Frankie Mazzapica - How Low Will You Go?
The title of today’s message is «How Low Will You Go?» This message is geared towards the individuals in the room who, at the core of who you are—if I could just cut you open and grab your heart and open it like a book—would love nothing more than to know you are being sent on assignment every day of your life. God is using you, just moving you around; you’re like the queen on a chessboard. He uses you for special assignments, and if you had that assurance, it wouldn’t matter what troubles you have or how overwhelmed you are. You’d be able to lay your head on your pillow and say, «God is using me! Oh my goodness, I’ve got an awesome life!» This is the message for you because I’m going to talk about how that happens. Many of you are already involved in it, and it can confirm, «Wow, that’s why God’s using me.» Others of you may think, «Oh, I can just take that step, and we’re there.»
I want to use Jesus as the model. In John 13:4-5, it says that Jesus was surrounded by His disciples, and the Bible states that He took off His outer garment. He had a robe on top, which He removed, and then He grabbed a towel and put it around His waist. He filled up a basin with water and then went low to wash His disciples' feet. He went low. Sometimes we forget who we’re talking to when we pray; we need to get that painting of Jesus out of our heads. He took the form of a man for 33 years; when you see Him, He doesn’t look like that painting. Are you with me? If you read the Bible, on the road to Emmaus, these people walked with Jesus after He rose again and didn’t even know He was with them. He doesn’t look like that anymore. When you see Him, you’ll realize that in John 10:30, Jesus is God. Jesus said, «I and the Father, we are one.» So when we talk to Him, we need to acknowledge, «You are God; You’re everywhere.» This God comes down to these bodies, like you and I who were made from dirt. No offense, but you’re a dirt bag. Come on, don’t take it personally. You’re a dirt bag, and He steps in and washes feet. I’m not a feet person; He’s washing feet. You can’t get any lower than that.
I want to say that God only uses people who go low. That’s the only kind of people He uses—those who go low. The crux of this message is going to focus on going low with the people around us. I remember going to a new school in high school; I was really nervous. My dad said, «Do you want to be the most popular kid in school?» I said, «Yes, I do.» He told me, «Every single classroom you walk into, find the kids who look like they’re not popular. You’ll identify them quickly; they’re quiet, don’t have any friends, and they look like they don’t want to be there because they’re getting bullied or whatever. Walk into the classroom and say hi to every one of those kids. Skip the cool kids; don’t even talk to them. You can talk to them afterward if you want, but go find these kids and say hi.» He said, «What’s going to happen is that all those kids who are forgotten or teased by everyone else are going to love you. The cool kids, though they’ll never admit it, will look over and admire you for it.» In other words, he was saying, «Frankie, don’t reach high; go low.»
There are certain times when I had to stretch. I almost hurt myself in the first service. You know what I’m about to do, don’t you? I forgot what this thing’s called. What’s this thing called? A limbo? Yeah! Please extend your hand and pray for me real quick; I’m not as young as I used to be. This is, I think I cheated. This is as low as I’m willing to go. Are you with me for this sermon, for this illustration? This is as low as I’m willing to go. You’re ahead of me—how low are you willing to go? Because if Jesus went low, He says this: «You’re going to have to go low too.»
I’ve got three major points. The first one is how low Jesus went. The second one is how you and I need to go low. The third one is asking the question, «Does Jesus still go low?» So let’s dive into it. Did Jesus go low? I don’t want to preach what I’ve already preached, but let me just say this: I grew up in a Pentecostal church where we had feet-washing services. Did anyone have a feet-washing service? What happens is all the men go into one room and all the women into another. The men sit in rows on folding chairs, and a man washes another man’s feet before going to the next. It’s a rotation, so everybody gets their feet washed, and everybody washes someone else’s feet. As a kid, I learned quickly that you wanted to be the first person to get your feet in the water because when you’re the last person, that water looks like Galveston. You put your feet in that water, and you’ve got five toes; you pull it out, and suddenly you have three toes—it’s disgusting!
Some of those feet must have looked like kangaroo feet, with some toes in bad shape. You can go get them cleaned as many times as you want and pay someone $27, but you’re not getting them back. If you’ve ever seen Shaquille O’Neal’s feet, they aren’t coming back. Guess what? We’re not airing this service anyway. He did that; He went low. You can only go low when you know who you are. Jesus had no problem going low; He didn’t have to prove Himself to anybody. He thought, «I’m the Son of God; I created all things, and all things are held together in Me.» You can’t understand who I am, and I’m not going to go out of my way to tell you; you can’t even grasp half the things I’m talking about, but I don’t have to prove anything. I know who I am.
You cannot go low with people if you’re trying to prove yourself to them. You must have this assurance. Insecure people can’t go low because they don’t know who they are. But when you know God has something for you, you know it like you know your name, and you have no problem lifting people up. It’s not hard. I’ve got a friend who was poor alongside me; if he had my money, he would give it away because that’s the kind of person he is. When I hang out with him, I’m not jealous at all—zero. Why? Because I can go low and say, «God is using you, man. He’s using you.» I know God is doing something in my life. You may say, «Well, obviously, you’re here.» No, no, no, no. This is only four hours of my week. What about the rest of it? I know God is doing something in my life, though I don’t know what it is; He’s just doing it. Have you ever been there? You know God has something for you; you just don’t know what. It’s okay to say you don’t know; it means God is smarter than you.
Now, about us going low: Jesus was able to go low because He knew who He was. For us, going low allows us to honor God. Think about it: «Wow, you got on your knees; you went low for people who didn’t deserve it.» We have to go low. In James 4:6, it says, «If you go low—even if it’s uncomfortable—I will raise you up. I will make you significant. I will give you a voice, and I will give you influence. Watch this: I’ll give you influence, and people will listen to you. People will follow you.» This is what I will do for you as long as you’re willing to lift people up.
Now, people who—well, I’ll put that at the end. Remind me to come back to James 4:6, okay? What does it look like to practically go low? Three areas: Number one is that you encourage people. Why is that so important? Because you’re lifting people up! For some of us in the room, it’s not difficult at all to look into someone’s face and say something awesome to them: «You are doing great! You’re doing awesome!» That is not hard for some of us; for others, it’s really hard. But we’ve been given this gift called text messaging—have you ever heard of it? You can text somebody. If you struggle with looking someone in the face and saying, «You’re awesome,» send them a message. The other day, someone sent me a voice text: «Hey, Frankie, just want you to know I’ve been thinking about you. I love you; you’re going to have an awesome day today!» It took him, I think, 11 seconds, and I was walking around for the next two hours because of what he said.
Sometimes we’re only willing to go low and encourage people if they’ve earned it. Doesn’t that sound gross? Sometimes we don’t want to encourage anyone because we’re afraid it’s going to go to their heads. Doesn’t that sound gross, too? You’re not willing to encourage people because they haven’t earned it? You’re not willing to encourage someone because you think they might think they’re better than you? Really? Doesn’t that sound gross? People who withhold encouragement are practicing love withdrawal. When a person says, «I’m not calling you anymore; I’m not texting you anymore,» that’s love withdrawal. And then there are the manipulative «Jezebel spirits.» They encourage, encourage, encourage, and then suddenly they stop. The person they were encouraging feels confused: «What happened? Are you mad?» That’s the game they play. Encourage, encourage, encourage; pull back. That’s not going low; that’s being selfish, manipulative, and controlling. But people who go low say, «You don’t even deserve for me to encourage you, but I’m going to encourage you anyway. In fact, I’m going to encourage you because you might not meet that standard yet, but I’m going to give you a reputation to live up to.»
Have you ever had someone tell you something super nice about you, but in your head, you were thinking, «I wish that were true?» Are you with me? I wish that were true. What they are doing is saying, «This is the reputation that you can live up to.»
I got fired from Paco’s Tacos—it was on Wallisville in the North Shore Channelview area. How do you get fired from Paco’s Tacos? A few months later, we’re sitting in a living room and my dad tells another guy, «My son is going to be very successful.» I had just gotten fired from Paco’s Tacos! He’s setting a standard for me to rise up to. He’s going low. You can’t lift somebody up if you’re afraid that they’re going to think they are better than you; that’s not you going low.
Number two on how we go low is to apologize. It’s easy to apologize to people who apologize to you; that’s easy. You apologize to me a lot; I apologize to you. That’s easy! Going low is when you apologize to people who have never apologized to you—now that’s going low. If you’re sitting next to that person, just blink twice. That’s going low. It’s easy to apologize to a person when they see they’re wrong or if you forgive somebody. The third one is forgiving somebody; it’s easy to forgive someone who apologizes. When someone says, «I’m sorry,» it’s like, «Hey, no problem! It’s over! It’s done! Let’s move on.» But to forgive someone who doesn’t apologize—that’s hard. How low will you go? Will you humble yourself and say, «I forgive you,» or say, «I’m sorry; let’s just move on?»
When you go low and apologize, encourage, and forgive, Jesus sees you in the water doing that; you’re dealing with the dirty. You’re in this dirty water with a person who has not just grotesque feet but might be a grotesque person too. Ever think to yourself, «I’d rather wash the feet of a kangaroo than deal with you?» Have you thought that? «I can forgive everybody, but not that guy. I can encourage anyone, but as soon as they start thinking they’re better than me, well then…» Have you ever thought, «I want you to do good, but not too good?»
James 4:2 says that if you live your life going low, humbling yourself all the time—encouraging people, forgiving people, saying, «I’m sorry"—guess what? I’m going to raise you up! I was telling my wife about my commitment to being a big tipper now. Everyone who has waited tables is a big tipper for life—wave your hand if you’ve ever waited tables! These people are good tippers! Do you know what I learned? The difference between an average tipper and a great tipper is typically five bucks. It’s crazy! Sometimes you want to go crazy and tip $10, but typically the difference in tipping is not a lot of money. When I’m giving them a tip, I think, «This extra money, I’m not even going to feel it,» but when the waiter or waitress grabs the ticket and looks at it, they feel it.
I’ve learned I cannot be too generous; it’s impossible. The things that God brings to those who lift others up are insane. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:25, «Those who refresh others, God refreshes them.» Those who lift other people up, God says, «I’m lifting you up.» When He says that, what does that mean? It means when you’re in the middle of hell on earth, He’s lifting you up. When you are in a stuck season—"God, I’ve been responsible for the same amount of stuff for way too long"—He says, «I’m raising you up to another level, giving you more influence, more resources.» But those who don’t—James 4:2 also says, «I oppose you.» Now what does that mean?
Luke, come up here real quick—just, just, just. I’m doing this illustration because he tore his ACL, and now I can take him on. Thank you for saying, «Aww,» I forgot; that was sad. You know I love you. All right, come here; you’re bigger than him. Square up! God says, «I’m opposing you. I’m fighting against you. You’re on one side, I’m on the other. I’m the one fighting you. Unless you go low…» You want to be prideful? I will raise up the humble, but I am opposing you if you don’t lift others.
My wife and I went out to dinner with some friends a couple of years ago. The wife asked, «What do I do? I have two sisters that won’t talk to me. What do I do?» I said, «Before I answer you, how big of a deal is this? Is this a big deal, or is this a 'Stinks, but you can deal with it' kind of thing?» She said, «No, this is a big deal; family is everything to me.» I said, «Okay, you want to fix that relationship, go low.» She asked, «What do you mean?» I told her, «You have to over-apologize, over-forgive, and over-encourage.» You know what she said? «I already did that!» I said, «Go lower.» She exclaimed, «But I’ve done it a hundred times!» I told her, «Go lower! What do you mean?» I don’t know, but you’ll know the opportunity when you see it. Go low! Don’t be prejudiced with your low: «I like that guy; I’ll go low. I don’t like that guy; I’m not going low.» Go low with everyone!
Does the Lord still go low? Point number three. The psalmist said in Psalms 116:1: «I love the Lord because He hears my prayer and my cry for mercy.» Watch this: «Because He bends down to listen to me, I will pray as long as I have breath.» The Earth is His footstool, and He says, «I’m coming low.» That’s why I always say, «Open your mouth when you pray!» Don’t pray in your head because He bends low to listen. He still goes low, lifts people up, and gives people opportunities. He pulls people out of their mess when they say, «I’m looking for the people who are struggling to go low.» That’s when you’re going on assignment every day—He’s sending you on assignment because you’re willing to go low.
Stand up and give the Lord a standing ovation! Come on, give Him a real one! Not just a token one, but a real one! Thank You, Jesus! I talked about three ways to go low: One is encouragement, the second is saying, «I’m sorry,» and the third is saying, «I forgive you.» Your desire to walk with the Lord and be sent on assignments is the greatest desire of your life. I want you to take a minute right now, just with the Lord; I’m not going to talk. I want you to take a minute and ask yourself: Have I not apologized to someone? Have I not forgiven someone? Have I not said I’m sorry?
I’m going to tell you this: Unforgiveness is an unforgivable sin. When you don’t forgive, you will not be forgiven. It’s out of the question. Where’s that verse? It’s Matthew 7:1. It says, «If you do not forgive others, I will not forgive you.» I’ve prayed for people who are physically sick. I don’t have time to give you a bunch of testimonies; go to YouTube and look at those testimonies of people being healed. Many of those people were physically healed the moment they forgave someone. They might say, «God, I forgive» and say that name. Sometimes you can forgive a person in one sentence, and sometimes it starts the process where you have to say it a thousand times a week. But for you to partner with God and be sent on assignments to encourage others, lift them up, give them strength, and have influence, there are certain people you need to forgive. Additionally, there are also certain people you have to tell you’re sorry.
So, this is what I want you to do: I want you to put your hands like this, and I want you to ask the Holy Spirit if there is anyone you need to forgive. If anyone comes to your mind, I want you to say their name. You don’t have to put a voice to it; it’s none of their business. I want you to say their name, and you might need to say it three or four times: «I forgive Jonathan! I forgive Jonathan! I forgive Jonathan!» Go ahead, Jesus; if there’s anyone they need to forgive, bring it to their mind. Holy Spirit, give them the strength.
Now I just want you to say, «Lord, I want to go on one assignment to the next for the rest of my life.» Just say that to Him. «I want to go on one assignment to the next for the rest of my life.» It’s important that you say that. I can preach about it, but if you don’t say it, it goes nowhere; it’s done; it’s over.
I’d like for our prayer partners to come down. If you’re in this room and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re nervous—if your heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes and you don’t know where you’d spend eternity—I want you to come out of your seat and take the hand of a prayer partner. Let them pray with you. If you’re in this room and you feel weak, tired, or discouraged: Matthew 11:28 says, «Come to me, all of you who are weak; I’ll give you strength.» Everything depends on who you depend on. You can come out of your seat right now and take the hand of a prayer partner. We’ve got people at the bottom of every aisle down here, so if there are no prayer partners available, just come down the aisle anyway, and they’ll point you to the first available prayer partner. There’s no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you’re ready.
Let’s sing this song one or two times through before anyone goes. May the Lord bless you; may He keep you; may His face shine down upon you and be gracious to you; may His countenance be lifted upon you and bring you peace. In Jesus' name, amen.