July 26, 2026 - “More Than Meets the Eye”

July 26, 2026-OVUMC 10:30 Spirited Traditional Worship

Pastor Justin Wells

The Scriptures are Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:36

There I was on death row guilty in the first degree, son of God hanging on her heels. Here was my destiny. The crowd was shining crucified, could have come from these lips of mine. The dirty shame was given me.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

It would take a miracle to watch me leave.

SPEAKER_04 1:25

The fresh wall started falling. And I became a free man that day. Well I climbed and hit my face. My dead heart began to beat.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Yeah, the Holy Ghost awakened me.

SPEAKER_04 2:04

When I read the bell letter and the ground began to take the laws on the fall end.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

To die for me.

SPEAKER_04 2:40

Arms spread wide for the whole wide world. Thank you. And the ground began to shake. The prison of fallen. And I became a free man that day. The bridge that was unfallen. And I am a free man today.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yes. Yes. What a beautiful morning it is. We are thankful for the rain. Yes. Yes. We had a little bit of flooding on the road, but not too bad. But we are thankful for the rain. Thankful that it's open. Thankful that it's a little cooler, right? What a wonderful place it is to be today on this day. So welcome to all of you that are here. Welcome to all of you who are joining us online. We are so grateful that you're watching along with us. We are thankful that you're here. We love to have you here. Please come back every time you come to the high vacation. We just love to have a lot of people. I love you. So I will turn it over to our later this morning, Tony.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Good morning, good morning. You know me, I'm Tony Whitley. Um also have inclusion ministry, and this month a conference of um the Methodists dedicated this month to disability month. So you'll see some references to that. I think one thing's important, they have a thing called Growing Regrace, and this is through the conference, and it's just their directive of helping people dealing with and bringing awareness to disabilities. I also want to know that there was a thing that we could have done a church thing. I was talking to Justin, and Justin told me, goes, We already did it. We didn't get but this is it. We didn't get a gold badge, we have a bronze badge. Now, the only thing that held us back is that we do not have handicapped or disabled doors that someone can push the button and open it out. But you know what? Y'all are wonderful people, and you can be the door pusher yourself. So if you ever see anybody coming up here who needs help, grab that door and open that door. It won't get us a gold badge, but it'll do God's work. Okay. Let's see, let me put some glasses on now. So we're going to stand up and do the choral introduction. Amen. Very good. Our call to worship this morning. You can read it on the screen or it's in your bulletin. Jesus says the kingdom is likely a tiny seed. And Jesus says the kingdom is like yeast. Jesus says the kingdom is like hidden treasure. Today we remember that every person is a gift. Every life has value. And every member belongs in God's family. Let's worship God with joy, gratitude, and hope. Now if you like singing from the hymn, no, it's number four oh five, but courtesy on the screen. So we're going to do the passing of the piece at this moment, and then we'll continue to stand and do the praise man song. So please greet your neighbors and look for someone you don't know.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

Come on, you turn me, come to the well, not never a try. Drink of the water, come at the fitness, come by the dirty, come to the table.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

I'll just control. All right, let's bow our heads. Good morning, friends. Let us take a moment to center our hearts and lift our thoughts in prayer. Gracious and loving Creator, as the sun rises and light spills across the earth, we praise to remember that every life is a reflection of your image, each person a masterpiece of your design. Today we ask you to open our eyes to see beauty, strength, and dignity in those living with disabilities. Help us to move beyond pity and into true compassion. A compassion that listens without judgment, serves without hesitation, and loves without condition. May we be quick to offer a hand, but also wise enough to offer space when independence is the greater gift. Teach us to celebrate abilities rather than focus on limitations and to honor the courage it takes to navigate a world that is not always built with everyone in mind. Lord, stir our hearts to be advocates for accessibility, voices for inclusion, and builders of communities where every person belongs. Let our words be gentle, our actions be kind, and our presence to be a source of encouragement. As we step into the day, fill us with grace to see others as you see them, precious, capable, and worthy of love. And may our compassion be more than a feeling, may it be a way of living. Amen. Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Forgive us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses. So we may not see the disabilities of all the people around us, but we most likely serve many people through our church ministries that are affected by these disabilities. May it be providing a room for a meeting, food in our food bank, our meals on wheels, or a visit from our pastors, or our church as a shepherd. Your support makes all these happen. These things happen here. Your support makes all the things happen we do at Ocean View United Methodist Church possible. With that, we'll ask the ushers to come forward. We'll bow our heads. Gracious and loving God, we come before you today with hearts full of gratitude for every blessing you have poured into our lives. We have you have given us more than we could ever earn, and in your kindness, we have you have called us to share. As we bring our offerings, we remember that these gifts are not just coins and bills, but seeds of hope. May they grow into meals for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, comfort for the hurting, and opportunities for those in need. Teach us not to give out of obligation, but out of love. The same love you have shown us through Christ. Let our generosity be reflection of your heart, reaching beyond these walls to touch lives we may never meet. Bless these offerings, Lord, and bless the hands that give them and use them to build your kingdom of compassion, justice, and peace. And as we give, remind us that in serving others we are serving you. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

This next song, so Jordan, if you'll bring up the chorus for Here I Am Lord. This is one that we sing quite often, and I love this song. I absolutely love this song. There's only one thing that I think that Dan Shute got wrong. And that's where it says if you lead me. Because I think that God is always leading us. So years ago, I started singing Where You Lead Me. So I'm going to invite you to change that word if to Where as we sing this song this morning. We did it at the 8 o'clock, so 8 30, so I wanted to invite you all to do the same here at the 10 30. So let's sing Here I Am, Lord.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

And what's next is the scripture. And it comes from Matthew 13, verses 31 through 33 and 44 through 52. He put before them another parable. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid, and then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. On finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind. When it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets, but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out, separate the evil from the righteousness, and throw them into the furnace of fire where they will be weeping and gashing of teeth. Have you understood all this? They answered, yes. And he said to them, Therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. And now we're going to stand up. No, we don't have to stand. We get to be, we get to enjoy the Chancellor choir as they sing. Jesus Precious, Priceless Treasure, and then I will adjourn, and Justin will take over after that. That's all. Thank you, guys.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Let us pray this morning. Open our minds to new ways of knowing you, and open our doors to all whom you would welcome. May the words of your servant's mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. So, how many of you have ever bought something because the picture looked better than the product? You order it online, the advertisement looks absolutely beautiful, makes it look great, spacious, high quality, and then the box arrives, and somehow an entire patio furniture set fits inside something the size of a microwave. It looked bigger in the picture, right? Or you go to your favorite restaurant or a new restaurant, and they have these beautiful menus with all these pictures of food, and you order from that restaurant because the picture on the menu looks absolutely amazing, right? But what arrives at your table looks like it's distance cousin. It doesn't look nothing like what's in the picture. So we learned an important lesson from these two things, right? Pictures can be deceiving. Pictures often are deceiving. But if we're honest, we don't just make quick judgments about things, do we? We also make quick judgments about people. See, within seconds of meeting someone, our brains for some reason begin making assumptions. We notice how someone dresses, whether or not they're wearing shoes. We recognize how they speak, how they walk, whether they seem confident or reserved. We notice age, appearance, ability, and countless other details about those people. And before we've learned someone's name, we already started writing a story about them in our own mind. Now, sometimes we're right. We do have to give credit. Sometimes our intuitions and assumptions are right, but we also have to do the other side of that, which is many times we're wrong. Our first judgment of somebody can be wrong. See, Jesus knew how quickly people judged by appearances, which may explain why he loved telling stories that challenge the first impression. We have some of those stories today. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Or even a mountain. How about a beautifully adorned palace? Instead, Jesus uses a mustard seed. A tiny, easy to overlook, small enough to disappear into the palm of your hand, and if you drop it, it's gone. And then tells about how big and beautiful it is. But he doesn't stop there. He tells us another story. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour. Again, not exactly dramatic. I mean, any baker knows that once yeast is mixed into the dough, you can't see it anymore. It's gone, it disappears. But it works quietly, slowly, almost invisibly. But maybe that's the point. See, the kingdom of God rarely announces itself with fireworks. It's not like me and stands out in a crowd. It often grows in places people overlook. It works through people others underestimate. It changes lives long before anyone notices. That is how God has always worked. You see, remember the story when Samuel went looking for Israel's next king? He looked at the oldest, strongest brothers. God chose the shepherd boy who no one thought to even invite to the meeting. So when the Messiah came into the world, it wasn't in a palace. It was in a stable. When Jesus called his disciples, he didn't recruit from the religious elite. No, he called fishermen, tax collectors, and ordinary people. Again and again, God chooses what in the world over. Because there is always more than meets the eye. And that's good news. But it is also a challenge. Because we still have a habit of measuring people by what we can immediately see. We often celebrate the loudest voice, the strongest resume, the most impressive accomplishments. The people who seem to have it all together. Meanwhile, someone sitting quietly beside us may possess extraordinary wisdom. Remarkable compassion gifts that the church desperate. See, the kingdom is teaching us to slow down. To look again, to resist the temptation, to decide someone's value based on our first impression. And that is especially important as we observe the disability awareness Sunday. You know, this day is not about feeling sorry for anyone. It's not about celebrating disability as though it were easy. It's about recognizing that every person is more than the labels we place upon them. Every person is more than a diagnosis, more than a wheelchair, more than a hearing aid, more than autism, more than chronic pain, more than blindness, more than any limitation that we might notice first. See, each person is a beloved child of God, created in God's image and gifted by the Holy Spirit. The question isn't whether God has placed a treasure among us, the question is whether we have learned to see it. Because in the kingdom of heaven, there is always more than meets the eye. Jesus is just getting started with his parable. See, he's told us about the kingdom of God like a mustard seed and like yeast. Small things, things that are almost invisible, ordinary things. But then he changes that picture. He says the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Imagine that as you're walking across the field that looks like every other field. There are no signs, no markers, nothing to suggest that this piece of land is any different from the one next to it. Then your foot hits something solid. You begin to dig, and before long, you realize you're you stumbled upon a treasure so valuable that it changes everything. And then he tells another story. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. This merchant knows his pearls. He has spent his life buying and selling them. He knows quality when he sees it. And then one day he finds a pearl unlike any he has ever seen. It is so valuable that he gladly sells everything else to possess it. Now, at first glance, these two stories sound like stories about sacrifice. The man sells everything, the merchant sells everything. But before they are stories about giving up everything, they are stories about recognizing value. Neither man creates the treasure, and neither man makes the pearl. The treasure and the pearl were already there and already priceless. The difference is that someone finally recognized what everyone else had overlooked. That's how the kingdom works. The kingdom does not assign value, the kingdom reveals value. And I think that is probably one of the hardest lessons for us to learn because our culture, our culture is constantly assigning value to people. As a culture, we value productivity. As a culture, we value independence, we value speed, we value efficiency, we value appearance, we value influence. And without even realizing it, we begin measuring people by what they produce, what they accomplish, or how closely they fit our definition of success. Jesus never does that. When Jesus looks at people, he doesn't begin with what they can produce. He begins with who they are. Beloved, created in the image of God, worth dying for. And that changes everything. So on this Disability Awareness Sunday, it is tempting to ask, how can we help people with disabilities? That's actually a good question, but it should not be the first question. The first question should be: what treasures has God already placed among us that we have failed to recognize? Sometimes the church talks about people with disabilities as though they are only recipients of ministry. But Jesus will remind us that these people are also ministers, teachers, leaders, friends, disciples, bearers of grace. We do not complete the church by making room for them. The church is incomplete without them. And that is a different way of thinking. See, the Apostle Paul understood this when he described the church as the body of Christ. He wrote that the members of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. Think about that word. Indispensable, not tolerated, not accommodated, not included as an afterthought. Indispensable. The parts of the body we are most likely to overlook are often the parts we cannot live without. And that sounds exactly like Jesus' parables. A tiny seed, a little yeast, a hidden treasure, a pearl. The kingdom keeps reminding us that our eyes are not always trained to recognize what God treasures. I have learned over the years that some of the deepest faith I have encountered has come from people the world has underestimated. Peoples whose bodies no longer worked the way they wished. People who communicated differently, people who carried invisible disabilities that no one else could see. People who had every reason to become bitter, but instead became some of the most gracious, patient, and hope-filled Christians I have ever known. They were not extraordinary because of their disability. They were extraordinary because Christ was at work in them. Just as Christ is at work in every one of us. Perhaps the greatest treasure hidden in the field is not something buried beneath the ground. Perhaps it is sitting beside us in the pew. Perhaps it is the person whose story we have never taken the time to hear. Perhaps it is the gift we overlooked because we were looking for something flashier. We all remember when we hit that age that it went from toys and goodies and novelty stuff to socks and underwear, right? That first Christmas, you got socks and underwear. That first birthday, you got socks and underwear. You opened it in excitement. Oh, look what I'm gonna get. And it was socks. Thank you. You try another one, excited to see what you get. It's underwear. Thank you. At that moment, you knew life was different. That you are bound to get unimpressive gifts the rest of your life. But some people like socks. My wife just looked at me and mouth, I like socks. Jesus says the kingdom belongs to people who learn to recognize treasure, where others see ordinary ground. Some people love socks. I don't. Some people love shoes. I don't. Jesus says the kingdom belongs to people who learn to recognize treasure where others see ordinary ground. So the invitation is simple. Look again. Listen a little bit longer. Judge. Blessed quickly, or even don't judge at all. Because wherever Christ is at work, there is always more than meets the eye. See, Jesus has taken us from a tiny seed to hidden yeast, from buried treasure, to a priceless pearl. But Jesus is not done with tailing his parables. He says, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that has that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind. So we all understand pole fishing versus net fishing, right? Pole fishing, you go out, you throw your bait out. If you got, you know, a bobber on the end of it, it hits the water and sits there and bobs, and by the time you reel it in, all you've caught is a hook with nothing on it. Every now and then you call it catch good fish, but that's why they call it fishing, not catching. You're trying. Then we know and have seen these people throw these casting nets. I would be the one who threw it and ended up in the water. Because I'd be turning around off the edge of the pier. But these huge nets that some of these people throw is beautiful. How it just opens up and spreads wide. And it gathers everything that's in its path. And only after the catch is brought in or brought ashore does the sorting begin. So the point, I think, is simple in that illustration. The invitation of God's kingdom reaches farther than we often expect. No one is asked to prove their worth before the net is cast. No one earns an invitation because grace reaches first. We like to sort people into groups. We decide who belongs, who contributes, who leads, who needs help. When Jana and I met, I found out one of her little quirks. She doesn't like it when her food touches. When she was growing up, her dad bought the trays, cafeteria trays, that had the different sections. And she reminded me between the services that it wasn't just that she could, her food wouldn't touch it, she could arrange it on the plate the way she wanted it. So it was in order, in the order that she wanted it, so she could eat it in whichever order that order that she wanted it in. But she liked to have her food categorized. She still does. But Jesus is showing, showing us a way of undoing these categories. Again and again and again, he welcomes the people others overlooked. He sees possibility where others see limitations. He sees beloved children where others just see labels. That is what the kingdom looks like, and it is also what the church is called to become. A body isn't made up of identical parts. It needs eyes, ears, hands, feet. Every part has a purpose. And every part depends on others. And the church is no different. Our differences are not obstacles to overcome, they are gifts God uses to strengthen the whole body. And that brings us to why we celebrate not only Disability Awareness Sunday, but Disability Awareness Month. When someone with disability walks through our doors, what do we want them to experience? Do we simply want them to be accommodated? The people who built this very building thought about that when they were designing, because there's pews in the middle of the sanctuary for those people to sit that maybe have mobility issues or are in a wheelchair. I love the two pews on the outside that don't have an armrest so that a person that maybe is in a wheelchair can transfer easily to a pew so they can sit in a pew and not in their chair and feel like they're a part of this congregation. We have bathrooms that are accommodating. We have doors that are accommodating. Of course, not all of them are because we do have to hold some open for others, but that's okay. But do we want them just to see the accommodations? To feel like they're accepted because we do these things. Or do we want them to know that they belong? That they belong. Because there is a difference. Because accommodation says we've made room for you, but belonging says we wouldn't be complete without you. So the gospel calls us beyond simply making space. It calls us into relationships where every person is known, valued, and invited to share the gifts God has given them. Because every person who enters this church building brings something the rest of us need, whether we know it or not. Some bring wisdom, some bring perseverance, some bring compassion, and some bring joy that has been forged through hardship. The Holy Spirit does not dispute gifts according, distribute gifts according to our ideas of ability. The Spirit gives gifts according to God's grace. I mean, imagine if people were known first not by their limitations, but by the gifts that they bring. Imagine if our community became known as a place where every person was accepted to participate. Every voice was welcomed, and every life was valued. That's the kind of church that would stand out in the world. It would look a lot like the kingdom that Jesus describes. A kingdom where the net is cast wide, grace reaches first, and every one of us discovers there is always more than meets the eye. If you've noticed a pattern in these parables, it's not an accident. You have a tiny seed, a pinch of yeast, a hidden treasure, a priceless pearl, a net full of ordinary fish. None of them look extraordinary at first glance. But I think that's exactly the point. Jesus isn't teaching us about the kingdom, he's teaching us how to see. Because seeing is more than using our eyes. Seeing is learning to recognize what God recognizes. Seeing is discovering that every person has dignity before they have accomplishments. Seeing is understanding that worth is not determined by productivity, independence, intelligence, or physical ability. Worth is determined by one thing alone. We belong to God. The opening chapter of Genesis tells us that every human being is created in the image of God. That image is not earned. It is not a reward for talent or strength. It is not diminished by age, illness, disability, or energy. It is a gift of God. That means every person you meet, every person you meet carries something holy. Every person reflects something of God's character that no one reflects in quite the same way. I mean, what if every conversation became an opportunity to discover another glimpse of God? What if every relationship became a chance to uncover another hidden treasure? What if every person who walked through these doors was seen first as a gift instead of a problem to solve? I wonder how that would change our church. I wonder how it would change our community. I wonder how it would change us. Disability Awareness Sunday is not about becoming aware of disability. Because we mostly already are. The invitation is to become aware of one another, to slow down long enough to hear someone's story, to stop making assumptions before we know someone's name. To ask, what gifts has God placed in your life instead of what can we do for you? That is kingdom vision. The kind of vision Jesus practiced everywhere he went. He saw disciples and fishermen and tax collectors. He saw generosity in a widow with two small coins. He saw faith in people everyone else ignored. He saw beloved children of God where others saw labels, and because he saw differently, he loved differently. The church, the big church, is called to do the same. And friends, brothers and sisters, siblings in Christ, I believe us here at Ocean View have been trying to become that kind of church. Not a perfect church, because there really is no such thing as a perfect church. Because if there was, none of us would be allowed to join it. But we are a church that is always learning. A church that is growing. A church that is asking God to keep opening our eyes just a little bit wider. Because every time we welcome someone, every time we listen before we judge, every time we discover gifts where we once saw limitation, the kingdom grows. Just like a mustard seed and like yeast working through the dough. Just like someone stumbling onto treasure they never expected to find. So this week I want to leave you with one simple prayer. When you meet someone before your assumptions have a chance to speak, I want you to pray this. Lord, help me see this person the way that you do. I need that stenciled on the inside of my windshield. Because some people just don't know how to drive. But Lord help me see the person the way that you do. Because when we begin to see with the eyes of Christ, we discover that the kingdom has been growing around us all along. Hidden in ordinary people, hidden in unexpected places, hidden in the lives of the world, too often overlooks. And when we finally learn to see as Jesus sees, we discover there has always been more than meets the eye. In the name of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. As the praise band comes back together, let us stand and prepare our hearts to sing. Who you say I am?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:05

I was lost, but he brought me and oh his love for me. Oh his love for me. Oh his husband's free. Oh his free I'm a child that's dying reality has passed on to his great son. Why was that lady to die for me? Yes he died for me. Oh bits, it's not fun. I am coasted up a single. I have a you say you are for me, but I guess me. I am who you say I am I am chosen up a singing I have who you say I am You are for me on the kiss me I am who you say I am I am cool taking I am who you say You are for me on the kiss meeting Oh what is exciting I get so excited there sometimes I forget how to play.