Beyond the Gaze | Small Acts Change Everything

TRANSCRIPT

So today we launch Radical Christmas and our series Radical Christmas Love in Action. And I wanted to start with a story about a time, it was about 10 years ago. Some of you that were here will remember we did this campaign called. Lovely city. It was when we were launching what we do now and we decided it would be really clever to across three weeks, see if we contributed collectively 3000 hours of community service.

Do you remember when we did that? We had people we. Giving blood. We had people knitting trauma teddies, they were mowing lawns. We were serving at a whole bunch of citywide events and I was administrating it and it was a lot. And I was basically burning the candle at both ends as you do. And one night there was a knock at my door and this was left.

There's a picture, hopefully of a hamper. It was personalized. Love this Ruthie. It was full of like instant meals and snacks and things just to get me through those few weeks. And it wasn't like super fancy, but it changed my week because I felt seen and I recognized in that moment that someone had seen.

That they'd acted. They hadn't just looked, they'd actually done something. And time and time, countless times through my life, I can reflect and think about the times that someone has done something. Little or sometimes really big and it's really blessed me. And they've just stepped in to show that they care.

And I'm sure if you think as well, there'll be times that you can recall a text message that came at just the right time or a meal that arrived at your door. And for many of us, I would say that those small moments they sometimes leave the deepest mark. It's not always a big extravagant moment that leaves the biggest mark.

There are ordinary acts of kindness when someone simply shows up. And I think that's part of the human condition to be known. To be seen. And I think what I wanna explore this morning is that whole idea of that there is a real difference between looking at someone and seeing. A massive difference.

It's like when someone says, how are you? And then they don't even wait for your response. They're already looking ahead and they're soldiering on. And you can just, you just know that's just a greeting. They don't actually wanna know how I am. But then there's the people that say, how are you really?

And they pause and they take the time. They want to know. They wanna know, they, they want to see into your heart, into your soul looking is surface level. Seeing is so deep. There's a huge difference. And if we're honest, I think that we could say that in the world today, we are pretty much professional lookers.

We scroll, we double tap, we're in hu, we're in a hurry, we glance, we move on. We look at people in the traffic. We look at people in the shopping center, we look at people in our workplaces, in our school environments, even our neighbors. In the streets that we live in, but do we see them? I at the GLS, the Global Leadership Summit, a couple of weeks ago, Christine Kane shared about the organization that she had founded, which deals with human trafficking, and she said something incredible.

She said, you can look and look away, but when you see you can't unsee. And that really stuck with me. And I think sometimes we look and we look away because we are busy. I know that I've used that. I hate that word, but we use it all the time, don't we? We are busy. We are tired. There's a thousand things that we've gotta get to the next thing on our list.

Sometimes we look, but we look away because we decide maybe even subconsciously. That, we should stay at a distance because there's gonna be someone that's more qualified to step in and help that need. Or maybe someone that's got a bit more time or a bit more margin than we do. And sometimes, and this one might be a little bit prickly, but I think that we can look and quickly look away because we've already decided what that person's story is.

We can judge. We presume and we judge based on appearance or action or history or even our own personal bias. And because of that, we don't actually take the time to see speaking about cognitive bias, I'm gonna throw Kev under the bus. He was telling me a story this week about seeing versus looking.

Do you mind if you quickly, do you have a microphone still?

Speaker 2: It's on my head.

Speaker: Oh, yeah. You were sharing about,

Speaker 2: can you gimme

Speaker: that, that exact thing. Like cognitive bias and when you look versus when you see.

Speaker 2: Oh okay. Yeah. As I love Christmas a lot. And on Tuesday it was it Tuesday, I think it was the Christmas the Carol thing was, were in here doing their carols and it sounded really nice, and it was only their first rehearsal.

So I, I came and stood just at the side and Nara generously invited me in. I declined, but I looked and I said, I just wanted to have a look. And I saw India. In the choir. And she looked at me and I looked at her and waved, and then I disappeared and I went home. And then I got home and I'm home and I'm thinking, where the heck's Anne?

I can't find Anne anywhere. So I'm texting Anne for three quarters of an hour. Where are you? What's going? Where are you? And she goes, I was sitting beside India in the choir and I went, what? And I realized that I did not even see her. I looked, I never saw her because I knew there's a snowballs chance in hell of Anne being in the choir.

She's never done this her entire life. So my cognitive bias, I didn't even see her. She said, I even looked and waved and you just looked at India and walked off. So I thought. Ah, that was what you were asking me about. That's interesting. If you have already pigeonholed someone, have a cognitive bias on that, you can look at them and not even see them.

And so that was my kind of revelation.

Speaker: It was good. And I'm glad you've joined the choir, Annie. That's awesome. I think that what happens is that looking keeps us comfortable. And seeing actually is gonna cost us. It's gonna cost us time. It's gonna cost us energy, it's gonna cost us resources because when we only look, it's really easy to keep walking past and walking around the people who are hurting and the lonely and the ones that are searching for hope.

But when we see, when we actually see something changes and we lean in and we move toward. We extend compassion and we love, and that's the heartbeat of this series that we are launching today. Radical Christmas, love in Action because love that sees always moves. It can't stay stationary. And that is why I love Christmas.

And I know we joke about how much I love Christmas, and I do, I love everything about it except. As Phil agrees with me, the fruit mint pies I'm just not on board with them. But everything else, the lights, the decorations, I love it all. I love. I love putting on Michael Bule in July. I love hitting play on Mariah in November and putting the tree up right.

Gemma it's good. It's all good. I love the sense of wonder. I love the sense of togetherness. I love all of these things, but the thing I love most about Christmas is it is the beginning of the greatest love story ever told. Ever told. It's the story of a God who chose not to sed, stay distant, but who leaned in.

He looked and he didn't just look at a broken world, he saw. He saw each and every one of us, and because of that love acted and he moved closer, and so God sent his son Jesus to step into our mess. And to bring hope and to bring life because real love acts and that's what we do every year through Radical Christmas.

We have the, basically the chance to echo that same love that God has showed us, to see people, to move towards them, and to basically keep sharing the love of the God who first loved us. But also not to limit it just to Christmas, but to make it a lifestyle. So I wanna step briefly into the Christmas story this morning, 'cause that's what we do in our Christmas series.

But before we do that, I don't want to assume that everybody in the room. Kind of understands the background story of the nativity scene that we often see at the shops or on Christmas cards at this time of the year. You might know about Mary and Joseph, but there was a backstory to that. And so at the time, it was a few thousand years ago, Rome was ruling the world and there was this guy, Caesar Augustus, and he was the Roman Emperor, and he made a decree that everyone needed to go back to their place of birth to be registered and counted.

And so in the midst of all of this movement, and think about it, no cars back then, they were like on wagons and donkeys and foot power, and they're heading, so Mary and Joseph, this young couple, she's pregnant, they've gotta make a journey of 150 kilometers from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And so they arrive finally, and they are tired, they're exhausted, there's nowhere to sleep.

And so they end up. In the place where the animals are kept and in that ordinary. Earthy place. Jesus, the son of God is born. Love took on flesh, right? God was sending himself his son, Jesus, to step into our story. And Luke records this in his book that he wrote, and I wanna pick it up in chapter two, verses 10 to 11.

And it says this, there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch. Over their flocks at night. So just imagine the shepherds are out there, they're gathered around little fireplaces. They're a bit stinky. They smell of fire and sheep. And these are ordinary men, and they're literally living on the fringe, like literally, but also socially.

They're unseen. And suddenly the sky explodes with light and it says, an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terrified. I also would be terrified. I think it's funny that we sing the Christmas songs about the angels appearing and singing chorus, but I think we all would've been slightly terrified in real life.

But once the terror wore off, the angels said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news. That will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born. We might not. Oh yes to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. And this will be assigned to you. You'll find the baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a manger.

So that is the Christmas story. What struck me when I was reading that this week? Was that out of all of the people that God could have appeared to announce the birth of his son, the son of God, he didn't go to Kings, he didn't go to priests. He didn't go to influences or the leaders at the time.

He went to these unseen like shepherds, the fringe dwellers. And you know what that tells me? It tells me that he truly is for. He is for each and every one of us. He is so for us that he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him would not die, would not perish, but they would have everlasting life.

God saw humanity hurting. He acted, he drew near, he came close, and that's what we celebrate at Christmas. A God who sees us and steps towards us. Love sees and love acts. Okay, so fast forward 30 years. Little baby in a manger. He's grown up and he's now walking through the streets and he has these crowds of people that follow him because people have been drawn to him.

He's healing people, he's teaching, he's feeding. He's just incredible. And so people are coming to just see if they can catch, a picture of him. But you know what the amazing thing is in all of the stories that we read about. Everyone's recorded is time and time again. We see that Jesus sees and Jesus acts, and in his action, he's revealing the father's heart to each and every person that he encounters.

He sees, he stops, he acts. He saw a grieving widow weeping. Do you remember that story? She's following along behind her son's coffin and what does he do? He raises him to life. He sees a leper completely ostracized. No one else would even touch him. Not only does he see him, but he reaches out and he touches him and he heals him.

He sees the children that the disciples are trying to shoo away because they think that their inconveniences, and he says, no, come. And he gathers the little children and he embraces them. And then there's a kiss. Anyone familiar? The story of Zacchaeus. I love this story. It always reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to sing this song in Sunday School about Zacchaeus being a wee little man.

Anyone remember that one? I won't. Do it. I won't do it. I won't force you with the rendition of it. But this story is amazing. The streets are packed with people. They all wanna catch a glimpse of Jesus and Zacchaeus. He's out on the fringe and he's heard about Jesus, but he's just there on the fringe and he's a tax collector and he's rich and he is powerful in terms of what the world has going.

He's pretty much got it all, but you know what else? He is hated. The people do not like him. His neighbors actually see him as a traitor because they're like, nah, you are lining your pockets with our money. And so when they look at him, they see corruption, they see greed, and they actually see betrayal.

And so Luke records in his in about, I think it's chapter 19. I didn't put it up there, but you can go back at, look at it. Luke chapter 19. Luke says, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but the problem was he was a wee little man and so he couldn't see. And so he sees this sycamore tree. And he races up ahead and he climbs the sycamore tree so that he can try and just catch a glimpse of this Jesus that everybody was talking about.

And then the moment Jesus walks up and he looks up into the tree. And he says he sees him. He doesn't only see him, he says his name, and then he says, Zacchaeus, come down. I'm coming to your house today. I'm coming for lunch. He invites himself over and can you imagine the gasp from the crowd? At that point, they would be like.

Jesus. Don't you know who that guy is? He has stolen our money. In fact, Luke actually records that the crowd started muttering, under your breath. Oh, that guy, doesn't Jesus know he's gone to be at the lunch table of a sinner? A sinner? They are muttering. Everyone else looked at Zacchaeus and they saw a thief and a problem.

They were applying their bias and their judgment. To Zacchaeus, but when Jesus saw Zacchaeus, he saw a person created in the image of God, like each and every one of us. A man who was hungry for change, a man worth knowing, and someone worthy of redeeming. And so Zacchaeus life completely changed that day.

By the time lunch was finished, he's giving away half of his possessions to the poor. He's making declarations about, I'm gonna pay back anyone that I've stolen four times the amount of what I stole, all because Jesus saw him and stopped and acted. Another story that there's countless stories of when Jesus sees people, but another one that I really love is the story of blind Bartimaeus.

Anyone know this One? Few of you? Yeah. So Jesus. Now bit of context here. He's leaving Jericho and he's making his way to Jerusalem. He's heading to the cross. We all know what's ahead, and he does as well. And again, there is a crowd absolutely swirling around him. It would've been chaos. It would've been dusty and loud and just.

Need, like people would've been reaching out and calling out and just needing things from Jesus and through all of that noise. From the roadside, this cry comes out. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me, and it's Bartimaeus, a guy that's been blind since birth and he's been sitting in the spot that he always sits on his cloak begging for money, and the crowd actually tried to shush him.

They're like, mate, he's got more important things to do. Like you're gonna embarrass yourself. Just be quiet. He knows it's Jesus coming and something in him just can't keep quiet. So he calls out louder and we read again in this passage that Jesus stopped and then he called out, come to me. And so Barda maus, he throws off his cloak.

And you imagine as a beggar, that cloak would've been your security. That was like your security blanket, right? But he throws it aside, he casts it aside, and he stumbles towards Jesus' voice. And Jesus says, an obvious question, but also the most beautiful question. What do you want me to do for you?

And Bar MEUs, he says, rabbi, I want to see. And in that moment, his sight is restored and his dignity is restored because Jesus doesn't just look, he sees and he acts. And what I wanna challenge you this morning with is this. If Jesus could stop on that road, maybe we should stop. Ours. We all know the feeling that it is to be juggling a thousand balls.

We all know what it is to be felt like we're being pulled in every direction with endless to-do lists and people to see, and places to get to. But if anyone had a reason to not stop that day, I think it would be Jesus with. The literal weight of the world that he would've been carrying each one of us knowing that he was going towards the cross.

But he didn't tune it out. He didn't step around it and walk past. He stopped right in the middle of the chaos, right in the middle of the noise, right in the middle of the pressure and the demands. He stopped and he acted. And I think that moment is such a reminder to me that what feels like an interruption is actually a holy invitation to extend the love of God that we have experienced for ourselves with the people that are in our world.

Because when we stop to see and when we actually act and slow down enough to care, heaven touches earth. Heaven touches Earth. We have a choice. We can look and we can glance away or we can see and we can act, huh? Near the end of his ministry. So he's gone through. These beautiful years of loving people and extending compassion and talking about a kingdom that is so upside down from the kind of kingdom that the people were used to at the time and the kind of world that we are used to now.

So it's at the end of his ministry, he gathers the people and he starts to paint a picture of what his kingdom is really like. And he actually begins describing. The day of judgment when the sun is gonna gather all of the nations to him. And he uses this parable of separating the sheep from the goats.

And it's a, it's actually a really sobering passage and a sobering image because it's about revealing heart and intention. I guess motive and love. And he's saying in this passage who really lived out the love of God? And then he says that the king is gonna welcome this group of people, the sheep.

And he's gonna declare this. He's gonna say, come you who are blessed by my father, and take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. And then he goes on with these words, he says, for I was hungry. And you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was a stranger and you invited me in. They're such ordinary needs, aren't they? Food, water, a welcome, everyday compassion. And sometimes they're the kind of things that we might even say are too small to matter, but Jesus is saying in this moment that they're holy. And he continues and he says, I needed clothes and you clothed me.

I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. So now the picture deepens. He's not just saying now, he's not just saying, now, offer from your surplus. He's saying, enter in. Enter into somebody else's suffering. Yeah, this sort of stuff can be messy and definitely inconvenient.

It can be costly and maybe a little bit risky. And Jesus continues, he says, and the righteous will answer him. Lord, when did you. See, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and closed you?

When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you? And they're confused. They're like, we don't actually remember doing those things with you. Jesus. When did we see you like that? I love the repetition there as well of the word see, and then the word, the action, resulting from that. And so Jesus continues and he says, the king will reply.

Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. That's the heartbeat of this passage. Jesus identifies himself with the overlooked, with the hungry, with the lonely, the sick, and the imprisoned, and to serve them is to serve him the same Jesus who stopped for Zacharias and who stopped for bar maus says, when you see the hungry, when you see the hurting, when you see the forgotten and you act.

You're actually serving me because every single person that we encounter bears the fingerprints of our creative guide. They're made in his image, and when Jesus saw people, he did not see interruptions. He saw image bearers, people worthy of dignity and value seeing and serving belong together. They can't be separated because when we truly see, we can't stay distant.

Love that sees always moves, and that's what Christmas reminds us of. That's the God who saw humanity's need and could not stay distant. He had to come near. The incarnation is sometimes referred to God. Putting on flesh is love meeting our deepest need. And now Jesus invites us to do the same, to let his love keep moving through us, so that when the worlds see us, they actually get a glimpse of him.

Love isn't a rule to follow. It's an overflow. It's a natural response out of the love that we have experienced from God and that we have for God, the same love we've received. We now extend. The two greatest commands and the clearest picture of a faith that sees and acts. Last week I was sitting with Ellie.

Ellie and John over there have a little boy Jack. He's nine years old and at school, Jack had been doing Operation Christmas Child. If you are not familiar with it, it's where you grab a shoebox and you fill it up with all sorts of gifts for kids in third World Nations that. Don't have a lot. And Jack came home, they'd been sharing stories.

You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I think Ellie shared it with me. They'd been sharing with the kids at school and Jack came home and he said to his parents mom and dad, I have to do something. Like I have to do something. These kids don't have anything. Some of them are so excited just by the box.

Not even by the contents. Like he saw, he actually saw and he said, having seen that need, he had compassion and he needed to act. And his idea, which I think has merit is a lemonade stand out the front of their house because you've got a lot of building works going on your street, right? Lots of tradies there, ready for a fresh lemonade. He wants to set up a lemon lemonade stand, but not so that he can have pocket money. It's so that he can buy a gift for another kid, because love that sees. Acts and we were I was so inspired by that, that Ellie and I thought how, because this is discipleship as well, we are raising up a generation of young people who are learning to see and respond in compassion.

And the world will change as a result of that. And so before Christmas, last Sunday, before Christmas, the 21st, we're actually gonna hold a kids. Christmas market and we're gonna invite our kids. And as parents, you can be a part of helping disciple your kids in this space to make some Christmas, whatever they like they could do craft.

My niece used to melt candles. Into little puddles of wax and then come to all of the willing aunties and flog 'em off for two or $3 a puddle of wax. Just, 'cause she was thinking that way. But this is not that. This is about kids having the opportunity to make something with what's in their hand.

Maybe they'll cook, maybe they'll bake, maybe they'll make something. And then all of us. The dotting aunties and uncles and grandparents and church family that we are, we can go and support their wares and then the kids are gonna donate that money back to radical Christmas because that is what part of discipleship looks like, teaching a generation what it looks like to see and to act and respond.

So as much as I love Christmas. I know that it's not the most wonderful time of the year for everybody. For many, it simply magnifies what they're already feeling. Grief, loneliness, financial pressure, family strain. People are rushed. People are exhausted. People are stretched, and for some it's. It's not a joy.

It's actually a reminder of what they don't have. Family, food, security, peace, and we live in a culture where anxiety is on the rise and where loneliness is high and where people wake up every day wondering, does anybody see me? Does anybody care? And we can't fix every problem. And it's a good thing that Jesus didn't ask us to.

But what he did ask us to do was to love our neighbors. To love our neighbors like the Good Samaritan. We see, and we choose not to walk around, not to walk past, but to engage, to act, and to offer what we have in our hand. And so I wanna ask you this morning, what's in your hand? Maybe it's a fuel voucher.

Maybe it's a meal. Maybe it's a prayer. Maybe it's a handwritten note to somebody that's been on your heart. Maybe it's simply a conversation with someone who desperately wants to be seen. Whatever it is, simply offer it. Small things done with great love. Make tremendous impact. This week at the cafe, someone handed in a card to one of our baristas.

It was a Christmas card, and I'm gonna read you what it said on it. It said last year, so I'm talking 2024. My credit card didn't work, and you offered me breakfast with such kindness. I was exhausted. I was juggling three little ones, and your generosity has stayed with me. I wanted to thank you for that moment of warmth.

Small acts, lasting memories. It's not about the size of the act, it's about the presence of love. And God has a way of multiplying those moments. Just think about the little boy who presented his tiny little lunch and God fed 5,000 people. Now think about what God can do when you offer what's in your hand, and that's what Radical Christmas is all about.

Every year we get to give to the hurting and to the overlooked through. Really practical things like meals and hampers and gift cards and emergency help. But one of my favorite parts of radical Christmas is the hampers. And I think the, I was going through them to, I love them all. If you asked me, I actually probably couldn't choose.

'cause I think they all are so powerful and so beautiful. But when someone receives a Christmas hamper, it's not just a basket of food. It says, I see you. And we have the opportunity to do that here, and Terry is doing the same over in Mozambique for the staff and the community over there. And there is something incredibly powerful about being seen and having a physical.

Need met like that. I would encourage you to open your radical Christmas book, not right now, but when you go home and turn to the page about hampers. And there is a story there about someone who delivered a hamper to a lonely neighbor and a beautiful friendship that formed as a result of singing an acting.

But it's not just about Christmas. This is a lifestyle. Love that moves from heaven to earth and from our hearts to our neighbors. So over to you. Who is God placed in your line of sight? Who's in the rhythm of your week? At school or at work or on the soccer field? Or maybe it's your literal neighbors on your streets.

Maybe you know their names, but you don't know their stories. You can look and you can look away, or you can see and you can choose to move closer. The team, I'm gonna invite the team up. They're gonna sing a beautiful song for us, and just give us a minute for the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts. And I wanna acknowledge as well this morning that there are people in this room and people that are watching online who are at different points in our spiritual journeys.

And. Maybe you followed Jesus for years and maybe you're simply curious and figuring out what you believe or even if you believe, but I want us to just take some time this morning to make room and. If Jesus, then this is an opportunity just to surrender afresh to him and to ask him for the courage not to be a person who looks and glances and then looks away, but who might see and act so that he can be seen through you.

And if you don't know him this morning I wonder if perhaps you've experienced his kindness through. Community like this, maybe you've experienced the warmth and just the love of his people. And I wanna ask you this morning to consider that maybe you can catch a glimpse of Jesus in those acts.

And Jesus' invitation to you if you're searching, is really simple. He says, I see you. And he says, I know you and I love you, and I came. For you. And you don't have to have it all together. You just have to be willing to receive his love. And if that is you this morning, then there are so many people who are here that will love the opportunity to connect with you and share a little bit more and help you on your spiritual journey.

But yeah, I'll hand over the team, but I wonder if as we do that, if you would just allow me to pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you are for us, that you saw us when we were lost and hurting and in search of hope and life, and that you chose to come near and for just for the people, God that don't know you yet.

I pray that this Christmas season would be. A journey to discovering who you are, a journey to seeing you, and just knowing the life and the joy and the hope that you bring. And Jesus, for those of you for those of us that, that do know you, I pray that we would just once again surrender our lives to you, that we would be willing to open our eyes to truly see, help us to realize where we've got bias and where we are so quick to judge.

Help us to overcome fear that we might have and to show us what is in our hands. Help us to use it Holy Spirit, so that in stopping and seeing and acting, the people in our world would see you. And I thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.