Seeing the Infinite Value of People [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright.

Jesus was fully God, but he was fully human, and as a human being, he didn't take anything to the garden with him but some people. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, You'll See, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org, or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Are you ready for some good news?

Human beings are the most valuable treasure on earth and that includes you. My thoughts are still meditative about the recent events of Holy Week as we thought about the cross, the crucifixion of Jesus, and as we continue on a series we call You'll See. I want to turn you today to Matthew chapter 26, starting at verse 36 for the narrative of him praying in Gethsemane.

Matthew 36, then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and He said to His disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. And then He said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.

Remain here and watch with Me. So His soul is so burdened that He almost could die under the weight of it. That's what's going on with Jesus. And He says, Remain here and watch with Me. He wants them to pray. He wants them to wakefully, thoughtfully intercede for the Son of God. And verse 39, And going a little farther, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. So He envisioned a cup of wrath, of suffering, of hardship that was in front of Him. He didn't want to do it. He was being tempted not to do it. And He wanted His disciples with Him. Verse 40, And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, So could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter temptation.

The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again for the second time, He went away and He prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

And then He came to the disciples and He said, Sleep and take your rest later on. My niece, Courtney, and her husband, Matt Stewart, who's a worship leader at our Clemens campus, have two precious, precious, I'm biased, of course, but beautiful little children, Wesley and Bethany. And the families that are experiencing some sheltering in place, I know, especially with little ones, at some point you just got to try to figure out something for a change of scenery when you're all cooped up.

The playgrounds are closed, but the parks are open. And so Courtney took the kids to Tanglewood Park. They got out of the house. They went to Tanglewood Park and they went out, I guess, for a stroll.

And it was so precious because she said that all of a sudden Wesley, he just looked up and he said, Look, Mommy, people, as if he were like at a zoo, like a giraffe, like some exotic creature that he had spotted. We are isolated from one another like never before. I know some of you have maybe some difficult people in your workplace. Some of your co-workers, maybe that you're like, boy, good. I get to get to be away from them for a while. Some wit has posted the three stages of working from home.

Pretty funny. Stage one, yay, I get to work from home. Stage two, it would be nice to talk to some people.

And stage three, I hope that pigeon sits in the window today. You know, it's so full, you just want some people. I was talking to a pastor, a friend of mine, and I think he was in a convenience store. He had his mask on and socially distanced from another woman in line. She had her mask on and they struck up a conversation, two strangers. And finally, they started laughing. They said that you think we need to be around some people because isn't that ironic?

Most of the time in life, if you run into somebody in a convenience store with a mask that's a stranger, you don't talk to them, you duck. We need people and we're all feeling it. And maybe this is one of the things that God's going to do is He's going to teach us something not just about the value and majesty of who Christ is, but the value and majesty of who people are. That's what I want to talk to you about today. We have been in a series we call You'll See because it's about a new spiritual discipline to pause and pray a little prayer. Jesus, how do you see this?

Because what we're learning is that if you can see something in a new way, then it'll change the way you think, the way you feel, and all your behaviors will naturally follow. And what I want to show you today is how Jesus sees people. We have in previous weeks talked about how Jesus views those that are called sinners and the compassion He has. We've seen how He looked at the masses of people who were confused and they were like sheep without a shepherd. We've seen some interactions that He has with people, but today in a narrative that's very surprising, we're going to see Jesus who's fully God but also fully human as the Jesus who really needed people.

Maybe we'll learn something about who people really are and it'll make you never look on people in the same way ever again. Our story today is set in the garden, the Garden of Gethsemane. And what's interesting is that the whole of the Bible narrative starts in a garden that God has created. And it was interesting in Genesis chapter 1, as we have seen in previous weeks, there is a refrain in which God, after each aspect, each day of creation, sees it as good.

And so you see the words, and God saw it was good, and God saw it was good, and God saw it was good, and God saw that it was good. But there was one thing that was not good, and I'm talking about before sin came in the world, even though it's paradise, there was something. Genesis 2 verse 18, the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone.

I'll make a helper fit for him. In other words, it was paradise, no sin in the world, and yet there was something that wasn't good. It's not good for a human being to not be with another human being. Interestingly, in the Genesis narrative, there's one other departure from the regular rhythm of, and God saw it was good, and God saw it was good. This other departure comes just at Genesis 1, 26, 27. God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, so we're made in the image of God, in the likeness of God, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all of the earth, and over every creeping thing. And he goes on, and so God created man in his own image, and the image of God he created, male and female he created them, and God saw that it was all very good. So there is a refrain that God saw it was good, God saw it was good, but one thing wasn't good, and that was that that man was alone, and there was one thing that God saw that was very good, and that was once he had finished and made Adam and Eve. So fast forward to our story, and it is about Jesus who is approaching the time of his great agony, the passion of Christ has begun, his suffering. He knows what's coming. He knows that there is what the Bible image is of a cup that he's going to have to drink.

It is to say that there is suffering that is in front of him. Now more than ever, someone you love needs your blessing, and we're here to help you craft it. This month's special offer from Alan Wright is a beautiful booklet that will teach you how to craft a meaningful blessing. The easy step-by-step instructions are biblically based and even include a worksheet that helps you write your blessing. So this Christmas, give someone you love a present not found in stores, a gift from your own heart that will encourage and empower. Write down the blessing and put it in a package under the tree or put it in your Christmas card.

They'll never forget it. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we'll send you this booklet as our thank you so you can discover the power to bless. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product. Call us at 877-544-4860 or visit PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. At the Last Supper, he announced that he would be betrayed. Judas was there at the Passover meal. And then Jesus heads over to the Mount of Olives, which would have just down over the valley and up on the next hillside and makes his way to the Garden of Gethsemane where these ancient gnarled olive trees in this beautiful garden that has become forever associated with the moment of Jesus' great agony. And Gethsemane means an olive press.

It's going to be a pressing time for him. And so here's what we read in Matthew 26 about this. They went, they sung a hymn.

They went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because of me this night for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I'm raised up, I'll go before you to Galilee. And Peter answered him, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. And Peter said to him, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. Jesus knew, Judas had betrayed him, that Peter would deny him three times. He knew that all, because it had been prophesied, he knew that they would all scatter and that when he needed them most, when he was nailed to a cross and suffocating and needed their prayer the most, he knew they were all going to be scattered.

He knew all of this. He knew how frail and faithless they were going to be. And he still wanted them to go with him to Gethsemane.

I can't get that out of my mind. It's just Jesus was fully God, but he was fully human. And as a human being, he didn't take anything to the garden with him, but some people.

He longed for that companionship. It is to say that though marred by sin, human beings are the most precious treasure on earth. People are the pinnacle of God's creation, made in his image and worth the death of his Son. Earthly commodities vary in value, but there is no price tag for a human life. People are infinitely valuable. People are infinitely valuable.

Jesus was God, but he was human, and he wanted, he needed people. What does that say about the worth of a human being? So fascinating, and sociopaths that seem to hate people despise solitary confinement. Experiments done with mice that are isolated for months have proven that their brains, neuropaths diminish and their brains decrease.

We are just not made to be able to survive isolated, and we not only don't want to be isolated from individuals, we crave to be in society at large. You know, when I was growing up, we had two main shows every week, Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island. Gilligan Island about the story of the skipper and his mate, Gilligan, and how they get stranded on a deserted island, the movie star, and Mary, and Mr. and Ms. Howell, and the professor, and I'm just watching Gilligan's Island, and they're on this island, and the island, honestly, it looks like paradise, because, I mean, it's palm trees, beautiful water, they have a lovely lagoon, and they never seem to be suffering for food. I mean, skipper never really loses any weight, and in fact, they seem to have, you know, pretty good variety of food, so that seems fine. Their shelter seems okay.

It's never too hot, never too cold. They have a few storms that come through, and in every episode, though, in one way or another, the discussion, the whole point of the show is they want to get off the island. They want to get rescued. They want to get back to civilization, and the funny question that comes to my mind is, why? They're living in paradise. Well, I'll tell you why.

It's because not only do we not want to be isolated from individuals, we don't want to be isolated from civilization at large, and we're discovering that, aren't we? All of this leads me just to ask, you know, how is it that Jesus sees people? How does He really look at human beings? And I think if you ask that question of Him, He'll show you.

He'll give you His eyes. And if you can see people as Jesus sees them, it's going to change the way you think about people. It's going to change the level of patience you have with people that tend to frustrate you. It's going to change the way you parent. It'll certainly change marriages and the workplace and our friendships. It'll change it all. So how does Jesus see people?

With what sort of eyes? Well, the first thing is that He sees every person with the eyes of a Creator because He is, Jesus is the one, according to John chapter one, through whom all things were made. John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. So Jesus is the agency of Father God's creative force in the world. And what that means is that every person that Jesus saw, He saw them through the perspective of the Creator. And when you have made something, it's your creation.

Don't you look at that differently? So I'm like every other American, I've been cleaning out the garage. I haven't hauled stuff off to the dump yet, but they're telling me that the trash, the landfills, that they're backed up, people waiting in line, everybody's cleaning out their closets and their attics and their storage rooms. And I've been in the garage because years ago we moved in, I said, I'm not going to stuff things in this garage. And then there's just boxes and stuff I never even unloaded, so I'm going through them. And I've been finding some good treasures in there. I mean, it's hard. You know, you got to get into a mode, that mode where it's just like I'm throwing things out, I'm throwing things out.

But every now and then you come and say, oh, I'm not going through that. I found some slides, slides like you put in a slide projector and projected up through onto a screen. I found some old slides that were photos of my, when I was a senior in high school, I took AP art.

Yes, AP art. And our art project at the end, you got graded on, was you had all this portfolio. And the way we sent it in for the national grading of it was we took slides of it, and I found the slides. I found the slides.

My artwork had been an emphasis on mountain landscapes. And I found, I looked through all my slides, I got distracted looking at all those slides, you know, some of that stuff that's not too bad, you know. And I wanted to tell you, I kept my slides. I kept the slides. If it had been any pictures of anybody else's, it's not that good.

They would have gone right into the trash bag, but that was something I made, right. And so I'm going through the boxes and I realized, you know, it's not just the things that you've made that you treasure more highly, but also if there's someone you love and it's something they made, then you look on that differently, don't you? So I think it was probably at Rinaldo preschool that Abby, our daughter Abby, made a little sculpture. Now she might be a little upset with me for putting this image up, but it was during Pastor Chris's fine message last week that there was a picture of me, my high school graduation and my seminary graduation.

And Abby, I believe, was the one who furnished those photos. So in the good spirit of that, I want to show you this wonderful sculpture that Abby made when she was a child in preschool. And you can see here, it's beautiful, and you may be wondering what is it? Well, let's zoom in on it and you'll be able to see there, there, that looks to be a face, I think, that's a face. And it, well, I think maybe there's some eyes, maybe a nose, I don't know what it is, but I saved it. I couldn't just throw it out, you know.

Now, if you found that on the street or you found it in your garage, out it goes. My point is the essence of it. How does Jesus see people? He sees people through the eyes of the one who made the people. If there's something that you've made, you treasure it in a different way.

If there's someone that you love who has made something, then you treasure what they've made. Alan Wright, it's today's Good News message, seeing the infinite value of people. And we'll have the conclusion to this teaching coming up on our next broadcast in the series, You'll See. Pastor Alan is back with us here in just a moment with a parting good news thought for the day.

Stick with us. Let us help you give a gift that money can't buy. Give someone your blessing. A positive, biblically based, faith-filled vision for their life.

In the beginning, God blessed Adam and Eve and then told them to be fruitful and multiply because in God's design, blessing isn't the reward for productivity, it's the fuel for it. Now, more than ever, someone you love needs your blessing and we're here to help you craft it. This month's special offer from Alan Wright is a beautiful booklet that will teach you how to craft a meaningful blessing. The easy step-by-step instructions are biblically based and even include a worksheet that helps you write your blessing. So this Christmas, give someone you love a present not found in stores, a gift from your own heart that will encourage and empower. Write down the blessing and put it in a package under the tree or put it in your Christmas card.

They'll never forget it. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries this month, we'll send you this booklet as our thank you so you can discover the power to bless. Now we are in our final days of offering this special product.

Call us at 877-544-4860 or visit PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day and someone's listening right now who is filled with negativity all around and we're talking about the good news here. So what's the encouraging good news is the takeaway for today? Every single human being is infinitely valuable. I think that maybe one of the things that we realize and especially in the earlier days of global pandemic and social distancing is just how much we need other people and sometimes we walk around and we just take it all for granted and we take other people for granted. We take it for granted that they'll be there.

We take it granted that we'll be out of the interactions and and loving relationships and we are frustrated with people. They don't do what we want all the time and yet Jesus sees people in a way that is unique because every person was made through him. So he sees through the eyes of a creator and a redeemer and he sees him through the eyes of a co-heir who's going to share his own life with him and I just think it's important that one of the things we should take away from such adversity of a pandemic is never look on people the same again. Every single person to God is infinitely valuable and worthy of the price of the Son of God on the cross. I wonder if you saw people like that, wouldn't it change everything? Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.