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