for someone to accept us. And you know, there's a point at which most of us realize that that someone is God.

And at some level we begin our journey with Him. And we enter into a relationship. But often it is still at a distance. And we just, we fear so much. Letting go of control is miles away. Because we're not sure if He's there to catch us.

We're not sure if He's going to hurt us. We're not sure if He's going to put us through cancer or something. We're not sure if we let Him in, like He's going to really do us damage. And man, I'm being damaged already.

I mean, we may not even go through all these machinations mentally. But that's the way we live. That's the reality. That's the state of mind. Many of you know it already. At 23, 24 years of age, you know, you know, your heart is closed.

The walls are up. Okay, fine, pastor. Fine, see, for you to say, jump. Is He really there? And even if there's some notion in your mind that He is there. And He's muscular. And He's strong. And He's all the things that you think the Bible says He is.

It's just like my kids. You're looking at them thinking, I'm not talking to you now, those of you that don't know the Lord yet. I'm talking to those of you that do. Luke chapter 19, it says that Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

Zacchaeus and the Invitation to Let Jesus In

The man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. I love this story. I love this story. I tell this story to kids. I tell it to adults. I love this story. Just had to say that. He was a chief tax collector and he was wealthy.

Only way to get that way, a chief tax collector and wealthy, is to be absolutely dishonest. To be a jerk. To be a heel. To use your community, to use your people. The tax collectors were hated. They were the rejects of their society.

They were generally not even allowed to be in church. Though Jesus pointed out once that he saw a tax collector. He must have snuck his way in there. Perhaps he wasn't a local tax collector. Because generally speaking, if they knew you were a tax collector, they knew you were a sinner.

Therefore, they knew that you didn't deserve to be in church. Therefore, they could keep you out if they had to. You were totally unacceptable. Though you may have been a Jew with all the right pedigree, you were persona non grata among the cultural events of the nation.

Because you were serving the enemy. Because you had used your people. I don't know how a guy gets to be a tax collector. I don't know how a man gets to be someone who uses his people. I don't know how this person got to be the way he was.

But when he got there, he was a man alone. No matter how he got there, he knew what it was like to be alone. He knew what it was like to defend himself. He knew what it was like to be so different and despised.

And he knew what it was like to hope. I know God is here and I know God is speaking. Do not miss what he's going to say to you today. He's told me I've got to let go of control. I can't do that. It's too far.

Here was a man who was in control. But it wasn't a control issue that Jesus dropped his Ikea somewhere. Far deeper. He wanted to see who Jesus was, verse 3. That is a cool statement. I love the Bible.

It's just an amazing book.

Phrase after phrase after phrase. It just blows you away. Because it didn't say he wanted to see what Jesus could do. It says he wanted to see who Jesus was. You're thinking, what? I mean, it's so amazing.

Just in a word, we know where his heart was. In one word, we know what this man was about. Vast multitudes were following Jesus at this point just to see what he could do. But one little reject wanted to see who he was.

One little despised and hated character who knew nothing as far as his peers were concerned. Who could offer nothing. Who was nothing but a thief in their minds. There was something energy in that little man.

And it's not just like, because it is, you know. Couldn't get to him because he was short. He was vertically challenged. It's a terrible thing to be vertically challenged. And it doesn't matter which end of the vertical scale you're on.

It's a terrible thing to be too small. It's a terrible thing to be too big. I never had to deal with the too small thing. But when I was 11 years old, I was 6 foot tall. Of course, all my peers were 3 feet tall.

Vertically challenged the other way. I already had ears like Dumbo. Kids laughed at my ears. And every boy I ever met wanted to fight me. And they'd come and stand at my navel and say, Irish people are weird.

See, you've got to understand this. This is like a cultural, this is like Anthropology 101. Because Irish people are just weird. And they're passionate. And they love, I'm not kidding. They love to fight about anything.

And they see you vertically challenged, you are a challenge to them. You are an affront to their ability. I'd be walking out of school minding my own business. Some kid would come running up, three other guys behind him, and stand and say, fight me.

Why? Why God? I'm 11 years old. I'm 6 foot. He wants to fight. I also wore size 11 shoes. One size for every year of my life. Now that gets scary. Because you're thinking, when I get to 15? What if I live to 35?

What if I'm 70? It's a terrible thing to be vertically challenged. I had one fight in my life. I beat the tar out of the kid. It felt good for like three nanoseconds. And then I felt, oh God, I'm going to hell.

And I ran. I ran. I left him lying in a pool of his own blood. And I ran away. And ever after that, I ran away from every other challenge to fight me. And there were dozens of them. And I hid. I hid. I hid inside.

I just didn't want to live that life. I wasn't like that. I just happened to be too big. So leave me alone already. I had a good home. I had loving parents. But by the time I was 18, I was hiding from everybody I knew.

By then, they'd all caught up. But the damage was done. I had a stutter when I was in high school. And it came out of this fear of who I was and what I was and how I could cope. And the world just became a place I couldn't cope with.

And in my math classes, which I never learned to cope with, I would develop a stutter. My teacher would say, what's the answer? And we were gritted, and I always sat behind Marie, and she always knew the answer.

I knew the answer. I knew the answer. And I would go... And the class would erupt in laughter. And I was verbally challenged. It just got worse. My dad had played professional soccer. He played for one of the best teams in England, a team called Liverpool Football Club.

My uncle had played professional soccer for Chelsea Football Club. Soccer was in our blood. I knew I could play soccer, but I couldn't play soccer. I was such a wreck. Then they discovered I could run fast.

I'd had all that practice from running away from fights. I was swifter than a speeding bullet. And when I ran, I was sick to my stomach, because all my life, somebody had been chasing me. I want to fight.

So I could run. I'd run.

Anybody, anybody who ran with me, I was terrified of them. I mean, they weren't thinking to fight me anymore, just to beat me in a race. I would run, I would win, I would throw up. That was the practice of my athletic prowess.

Full of fear. The first job I got, working for the summer. The night before I went, I was ready for Unit 9. Except it wasn't Unit 9 in Belfast. I was ready for the nut house. I cried, I prayed, I said, Oh God, come tomorrow so I don't have to go to work.

I can't do this. I can't speak to people. I can't do anything. I could. Physically. Emotionally. Intellectually. The ability was there, but I couldn't do it. I was already building walls, fears around me.

And you know what? My story is no different than yours. Because life does this to you. I experienced failure. 11 years of age, we all did something called the 11 plus. And it was an exam that determined whether you went into the grammar stream, where all the smart people went, or the secondary stream, where all the dopes went.

Two systems of education. And of course Brian, my muscular friend, passed the 11 plus. And he went to Annabelle. Grammar school. He was learning Latin and Greek. Howdy doody. He was the smart guy. And then it was my turn.

And I wanted so bad to pass that thing.

I wanted so bad to be able to go to Annabelle with my pal.

And I still remember the day the letter came. And it was then. I still remember standing in front of the dresser 11 years of age opening that letter that said, I'm sorry. You see. You're one of the dopes.

You go to the secondary school. And I looked up into the eyes of the boy in the mirror. Yes. My life story is no different than yours. Life does differ. It's no different than his story, Zacchaeus. Whatever got him to the place he was, whatever brought him to that place of total domination of his life, whatever took him to the place of absolute control so that he controlled his destiny, he controlled his finances, he controlled the people around him, he had built all these walls, he was rich, he was wealthy, he was totally alone.

However he got there. And I could go on and tell you my side story, but there's no need. You get the picture. I had a good home. I had good parents. I had a good life. But it got him to fail at everything.

In Bible school they told me I was just working my way from the bottom right to the middle. One of my professors said to me one day, Steve, you're a plotter. I said, thanks, I think. He said, no, no, I just mean you just, you know, you don't really achieve too much.

But, you know, you just keep on plugging. You just, you're okay. That's my whole list. Don't worry, I'm not sad anymore. Of course, you know what that creates? It creates a desperate desire to protect yourself, a desperate desire to prove yourself, a desperate desire to get on top no matter what.

So that's the kind of person I became. That's the kind of person this was. He succeeded so powerfully to get on top. He made himself rich. He made himself secure. He made himself totally lonely. Then he heard about Jesus, and he wanted to know who he would do into his heart.

It didn't matter really. You know, it didn't matter to him what he could do. He wanted to know, in this stinking world, to whom I can let go of my heart. So he climbed a tree. Hey, you do what you have to do.

And this is an amazing story. And he saw Jesus from a distance. That is the way many of you see it. And you're born again. Don't get me wrong. Die the day you go to heaven. Hallelujah. When you get there, you have to spend the first 800 years getting to know someone whom you've only seen from Christmas and New Year's.

It comes a little closer. When your grandmother died, he seemed to touch you for a while. During a couple of recent worship times, he seemed to draw near. Generally speaking, he's a distant relative. You know lots about him.

And like Zacchaeus in the tree, you can see him in the distance. And there's a deep longing. I was talking to somebody the other day about some friends of mine. I have a friend. She's a doctor. And she's a Presbyterian.

So we need to pray for her. But do you know what that means? It means very staid worship. It means Psalms. It means hard pews and dusty Bibles. And that's what she grew up with. And right from when she was so young, God spoke to her.

Like spoke to her. Intimate relationship. Blew her away. Spoke to her so clearly. It was just as real as any voice she ever heard. So she becomes a doctor. Late in life, too. She becomes a psychiatrist.

She gets the opportunity to set up a good practice in Cape Breton. All kinds of wonderful opportunity. And God speaks to her and says, Jeannie, I want you to pray for a year. I don't want you to go to work yet.

So she goes to the head of psychiatry at Nova Scotia. She sits down with him and she says, God has spoken to me. He said, you hear voices?

She said, um, no.

But God has always spoken to me. And today he has spoken to me and he said, Jeannie, I want you to pray for a year. Jeannie, couldn't you pray on Sundays or, you know, on evening times? Saturdays every now and again?

I mean, you are ready. Cape Breton needs you. There is an opportunity. You can set your hours. You can set your pay scale. Man, no. God has spoken. And this is the way it's been all her life. And she said, no, I'm going to pray for you.

And so she's been praying for a year. Just started work last week or the week before. And I would call her up. I'd say, Jeannie, how are you doing? I'm great. It's funny, Steve, you called because I was just talking about you.

I said, really? Who with? God? But see, he said this. It was funny. We were upstairs in the room. I was looking out the window. And God said, and she would tell me the whole conversation. I'm thinking, weird, strangely.

I'm thinking, wow, why can't it be that way for me? I have this other friend. And long before she became a Christian, God was speaking to her. Like, they would be walking home. She had a dark lane on a dark road to get to each night.

And she says, as she walked along, she would enter into a period of fear. And she would just know that God was right there. And he'd say, don't be afraid. I'm here. And she'd say, okay. Crazy. Weird. She got onto a flatbed of a train one day.

Just because she felt like it. And the thing started moving. And they traveled like 150 miles. People passing by, working in their fields, and the train driving by. And this little girl, eventually somebody reported it.

Somebody told her father. He drove 150 miles to meet the train. And he gets her. Weren't you afraid to go? And God told me I was okay. And God told me that you would come. Which is what God wants for everybody.

You look at the Bible, you see people all over the thing. Who spoke to God and to whom God spoke. Clearly. Vibrantly. Regularly. This kind of intimacy is what we were made for. Jesus promises people that when we put our trust in him, we will abide in him.

When he is at the center of our lives, we can expect that he will speak to us. Many of us are like the kiss of a tree. I wish it was that way for us. And a neat thing. Jesus marks right up to the tree.

Looked up into the tree. At him. Must have been an awesome moment. I mean, he is minding his own business. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people milling around. Jesus pushes his way through the crowd.

Gets to the sycamore tree. Looks up into the tree. Catches his eye and says, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is looking around for any other vertically challenged people he can find. Nobody else there in the tree.

Terrifying moment. Zacchaeus, come down right now. Get out of that tree. Shimmy down. Get your little keister down here. I must stay at your house today. Zacchaeus is stunned. Think about how he must have felt.

Totally alone. Totally rejected. Completely unacceptable religiously. Unacceptable socially. Unacceptable emotionally. Unacceptable vertically. And Jesus is saying, I want you to give me a room. I have to stay at your house today.

I must. I must. See, the weird thing is, God seeks out. I love.

I love the gospel. I love the story. I love the Bible. And I love the gospel. Do you know why?

Because God loves those who are hiding in trees. Surrounded by walls. 30 feet thick, 90 feet high. And when he comes to us, he says, come on. I must. I must. Stay at your house today. Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

He said this. Brothers. He also means sisters. Brethren. Men and women. Boys and girls. Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were influential.

Not many were of noble birth. But God chose foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things. Vertically challenged.

Well, spiritually challenged. The lowly things of this world. And the despised things. And the things that are not. To meet nothing. The things that are. So that no one may boast before you. Because of your Father that you are in Christ Jesus.

Who has become for us wisdom from God. That is our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption. Therefore, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. They offer that Jesus made this a case he makes to all of us.

And he says, I must. I must live in your house. I must come. I must have this intimacy. I must become for you everything that God has designed. Your righteousness, your holiness, and your redemption. It is Jesus who becomes these things for us.

He does not give them to us. This man had no holiness. No righteousness. And certainly no redemption. He was on his way to hell. He was totally alone. But he wanted to see if there was just a little hope.

For someone into whose arms he could jump. Someone whom he could let his heart go to. He was too surprised to find him inside. Come out of that tree. Come down here till I give you a hug. We are going to go home.

We are going to light the fire. We are going to make some s'mores. And tomorrow morning I am going to make waffles.

Jesus Welcomes Failures and the Spiritually Isolated

Some of you have already begun to believe. Man, I am so messed up. I am so confused.

I am so afraid. God will never, God will never, ever use me for anything. My life is such a mess. Even though I am only so young. There is no way. He chooses the people who seem to have it together. It seems that the people that he really uses are the people who, you know.

They are well educated. They are handsome. They are brave. They are strong. Have you looked at me lately? Have you really looked at me lately? I am not any of those things that he called me out of my tree.

Come to your heart. Can you imagine that little procession? Prides parting. Absolute scum. Look on their faces. Pharisees. Just disgusting. I mean, if anybody should have got him in our houses today. It should be us.

We are the religious leaders here. We are the people who know. We are the people who work with these scum. We are the people who care for the needy. I mean, just look at this.

What on earth is wrong with him? What kind of person is this?

Does he not know who this man is? Parting away. Little Zacchaeus. Oh yeah. This is my pile. This is my pile. Jesus. Yeah. Going to my house today. Yeah. Bob. My Bob. Parting. People are just disgusting.

This is my pile. Yeah. Going home. Mary. Hey. Hey. Fudge. Get out of the way. Okay. Clear the pile. It is okay. Okay. Okay. How about. Yeah. You know what is going on? Those who. You are thinking. That is a great Christian message.

Speaking to you Christians. Who have sought to find acceptance with God. With all of your activity. All of your service. And somehow. In the midst of it all. Find yourself completely alone. Hoping. Who he really was.

You let go of your heads. Another salvation experience. This is metaphorical. I am talking an emotional. A deeply spiritual event. You come out of the tree. It chooses us. Don't you get that yet? Don't you get it?

It loves. I am weird. Off the wall. I am such a failure. I have so not got it together. I find it so difficult. The most difficult thing I do. Is get up in the morning. And be a Christian. I can't. Come out of the tree.

I have to go. And I still fail. And I still mess up. Don't think Zacchaeus turned into Sam Zacchaeus. Overnight. Any more than you have. You know what? You got to jump. You got to run as hard as your little legs will carry you.

And you got to jump. You got to get out of the tree. You got to open your heart. You got to let somebody in there. Hurt. Damaged. Frightened. You know what I mean? Sam saved already. I know. Jesus said to a church.

Jesus at the Door and the Call to Intimacy

A church, mind you. Revelation chapter 3. Behold. Hello. Modern language. I'm here. I'm out the door. I'm not inside. If anyone will open the door. I'll come in. And we'll fellowship together. Don't talk to me about being a Christian.

Is he in the house? Is he in the house? No, you're too asleep. He will not condemn you. He will heal you. He will love you to pieces. You should hide it down somewhere. Let him in there.