Will You Gain More of Jesus by Releasing More of Jesus?
Guest Pastor: Reggie Roberson
As I was coming back from a conference God spoke to me about Second City Church. I believe God desires to bring freedom, healing, and salvation to our coworkers, our family members, our neighbors, and people throughout this city.
I have a sense that God has incredible moments—even miracles—in store for this church.
But I also sense that He is asking us a question:
Will you gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?
Now, let me explain what I mean by that.
I’m certainly not talking about releasing Jesus from being your Lord and Savior. If you release Him from His rightful place as Lord, you don’t gain more of Him—you experience less of Him.
What I’m talking about is gaining a greater revelation of who Jesus is and experiencing more of His presence and power in our own lives as we allow Him to impact the lives of others through us.
Because sometimes we can become so focused on holding on to what we currently have in Jesus that we fail to recognize that there is more of Him to discover as we give Him away.
And if we are unwilling to take steps of faith and courage—if we fail to recognize the spiritual needs of the people around us—we can actually hinder our own spiritual growth. And at the same time, the people we love, work with, live beside, and interact with every day may miss opportunities to experience Jesus for themselves.
There are two stories in the Gospels that illustrate this beautifully.
One is in the Gospel of John: the story of Mary Magdalene.
The other is in the Gospel of Luke: the story of Peter and his homies in Capernaum.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” NLT 20:13-17
Mary discovered the empty tomb of Jesus. She is so perplexed and grief-stricken that she is fairly unresponsive to the angels, and when the risen Lord Jesus appears, she thinks He is the gardener.
Mary begins to petition the gardener—who is actually Jesus—to tell her where the body of Jesus has been laid.
And then Jesus finally reveals Himself to her.
He simply says:
“Mary!” —John 20:16
When He said her name, she recognized His voice. This was the same Jesus who had delivered her from seven demons that had oppressed her. This was the voice of the One who had changed her life!
She cries out, “Rabboni!”—Teacher!
And then she takes hold of Him. She doesn’t want to release Him.
And that’s totally understandable! She thought He was dead, and now He is alive!
But what Jesus says next is not exactly what you would expect after not seeing each other in the flesh since His crucifixion:
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said…
—John 20:17
Jesus, You don’t want a hug? What’s up with that?
Jesus is loving, so there has to be something deeper going on here.
He continues:
“Don’t cling to me…for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father.”
—John 20:17
Mary was clinging to Jesus as she had known Him, but Jesus was preparing to do a further work in her life—and that work required Him to ascend to the Father.
So what would His ascension accomplish?
Jesus gives us some insight in what He says next:
“But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
—John 20:17
Don’t miss how powerful that is.
“My Father and your Father…my God and your God.”
Something had changed!
His death and resurrection had accomplished what He came to do. The penalty for our sin and rebellion—the sin that separated us from God—had been paid. Through Jesus, sinful people could now be reconciled to God and brought into a loving relationship with the Father.
And we experience that reality when we repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.
Isn’t that good news?
But there was still more!
The full impact of what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection would unfold as He ascended to the Father and poured out the Holy Spirit upon His people.
Forty days later, Jesus ascended into heaven. He was exalted to the place of authority, and ten days later, on the Day of Pentecost, He poured out the promised Holy Spirit.
Now Mary wouldn’t simply know Jesus standing beside her physically.
Through the Holy Spirit, she could experience the presence of Jesus dwelling within her.
Jesus could be with her wherever she went.
That sounds like gaining more of Jesus!
So here’s the question:
Will we gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?
Mary was clinging to Jesus as she knew Him in that moment, completely unaware that Jesus had a greater revelation of Himself for her.
She called Him Rabboni—Teacher.
But He was revealing Himself as something greater:
The risen Lord!
Mary’s story teaches us that even in seasons of pain, grief, suffering, and confusion, Jesus wants to reveal Himself and His power to us in a greater way.
Could it be that you’ve seen Jesus as another great philosopher, but He wants to reveal Himself to you as God?
Could it be that you’ve seen Jesus as simply another religious figure, but He wants to reveal Himself as Adonai—the Ruler and Lord of all?
Could it be that you’ve known Jesus as the One who fills you with joy, but now, in a season of pain, He wants to reveal Himself as the God of all comfort?
There is a young lady in the community group that my wife and I are a part of who recently suffered a loss. The pain was deep.
But as she prayed to Jesus and poured out her soul to Him, He did something life-changing. He revealed Himself to her as her Comforter.
She gained more of Jesus because she didn’t close herself off to what He wanted to show her in her moment of pain.
And now, because she has experienced His comfort, she wants to share that comfort with others who have gone through the same thing.
She received something from Jesus that she can now release to somebody else.
That’s exactly what happened with Mary.
Jesus tells her:
“Go find my brothers and tell them…”
She couldn’t just cling to what she had experienced. She had to release it.
And John 20:18 says:
“Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, ‘I have seen the Lord!’”
She went from calling Him Rabboni to proclaiming Him as Lord.
She went from clinging to Jesus to carrying the message of Jesus.
She went from wanting to keep the moment to being sent to share the good news.
And Mary became the first person to announce the resurrection of Jesus to His disciples:
“I have seen the Lord!”
Church, I believe God wants to move among us in ways that bring freedom, healing, salvation, and purpose.
There is more of Jesus for us to experience.
There is more of His presence to know.
There is more of His power to see.
There is more of His love to encounter.
But could some of the “more” that God wants to give us be found on the other side of releasing what He has already given us?
So Jesus is asking us:
Will we gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?
Then There Is the Story of Peter and His Homies
Let me read it to you. Luke tells us:
“At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”
—Luke 4:42–44 NIV
Jesus has been doing incredible miracles in Capernaum, near the Sea of Galilee.
Peter’s mother-in-law has been healed of a high fever. Then, as the Sabbath ends, people start bringing the sick and demonized to Jesus. Jesus lays His hands on them, heals them, and sets people free from demonic oppression.
After pouring Himself out in ministry, Jesus slips away to a solitary place.
But the crowds go looking for Him. And when they finally find Him, Luke says something interesting:
“They tried to keep him from leaving them.”
In other words: Jesus, stay right here!
And let’s be fair—there were some good reasons why they wanted to keep Jesus for themselves.
They desperately needed more healing and deliverance.
They were receiving so much from His preaching.
And I’m sure they loved having Jesus nearby just in case something else happened!
And if I’m being truthful, I’ve felt like them before.
When I’ve experienced a powerful moment of worship and could sense His tangible presence—Jesus, can we just stay right here?
When I’ve experienced a miraculous breakthrough of provision in my life—Lord, keep doing this!
When I experienced real peace for the first time after committing my life to Him—I don’t ever want to lose this!
There is nothing wrong with wanting Jesus to meet our needs.
But receiving from Jesus becomes self-centered when we only think about our needs.
The people in Capernaum had become comfortable with Jesus meeting their needs, but they weren’t thinking about the surrounding towns.
There were people in other places who needed freedom.
People who needed deliverance.
People who needed healing.
People who needed forgiveness and freedom from their shame.
The people of Capernaum
loved the Light of the World because they didn’t have to walk in darkness.
enjoyed the Living Water because they didn’t have to remain thirsty
savored the Bread of Life because He satisfied their souls.
But what about the people who were still hungry, still thirsty, still walking in darkness?
They loved Jesus and what He could do for them, but they were in danger of allowing the love of Jesus to become blocked up in their lives instead of flowing through their lives.
And church, we can do the same thing.
We can love what we have with Jesus so much that we want to keep it to ourselves.
We can love powerful worship.
We can love His presence.
We can love miracles.
We can love the peace and wisdom He gives us.
We can love having our needs met.
But Jesus did not come just to meet our needs.
Listen again to what He says:
“I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
In other words:
There are other people who need what you have experienced.
They were trying to hold on to Jesus, but what they didn’t realize was that by releasing Him to fulfill His mission, they would ultimately gain even more of what He came to give.
Jesus would continue preaching the good news of the Kingdom. He would heal more people and set more captives free. And ultimately, He would go to the cross and rise from the dead.
And because He did, the people of Capernaum—and people in every nation and generation after them—could have their deepest need met: salvation from sin and its consequences and reconciliation with God.
They had to release Jesus to fulfill His mission in order to experience the fullness of what Jesus came to accomplish.
Will we gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?
William Carey
This reminds me of William Carey.
William Carey was already a pastor in England when God began to burden his heart for people in other nations who had never heard the gospel.
Carey could have stayed where he was.
There were people to pastor there.
There was ministry to do there.
There were needs to meet there.
But there were other towns also.
Carey became convinced that followers of Jesus had a responsibility to actively take the gospel to people who had never heard it. That conviction helped lead to the formation of the Baptist Missionary Society.
Then, in 1793, Carey left England for India.
His ministry there would eventually include evangelism, Bible translation, education, and church planting.
His life illustrates something important:
There may be fruitful ministry here, but there are still people over there who need to hear.
That is the heart of Jesus:
“I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also.”
And now Jesus is no longer physically walking from town to town.
He sends us.
And He doesn’t send us alone. He sends us empowered by the Holy Spirit to release Jesus to others.
Yes, we can experience powerful worship.
Yes, we can experience miracles.
Yes, we can experience His peace.
Yes, we can experience His presence.
And all of that is amazing!
But what Jesus gives to us was never intended to stop with us.
We are called to release Jesus through our lives—to live as examples of Him and to share the good news about Him in our workplaces, our schools, our families, and our neighborhoods.
Because…
There are people around us living in shame.
There are people living in oppression.
There are people living in fear.
There are people walking in darkness.
And Jesus wants them to experience the same freedom, healing, forgiveness, peace, and loving relationship with God that we have experienced.
So maybe the question isn’t simply:
“Jesus, what else can You do for me?”
Maybe the question is:
“Jesus, who else do You want to reach through me?”
Because there are other towns also.
There are other coworkers.
There are other students.
There are other neighbors.
There are other family members.
There are other people who need Jesus.
So once again, I believe Jesus is asking us:
Will we gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?
What Is Necessary to Gain More of Jesus by Releasing More of Jesus?
Now, in both of these stories, Jesus was going to accomplish what He had been called to do. But that does not negate the truth that people had to participate in releasing Him in order to experience more of what He wanted to do.
Mary had to stop clinging and go tell.
The people in Capernaum had to stop trying to keep Jesus for themselves and allow Him to go to “the other towns also.”
Both had to come to the point of recognizing:
Jesus and the good news of His Kingdom are not supposed to stop with me. They are supposed to flow through me to others.
So how do we do that?
I believe there are two things we need to pray for and then move in if we are going to gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus:
1. Pray for and Move in Compassion
Why compassion?
Because compassion causes us to care about the needs of others.
Compassion is an expression of love that gets our eyes off ourselves, onto Jesus, and onto the people around us.
It helps us recognize that Jesus and His blessings are not just for me. His freedom is for others. His healing is for others. His forgiveness is for others. His salvation is for others.
This is the heart we repeatedly see in Jesus.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
—Matthew 9:36 NIV
Jesus saw people differently because He saw their need.
So we need to pray:
“Jesus, give me Your compassion. Help me see people the way You see them. Help me care about what You care about.”
Because when His compassion begins flowing through us, we stop asking only, “What can Jesus do for me?”
And we begin asking, “Who around me needs to experience what Jesus has given me?”
2. Pray for and Move in Courage
Because compassion allows us to see the need, but courage moves us to do something about it.
Courage is what happens when we go to our neighbors, family members, coworkers, classmates, and friends and share the good news of Jesus with as many people as we can.
Courage is opening yourself up to a new aspect of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit that may be unfamiliar to you.
Courage is sharing Jesus even when you still have needs yourself.
Courage is sharing Jesus when your circumstances aren’t ideal.
Courage is sharing Jesus when your schedule is busy.
Courage is saying, “Jesus, my life isn’t perfect, but You can still use me.”
And as we step out in courage, somehow we discover more of His presence, more of His glory, and more of His power working in and through our lives.
Church, I believe God has a mighty call on Second City Church.
There are people throughout Lincoln Park & Rogers Park who need Jesus.
There are people throughout Chicago who need Jesus.
There are people in your workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, families, coffee shops, gyms, and everyday lives who need Jesus.
And I believe God wants to use this church to see people experience healing, deliverance, freedom, and salvation.
But the question is:
Will you be part of it?
Mary had to release Jesus and go tell.
Capernaum had to release Jesus to the other towns also.
William Carey had to leave what was familiar to take the gospel to people who had not heard.
And now it’s our turn.
So let’s pray for compassion to see them.
Let’s pray for courage to reach them.
And let’s believe that as we release what Jesus has placed within us, we will experience even more of His presence, His power, His glory, and His heart.
Second City Church:
Will we gain more of Jesus by releasing more of Jesus?