“Presence Over Pressure: A Christmas Message for the Weary" ft. Omar Calvillo

In this special episode, I’m sharing my second sermon preached at New Life Community Church in Cicero—a message titled “The Gift of Being Present.”

Every year, December has a way of pulling us in every direction. The pressure, the pace, the expectations, the spending - sometimes the season meant to bring peace quietly becomes a season filled with pressure. And if we’re honest, many of us know what it feels like when the joy of Christmas gets drowned out by the noise of Christmas.

In this message, we walk through Matthew 13, Luke 10, and Matthew 25 to uncover how the “cares of this world” can choke out our spiritual life… and how Jesus invites us to something better: Presence over Pressure.

I share parts of my own story, the danger of crowded hearts, and how presence with Jesus always leads to compassion for “the least of these.”
From Angel Tree to prison ministry inside Cook County Jail, we look at what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ in a hurting world - especially during this season.

If you’ve felt stretched thin, overwhelmed, or spiritually distracted, this word is for you.

May this message encourage you to slow down, make room, and rediscover the beauty of being present with Jesus.

Transcript

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Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of From Wrong to Strong. I'm your host. My name's Omar Calvillo, and uh, today I'm gonna release something, uh, uh, a little bit different. Uh, this past Sunday I had the opportunity to, to preach at, at our church, it was a New Life community church, Cicero. Uh, so I shared, um, a message titled The Gift of Being Present. Uh, so what I decided to do today, I'm gonna release that, uh, sermon, you know, I had a opportunity to, to share the word of, God, uh, with our, congregation. So I figure I'd put it out there and I believe it'll be a blessing, to, to you guys as well, especially in this season of Christmas and how a lot of times the season that should be filled with peace and joy becomes a season filled with pressure. So here's the, the message. I hope you guys enjoy it. God, God bless you, and thank you for continually supporting this podcast. I know Pastor as, and, uh, how many of you are excited for this season? But let me ask you a different que a question. How many of you have already felt exhausted just thinking about everything you need to do before December 25th? I remember when I was a kid, man, Christmas season, it was like a special time of year. Like I would look forward to, to, especially to Christmas Eve. Uh, like in my family on Christmas Eve, that's the day that we would open up our presents. We wouldn't wait till the next day. So Christmas Eve at midnight, that's the time that we would open up presents. And I always, always look forward to the lights, the smells, the food, just the, the anticipation of, man, what am I gonna get this year for, for Christmas? Uh, so that's, that's how our family was. That's what my mindset was back then. Uh, but somewhere along the way that changed, I have to confess that, that. Maybe some of you could relate with this as well, where in recent years, when December will roll around, my heart posture wasn't one of excitement, it was one of pressure. I would look at the Christmas season almost like a burden. Instead of thinking it's the most wonderful time of the year, I will be like, ba humbug. Uh, to be honest, I would probably turn like into the Scrooge in this season. You know? I'm like, man, like here we go again. The gifts, the gatherings, the expectations, the spending. That's the biggest for me, the spending. I find myself just wanting to rush through this season just to get it over with. And you know, when December would hit, you know what, what day? I would look forward to January 2nd Why January 2nd.'cause that's the day that I will go into my bank account and hopefully I still have some money left under there. You know, that was my mindset. That was my posture. And to be honest, that posture crowded out the joy and the peace that God intended for me and us in this season. And maybe you're not exactly where I was, but maybe you've felt the weight, the pressure, the hurry, the sense of being stretched thin. But in another sense, this season, stretch the thin into something else, right? With all the good eating and stuff we'd be doing. A season meant to be filled with peace can quietly become a season filled with pressure. So here's the problem, here's the struggle we all face. We can become so consumed with the pressure and chaos of Christmas that we completely miss the Christ in Christmas, the very season that is meant to draw us closer to Jesus. Becomes the season that, in a sense pushes him to the margins, to the outskirts of our already overcrowded lives. But what if in this advent season things could be different? What if instead of ending December exhausted and empty, we could experience the joy and peace that comes from keeping Christ at the center? Today, God's word is gonna show us how to clear away the thorns that choke out what matters most. So I've titled this message, the Gift of Being Present. The Gift of Being Present. And the main idea is that in the busyness, God, God calls us back into His presence. So what we're gonna learn, what we need to choose is presence over pressure. Before I read this, we're gonna be reading in Matthew 13. It's important to see where we're at. So in Matthew 13, Jesus opens up by telling a story, by telling a parable to a massive crowd that had gathered by the lake. A parable is a simple story with a spiritual truth hidden inside of it. Jesus used everyday images from back then like farming seeds, sheep. Money so people could understand deep kingdom truths in a way that was memorable and relatable to them. Parables draw people in, but they also require the listener to be to lean in spiritually and not just mentally. So in verses one through nine, Jesus tells us, tells the parable of the sower. So basically it's a farmer who's scattering seed and it lands on four different types of soil. It talks about the seed that lands, or along the path, the seed that that lands on the rocky ground, the seed that lands where there's storms, and then the seed that lands on good soil. So each soil produces a different result representing different kinds of hearts, different responses to the same seed, which is the word of God, but the disciples don't fully understand it. So later in the verses that we're gonna be reading, Jesus sits them down and interprets the parable to them himself. He explains what each type of soil represents, including the one that we're gonna be focusing on today, which is the soil with the thorns in it. So here's how Jesus describes it. We're gonna be reading in Matthew chapter 13, starting in verse 18. It says here, then the parable of the sow. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sewn in his heart. This is what was sewn along the path As for what was sewn on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endorsed for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately, he falls away. What was sown among thorns. This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and it yields in one case a hundred fold and another 60, and then another 30. The first point I wanna make is when thorns crowd out Christ Jesus is warning us that legitimate concerns of daily life can actually strangle our spiritual life. Good things become thorns when they grow out of control. Notice in verse 22, Jesus doesn't say that these thorns are evil. He calls'em cares of the world. These are legitimate concerns and responsibilities. Jesus says that it's the cares of the world also translated in another, uh, translation, calls'em the worries of life that choke out that seed. What are these cares? These are not evil things. These are not simple things. They are norm normal pressures and responsibilities of life. They could be the bills, maybe work deadlines. Family tension, especially during the holidays. Health concerns, holiday planning, financial stress, relationships, and expectations. Simply put, it's the busyness of life and these are things that we, that we all face when they grow unchecked, they begin to suffocate the work that God is doing in and through our lives. Jesus is teaching that a heart. Can believe the word, receive the word, and still be choked by life's pressures. In Luke's version of this parable, he paints the picture even more vividly. And Luke, chapter eight, verse 14, it says, the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear. But as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, rich, uh, riches and pleasures. And they do not ma mature. Did you catch that? As they go on their way simply while they're living their life doing normal things that we all do, the thorns silently begin to grow, and Jesus says that the result is devastating. They do not mature, meaning the word is present, but the word is not prioritized. The seed is there, but it's not being watered. This is where the parable hits home for us. Many of us, it's not that we're rejecting Jesus, we're just too crowded. It's not that we're rebelling against Jesus. We're just distracted. We're not spiritually cold, we're just overwhelmed. And Jesus is warning us that if we don't guard our hearts, the pressures of life, even the good things can grow into thorns that choke out his very presence. And during the Christmas season, these thorns. Can multiply, and like I said before, none of these are bad, but when they grow wild and unattended, they grow so thick and so dense that the word of God, the very presence of Jesus Christ can get choked out. How many of you remember the 2000 version of how the Grinch stole Christmas? I got an image of that right here. I was watching it last night with my family, and basically in this movie you have a, a, a, Cindy Lou, that little girl who's walking through Whoville and she's just like observing what's going on and she sees everybody just Fran frantically preparing for Christmas. And basically what they're doing, they're competing, who has the most gifts, the biggest gifts They're competing for whose house has the, the best lights? Uh, the, they're trying to, uh. Do the perfect party. Everyone's so busy celebrating Christmas that no one stops to consider what it's actually about. And if you remember, it actually takes them losing everything. That's when the Grinch came in the middle of the night and took all their gifts, right? And then in the morning they wake up and they don't have no gifts, no presents. But you know what they were left with, with one another. It's in that moment that they realized that they were focusing on the wrong thing. They were focusing on thorns in a sense that had grown so thick. They couldn't see the the truth. And it wasn't until they were stripped away that they realized what was important. It was presence and the movie, it was presence with, with one another, right? With their family, with their friends. And for us, it starts by being present with Christ. So take a moment right now. What are, what are the thorns that usually grow in your December? What good things are threatening to choke out your awareness of God's presence in this season? Is it the pressure to create a perfect family gathering? Maybe the financial strain of gift giving, the pack calendar that leaves no room or no margin to just to be still. So just name your thorns. Not so that you could feel guilty about them, but just so that you could recognize them for what they truly are. Point number two, we need to choose presence over pressure. We're gonna be turning to Luke chapter 10. We're gonna be in verses we're 38 through 42, and in this story is a story where Jesus vi visits the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. So it's ba, basically, Martha is the one that goes out and invites Jesus into the home, but then she goes immediately into host mode. But Mary, the sister does something very different. She sits at Jesus's feet listening to him. Martha is varied with just the task, the expectations, the responsibilities. She basically gets overwhelmed and she goes to Jesus and ask them. To correct Mary, basically, and for her, uh, her to help her. Right. But Jesus lovingly responds to her in this way. Let us read Luke, uh, chapter 10, starting in verse 38. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him, shows hospitality there. She had a sister call Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said, but Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha. Martha, the Lord answered. You are worried and upset about many things. But few things are needed, or indeed, only one Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her. How many of you know that you can be in the same house as Jesus and still miss his presence? Doing for Jesus is good, but being with Jesus is better. And this story, Martha wasn't doing anything wrong. She wasn't doing anything simple. She was doing good things. Necessary things just like the cares of this world that we lear Jesus described in the soil with the thorns. But here's the danger that Jesus is exposing good things when they grow wild and unguarded become thorns that choke out the better thing. And let me be honest with you, I personally relate more to Martha than Mary. Scripture never tells us exactly what Martha was doing. Was she cooking, cleaning, serving, preparing the table? It doesn't exactly tells us, but we do know this. She was doing the very thing that allowed everyone else to have a moment with Jesus. And some of you here know that feeling because you're the doer. You're the one always serving. You're the helper. You're the one that in a sense makes things happen. If that's you, I want you to hear me. I don't believe that Jesus is rebuking your service through these scriptures. I believe that Jesus wants to redirect yours and my heart because here's what I've learned. The hard way is often the people who stay busiest for Jesus, who struggle the most to slow down and be with Jesus, you serve. You pour out, you hustle, you carry burdens, and sometimes we forget the one we're doing it all for. Charles Spurgeon, A great theologian pastor, preacher said this, do not let your service for Christ eclipse your communion with Christ. Do not let the work that you do for God eclipse or take more than the time you spend with Christ. There must be moments when we stop and sit, moments for prayer moments for worship moments where we're spending time in the word of God. Why? Because Psalm 1 27 verse one says that unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labor and vain, unless the Lord builds the house, the builder's labor, and vain meaning that it's possible to work hard for God. But never slowed down to walk with God, and there has to be a balance because while Mary sat at his feet, somebody had to prepare that home. Somebody had to make space for Jesus to be welcome. Even today, as I'm standing up here, I'm only able to preach this message because of all the servants of Christ that are in this house. If you think about it, we got the tech team back there, right? There's somebody back there right now whose sole job and responsibility is to make sure that, that the mic is working right, that it has the, the right volume. We're not getting no feedback. There's somebody back there who's manning the camera, right? Making assume that they don't zoom in too close on this face. And then we lose people that are watching online. You know, so I'm sure there are a, a, a good distance away, you know, and they're probably thinking, man, maybe next time we could throw a filter on that face, you know, just to make it more welcoming. But, uh, yeah. And then we got the worship team. If you think about it, they let us in worship this morning, but during the week, they got a, they got a practice, right? We also had somebody that claim, uh, came and cleaned the snow. I think that's this man right here at Tito. You know, we have people that serve in unseen ways every Sunday. There are many who came here early, and guess what? They gotta stay late. Many hands make ministry happen. So Jesus isn't telling Martha to stop serving. He's telling her, don't let serving be placed sitting. Don't let pressure pull you away from presence and don't be so busy doing for Jesus that you forget to be with Jesus. Mary chose presence and Jesus said it will not be taken away from her. So that's the invitation for all of us today. What if in this season, instead of moving at a Martha Pace, we slow down to have that merry moment? Ask yourself, have you let preparation, replace presence? What are you doing for Jesus that is actually keeping you from being with Jesus? In what area is Jesus inviting you to slow down, sit down, and simply be with him? Because sometimes the most spiritual thing that you could do is to stop, sit, and listen, because presence with Jesus is the better portion, and Jesus said it will not be taken away. Point number three, when presence becomes compassion. We're gonna be turning to Matthew Chapter 25, where Jesus gives us one of the most sobering and beautiful truths about what it means to love him. I'm gonna begin reading in verse 35. Is Jesus speaking for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will ask, uh, will answer him. Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? You? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The king will reply. Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Jesus is teaching us that we encounter him not only through prayer, through worship, and by spending time in the word, but also in people, especially hurting people, being present with Christ. Always leads to being present with people, especially the least of these. Presence with Jesus becomes compassion for others. As we make room for Christ, we make room for those He loves. The good soil that Jesus describes in Matthew chapter 13 isn't just uncluttered, it's also fruitful. And how many of you know that the fruit. It usually blesses someone else. Mary sat at Jesus' feet in Luke chapter 10, but guess what? She didn't stay there forever of life. A life rooted in Christ will inev inevitably express itself in love, in mercy, and generosity and in compassion. That's why Matthew Chapter 25 connects all these dots so clearly. Jesus said, you feed the hungry. You're feeding Jesus. You welcome the stranger. You're welcoming Jesus. Cloth the needy. You're clothing, Jesus. Visit the prisoner. You're visiting Jesus. When you show up for the least of these, you're literally showing up for Jesus himself. Presence becomes compassion, and this is where the Christmas season can realign for all of us. Jesus is calling us, all of us back to his heart. He's saying, be present with me. And by being present with me, you're gonna be present to those that I love. And let me show you how this is coming alive in our church today, this year. I know pastor mentioned during the announcements we're partnering with a ministry called Angel Tree. It is a, a Ministry of prison fellowship. They deliver Christmas gifts to children who have a parent that is incarcerated. I wanna thank Sister Dolores, Claudio brother Arturo, uh, and the rest of the team that is making this partnership happen. Angel Tree is about more than giving a gift. It's about making a connection. So for, for those of you who grabbed one of those, uh, cards and are, are, have already bought a gift or are gonna buy a gift, I just want to tell you that you're not just blessing a kid. You're blessing generations. You're being a blessing not just to that child, but to the rest of the family. You're impacting also the parent that is behind bars. In 2023, just in the state of Illinois, there was 29,000 people incarcerated. 1500 of those were, uh, women. And in the United States, it was a quarter, it was 1,000,200 50,000 people that are incarcerated in the United States every year. And for an incarcerated parent, if you think about it, that gift that you're purchasing on their behalf, it's probably the only gift that they're gonna be able to give. That child is gonna restore dignity to that parent. It's gonna give them a chance to say to their son, to their daughter, I love you. And it might even help rebuild a bridge to restore a relationship that possibly was damaged based on their actions. But it's also gonna impact the caregiver, that family member that is currently taking care of that child. Most of these children are being raised by a single parent, maybe a grandparent. Another overwhelmed family member. When we step in to love that child, that caregiver themselves, they're gonna feel seen and supported like they aren't carrying all that burden all by themselves. And obviously we're making an impact on that child that we are blessing, right? These kids didn't ask for that situation that they find themselves in. Many feel forgotten or ashamed. Think about it, especially during Christmas. When they see their friends with their parents, with their mom and dad, and they ask'em, man, where's your mom? Where's your dad? How do you think that makes this child feel? Especially in this season, but when they receive a gift with their parents' name on it, something is gonna shift in their heart. They're gonna feel valued, they're gonna feel loved, and they're gonna feel hope. And just like what Jesus said, and whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me. For over two years now, I've been going into Cook County Jail, uh, division 11. Every other week we hold Bible studies with the men there. And here's one thing that I've seen as I've been going in there. Men are responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I I've talked to many men that are out here like currently. And they, they have all shared stories, not all of them, but a lot of'em said that anytime they will go to a Bible study, anytime they will go to church. It was just so they could have their gang meetings and just so they could pass on information to one another. They said that they will show up to these studies to church with a, with the wrong intention. But guess what? The word of God was still going forth. Amen. Seeds were still being planted. I think about one guy in particular, he shared with me that when he was in a county, in a different county, he said that a pastor would go to this door and ask each, uh, inmate if they wanted to go to Bible study, and that he would yell out the window, man, get outta here with your fairytale. Get outta here with your religion. I don't believe in anything you're trying to sell. And week after week, he would tell that to the pastor, right? But one day he thought about it, he's like, man, they only let me outta my cell one hour a day. He, he, he thought to himself, man, if, if I go, if I go with the guy's a Bible study, that's another hour that I could be outta my cell. So the next week when he came around, he told him, yeah, I'll go with you. He went to the Bible study with the wrong heart, with the wrong intention, but guess what? The word of God went forth. And that pastor, when he prayed for him at the end, something, something stuck in his mind. He said that he went back to his cell. He just kept pondering what that pastor had told him, and months later, he ended up surrendering his life to Christ. Now he's free. He had, I think he ended up, uh, doing I think about three years. Married, got children, got his own business. Amen. So, so even while maybe a lot of these guys motives might be wrong, the word is still going out, seed are still being planted, hearts are still being softened. And some of those very men. Are now praying, worshiping, and reading scripture. But one thing hit me as we've been going in there, the group of men that go in there, I, I was telling them, you know, that we're more in the lives of these men than probably their own fathers were a lot, a lot of these men didn't have fathers. A lot of these men didn't have positive role models. A little, a lot of these men didn't have anybody speaking life over'em. I was thinking about a, um, a conversation I had with, uh, uh, Charlie. He's a chaplain out in California, and he was telling me that he, he volunteers through a prison ministry called Cairos, and they do what they, what, what they call a three day intensive. So it's three full days of ministry that they do with the men in prison. And he said that after three days, he goes up to one man. This man was, uh, 37 years old. He said, he walked up to him, give him a slight punch in the chest, and he told him, man, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you for completing this. He said that that man began to weep. The man just started crying and Charlie was telling me like, man, I don't think I punched him that hard, like to, to make him cry, you know? And then he said that after a while, after about a minute, the man wiped away his tears. He turns around at Charlie and he tells him. That's the first time in my life somebody has ever told me that they're proud of me. Think about that. 37 years old. The first time to hear that, I'm proud of you. Charlie looks at me and he tells me, what chance does this, did this man ever have to make it out in the free world? These are the kind of men that we're encountering men who love is foreign to. To them. Men who genuine support is unheard of. That's why we go in there. That's why we show up for the least of these, because we know and we've seen that there is hope for them, and I know it firsthand. Why do I know that? Because I, myself was in division 11 back in 1997. I know I don't look like it, but I was actually raised in the 19 hundreds. If God could reach me, I know that God could turn any life around in there. Amen. I, I, I, I have a picture with some of the men. I dunno if you guys could put it up there. So these are some of the men. I blurred them out. I blurred out the faces, I blurred out the names. But these are some of the men that we're encountering. And maybe as you're looking at this image, you might be thinking to yourself just like Jim Kirkland thought. As a believer who had gotten saved and somebody told the man, you should go to a prison ministry with us. They had, they were inviting them to, to do, to go minister to inmates and he said that when the first thought when he seen inmates, he said, man, lock them up and throw away the key, like they deserve to be in there. That was his hard posture as a believer, and maybe you're looking at that and thinking, man, maybe some of those guys don't need to come out, but he said that. After much thinking about it, praying, he decided to go just to check it out. That one time going into prison visiting these inmates, he said he encountered the presence and the power of God so incredibly that it changed his mindset and it changed his heart. This man, Jim Kirkland, is now the executive director of a ministry called Christian Chaplains and Coaching. He has now raised up over 300 chaplains that go into prisons. They go into hospitals, they, they, uh, minister in hospice, they minister to the elderly, and this is what God could do, even with a mindset that we could have. And also something I wanna share, you know, that there's some new lifers that are in here. Amen. You know, when you think about that, I've had men that come up to me, you know, my mom goes to New Life, you know, my parents go to New Life, you know, I used to go to New Life. Some of our, our brothers and our sisters are in there. So I want to challenge you, like when you see pictures like this, like let God work on your heart and ask him why. Why do I feel the way I feel? What do I, why do I think the way I think? You know? With that, I would like to ask the worship team to come up and if you guys could stand, I'm gonna get ready to wrap up. Just this past Monday we were in, uh, cook County doing our Bible study, and at the end of the, the Bible study, a young man walks up to me and he's like, Omar, do you remember so-and-so? And he threw out a nickname out there, A nickname of a, of a man that I knew growing up back in high school. You know, in my early twenties and when he mentioned that nickname, like it hit me like this man had passed away. He had been murdered about five years ago. So when he asked me, Hey, you remember so-and-so? I'm like, yeah. Is he the one that passed away about five years ago? He's like, yeah, yeah, that's him. And then he turns around and he points to a young man and he said, this is his son. This is his son. In that moment, like my heart broke as I thought about it. Here's a young man who just lost his father five years ago, but I, not only that, what I seen right before my eyes was generational curses being lived out, being played out. I seen almost like, you know, the Bible says like the sins or the things of the father and how they pass on to the child. I saw a young man, 25 years old, caught up in the same lifestyle in the same trap, but at the same time, you know what else I saw? Hope. Hope that this young man doesn't have to repeat and continue this cycle. Hope that God could use him to change the direction, not only of his life, but of his entire family. Why? Because we serve a God who saves a God, who heals a God who delivers. And a God who specializes in breaking generational curses and cycles. We serve a God who rewrites family stories. That's why we serve the least of these. Not because we're good, but because God is not because they earn it, but because Jesus loves them, not because we feel pity. But because we see purpose and Jesus says, whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me. So let me ask you, what would it look like this Christmas to shift from performance to presents and from presence to compassion? When you stop, when you sit, when you listen. When you clothe the needy, when you visit the sick, when you walk into that jail, when you serve those children through angel tree, when we show compassion, we are encountering Christ himself. Today, we've seen that the thorns can crowd out Christ. We've seen the difference between Martha's pressure and Mary's presence, and we've seen how presence with Jesus becomes compassion. Towards the least of these. Matthew 4:16 reads"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death. Light has dawned." I will be your host. My name is Omar Calvillo and I am Wrong To Strong.