One of the few

Each of us is one of the few. And what does it mean to be one of the few? Well, on the one hand I can say that it means that one is not part of the crowd, that one is not part of the crowd or as I would say, well I'm not going to say it, one is not part of the bunch out there, of the bunch, Exactly, that's the word, one is not part of the general population, but one is already part of a different group.

And obviously in the society we live in there are so many groups out there that each group has its particularity and its particularity defines it, distinguishes it. But each group has a line of principles, of values by which it is governed, and we as sons and daughters of God also have our line, our pattern of principles by which we are also governed. And that makes us one of the few.

And it may sound somewhat average, unwanted because…. One of the few, I don't want to be little, I want to be a lot, I want to be something big. But in the context in which I am saying this, being one of the few is a good thing, it is something desired, but it is something very difficult.

There are three texts that I want to review briefly with you because they are texts that are a little medium, complex to analyze, that is, I would need three nights to be able to analyze these three passages, but I want to read them only to put them there on your radar.

The first passage is found in Matthew Chapter 7, beginning with verse 13 and says:

“…Enter through the narrow gate because wide is the gate and spacious is the path that leads to perdition or destruction, however you want to put it, the translation that you are reading, and, look what it says,…. And there are many who enter through it because the door is narrow and the road that leads to life is narrow… and what does he say afterwards?, …. And few are those who find it….”

The second text that I want to read to you is Matthew, Matthew himself, Chapter 9, verse 37, Jesus tells his disciples “…. The truth is that the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few….”

And the third passage that I am going to refer to is in Matthew, Chapter 22, verse 14, which says “…. Because many are called but few are chosen, few are chosen…”

I don't know about you but it seems to me that Jesus is up to something with those texts, because they are the words of Jesus. To my New Testament professor, what do you think? Somebody I'll let him explain this in the contextual way, but in the preaching way now I believe that Jesus has something up his sleeve when he is saying that there is something special with the few.

Few are those who can enter through the narrow door and he is not talking about skinny people like me, so don't worry, the wide ones can also enter through that narrow door. That narrow door works miracles. But few enter through that narrow door.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And many are called, wow, but few are chosen. I mean, I don't know, but that last text that there are times when every time I read it makes my head itch, it's like wow, wait, I mean, you're calling so many people but really, how few are going to be the ones that are going to inherit life?

What does it take to be one of the few? What is taken, what does it cost to be one of the few? I have at least 7 things that I have been able to identify, and if I can't cover all 7 things by time, I'll at least give you the first three. But what does it cost? If you have a notebook, pencil, paper, whatever you want, write that down so you don't forget. What does it cost to be one of the few?

Number 1, there is one thing that I have identified here. Number 1 is that you must be a person who has his priorities straight to be one of the few. You have your priorities very clear, well defined. You have a focus on what you have to achieve or what you want to achieve. You are not the type of person who says yes to tuti li mundi, that if you say yes, look, today we are going to meet at 5:30 and after a while you meet another person, and when do we meet? So, we're going to meet at 5:30. Well yes, at half past 5, no problem, we'll meet. And after a while, he meets another third person, and he says, oh, look, let's go have a coffee, oh, that's cool, I love to drink coffee. When we met? We're going to meet right now, at 5:30. Yes of course. So when you come to see, 5:30 arrive and you are split into 3 songs and you don't know which of all you are going to go to.

In other words, since you are a clear person, who has your priorities straight, you know when to say no. You know who to say no to and what to say no to. Because you are well focused, and that already separates you, makes you one of the few.

Number two, and this is very important, to be one of the few means that you have a teachable heart. Have you heard that expression? That you have a teachable heart. Ask yourself a hindsight question right now. I have a teachable heart If you don't know what it means to have a teachable heart, it means that you are not rebellious when it comes to receiving advice, that you can have 78 years of life and that, with all that, you can open yourself up to receive a word or advice that in some way or another it will help you to lead your life in a more complete, fuller way, so that you do not think you are a know-it-all, but in some way or another you know that with each passing day you are learning something new.

There is a teachable heart in you. There is no sense of rebellion to be able to receive what others can contribute, even if it is a person younger than you, or a person older than you, yet there is not that sense of rebellion that who are you to tell me what I I have to do. Hey, I don't know, but I know that many of us have said that expression that I just said at some point.

Think, ask yourself, at some point you have said, but who do they think they are to tell me what I have to do? This occurs in many contexts. Could it be that a wife tells her husband and who do you think? Or vice versa, or the husband tells the wife, but who do you think you are to tell me what I have to do? It may be that a teacher says to a student, look, I recommend you, and that this teacher believes he tells me what I have to do. Or in a very ironic way, that the student tells the teacher what to do. That a boss tells an employee something he has to do and that the employee says, but who does he think he is to tell me what I have to do? For a mother to tell her son or daughter, look, I need you to do this, and this, and this, and the other, and for the son to respond, or the daughter to respond, but what do you think? There is a teachable heart.

Number one, you have your priorities straight. Number two, he has a teachable heart. Number three, this is one of my favorites and the most difficult ones, number three, write it down so you don't forget it, number three, own up to your mistakes and do everything you can to make amends. He admits his mistakes and does everything possible to correct them. This is something that doesn't come very naturally because no one likes to admit their mistakes. Nobody likes to deal with their own baggage.

And I think this is one of the many reasons why there are times when people are so bitter, so to speak, which is because they have a 30-pound weight strapped to each of their feet and they're walking around and they don't They realize why, and it's because they haven't dealt with their own baggage. They do not want to give their arm to twist, they want to twist the arm of the other because of their things.

Look how interesting, how ironic life is. But look, the mere one who recognizes his mistakes is a person who is well in tune with his faults and who does not run away from them. A person who is well in tune with his faults and who does not run away from them but does everything possible to deal with them, even if it hurts, even if it is embarrassing, even if it causes a little pain and rubs against so-and-so and so-and-so, for for a while, but then things get better, but deal, deal with those things.

He is a person who, when it comes out, is a person who is not afraid of being vulnerable. They know that vulnerable for many means weakness. TRUE? Particularly for men, many times this is difficult for men because the man, you know, has to be macho, we have the leash there in its place and we have to represent well, me, cry? Give yourself the luxury of a tear, never in your life did you think? And that there are times like it hits women too, and women like the same spirit comes out and I cry for you? Whoa, never. Not a tear. Go to the bathroom and pour water on yourself so that you can see even if it is something liquid on your face.

But look, being vulnerable I believe that from God's perspective, vulnerability is a beautiful combination of weakness with strength, or rather, a strength that arises from our weakness. That means being vulnerable.

I was thinking of the words of the Apostle Paul in Second Corinthians, Chapter 9 verse 12, or Chapter 12 verse 9, when he was saying, Lord, three times I have asked you to remove this thorn in my flesh and three times you have told me , That? My grace is enough for you, because my power is perfected in your weakness.

When you are vulnerable, when you are with your twisted arm lying on the floor and you cannot do anything else and you are hitting the floor, I give up, I give up, I can't take it anymore, that is vulnerability. It's not the vulnerability of someone else twisting my arm, but me letting God twist my arm through those people and then making me the kind of man or woman God wants you to be. That makes you one of the few.

He has his priorities, a teachable heart, he recognizes his mistakes, number four, who comes out of the third, does not give up in the face of life's circumstances. One of the few is a person who does not give up despite the adversities that may come knocking on the door of his life. And if these adversities come, do you know what that person does? If you fall and skin your knee, what do you do? He puts a Snoopy band-aid on one side and a Mickey Mouse band-aid on the other and we're going to continue. Paws so that I love you, we have to run a whole world.

Look, this is very important, my brothers, and it may be that I have a jocular tone in my voice but it is very important, my brothers. And to a certain extent it causes fear because they may be words that sound very nice but when those words reach the marrow of the celibate they clearly confront us and challenge us, wow, am I living in the light, up to each of those things? I really don't give up, don't I worry that quickly about things that may come? That if at the first sight of a problem, ah, let someone else mess with it, I'm not going to get into it. Or the first time they tell me, no, it can't be done, well, it's okay, it can't be done and I'll leave with my tail tucked between my legs. No, he tries.

The Scripture says that the Kingdom of Heaven is, it becomes strong and only the brave take it away, grab hold of the kingdom, grab it with their hands and get in there, sweat, get their hands dirty to achieve what God has promised for them. they. They do not give up, they will hit him here, hit him there, but they continue, continue, continue fighting, continue fighting until they achieve what the Lord is calling them for. Let me not jump to the other point.

Persistence here is key. Persistence for those who are one of the few is key, why? Because they have understood that giving up is not an option, and precisely because they do not give up, then comes point number 5, that they understand what success means, they understand the meaning and value of success in their lives, they understand that Success is not measured by fame, money, what one can get after finishing something, the glory that comes with everyone applauding you and saying, wow, how beautiful you did this, or how beautiful that poem was on you , or it's good that you managed to finish all your education. That is not success. They understand that success means staying true to the process God has us through. That is where success is truly measured. Stay true to the process.

A beautiful and perfect example of this is the life of Joseph. Oh, and I'm not talking about José de los Panchos, I'm talking about the José of the Bible. A man that God had given him a promise, had given him a word, had given him a dream and that was the first thing that happened, his brothers were envious of him, second, they themselves sold him. No, first they threw him down a well, God knows how many feet he fell and hit himself and who knows if even a rib was broken or something, but then they came, they took him out and with all the pain they had they sold him. And there they began to use it and all the things that happened happened, jail happened, deceit happened, betrayal happened and look, maybe if I had been in José's flip-flops, because at that time I was in flip-flops, not shoes, if I had been in José's flip flops back then who knows if I would have missed point number 4. I would have given up. It's more from the first.

But no, it's a perfect example of one having to persist, why? Because there was a promise from God over his life and for the mere fact that there was a promise from the Lord, look, he remained firm, persistent and he recognized that the success of him being able to experience that promise, that blessing from God was not the Just because he was going to achieve it back then, he was going to stay true to the process. Stay true to the process, stay true to the process.

What will that mean for many of us? Stay true to the process. Because we stay true to the process then there is point number 6. Point number 6, you know the sacrifice face to face and you have lived it. This is where the key comes from that idea of being one of the few. You know what sacrifice is about, you know what it is to sacrifice something for something else, or for another person. You know how to sacrifice your desires and put them aside for the benefit of this other cause, for which you are living. You have been touched by the sacrifice at some point, you have had to cry, you have had to shed your tears and your sweat in sacrifice for something greater. And the mere fact that you have decided to sacrifice yourself because there is a sense of promise about your life, and that makes you one of the What? Of the few. Because not many can sacrifice many things in their life, but there are few who can.

You know, there is something very interesting with this aspect and I add it here. Because to be one of the few means that it is not enough to be saved. Being one of the few means that it is not enough to just accept Jesus to be saved and have a ticket to heaven, but being one of the few means that there is a sense of calling and because there is a calling that defines us, there is a call that gives us a sense of purpose, there is a call that gives us a sense of direction and that sense of direction then makes us one of the chosen ones. Because there are many who are called but cannot hear the voice of the one who is calling them.

There are many who have received such a direct call from God but for not wanting to sacrifice, for not wanting to have well-established priorities, for not wanting to govern their lives by principles that God has established, for not wanting to receive, for not wanting to have a teachable heart and live in an inveterate way that what I do that is what goes, and what I say that is what counts, for not wanting to submit to those things they live apart from the blessing of everything that God can offer.

It's not enough to just be saved, it's not just me being able to say, ok, when I die I'm going to heaven. No, we have to live with a sense of purpose while we are here on earth, with a sense of being called but not just called, moreover, with a sense of being saved but that salvation gives me a sense of being called and that A sense of calling gives me a sense of being chosen, that I have been separated for something apart and that I am not part of the crowd but rather I am part of this select group that God has there present before his presence.

Finally, I had time to say them all, finally, the people who are one of the few have an intimate connection with the one who has called them to be part of him. The book of John Chapter 15 says it very clearly: "... I am the vine and you are the branches, whoever remains in me bears much fruit, but depart from me you can do nothing...."

Hey, words so beautiful, so poetic, so simple but so profound that when we analyze them in their fullness, when we break them, when we read them over and over again, over and over again, over and over again but not reading them to the parrot but reading them with sense like, wow, there's something deep here.

Separated from you I can do nothing. The first time I try to separate myself, the grape that I mean begins to rot. The grape is turned into a raisin to give you a picture of how it wrinkled. Those people who are part of the few have an access to God that no one else can have. Because? Because they have managed to complete all the other steps and they know that their center is God, their center is God.

Let me finish this for you. For the last two nights in my house, before I go to sleep, since the nights are so pleasant, so cool, I go to the deck of my house in the back and obviously, I live like who says in Randolf that I'm there next to Blue Hills and it's a lot of woods, trees and things like that, I'm on the deck of my house, I take a chair and open it, and I put on a coat to avoid the cold and I start to look like a fool, I start to look at the sky and I begin to contemplate, and look how interesting, Monday was my birthday, my father-in-law made a joke to me, he comes out and says, Omar, you are the age of Christ now, and I tell him, well, I hope I don't end up crucified like him then, because I can't resurrect, I don't know if I have that power, or if that power…. He comes out and tells me, well, you're already married so what else can you do. That was a bad joke, don't worry, or you didn't get the joke.

The issue was that I sit in the back and begin to look at the sky, and my brothers, it's been a long time since I saw how starry the sky was. Not starry with boom... but starry with stars and I began to see and I began to contemplate and I said to myself, wow, Lord, the truth is that there are times when one drowns in a glass of water because so many things, it's more , I started my prayer saying, and what Lord, how is your day going? So to speak, because it is not as it has been, it is not that he was getting ready to go to sleep but that his day continues. So I say, Lord, how has it been, how is your day going? And I start to see all the things and all the stars and I try to understand all the things that God was doing and the truth is that I say, I can't, I can't for something you are God. For something you are God.

But brothers, those little minutes that I spent in the back watching, talking, saying things, what's more, I even saw a shooting star go by and I said to myself, hey, what a birthday present. When you wish upon a star…. I even started singing like that. But the thing was, my brothers, that those minutes that I spent there alone with God, Lucas was in his seventh dream, my wife was already in her tenth dream and I was there enjoying myself with Dad, being able to look for that connection, looking for that connection with Dad who can truly nurture me and give me the strength I need to be able to get my hands on all the things that come around me.

Look, if I try to deal with all the things that I have around me by my own strength, I'm going to get like a raisin, because the juice is going to run out like that. More however, if I am very intentional, because it requires a level of intentionality, what's more, that should be point 8 here. Write it down here, point 8, you have to be intentional if you want to be one of the few. You have to be intentional, intentional in your dealings with God, in your closeness to God, that you not only come to ask, ask, ask, but that you come to say, hey, how was your day God? You have to be intentional in your dealings with other people. Don't get close to like, ah, brother, that's great, I'm glad you're part of this church, we're brothers but there really isn't a genuine desire to know who Rafael Tejera is, and to know his life, and to know his story and for me to share my life and my story with him as well.

One has to be intentional in trying to truly grow into who we are, in the body of Christ. I mean, I'm not saying that you tell all the details of your life, but look, that there is a sense of genuineness.

What's more, look at the same image of the vine and the grapes, in the bunch of grapes, how many grapes are there, can there be in the same bunch? Many. In other words, I am not only connected to the vine, but I am also connected to other grapes that are on the branch. I cannot say that I am the biggest and juiciest grape, I cannot say that, because right next to me there is another, and we are part of the same branch.

So brothers, I close with this, God calls us to be one of the few. There is nothing wrong with being one of the few, it is a blessing to be one of the few. It is something that distinguishes us, it is something that separates us, it is something that puts us in another category and there will be people out there who can say that they are also from another category but I know which category defines us, it is the category of Christ Jesus who already has some principles there for each one of us.

So my brothers, I leave you with those 8 points. It's been a while since I gave a message like this about specific points, but you know what? Take that away my brothers, think, meditate on it, pray about it, analyze yourselves in the light of those things and say, Lord, how am I living? Am I living in the light that you ask of me? What am I missing? If I need to admit my mistakes, look, help me, give me the strength to be vulnerable but at the same time find the strength that you give me from all of that.

So my brothers, let's stand up. Let me pray for you, let me bless you and that you can go out and sit in your house and look at the sky, look at the stars and say, Lord, the truth is that you are great and that my life truly is in the hole of your hand, in the palm of your hand and you are the one who takes care of me, you are the one who takes care of my family and if you call me to be responsible with all the things that I have around me. But I know that my strength comes from you, God.

So, Lord Jesus, in this moment, ah, Father, once again the truth is that my heart, my soul thanks you, my spirit thanks you, Lord, because in your word, my God we can find, Lord, a resource bank for our lives. In words as simple and as simple as what it is to be able to understand that you are the vine and we are the branches and that we have to remain united with you, Lord, to truly be nourished in the way that you long for and that you desire, that we can live with a sense of purpose, Lord, to be able to be chosen, to be part of the few and not part of the many, to be part of those whom you call, that you choose to be part of you, my God.

Father, I want to ask you for a very special coverage of each one of my brothers and sisters, that this word, Lord, even if it is one of the points that have been discussed here, whatever the aspect of working on priorities, be the aspect of having a teachable heart, be it the aspect of recognizing our faults and working on them, be it the aspect, my God, of understanding what success is based on in our lives, or be it the aspect, my God, of learning to be vulnerable, that is also the aspect, my God, of being intentional in the things we do and above all, of being able to maintain an effective connection with you. Any of these aspects, Lord, any of these words that have reached the hearts of my brothers, I ask you to deal with them, the best way you know how. Your word does not shame, your word edifies, your word nourishes, your word helps us grow, your word confronts us, Lord, with your character, with your desires, with your desires, with your principles, and we have to align ourselves with your word if we want to be one of the few.

Help us understand that aspect of sacrifice, Lord, that is, one of us has to learn what it means to sacrifice something my God, which is not the mere fact of getting rid of something, but to truly understand the cost of that sacrifice.

Father, take my brothers and sisters safely to their homes and that everything that has arisen tonight, Lord, serve for encouragement, serve for strength, serve for the edification of their lives, their families, their jobs, their studies, their neighborhoods, everything, Lord, even their physical bodies, Lord, may this word nourish and flood their hearts.

To you we give all the glory and all the honor, Lord. Bless us as we go to our homes, give us a peaceful, restful sleep, and that tomorrow, if you allow it, we can get up with new strength to use everything that life brings tomorrow, with you, Lord, everything we can do, without you, nothing. Thank you because you are the one who gives us the strength to be able to do those things, my God. We bless you, in the name of your son Jesus, amen and amen. Thank you Lord Jesus, thank you God.