Clynt Reddy: We have
somethin' we call Home Team
Weekend happening across all our
locations here at River Valley
Church, and here's what it is.
It's a vision from Pastor Rob
and Becca to carve out some
space for those needed, diverse,
and really young voices that are
part of our
community and our church.
And so I have just the distinct
honor of bein' able to be a part
of that weekend with
our online campus,
and I just love what's
happenin' with online.
We have people watching, not
just here in Minneapolis where
River Valley Church is located,
but we have people from all over
the country, all over the world,
and so you're a part of this
community that is doing
amazing things together
for the glory of God.
And so I just want you to
know a little bit about me,
and the best thing you can
know about me is my family.
And so my wife and I--Annie,
we've been married for just over
eight years now, and really the
focus of our life,
unsurprisingly, is we have three
children under five years old
running around
our house, so it's always a busy
time in the Reddy household,
but we're anticipating our
eldest--his name is Laker, and
it's not because I'm a big
Kobe Bryant fan or
Los Angeles Lakers fan.
I mean, I am, but we wanted to
give our son a shout-out to his
Minnesota roots, so this
is the land of 10,000
lakes, and so Laker our eldest.
He's about to head into
kindergarten next year,
and to prepare him and almost
to prepare us, really, for that,
you know, he's going to
preschool a couple days a week.
It's a school that's located
just a couple minutes from
our place, and he loves it.
And one of the things that
I love about him is that,
when he comes home
after school, you know
the thing that he
loves to talk about?
He loves to talk about his
teachers, and he loves to
kind of say, like, "Here's what
I learned today," or,
you know, "I was
listenin' to this teacher,
and she was tellin' this kid to
do this and this," so he's kind
of our resident eavesdropper.
You know, he's always listened
to conversations and gives
a nice report back.
And then he always tells us
the things they tell him,
which is
oftentimes, you know, "Laker,
you gotta kind of quiet down,
you gotta listen up."
And he hears that a lot at home,
a little bit too, 'cause our
eldest, he just has energy,
he has inquisitiveness, and he's
got a good deal of sass as well.
But how many of you know this;
just goin' back to teachers,
right; how many of you know that
some of the best teachers
in our lives, that they know
kind of those not so ideal
tendencies that we have?
But how many of you know this?
They also know our potential,
and they're able to draw it out
from us in ways that
are really inspiring.
And I've had a couple of
teachers like that in my
lifetime, and the one that
stands out for me is
my high school math teacher.
His name was Mr. Huber,
and he was just a funny guy.
He made math fun--but,
again, full disclosure,
I am a little bit of a
nerd, so making math fun,
for me, probably
isn't too tall an order.
But it was more
than just a fun class.
You know, I remember--and Mr.
Huber has a soft spot in my
heart because he called me up.
He made me better.
He tried to make me the
best student possible,
and as I'm sharing that, there
may be people coming to your
mind right now, people who have
had that kind of impact on you,
and oftentimes they're
teachers, they're
coaches, they're parents,
they're grandparents.
There's people that God has
invited into our lives that call
us up and then make us better.
And if we're all honest, like,
maybe somethin' you
carry--I know it's
somethin' I carry.
I wanna try to be that for
as many people as possible.
I wanna be the kind of person
that brings insight and wisdom
and helps people in
their journey along the way.
And how many know
that's happening
a ton in our school systems?
And can I just say this?
If you're a teacher or an
administrator, if you're a
professor or a coach, if you're
homeschooling as a parent,
we just wanna celebrate you and
commend you in this crazy season
we call COVID and all the
things that it takes to keep our
families and our students
and our community safe.
And so all that you're doin'
in those official settings in
school systems and
universities across our country,
just as River Valley Church, we
wanna say thank you for all the
sacrifice that you make.
And here's
somethin' I truly believe.
I truly believe that
our world moves forward.
It's propelled
forward by the teachers,
if you will; and we have an
ultimate teacher, right, and
his name is Jesus, and I believe
Jesus is the kind of teacher
that wants to move
our world forward in
ways that bring light.
And how many of you
know that, right now,
sometimes it can feel like
it gets increasingly dark,
and we need more
light in our world?
In our Bible, you
know, our Scriptures,
they capture in a very beautiful
way this side of Jesus,
the fact that he's the teacher.
And we're gonna look at a story
in the Gospel of Luke that I
think really highlights
not just Jesus as a teacher,
what he communicates,
but I think it shows off
his style as a teacher.
You know, every teacher kind
of has a way of how they impart
wisdom or share knowledge, and
if I could put a descriptor to
the style of Jesus, I'd
call him, like, an elusive
storyteller, "elusive" in the
sense that, like, oftentimes
Jesus found themselves in these
arguments, if you will,
and he was always able to kind
of maneuver his way out
of it and is kind of--his
elusiveness came out when
he would just redirect
questions back to other people.
They would try to trap him,
and he would just
ask the question right back.
And then he was a storyteller
because one of the things he
loved to do was share truth
through the power and through
the vehicle of a story,
and you may know
those stories as parables.
And we're gonna look at probably
one of the most famous parables
Jesus ever shared, and it's
found in the Gospel of Luke,
chapter 10, and we're gonna
read verses 25 through 37.
And so, if you have
a physical Bible
like I do, you can get that.
If you're on a--if you have a
smart device or smartphone,
you can pull it up there.
Maybe you're
watchin' on your browser.
Just pull up a new tab and
look with me at Luke chapter 10,
verses 25 through 37: "One day
an expert in the religious law
stood up to test Jesus by asking
him this question: 'Teacher,
what should I do to
inherit eternal life?'
Jesus replied, 'How does
the law of Moses say?
How do you read it?'"
I'm just gonna stop there,
and, you know, there's a really
interesting descriptor here.
It said that this
religious leader stood up,
and it was actually
a sign of respect.
One of the things that you
and I are probably aware of in
teaching settings in our culture
is like, just like I'm doin'
here, the teacher is kind of
standing up front, and they're
sharing to an audience that
normally is sitting down.
In the ancient world, the
teachers would actually be
seated, and their audience
would be seated as well,
but if you had a
question or a comment,
you would stand as
a sign of, kind of,
respect, and you would
then address the question.
So Jesus would find himself in
these kind of situations all the
time, and many people
would stand up to Jesus,
not necessarily
in a negative way,
but they would wanna
ask him a question.
But one of the things that, as
we're gonna read through this
story, that I think is important
to note about this particular
religious leader, an
expert in the law,
is I think he, even though his
outward posture showed respect,
I think he was
trying to trap Jesus.
He was tryin' to test him.
And so, if I could kind of
give you my take on maybe the
psychology coming from this
expert in the religious law,
I think he looked at Jesus and
said, "Where's his credentials?
I mean, I'm an expert.
He's from Galilee.
Nothin' good comes from there.
That's a Galilean nobody,
and he's tryin' to teach us.
So let me show his audience
and let me show him who really
should be doin'
the teaching here."
"So here's a
question for you, Jesus.
How do you answer it?"
And here's the
elusiveness of Jesus, right?
He does what he always does.
He volleys it back:
"What do you think?
You have the question.
Maybe you have the answer."
So verse 27, "The man answered,
'You must love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your strength,
and all your mind.'
And, 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.'
'Right,' Jesus told him.
'Do this and you will live.'"
And so I kind of imagine his
response to the question,
"What should I do
to inherit eternal life?"
His response seems
almost instantaneous.
Here's the answer.
And Jesus said, "Yeah, you're
right, that's the answer."
And I'm sure he
felt pretty good.
But then the text continues on.
Verse 29, "The man
wanted to justify himself,
and so he asked Jesus,
'And who is my neighbor?'"
And Jesus tells a story.
"Jesus replied with
a story," verse 30,
"A Jewish man was traveling
from Jerusalem down to Jericho,
and he was attacked by bandits.
They stripped him of
his clothes, beat him up,
and left him half dead
beside the road.
By chance a priest came along.
But when he saw
the man lying there,
he crossed to the other
side and passed him by.
A temple assistant--" you may
see that as a Levite in your
translation-- "walked over
and looked at him lying there,
and he also passed by
on the other side."
And so Jesus sets up this story
where a man is taking what was
oftentimes a very
treacherous path.
It was about a 15-mile journey
from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and it was a downhill trek,
and it was surrounded by these
crevices and mountains, and it
was notorious for thievery and
violence, and this
Jewish man, unfortunately,
succumbed to those risks.
But it seemed like people
that were going to help him came
along the way, but
they didn't do anything,
people that
exemplified the presence of God,
people like a priest working in
the temple, people like a Levite
assisting in the temple,
but for some reason,
maybe justifiable, maybe
they had duties to perform,
maybe they didn't wanna
be ceremonially unclean,
but they don't do anything,
they just walk by.
And "Then," in verse 33, "a
despised Samaritan comes along,
and when he saw the man,
he felt compassion on him,
and he went over to him, and
he soothed his wounds
with olive oil and wine.
He bandaged them up, and he
put the man on his own donkey.
He took him to an inn,
and he took care of him.
Then the next day, he handed
the innkeeper two silver coins,
telling him, 'Take care of
this man, and if his bill runs
any higher, I'll pay for it
all the next time I'm here.'"
And then Jesus, in verse
36, asked this question:
"Now which of these three
would you say was
a neighbor to the man who
was attacked by bandits?"
You know, the Samaritans are
a really interesting group of
people for this Jewish
audience, and the history of the
Samaritans is that they
were people that were
connected to the Jewish family.
You know, back in the time
of King David and Solomon,
there were these 12 tribes
that kind of had a united front,
and then there was a dispute.
There was a civil unrest,
and there was a split in the
community, and ten
tribes went to the north.
They called themselves Israel.
Two tribes stayed in
the south in Jerusalem.
They called themselves Judah,
but eventually the northern
tribes intermingled, you know.
They started to
worship other gods.
They started to intermarry
with different people groups,
and they eventually
became the Samaritans,
a whole different people group,
but still having a bloodline and
a lineage that
traced back to the Jews.
And so from the purebred
Jews, they always looked at the
Samaritans as they were
like half-breeds and they were
false-god
worshippers and they were in,
like, a disgraced
land: "They left us."
And so I just want
you to hear this.
When a Samaritan becomes
the hero of this story,
the Jewish
listeners, they hated that.
Honestly, like, we love this
story because of the power and
the beauty of people
being compassionate,
but his original hearers, they
probably--they thought it was
the worst story
you could ever hear.
"Why in the world is the hero
the person we despise the most?"
And Jesus responds back
with this question: "Hey,
which one of those
three that I talked about,
which one was the neighbor?"
And the expert in the religious
law--just catch this with me as
I finish up this
text: "The man replied,
'The one who showed him mercy.'"
He couldn't even muster
up the strength to
say the word "Samaritan."
Couldn't even get
it out of his mouth.
"And then Jesus said, 'Yes,
now go and do the same.'"
You know, this religious
leader, he had Jesus
kind of won over
after the first exchange.
You know, "I got
the right answer."
But he just had to
ask one more question,
"And who is my neighbor?"
But that isn't
really the question, is it?
The way Jesus responds back is
he wants to answer a different
question, and the question is
"How do you act neighborly?"
That's the better question.
And the answer is
you show compassion,
care, grace, and
love to those in need.
And a neighbor isn't just
the people that live by you.
They aren't just the people who
are like you or who like you.
Neighbors are--the definition
of "neighbor" is almost
dramatically widened in this
parable and in this story,
and here's what it includes:
it includes every tribe,
language, people,
nation, political persuasion,
skin color, sexual
orientation, background,
education, social
status, income level,
age, ability, intelligence
quotient--I could go on and on.
A neighbor is
everyone everywhere.
A neighbor is anyone in your
way while you're on your way.
And this story, if we allow
it to shine a light on our own
lives, it can expose prejudice,
it can expose bitterness,
it can expose stubbornness;
and my prayer is that the Holy
Spirit will bring to our hearts
the people that we've excluded
from our love and care.
And we know the story has
that powerful takeaway;
but can I just
share one more thought?
I think this story
has another takeaway,
and I think it comes from the
perspective of that Jewish man
lying on the side of the road,
and he saw the people that he
thought were supposed to
be his friends pass by him,
and when he sees his
enemy coming toward him,
he probably thinks, if
he's even conscious,
but he probably thinks, "Just
my luck, you know, my enemy
comin' to spit in my face is
the last nail in the coffin."
But instead, his enemy
acts neighborly toward him.
And here's what I
think that beaten,
bloody Jewish man
learned on that day.
I think he learned that God
can use anyone to bring a little
hope into our world
or into his world.
And here's what the
Master Teacher taught
that religious leader.
That expert in the law, in
all his pride and arrogance,
I think he learned that God
can use anyone to teach him
something that he
didn't know himself.
In other words, a
Galilean nobody,
a despised Samaritan, they look
nothing like the people that
could impart wisdom or
share knowledge or call us up,
but I think that's
exactly who God likes to use.
Paul puts it this way
in 1 Corinthians 1:27.
He says, "Instead, God chose
things the world considers
foolish in order to shame
those who think they're wise.
And he chose the things that
are powerless to shame
those who are powerful."
God is no doubt interested in
changing the world through us
as good Samaritans.
But can I tell you this?
He's also incredibly interested
in doing things in us;
and oftentimes, the way he
transforms us comes in the
most unexpected of packages.
And this became
evident in my own life.
I was 22 years old, and I was
visiting a friend who was a
missionary overseas,
and long story short,
we made some poor decisions,
and so I found myself in a dark
alley with a homeless
person holding a knife,
asking for all of our money.
We were--by God's
grace, we were able to
kind of get out of that
situation 'cause a security
patroller was walking by,
and he kind of broke it up.
And you can just imagine,
like, you kind of watch
your life flash before you.
And I still have--I
still carry that little bit,
like, "Whoa, that is not a
feeling you wanna have."
So the next day, you know,
we're kind of walkin' it out,
you know, like, just take a
walk after a moment like that.
This is the next day.
And there's somebody walking
with conviction toward us.
Same guy from the night before.
Now, I don't know if he was
followin' us or how he found us
or if God's providence,
like, wanted to bring our paths
together, but as equally
impactful was, when he
came toward us, he slowed,
and in his eyes
something looked different,
and the first words
out of his mouth were,
"I'm really sorry."
And our hearts were racing,
and I just didn't know how to
process it, but then,
as I reflect on it here,
here's what I learned: I learned
that somebody who I didn't know,
who made a mistake, he showed me
in that moment the power of what
it takes to admit our wrongs.
He taught me about
transparency and second chances.
And I had written him off.
He was a nobody to me.
He was someone that
wanted to hurt me,
but now all of a sudden, he
became the person that God was
using to teach me something
about myself, teaching me
that it takes humility and
courage to be able to admit that
we are broken people, and
we do broken things.
And how many of you know 2020
feels like a collectively broken
year for all of us.
You know, our health
and our bank accounts,
our stress levels, it seems
like they're under siege.
We've got a pandemic,
we've got civil unrest,
you know, there's
record unemployment,
it's an election year--you
know, some of you may be askin',
"Where's the hope in all this?"
And I wonder if the reason
we still ask that question is
'cause we look for all the
usual suspects for the answer.
You know, we look
to social media,
we look to politicians, we
look to radio personalities,
we look to experts in the
law, we look to people like us,
we look to people
who look like us, you know?
It's--we're lookin' in the wrong
places, and maybe our more
glaring blind spot, as followers
of Jesus, isn't that
there are people
we've excluded from our love.
No doubt that's happening,
but maybe another blind spot is
we've written off
certain people,
certain kinds of people from
being the very messengers and
agents that God wants to use to
help us see a side of him that
we may miss because none of
us see the whole picture.
There are people who are
different than we are.
You know, they carry a
different political persuasion,
a different stance
on police reform,
a different
mask-wearing opinion, right?
There's people
who aren't like us.
There's people who we don't
like, but they carry the image
of God just like that despise
Samaritan, just like that person
that held me up but
then later apologized.
They carry the image of
God, and because of that,
God has the potential to use
them to reveal somethin' about
himself and somethin' about
ourselves that we couldn't see
if not through their eyes
or through their words.
You see, the parable
of the Good Samaritan,
to me, is memorable because it's
about a Samaritan that's acting
in a godly way,
despite being godless,
from the view of
Jesus's Jewish audience.
And so can I just say this?
Can I say this, in the same way,
maybe there are people you and I
have written off as
godless for whatever reason,
and God may just use them to
shine a light on us and surprise
us because what we need
more of in our world is we
need people to build bridges.
We need people that are all
about helping us realize that
there is--that
we're better together.
We're better when we're
unified, not when we're divided.
And there's pride, and there's
self-justification in all of us,
just like in that expert in the
religious law, and oftentimes
what that'll do is it'll--it's
the reason we exclude people,
but it's also the reason that
we can cut off our own growth.
We can kind of cut the legs out
from underneath us because we
closed the door on the "not so
perfect," "not so ordinary,"
"not just like us" people.
And I just have a feeling
God likes to use
those kinds of people.
As Christians, we're a part of
a kingdom that's upside down,
which means you and I just
have to be radically humble
if we're gonna be part of it.
No one's outside of our
span of care and compassion,
and God can use the people we
least expect to shine a light on
us, and all that does is tell
me; and I hope it tells you the
same thing; we just
need more of Jesus.
Now, I'm not saying this
for you not to listen
to your pastors and leaders.
They're gonna guide
you in all truth,
and God has placed them
in your life for a reason.
But I just don't want us to feel
like they're--that we block or
that we miss what God wants to
do when we open ourselves up to
everybody
everywhere in our community.
And maybe you identify
as a person that you
feel like you're on the outside.
Maybe you feel like your
opinion doesn't matter.
Maybe you feel like your
perspective doesn't count.
Can I just encourage you today?
God is going to raise you up.
Your voice matters.
Your perspective matters.
What you wanna teach us
matters, and we need to be
humble enough to receive it.
I mean, God used a stutterer
in Moses to be a spokesperson.
He used an outcast in
John the Baptist
to declare the way of Jesus.
He used a Pharisee
in Paul to
spread the good news
all over the world.
God can and does
use anyone because,
just as much as he wants to
change the world through us as
Good Samaritans, he also wants
to change our world in us even
if it takes a
despised Samaritan.
So widen your circle.
Open your hearts.
God's gonna use you, and he's
gonna use other people in ways
that will
literally blow you away.
And my prayer and my hope
is that we just shouldn't be
surprised if, like the
Jews of Jesus's day,
someone like a despise Samaritan
will point us more toward God
and further into his kingdom.
Let's pray: Jesus, we receive
that, Lord, in the sense
that no one is outside the
bounds of who you can use
to transform, to teach, and to
move us forward in faith.
God, I pray you would
raise up more voices,
more people that capture
the fullness of your kingdom,
every tribe,
language, people, and nation.
May we be the kind of
church that is open-handed and
open-hearted to receive
whatever you send to us,
whatever you wanna teach us, no
matter what package it comes in.
It's in Jesus's
name we pray, amen.
