Not My Jesus: Non-Judgmental Jesus

The first time I chatted with Pastor Matt officially, I guess, was last fall. My wife and I are part of a ministry just kind of caring for pastors and wives and things like that. And so I pulled up on some random day and I walked in, and Pastor Matt was in. He’s available. And if you know Pastor Matt, he’s pretty talkative. And so an hour and a half later, I walked out, and I just enjoyed my conversation. One of the things that I appreciated about that conversation was I got from Pastor Matt just a passion to see the kingdom grow, not to see his kingdom grow. I just so value that. And even as Noah mentioned, a reason for giving is just to see the kingdom of God expand and grow.

And so it’s a privilege to be here continuing in the series which Pastor Matt started two weeks ago called Not My Jesus. And two weeks ago, his theme was a moldable Jesus. And he unpacked a little bit of who Jesus is. He’s eternal. He’s supreme. He’s unchanging. And because of who he is, we should seek to mold our lives around him and his purposes rather than desiring for him to mold his life and his purpose around ours, right? And if you were here, you might remember he had some Play-Doh, a red can of Play-Doh, and he demonstrated his artistic capacities and abilities. And if you missed it, you didn’t miss much. Okay? I mean, you can go back and watch it online. I’d encourage you to. But let’s let Matt stick to preaching and not get into the artistic stuff.

Last week, the theme was the genie mentality, and Matt asked us the question of what do we desire most? When we come to him in prayer, do we view him like a genie bottle that we rub and out he pops, and are we most after the gifts we receive from God, or are we most after the gift of God himself? And what do our priorities say as we spend time with him and we spend time in prayer?

Our theme this morning is the nonjudgmental Jesus.

The Myth of the Non-Judgmental Jesus

And as we start, I want to just unpack a myth a little bit. A myth which says that Jesus is too nice to be judgmental. He’s too nice. He’s loving and kind and compassionate and caring and he’s forgiving and gracious and all these amazing things. And then when we think of this picture of Jesus, he’s sitting there on the hillside, right? The grass is green, no weeds or dandelions. There’s sheep foraging around, laying down. There’s children coming, sitting on his lap, right? We get these warm fuzzies as we think of Jesus. And so we may think he’s too nice to be judgmental.

Another reason why there’s a growing view of Jesus as being non-judgmental is linked to the rise of moral relativism. A belief which argues that morality and issues of right and wrong are not absolutes, but rather is dependent upon time and place and culture and social and individual viewpoints. It asserts there’s no single moral code that is superior to that of another. It’s to each his own, right? What may be right or wrong for one person isn’t necessarily right or wrong for the next person. And those who follow this line of thinking advocate for tolerance, for after all, who am I to judge? I mean, didn’t Jesus himself say that?

The most quoted verse in all of the Bible by people who do not read the Bible is Matthew 7:1, which says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” You can Google it. What is the most quoted verse by people who do not read the Bible? And it says, it’s Matthew 7:1. Do not judge.

A culture that elevates tolerance and moral relativism chooses to take this one phrase out of context and to build an entire theology upon it, saying that because Jesus is loving, because he’s kind, therefore he affirms every lifestyle choice. He doesn’t call for people to change and he’s not confrontational. And if Jesus said this, then we as a church should do and be the same. So if the church decides, or if a Christian decides, to stand against sin, then culture will say, based upon the ideas of tolerance and moral relativism, that we are being unkind and unloving, and that because we are choosing to judge, we’re going against who Jesus is, because Jesus says do not judge.

The problem is that’s not what Jesus said. It’s actually what he said, but it’s not what he’s saying.

What Jesus Actually Said About Judging

Matthew 7:3, we can continue on. And it says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye, you hypocrite. First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

So here’s what Jesus is literally saying. He was not telling us not to judge. He was telling us how to judge.

Don’t judge like the Pharisees is what he literally could have said. And we’re going to look at an example in just a few minutes from John chapter 8. The Pharisees judged out of superiority, out of arrogance, out of a place of thinking they were better than others. And Jesus was saying, if you’re going to judge like that, then don’t judge, because if you do, you too will be judged in the same manner. But rather use discernment in your judging. The word judge actually means to form an opinion, to assess, to evaluate, to discern, and to decide.

And so Jesus expects us to start by looking inward, to take a step back and to look inward at myself and to judge myself first. What planks are in my eye? What issues of sin am I dealing with? Do I need to repent of? Do I need forgiveness for? To whom do I need to confess this? What accountability do I need to put in my life so that I can have that support to overcome?

First, I’m to look inward, and then from that place of healing and wholeness and discovery of Jesus, I’m now able to walk alongside of a brother or sister and point out a speck and say, “Hey, man. I’ve seen something in you. I’d love to talk to you about it. I’ve got some issues, too. And here’s a process I went through. Here’s the Jesus I discovered. Here’s the forgiveness I found. Man, can we walk together?” Amen.

He’s not telling us not to judge, but informing us how we are to judge. And once that happens, as we address the specks in other people’s eye, it really comes down to also motivation. What’s my heart motivation? Is it that of judgment and condemnation and attack? Or is it love and care? Do I desire to put them in their place, or do I desire to enable them to see and experience God’s grace?

When you think about it, judgment is actually a form of love. What does a loving parent of a 2-year-old toddler do when they are being disobedient and disrespectful? Do they just simply sit by and go, “Ah, they’ll grow out of it at some point, I’m sure”? That’s not what a loving parent does, is it? They choose to step in. They choose to teach. They choose to instruct. They choose to model. They choose to discipline. In other words, they judge the action of their child with the goal of helping to shape that child into a kind, caring, responsible, and one day Jesus-loving, Jesus-following individual. They judge them because they love them and want what’s best for them. And Jesus does the same.

Jesus Gives Us Guidelines

Matthew 7:1-5, which we just looked at, is found in the broader context of the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapters 5-7. And as we look through this teaching of Jesus, we see that he gave us a lot of guidelines in which we are to live and also in which we will be judged, right?

And he lays out and says in Matthew 5, you’ve heard it said long ago, according to Moses and the law in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, that you are not to murder. So the line was here, the value was here. Don’t murder. I’m going to raise that line, raise that value, to do not even get angry. Do not have anger in your heart towards your brother or sister.

The Old Testament law says that you are not to commit adultery. And here’s the value line. I’m going to raise that value line to do not even look in lust.

And when it comes to marriage and divorce, he lays out some things. And here’s what the Old Testament says. In fact, here’s what Moses said. Moses actually gave the man permission, for a number of reasons, to write their wife a certificate of divorce. And Jesus shows up and says, “I’m raising that bar, and there are parameters for divorce. There are parameters for marriage. I’m going to make sure that you have a clarity of what marriage is and the parameters of marriage and divorce.” And he does that on a number of issues and a number of values, ways that we are to live. Ways in which he will hold us accountable, in which we will receive judgment, so to speak, and discipline, so to speak, when we step outside of those boundary lines. Not because he’s harsh and mean, right? But because he’s kind and loving and caring.

Jesus knows that if we want to have fulfillment in marriage, in the sexual arena, that we need to avoid lust. He’s not trying to say, “Man, I’m going to try to just scrunch you into a little ball so you can have no fun in life.” He’s saying, “I know exactly how you can have the most fun in life in the sexual arena. So I’m going to lay out some parameters and values and boundaries for you so that you can experience what’s good and pleasing and whole.” And he does this in every area of life.

If you were driving down the road, a mountain road up high in the mountains, and all of a sudden there’s a really steep cliff down off the side. I mean, like, if you go over, there’s no chance you’re surviving, right? But just as you come to that place, you see some guard rails. Would you think to yourself, “Well, that’s dumb. I mean, who’s trying to restrict my capacity to make my own decisions and drive where I want to drive?” We’re not going to say that. Every single one of us would be grateful that someone took the care and the concern to set up a guard rail, a boundary to help protect us, so that as we’re driving to the place that we’re trying to get, we’ll be safe on the way so we can enjoy the beauty when we get there, right?

And that’s the purpose and the rationale for the guidelines that Jesus sets up for us. But yet, when it comes to Christianity, to some people’s view of Jesus, many people just don’t want to get boxed in. They want to filter Jesus through a culture that has decided that the highest virtue is tolerance, and the worst thing you can do is to make someone uncomfortable. But the thing is, that’s not Jesus. It may be a 2026 Americanized version of Jesus, but it’s not the true Jesus.

Full of Grace and Truth

So what’s an accurate view of Jesus when it comes to judgment versus non-judgment, tolerance versus non-tolerance? I believe John chapter 1 gives us a profound statement, and John chapter 8 gives us a profound example.

John chapter 1 verse 14, we read these words. “The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The word became flesh. The word. Pastor Matt talked about the word in week number one of this series. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God, right? The word, Jesus. He came. He became flesh. He dwelt among us so that we might be able to see and experience the fullness of the glory of God.

What does the glory of God look like? Well, Jesus revealed it to us. And it says that we discover it and see it in the fullness of grace and truth. Not the fullness of grace or truth. Not grace and a little bit of truth filtered in when it’s convenient, but both fully at the same time. Jesus was not a balance of, but a completion of grace and truth.

I think if we were honest, we’d probably say, “I want the fullness of God’s grace.” Just pour it on as thick as it can come. I want the grace, the love, the kindness of God just poured over me, washed over me. But when it comes to the truth side, I kind of want to have a little control over that.

Kind of like, you go out to eat and you order a salad, right? And how many of you ask for the dressing on the side? Probably many of you. Now, I don’t. Number one, because I don’t really like salad a lot, and so I hardly ever get them. I like more meat and potatoes and Snickers and Reese’s peanut butter cups. But number two, if I do get a salad, I don’t like dressing at all. So I just don’t get any.

But my wife likes salads. And so she often gets a salad. Just yesterday, in fact, she spoke at a women’s event conference in Mountain View, Missouri. By the way, Mountain View, we were wondering, when we’re driving there, is this like we’re on a mountain with a view, or we’re getting a view of the mountain? The answer is, it’s neither. Jesus was both, and fully. Mountain View is neither nor none. All right. So, we’re on our way home last night. We stopped at Panera Bread in Springfield, and dressing on the side. Why? She wants to control the amount of dressing she puts on, to control the flavor, so she can flavor it like she likes it.

And I think many times we want to treat the truth of Jesus that way. We know he’s the way, the truth, and the life, and that’s all good and everything. And the truth of heaven and the truth of forgiveness, the truth of his grace, we like that. But then when it comes to the truth of things that actually impact our lives and who we are and how we’re to live, that we struggle with, or maybe not sure we really want to, we want the truth on the side so we can filter it in.

John 1:17, we find these words. “The law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We’re grateful that the law was given. The law reveals truth to us. It also reveals our need for grace when we break the law, right? The law was given. It came from without. But truth and grace, it showed up in the flesh. Jesus dwelt among us. It means he tabernacled here among us. In the Old Testament, the presence of God was in the ark of the covenant, which was in the tabernacle, then later in the temple. That word tabernacles in John 1:14. When Jesus came and dwelt, he tabernacled. The presence of God came here with us.

In May of 2020, my wife and I had just come through literally the hardest year of our lives. It was agonizing. It was hurtful. We were wounded. We were desperate. We were at the end of ourselves as individuals, as a couple. Everything was just falling apart.

And one Sunday morning, we drove home from church and pulled into our driveway to be met by some of our best lifelong friends from Newton, Iowa. We lived there for 10 years. And Ryan and Carrie Hook had gotten up early that morning to drive three and a half hours. They knew what we were going through, and they just came to love us, to hug us, to pray with us, and to spend time with us.

They could have sent a letter in the mail. They could have sent us a text, a phone call, could have even done a FaceTime message, right? And all those things would have been nice, helpful, and meaningful, but not the same as their presence. There’s something powerful about presence.

Jesus Christ came to reveal the fullness of God’s glory, and we see it in his grace and his truth. Both, and not a balance of, a completion of. He came to represent God to us. The gift of presence is powerful. Hebrews 1:3, the son is the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his being. Jesus wanted us to see exactly who God is. And so he came, he dwelt, he lived, he demonstrated the fullness of grace and truth. The fullness of grace, the fullness of truth.

Now, I think when it comes to us as individuals, as human beings, we typically lean, right, one way or the other. Some of us lean a little towards grace. Others of us lean a little towards truth. If you’re married, it’s likely you both lean the opposite way, right? Opposites usually attract, including in this way.

Let’s say that you have a 16-year-old, and he just got his driver’s license. And one afternoon you get a phone call, and it’s from the police, and they say, “Hey, we’ve got your son here. He was speeding 85 in a 45 down Ward Road. It took us a couple miles to catch him. He was flying in and out of traffic, but we got him. He’s here. $300 ticket. You need to come. We need to figure this out. Sign off, etc.”

So you’re on your way to pick up Johnny, right? And you’re on your way, like, man, what was he thinking? He could have hurt, injured, killed himself and multiples of other people. He needs to learn a lesson, right? So you get there and you’re like, “Hey, Johnny. Glad you’re okay and all, but listen, this was so unwise. Number one, you’re paying this ticket. You know that, right? 300 bucks. Number two, our insurance premiums are going to skyrocket, and you’re paying for that, too. Number three, this is just how it is. You’re not driving a vehicle for the next year. You’re just not. And there’s one more thing. After a year, we’re limiting you to a scooter until the age of 25.” And as nine years from now, I fully understand that, till the age of 25, or till you get married, whichever comes later, right? That’s the truth side. A little extreme, but that’s the truth side.

Maybe you’re on your way and you’re talking to your spouse, and you’re like, “Man, I can’t believe what he did, but for crying out loud, just, Jesus, thank you that he’s alive. He’s okay. No one got injured. And we get to live to see another day with our son. We’re just grateful, man. We just want to hug him. I know we should, he needs to learn a lesson, but man, was it $300? He doesn’t have a job. We actually told him not to get one because we want him to prioritize school and grades and all that. And so we can cover it. We have 300 bucks. And the insurance premiums, it’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out. We’ll cover that, too. And man, did the police say a couple miles down Ward Road? I’ve thought about the hand-eye coordination of that. In and out and in. Man, goodness, maybe we should enroll him in a racing camp of some sort. He has a bright future in NASCAR. I mean, come on. I wouldn’t mind doing that once in a while.” Grace.

Both of those are extreme, right? We won’t do either of those. But the point is, we all tend to lean, right? Grace, truth. Jesus doesn’t lean. He’s both, and fully, all the time. And he has the wisdom to know how to express the fullness of grace, the fullness of truth, in every situation in the perfect way.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

In John chapter 8 is a beautiful story of how he does that. You may be familiar with this story. I’m going to begin reading in verse three.

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now, what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him.”

So here come the Pharisees, right? They do what they’re always doing. In their insecurity and all that, they want to get rid of this man named Jesus. So they figure out a way to set a trap for him so they can accuse him, right? They bring in a woman. They accuse a woman. They catch a woman in the act of adultery. And they put her in front of the crowd and said, “Hey, the law says we should stone her.” Which it does. Leviticus 20, Deuteronomy 22. Because of her sinful action, here’s what should happen. So, Jesus, what do you say?

Now, as we all know, it takes two people to commit the act of adultery, right? A man and a woman. They bring in the woman only. Thus, they themselves were disregarding the law by arresting the woman without the man, for the law condemns both parties, the woman and the man. But they weren’t interested in justice. They were interested in trapping Jesus in order to get rid of Jesus.

And they thought they had this perfect trap set up for him. Because if he said the woman should not be stoned, they would say, “Uh uh, the law says you’re violating the law. We don’t have any reason or right to listen to you because you violate the law.” If, on the other hand, he urged them to follow through with the Old Testament law and to have her stoned, they would report him to the Romans, who did not permit Jews to carry out their own executions. And then the Romans would deal with Jesus. So they think they have this beautiful setup to trap and to trick Jesus.

Verse six continues and says, “But Jesus bent down. He started to write on the ground with his finger.” He doesn’t respond verbally right away, and he just stoops down, right? And we have no idea what he wrote. We really don’t. There’s some speculations. He may have just been doodling, just buying time, just to see whatever. Some speculate maybe he was writing out the Ten Commandments. Others speculate, and this is actually my favorite, I hope maybe this is what Jesus was doing, he was writing down the names of his accusers and their own faults. Like, “Oh, hey, Joe. Joe. Yeah, Joe deals with lust himself, right there. And oh, Michael. Yeah, I got Michael. And I know he tries to hide his anger issues, but I know all about that. Stephen. Stephen. Oh, it’s the fifth commandment, isn’t it? Commandment number five. Honor your father and mother. And he’s using this unique rule set up called Corban, where you can kind of hide your money, so to speak, through the temple and the giving, so that you don’t have to actually care for your aging parents as they need, but you can kind of keep your money to yourself. So commandment number five broken, right?” We really don’t know what he was doing, what he was writing, if he was writing anything, or just kind of doodling. But we know that he bent down, he began to write on the ground.

Verse 7 then says they kept on questioning him, and as they do, he straightens up and he says to them, “Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” If you’re without sin, you can throw a stone. In the midst of their ongoing demands, right, they keep pestering with the question, what should we do? Leviticus 20, Deuteronomy 22, what do you say? He stands up and says, “If you’re without sin, throw the first stone.”

This is a significant statement, because in this statement he does not refute the covenant of the Old Testament, which was based on law, but rather he chooses to elevate the covenant of the New Testament, which is based on love. The law is needed, for without the law of God we would not know the truth of God, the distinctions for morality and the differences between right and wrong. But love is also needed, for without the love of God we would not be able to experience forgiveness from wrong. The law of God reveals to us the truth of God. The love of God reveals to us the grace of God. And Jesus was getting at all of that in the midst of his one statement.

The text continues in verse 8 again. He stooped down and he wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first. Which, by the way, kind of makes sense, I think, because in Christianity, I think the older we get, the closer to Jesus we get, the more we realize how far we are away from him, right? And so the oldest ones were probably like, “I’ve broken some stuff.” And so they began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and he asked her, “Woman.” By the way, this is not a derogatory term. It’s actually the same word he used to address his own mom as he hung on the cross, and he looked down and he sees his mom and he says, “Woman, here is your son, John. John, here is your mother.” He was entrusting the care of his own mom to John. He was caring for his mom. Same term. “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Other translations say, “Go and sin no more.”

So here’s my question. Which is it? Is it grace? I don’t condemn you. Or is it truth? Go and sin no more. Which is Jesus after? What is he trying to communicate? Which one? Yes. Both, fully, completely, in a perfect way.

In Jesus’ statement in the story, we find a full expression of grace and truth. You are a sinner and what you did was sinful. Don’t do it again. Truth. But I’m not going to give you what you deserve, but I’m going to extend to you exactly what you don’t deserve. Grace.

He didn’t try to balance them out. He didn’t water down the law. He didn’t put a condition on grace. He didn’t say, “It’s complicated.” He didn’t say, “Prove that you really are sorry first.” He didn’t say, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone’s kind of engaging in these types of things these days.” He gave her a full dose of grace and truth. He did not condemn and he did not condone.

By the way, the only person there in that crowd who was able or worthy to throw a stone, the only one there who was without sin, was Jesus, right? The only one who could condemn her didn’t. All those who wanted to condemn her couldn’t, because Jesus loved her. He came to save her.

Grace and Truth Through Relationship

Jesus dwelt, tabernacled, among us so that we might see the fullness of grace and truth. And once we come to experience the grace and truth of God through relationship with him, we are now to represent him to others, right? So if we as individuals, if we as a church desire to have a real influence, a real impact upon real people, to see real transformation in Jesus’ name, we need to learn how to combine and display grace and truth in the way Jesus did.

And how did Jesus do it? I think a primary thing he did was he prioritized relationship. It’s what he did here in John 8. It’s what he did in John chapter 4. If you’re familiar with that story, the woman at the well, she had had five husbands, and the man she was living with, she was not married to. And Jesus went there, but he didn’t start there. He started by talking about something the woman knew about, water. She was coming to the well to draw water. He said, “Woman, could I have a drink?” Then they start talking about living water, about a water which you could drink which would enable you never to thirst again. And the woman started to engage and ask questions and to lean in. And in the midst of that, Jesus spoke truth. Jesus prioritized relationship.

He did so with Zacchaeus in Luke 19, going to his house to share a meal. In Mark 2, eating with sinners and tax collectors. Over and over. Here’s the thing. Jesus did not shy away from people who were living in sin. He didn’t do it. But he also didn’t shy away from talking with those people about their sin. He did both. He prioritized relationship and he leaned in and he did life with them. But in the midst of life, he spoke truth. This is who Jesus was. It’s how he lived. We would be wise to do the same. To be people in a community who demonstrate grace and truth.

We often lean one way or the other. And as we do, there’s a couple of ditches that we can fall into, right? As people, as a church, if we’re a church that’s all truth and no grace, right? We’re hard, cold, condemning, more interested in pointing out sin than welcoming sinners. People walk in broken, they walk in feeling beat up because of their sin, and they leave feeling even worse. That kind of church, truth only, they drive people away from Jesus, not to Jesus.

The second ditch is a church that’s all grace and no truth. A church that’s affirming and comfortable and never confronting and never calling anyone to repentance or change. In that church, people walk in broken. They leave feeling validated but totally unchanged. And they eventually walk away as well, because they realize the church is no different than the world.

You may have heard the following principle. Rules without relationship leads to rebellion. Go to your teenager and say, “Hey, I came up with a list of 10 new rules. Listen, no conversation, no dialogue, no questions, nothing. Just do them, and I don’t care what you think about them.” You see how that goes, right? Relationship is so critical. It’s so vital.

Jesus perfectly represented God to us. He became one of us to enter relationship with us. And now we as a church are to represent Jesus to others by entering relationship with them and modeling grace and truth.

Where Are You Today?

As we close, let me just ask you, where are you today? I know that in our lives, in the past and in the future and even today, we need full doses of grace, right? And we need full doses of truth, right now, today. What do you need to hear from Jesus? What truth do you need to hear? Will you respond and obey? What grace do you need to receive? And will you just open up your heart and mind and get away from the condemnation and start living in the grace of God?

In 2021, I was on an early Sunday morning run and I prayed this prayer. I was on a Rock Island trail and I prayed this prayer. “Lord, I invite you to speak to me this morning. A word of encouragement, a word of direction, or a word of correction.” And I’ve prayed this prayer many times in my life, and then I just take a few minutes to just allow God to speak to me, from his spirit to mine. And sometimes I hear something, sometimes I don’t feel like I do, but I just want to give him that opportunity.

And that morning, I heard something extremely clearly and quickly. And to set the context for it, in 2020, coming out of that most hurtful, wounding, deep, desperate year of our lives, my wife and I made some serious transitions in our lives. I had been a pastor for 24 years, and I resigned and I stepped away, and we started pursuing some other ministry areas. And in the midst of it, to help pay the bills, I started up a small business. And over that year, we were just trying to survive and just heal and recover, and we’re trying to make it financially. And a few people paid me in cash during that year, and when I ended the year, when I went to do my taxes, I did not claim all of my cash payments as income.

And so I’m on a run early in the morning. I said, “Lord, I invite you to speak to me. Word of encouragement, word of direction, word of correction.” He said to me so clear and so quick, “Corey, from this day forward, every single dollar you earn, I don’t care how you receive it, check, Venmo, Cash App, or cash, you will claim it as income.” And I heard it so clearly that I responded out loud. I said, “Yes, Lord, I will.” And ever since then, I have. And I’ve had multiple people say, “Hey, I want to pay you in cash,” because they think they’re doing me a favor, right, so I don’t have to claim it. And I’ve had opportunity just to share some of my story. “Hey, you can pay me in cash if you want, but just want you to know, I really strive to be a person of integrity, and I’m going to claim it as income on my taxes.”

I need to hear a word of truth. Will you listen to Jesus’ word of truth?

I also need to hear God’s word of grace in my life, because I stepped away from something I thought I would be in for all of my days, all of my life. And then all of a sudden, I’m not. The position I had, the title I had, the every-two-week paycheck I had, the benefits I had, the health insurance, it all changed, right? And I’m walking into a new world, and we’re trying to figure life out, and the kind of built-in influence I had was gone. And in the last five years, the Lord has washed over me this truth that my identity is not based on my activity. It’s based upon who he says I am.

I’m a child of God. I’m the beloved son of the king. And the Father declared it to Jesus at his baptism, right? “This is my son whom I love, with whom I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved son.” Jesus had not preached a message, not done a miracle as recorded in scripture. Not based on Jesus’ activity, but based on his identity from the Father. The Father said, “You’re my beloved son.” And over the last years, through books I’ve read, through studies I’ve done, the Lord has washed that over me. The grace of God. Yes, I don’t have that title anymore, but I have the title of beloved son. I don’t have that position anymore, but my position is secure in him.

In what way do you need to hear the voice of the Father washing over you grace and love and identity and purpose and calling? “You’re my child. I’ve called you. I love you. I forgive you. You’re mine.” Listen here. Here’s who I am. I am the one whom Jesus loves. The Apostle John said that. That’s who I am. And you might say, “Well, that’s who I am, too.” That’s fine. You can be that also. We can all be. But that’s who I am. I am the one whom Jesus loves. Just the love of God, the grace of God washing over me.

The real Jesus, the biblical Jesus, he walked toward a woman in her worst moment. He did two things that no one else in the crowd was willing to do. Number one, he offered her grace that she didn’t deserve. Number two, he told her the truth she needed to hear. Both of those things, in that order, from the same mouth, in the same moment. Grace and truth. And that is love.

And friend, he does the same thing for you today. He comes to you and he extends grace, not condemnation. There’s no condemnation for those in Christ. He extends grace and love and identity, but he also speaks truth. He doesn’t condemn, but neither does he condone. What is he saying to you? What do you need to hear? And will you respond?

Would you stand with me as we pray?

Lord, we thank you that we serve a living Jesus. He came. He died. He rose again. He lives today. He’s on his throne. He rules. He reigns. God, you created us for relationship. Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapters 2 and 3, we broke relationship with you. The rest of the story of the entire Bible is a story of Jesus doing everything in his power to restore the relationship which he intended, which we broke.

If you’re here today and you have not stepped into this relationship with Jesus, I want to invite you to do so, to become a child of God, to become a son or daughter of the king. Just to acknowledge in your own heart right now where you are. “Jesus, I have sinned against you. I am a sinner. I deserve condemnation, but I thank you that you’ve chosen to give me grace, to extend forgiveness, to die on the cross, to take the penalty for my sin. You took the stones on my behalf. I thank you for that. And so today, I confess my sin and I ask you to forgive me and to come into my life. I choose to begin a relationship with you. I receive your grace and I invite your truth to lead me in the ways that I am to live. I make you my savior and I make you my Lord.”

And that makes you a believer, a child of God. It makes you one of his, in relationship with him.

And then for all of us, I just pray in Jesus’ name that we would hear the voice of Jesus right now this morning in these next few minutes, even as we just sing part of a song again, that we would just hear you, Jesus. We would hear your voice this week. We would hear your voice this month, this year, next year, this next decade, the rest of our days. That we would hear your voice. God, we invite you to speak to us. A word of encouragement, a word of direction, a word of correction. Speak, may we hear, and may we respond and receive, in Jesus’ name. Grace and truth, which is love, in Jesus’ name.