Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What's up, you guys? Greetings from my hotel room in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Packing up, getting ready to go. Had an encounter recently. It was so powerful with a religious sister who came up to me and said, Chris, 10 years ago I heard you talk about loving yourself.
[00:00:11] And it really bothered me. She's like, I hated that part of your talk.
[00:00:14] And it bugged me for like five years. And I was just thinking, like, what is it about that message that just stung?
[00:00:24] I realized I wasn't loving myself.
[00:00:26] And it started me on this five year journey where I came to realize the reasons I wasn't loving myself, came to have peace with myself, to realize that God loves me, to start really, really loving and liking my vocation.
[00:00:40] It was life changing.
[00:00:44] And guys, I'm so conscious of the fact that that's not because Chris Stefanik had something smart to say.
[00:00:50] That's the power of Jesus Christ, that someone talking about him can change the spiritual trajectory of someone's and the whole trajectory of someone's life because of words about the Lord.
[00:01:06] I mean, that's the power of Jesus. He's so powerful that not only can his word change your life, but words about his words can change your life.
[00:01:16] He's so powerful that he can actually forgive your sins.
[00:01:19] I went to confession last night and I shared this with the crowd that was at Reboot Dude. It was for something that was really, really bugging me. Like, I felt so bad and you've had confessions like this and no, there's no big scandals that I'm hiding.
[00:01:34] If I told you right now, my confession, which I'm not going to do, it wouldn't be in the Pillar or Catholic News. It's just, you know, but. But it really, it really did bother me. And I'm not trying to make light of my sins because I was convicted. And I was thinking about the ripple effect of my sins and how like, wow, a way I've been acting, a thread that I haven't even been paying attention to, it can really hurt me and hurt people.
[00:01:59] I got to repent of this.
[00:02:01] And I felt the weight of it.
[00:02:03] And as I went to confession, feeling the weight of it, I heard the words of absolution. And the priest is like, you know, say one our Father for your penance. And I'm thinking that's it really.
[00:02:15] I mean, it just almost didn't feel right. It's like, it's that easy. Like there's this big thing in my mind and in my spirit that was bugging me so much. Like it's really? That it's really that easy.
[00:02:28] And I went into the church and I was praying my penance and looked up at the cross and I could almost hear Jesus say, really? That easy, huh?
[00:02:40] Because I died on a cross so that you could hear those words.
[00:02:44] It wasn't easy.
[00:02:47] But because of the power of what Jesus did on that cross, it's easy for me. I could just say sorry and the sins are just wiped away.
[00:02:57] This is the power of Jesus Christ.
[00:02:59] No one else can do that for you.
[00:03:03] No one else can just say words of absolution, give someone else the power in his name to say those words, and boom, it's just gone. It's just magically gone.
[00:03:14] Only Jesus. And you know what else? Only Jesus Christ can stand in front of a tomb of one of his friends and say, lazarus, come forth. And at the sound waves from his. From his God man mouth, the dead body hears it and sits up.
[00:03:33] Guys, only one can do that.
[00:03:36] Only Jesus Christ.
[00:03:38] And what is the response to that? To what he can do, to what he is, to what he brings to us?
[00:03:44] Martha shows really beautifully in the reading in John 11. And spend time reading this. You hear it at Catholic masses on Sunday, this, this week. But I'll tell you what, man, go home and actually read this one because it's mind blowing. There's so much to it. And by the way, there's more to it than I can cover in this short video. So follow the Daily anchor. I've been talking about this all week.
[00:04:02] What's the good response to this?
[00:04:04] It's two things that Martha shows us. Number one, God is so big, he's so powerful, that when you pray, you should just come to him as you are and give him your full honesty. Give him your whole heart.
[00:04:15] When Jesus showed up on the scene and it was a little too late because her brother was dead, she said, lord, if you were here, my brother wouldn't have died.
[00:04:24] Have you ever felt like that? Like God?
[00:04:28] Where were you? I mean, if you were here, this thing wouldn't have happened. Okay, when you're in a low place, and that's the kind of prayer that truly expresses your heart, don't worry about the God protocol being just right. Come to him as you are. My kids don't have a protocol for coming and talking to dad. They don't have to set up an appointment with the secretary. They don't have to knock in a particular way, stand a particular way before me. They just come and give me their heart. They this is what your father wants from you and the Lord, who is strong enough to, at the breath of his mouth, raise someone from the dead, forgive sins, and change the trajectory of your life from words that you even hear about. His words could change everything.
[00:05:09] The one at the source of all that, who's that mighty, who's that strong?
[00:05:13] Is strong enough, is man enough, is tough enough to take on all the messiness that you have to give him.
[00:05:21] So just give it to him.
[00:05:23] And sometimes that's the kind of prayer that pleases him the most.
[00:05:27] Lord, where were you? This is my heart. This is. And you know what? I'm not going to hide the heart from you. Right as I am, it's yours. Where were you, Jesus? This is what I got in me.
[00:05:38] Just come to him as you are. That's number one. But the second thing Martha shows us, it's so beautiful, man.
[00:05:44] It's faith in the middle.
[00:05:47] See, she had faith at the beginning when she asked Jesus, hey, come and heal my brother. And Jesus got word that Lazarus was sick. And he changed the course of his whole mission and went back to Judea, which his apostles said, okay, that's like suicidal, Lord. Like, don't do that. Don't you know the Jews are trying to kill you? They're looking for you. And he said, no, no, we're going to go there. Why? Because Lazarus is a buddy of mine. He's a friend. I'm going to do this for a friend.
[00:06:09] But she had faith when she reached out to him that he could do something for my brother.
[00:06:13] She had faith after.
[00:06:15] She had faith afterwards, when Jesus had said, lazarus, get up. Because, dude, who wouldn't have faith at that point? When he actually gets up, you see him raise someone from the dead.
[00:06:25] But Martha had more than that. We all need. She had faith right in the middle. And before he made Lazarus get up, after he had showed up too late and Lazarus was dead, Jesus said to Martha, you, in all her messiness and all her upsetness, I am the resurrection and the life.
[00:06:43] He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?
[00:06:52] She said to him before she got her answered prayer.
[00:06:56] And she didn't say this to him. After having fixed the mess in her heart, she still felt distraught. She still felt upset that he showed up so late.
[00:07:07] She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.
[00:07:16] Guys, we're in the middle. That's where we spend most of life. We know that we can trust in Jesus.
[00:07:23] And so often we experience the disappointments of life and that heart wrenching prayer that Martha prayed. But we got to stand right in the middle, knowing that in the end we, every enemy of Jesus, including death itself, is conquered. We experience the final victory, the answer to all our prayers in the end. But in the meantime, Lord, I do believe. I believe that you are the resurrection and the life and that you have all that I need. Guys, the one who is strong enough to change the whole course of your life by the power of his words and even the power of someone speaking about his words.
[00:08:00] The one who is strong enough to just say, hey, I forgive you your sins. And they poof, just go away, just gone because of what he did on the cross.
[00:08:13] The one who is strong enough to tell his friend, lazarus, come forth. And a dead man's ears hear it. And he sits right up with no morning coffee.
[00:08:22] Boom.
[00:08:24] Here I am, Lord.
[00:08:26] The one who's strong enough to do all those things deserves your whole heart, right as you are. And it deserves your faith at the beginning, at the end and in the middle.
[00:08:36] St. Martha, pray for us. Martha, Mary, Lazarus, pray for us. Jesus, we trust in you.
[00:08:42] Love you guys. Make sure again, sign up below this video.
[00:08:46] Dive into the Daily Anchor with me. We'll be talking about this reading all week. God bless you, friends.
