What's The Good Word (Luke 8:16-18)

[This sermon was preached at Folsom Community Church on April 29, 2012 by Tim Lewis]

What’s The Good Word?
Luke 8:16-18

Introduction

There once was a poor rice farmer. Each year his crop was poor, and as planting season was approaching, he had no hope that this year would be any different. Still he rode his tractor—his kuliglig-to the rice field he worked. When got there, he was amazed to find it was already planted, the healthy, seedling rice plants perfectly laid out in rows. He tried to figure out what had happened, but couldn’t figure out who had planted in his field.

He could not believe his good fortune. The crop was healthy, and his harvest yielded more kilos per hectare than any rice crop he’d ever seen or heard of. But what to do with this big crop? If his neighbors, or worse yet, his in-laws knew about his good fortune, they would certainly be coming to ask, ask, ask from him. So he determined to not tell anyone, and threshed it at night, and stored it in jars and baskets under his house. For once in his life, there was no pressure. He had enough bigas (rice) for two harvests! So he slept in, sneaking rice from his hiding places when he thought no one was looking, growing plump and enjoying his hammock through the next season. But then he noticed a problem. The weevils and mice were enjoying his rice, too. By the end of the season, so much was rotten, moldy or eaten that he had to borrow money for his daily food. He dreamed of another big crop, but at planting time he went to the field and found it dry and empty. So because he squandered his blessing selfishly, the blessings dried up. What will you do with God’s ‘good news’ towards you?

Is God’s word good? And, if it is good, then how good is it? We’ve been studying the life of Jesus as it is recorded in the Bible. In chapter 8 of the book of Luke, one of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible, it records a new period in Jesus’ ministry:

¹After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him,

The ministry consists of the message: the ‘good news of the kingdom of God’ which included both his miracles and his sermons, the Messiah: Jesus, and the community: the twelve disciples and others who traveled with them. 

When people asked him about this ‘good news’ he often told stories to describe what the he meant. And last time, we learned how the good news means that we can change; that we can be new and improved when we are humble and welcome God’s word.

¹⁵But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

God can change us. God does change us. He changes out attitudes. He changes our habits. He changes our want-to. He changes what we hope for. He changes what we dream about. He changes our relationships. He produces love, joy, peace and patience in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23)

But what is the change for? Why did he change you? Now some of you think this is a trick question. Jesus died on the cross to fix me, to remove the sin which he hates and which corrupts every decision I make, so that I can be truly “healthy”. And that’s true. But why did he do that?

In the next few verses-verses 16-18-of Luke chapter 8, Jesus explains further using a different picture. But even though we are not talking about ‘seeds’ and ‘crops’ we are still talking about the same topic. We are still talking about the change that results from God’s word active in our life. Let’s read together:

¹⁶“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. ¹⁷For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. ¹⁸Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

We Are God’s Projectors

In order to get his point across, Jesus uses a sort of ridiculous picture. Look at it again, in verse 16.

¹⁶“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.”

He says “Can you imagine?” Can you imagine lighting your candle, but then sticking it in a pot or a stuffing it under the mattress. How ridiculous? So what do you think about God? Did he make a mistake with you? “That Tim, he’s wet wood. A lot of smoke. A lot of sputtering. But no fire!” No way. He has set the spark in your life to start your world on fire.

Did you see? “He puts it on a stand” He is going to put you out there, where the new and improved you can shine the brightest. We don’t need the flashlight in here. Why do Christians end up in the worst and most difficult situations? Because the light shines brightest where the darkness is deepest. Because the light shines to greatest effect to those who are lost in that darkness.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰and find out what pleases the Lord. – Ephesians 5:8-9

You know, you are like this projector. The cable on the back of the projector, that’s where the signal comes in. The cable carries the message. But there is something in the projector, the light, the bulb which gets combined with the message to show it large. The projector is a message amplifier.

And we are God’s message amplifiers. He gives us the signal, and he lights us up and we shine his message around us.  Some of us are content to show off in well-lit Sunday churches. Frankly, if we all just sit around and point our lights at each other, we never see what God wants to say and we just blind each other.

We are God’s projectors in dark world.

We Are God’s Reflectors

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Listen to what he says next:

¹⁷For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.

Do you remember what Jesus was doing? Back in verse 1 says Jesus was going around proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The good news is not about me. Incredible! Hey, the good news is not about you, either. Impossible? No…the good news is about God! It is his kingdom.

Back in verse 16, what was supposed to shine? What was not supposed to be hidden? It was the word of God. It was the good news. It was God himself. But now look at verse 17: there is nothing that is hidden that will not be disclosed, there is nothing concealed that will not be known.

You can’t hide God. He’s too big. You try to stuff him down, hide him, squeeze him, he starts bulging out and showing up in expected places, in unexpected ways. Sort of like those boxes people ship back to the Philippines, the balikbayan boxes. The manufacturer’s specification says they are 18x18x18, but I swear duck tape and desperation adds an extra 100 cubic bulging inches to their dimensions. I worry that they are like mines—one touch and that box will explode with gifts all over.

That’s the gospel: just waiting to explode. And the primary path of detonation is your life.  He is too big to hide!

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. – 1 Thessalonians 3:12

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13

It is natural for the good news to overflow. Compassion and truth should be the natural result, because that is what is being poured into us.

Starting at 5:15pm on May 20^th of this year, Sacramento will get a front row seat to an unusual event for nearly 2 hours. During that period, instead of white and glowing, the moon will appear black. Normally, because the moon is relatively shiny and high in the sky, it collects the sun’s light and reflects it down to the surface of the Earth where we can see it. But, for these few hours, the moon appears black because, during that period, it will stand directly between the sun and the Earth. That shouldn’t be a big deal, right? I mean, the moon is 64 million times smaller than the sun.[1] But given the right placement, it blocks 87% of the sun’s light. 87%.

We are designed to be sun reflectors. We don’t give off light of our own, but when properly positioned we reflect God’s light, his compassion and truth, to the world. But when we are out of position, we block or deflect people’s vision. We are mirrors for God. We are the moon, to His sun. We are reflectors.

God’s Neglectors

We’ve already looked at how God wants us to be projectors, and reflectors. But what if we don’t? What if we do eclipse God? What if we are God’s neglectors? What happens? Look at verse 18:

¹⁸Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

What happens when the moon blocks the sun? The moon gets moved.

If you have a pen or a pencil, find those words “consider carefully” and circle them. When Jesus tells you to ‘consider carefully’-to pay attention, you’d better sit up straight, because it means that He is about to say something important. Consider carefully how you listen.

At work, when the boss tells an employee to do something, and that employee doesn’t do it, or isn’t careful about the instructions, what does the boss do? The first step is bypass. The boss stops talking to him, and starts telling someone else to do it. During this period, the employee either notices he or she is out of the loop, and talks to the boss. Or the employee says: life is good, my job is easy and I still get paid. If they do that, then the boss takes the second step: bye-bye. Now the employee is un-employed.

Now look at what Jesus said: if the good news you are hearing is stopping with you, do you think God is going to let your deaf-ness stop the gospel? No, of course not! The good news must get through. So maybe he bypasses you, and gives the good listener more good news. Or maybe he says bye-bye and stops telling you the good news. It’s like the farmer and the field. If the field stops producing a crop, why waste more good seed?

So how can I be a better listener?

1.       Get used to the sound of God’s voice. A lot of people have strange ideas about what God really sounds like and what he would do. (John 10:4b) But God left us thousands of pages of recordings so that we can get used to his style. So that when he does give you directions, his voice cuts through the noise. (Acts 17:11)

2.       Get alone where you can hear him. 10 minutes, 15 minutes alone, no cell phone, no TV, no distracting voices. Precious minutes that provide enough space for God to say something through his Spirit. Talk to God in prayer, but then silence is ok.

3.       So, God’s Projector, God’s Reflector or God’s Neglecter. Jesus says you have to get serious about the good news.

Conclusion           

The seed and the spark, they are both from God.

You know, sometimes I hate sermons like this one. Why? God has been good to me, and my family. Normally, that would be a good thing. But Jesus tells me that God’s goodness is supposed to have a result. I am God’s projector. I am not allowed to be a God’s black hole, sucking the light in! I am God’s reflector. I am not allowed to be God’s superstar. He is the star. I am the shiny rock.

But I am the shiny rock through which flows the brilliance of the love of God:

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. – Romans 5:5

I hate sermons like this one because I am a coward. Sometimes, I prefer the bland, mediocre life, because no one notices whether I am good or bad or irrelevant. But I know the truth: God is real, his kingdom is expanding, Jesus is the rescuer of the world and my life is irrevocably changed by his grace. Because I don’t like the wishy-washy part of myself, so I wrote some resolutions for myself, just for this week. Paul did this also, when he started a church:

²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. – 1 Cor. 2:2

I share them with you, because I am determined that the good news, in all its forms, should not stop with me this week. And you can help me. And you can join me. And we can rejoice together.

Resolution #1: I resolve that the when someone asks what I did this weekend, I will talk about my time at church.

Resolution #2: I resolve that someone will find out I’m a Christian this week, who doesn’t know.

Resolution #3: I resolve that when someone has an expected need this week, I will help meet it without drawing attention to myself.

Resolution #4: I resolve that when I hear about big news in someone else’s life, good or bad, I will offer to pray about it. [Elden Shepherd’s job]

Resolution #5: _________________________________

Be a God projector. Be God reflector. Not a God neglector.

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[1] The sun is 1.409 x 10¹⁸km³. The moon is 2.1958 x 10¹⁰ km³. That’s 64,167,957 times smaller. http://www.smartconversion.com/otherInfo/Volume_of_planets_and_the_Sun.aspx, retrieved on April 28, 2012

The Church of the New and Improved (Luke 8:1-15)

[This sermon was preached on April 15, 2012 at Folsom Community Church by Tim Lewis]

The Church of the New & Improved

Luke 8:1-15

Introduction

First Filipino flag

Some of you may recognize this flag. This is the 1^st flag of the Philippines, created by the secret society called the KKK: the Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ngBayan (Supreme, Most Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation). This secret society was dedicated to independence from the Spanish occupation through revolution. It was first formed by Bonifacio, Plata, Diwa and others on July 7^th, 1892 when the national hero, Jose Rizal, was exiled to Dapitan.

Over the next four years, these brave men and, later women, plotted and planned for the day when the people would rise up, cast out their oppressors and stand together as free people. Their message of independence was broadcast through the newspaper Freedom (or Kalayaan). The secret society was discovered in 1896 by the Spanish and the revolution began.

In many ways, we see a similar tension 1900 years before with the people of Israel, during the Roman occupation. The oppression, the crippling taxation, injustice—all of it was there, and Jesus, as a popular teacher and healer, was being watched carefully. But we also see, in the 8^th chapter of Luke, that Jesus was forming something new, something that had never happened before:

¹After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, ²and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; ³Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

Here we see three important elements:

1. The spreading Message of the kingdom of God. Jesus went from “one town…to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.” God is moving. That’s good news. His kingdom is retaking territory.
2. The Messiah, Jesus. He was the center—the message was about him and it was for him.
3. The Community of Changed-Lives. Around Jesus were people whose lives had been radically renovated by Jesus; Peter left his boats, Matthew left his job; Mary left her demons; Joanna and Susanna left the sickness. Key indicator: they spent their money on Jesus and other people (notice it says the women supported ‘them’)

These same elements will show up later when the church gets going later. And these are these same elements that are the foundation of the church today: expanding God’s kingdom, Jesus at the center, lives changed by God’s power.

The Bible says that Jesus proclaimed the good news. But let me ask the question that always bothers me. Here’s the one that messes with my brain: if the news is so good, why don’t more people accept it? Here is Jesus, the best teacher who ever lived and, still, the Bible records that people told him “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60), they “grumbled” (John 6:61) and “…many disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” (John 6:66)

If the news is so good, why don’t people react like it is good news. They act—we act—like it is boring, irrelevant, narrow-minded and even dangerous. Shouldn’t God just be winning, if the message is so convincing; so fool-proof; so certain; so impact-ful? If the gospel is so powerful, so life-changing, why so few lives changed? Why the same sins, habits, struggles? Why? Why are there so few changed lives?

Jesus is going to tell us, in his next story, the story of the farmer and his seeds, that it is not the message or the messenger but the messaged. Some people, when they hear something, they don’t want to be messaged, they want to be massaged! If they are not prepared for change, real life change, it will not happen.

[Empty pot, held upside down; seed lands; birds steals it.] ⁵As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. No time with God.

[Empty pot, held right-side up; fill with rocks; seed lands; wilted tomato plant.] ⁶Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. When the tough times come, we’ve never really connected with God.

[Full pot, filled with weeds; can’t find the tomato plant.] ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. We don’t listen to God, because we listen to anybody and everybody.

[Full pot, filled with health tomato plant.] ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

You know, I had always assumed that Jesus told these stories to make it easier to understand things. My Sunday School teacher even called them, “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.” But, according to Jesus’ own words, he actually told these parables for a different reason, a reason that often made it harder for people to get his real meaning. Look at Luke, chapter 8, starting in verse 10:

¹⁰He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

Did you catch that: “so that…they may not understand” Why would he do that? Within Jesus’ audience there were people at different places spiritually, like the soils in the story. When Jesus preached, his words were like a spiritual EKG—they tested to reveal the true heart conditioner of each person who was listening. Jesus’ words were not just knowledge. They were a test of willingness to change.

Did you know that each good seed planted in the ground is a test? It is a test of soil condition. Likewise, each word spoken by Jesus is a test. It is a test of heart condition. It is not enough to know the truth. We know lots of smart people who are terrible people. It is not enough to do the truth, because people can pretend to be good without having the truth inside them.

He was so provocative and outspoken that after one sermon, it says, “²⁸All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.” – Luke 4:28-29

Hearing the truth, but being unwilling to do anything about it is dangerous.

#1: This grid shows two different reasons that people don’t ever change. Along the top, there is an arrow that represents “knowledge” or “truth” To the left are the ignorant, and to the right, the well-informed. Along the left, there is an arrow that represents “doing” or “action”. Towards the top are those who don’t act on what they know, while towards the bottom are those who are active putting what they know into practice. All of us fall somewhere on this graph in the different areas of our lives. For our purposes, we divide this graph into four sections.

#2: So what do you get when someone doesn’t know anything, and doesn’t do anything? The Bible calls this kind of person a fool:  “Every sensible person acts knowledgeably, but a fool displays his stupidity. “ (Proverbs 13:16, HCSB) Ignorance is bliss. The fools never know what to try and never try what they know.

 #3: What about someone who knows a lot, can talk about the truth, but their life tells a different story. We call that person a “fake” Or the Bible word for it: a “hypocrite”.  Jesus had a lot to say about these fakes. For example: “Woe to you…you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25) These people knew the truth, were even the professors of the truth, but their life tells a different story. These people are dangerous because, in their hands, truth gets a bad name. Or, as Paul warned one pastor: “[they appear] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:5)

#4: What about someone who doesn’t know much but does it vigorously. We call this person a “fanatic” Or the Bible word for it: “zealous” These people are dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic, and disciplined, but they don’t have the truth. The Bible says: “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” (Romans 10:2) These people are dangerous, because, in their hands, commitment and hard-work get a bad name.

#5: This is the powerful life: when truth comes together with willpower, when knowledge comes together with action, then there is a real changed life. When we see someone like this, we say they have integrity, they are authentic, they are “for real”. The Bible says they must be together: truth on the inside, action on the outside “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)

The Catch

But here is the catch: we will never experience true life change without God’s help. Real life change requires knowing the right things and having the will-power to do them. But we don’t know the right things. And we don’t have the will-power. The Bible says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23, NASB). That word, ‘sinned’ means to miss the mark like a target. “for all have missed the target and fall short of the glory of God.” Our life is like a game of Angry Birds, but we can never get to the next level because our slingshot (our smarts, our strength) is too small to hit the target: God’s perfect knowledge and perfect will-power. But if we replace our slingshot with the cross of Jesus, we can reach the next level.

Conclusion

If someone was to ask, “What is the one key to the new and improved life that God wants for me?” I would have to say humility. Humility is admitting, I am not enough. But Jesus is enough. The humble person admits they don’t know, so they are willing to learn. The humble person admits they cannot, so they are willing to be helped. People who are full of themselves cannot be used by God. The Bible says: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, the he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)

This humility is not a one-time act, it is a life-long attitude which assumes there is always more to learn, and always more strength needed that what I have.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:8

Dr. Jose Rizal, the writer and national hero of the Philippines, once wrote, “Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?"[1] His death on December 30, 1896 sparked the Philippine Revolution. With cries of freedom and patriotic fervor, those revolutionaries tore up their tax certificates, signifying their independence, and fought for freedom. But what happened?  Rizal, their inspiration and moral center, was dead. They achieved freedom from the Spanish, only to trade it for conquest by the Americans.

Rizal is dead. But Jesus is alive. The Romans saw a threat in a provincial preacher, Jesus, and worked with collaborators to bring him to an unfair trial and a criminal’s death. And with that death, all of our failures were placed there with Jesus, on the cross. “It is finished.” They are gone.

Because Jesus came back to life, he can offer us a victory, a freedom, a change, that can be offered by no other. But with that freedom, we must be careful not to fall into the tyranny of another.

The good news is that it is possible to have a changed life. A new and improved life. But are you ready to do what it will take? You cannot go with God and stay where you are. The good news is that this new life is available, not to the smart and sophisticated and strong, but to the humble and willing. The good news is that this new life is abundant.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. - Luke 8:15

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[1] The Reign of Greed (a complete English version of El Filibusterisimo from the Spanish of Jose Rizal), tr. Charlse Derbyshire (Philippine Education Company, Manila, 1912), p. 361