[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
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| First Filipino flag |
Some of you may recognize this
flag. This is the 1st 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 7th, 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 8th
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:
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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.
-
The Messiah, Jesus. He was the center—the
message was about him and it was for him.
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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?"
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
