FULLTANK 3077: When Your Finger Is Broken, Everything You Touch Hurts (A Warning to “Holy” People)

0:00Sometimes the problem is not that everyone around you is wrong. The problem is your pointing finger. One day a woman goes to the doctor and says, dog, it hurts everywhere. As she touches different parts of her body with her finger. My arm hurts, my neck hurts, my shoulder hurts. And after the tests, the doctor says, do you know why everything you touch hurts? Because your finger is broken. I compare this to a spiritually proud person who likes pointing to what is broken in the people around them, not realizing that he is the one who is broken. Jesus built a different community. A community of grace. He welcomed the worst sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors. This is the irony of Jesus. The holiest person in the history of the world befriended the woman with seven demons,

1:03the Samaritan adulteress with five husbands, and the chief tax collector who cheated his fellow Israelites. It reminds me of this story. One day a prostitute went to church, but there everyone looked at her in such a mean way she finally left. She sat under a tree outside the church and she started to cry. She said, Lord, the people in church don't want me to go in. That's when she heard, God, tell her, that's okay, my daughter. I myself have been trying to go into that church, but they wouldn't let me. We in the feast, in my spiritual community, that's been a challenge and a goal. We have made a decision to let all the sinners come in. And that connects powerfully with today's Gospel in Luke 4. Jesus goes back to his hometown, Nazareth. These are church people.

2:03These are people who think that they're close to God because they're familiar with religious things. But when Jesus speaks, they get furious. Why? Because Jesus tells them something they didn't want to hear, that God's mercy cannot be boxed in. He reminds them that in the time of Elijah, God helped a widow in Zarepath, an outsider. And in the time of Elisha, God healed Naman the Syrian, another outsider, not a Jew. The people of Nazareth wanted a God who blesses us and rejects them. They wanted a God they could control. A God who fits their tribe, their preferences, their judgments. But Jesus, he reveals the truth. God's grace is wider than your circle. And when proud people hear that grace is for those other people, oh my gosh, they fly in rage.

3:04This is where we need to check our hearts. Because spirit will pride as a subtle language. I'm not like them. They don't belong here. Shoo, shoo. They should fix themselves first. And then maybe they can come back. God loves us more. But Jesus, he flips the table and says, God is not your private property. God's mercy is not a reward for the good. No, it is a gift for the needy. And that's why I love what we try to do with all our best at the feast in our spiritual community. It's a home for everyone, especially those who feel far from the Lord, people who feel unworthy or dirty or rejected. You see, the church is not a museum for sin. It is a hospital for sinners. And if we don't let sinners in, we might be unknowingly shutting the door of Jesus himself, because Jesus always walks with a broken.

4:06And so today, let's ask God to heal our pointing finger. Instead of pointing, let's start embracing. Instead of excluding, let's start inviting. Instead of condemning, let's start praying. Instead of building walls, let's build tables. Because in the kingdom of God, grace always has a wider address than our pride. Here's the question I want to give you. And please, please write your answer in the comments and let's have a beautiful conversation together. Who is the outsider that you struggle to welcome? Someone you judge or avoid or dislike? And what is the one concrete act of grace that you will do this week? And my friend, if this message blesses you and you want to be my supporter in this work of love, sending out missionary serving with the poorest of the poor, please do. Thank you so much. If you're watching this in Facebook, it's very easy.

5:06Click the button subscribe. If you're watching on YouTube, click the button join. And if you're listening on a podcast, click by me or coffee. Your support helps me keep building a community of grace for the broken and the searching. Come let us bring. In the name of the Father, in the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord, please heal my pointing finger that part of me that judges and excludes and rejects. Give me your eyes and your heart. Help me to be merciful. Use me to build a community of grace. I'm praying this in Jesus' name, amen, and amen. Once again, if you want to be my supporter and you're watching this in Facebook, click the button subscribe. In YouTube, click the button join. In a podcast, click the button by me or coffee. This is Bow Sanchez here in full tank. God bless you. I will see you tomorrow.

6:21And God's love will spread to many more people. You can also click that link that says buy me coffee. If you want to support our work of love, we do a lot of work that is sending out missionaries, helping the poorest of the poor, sharing God's love to young people. Maraming, maraming salamat for your support and for your kindness. God bless you more. God reward you for your generosity.