Biblical Discipleship

Sermon Introduction

Illustration

I remember reading about a Youth Leader who was discipling a teenaged girl.

Over time, she came to learn that the girl is jumping from one relationship to another, “hooking up” with different guys, and eventually decided to confront her about it.

The response of the teenager girl is what you might have expected… “Who are you to judge me?!” She exclaimed. “You have no right to impose your morality on me”.

Now, what’s remarkable about this story is that it wasn’t from California, or New York, or one of the large, liberal, urban areas in the United States.

It happend in a small town in what some have called the American “Bible Belt” … The very conservative areas of the US where everyone goes to church, and is culturally Christian.

The point the author was trying to make is that a massive cultural shift is occuring around us.

Self Authorizing Morality

It’s everywhere, it’s penetrating deep into western culture, even where you least expect it, and some have called it… Self Authorizing Morality

“...holds personal choice as the highest good. Personal freedom is seen as an end in itself. And once a culture make individual choice and independence from external norms the ultimate good, a deity of some kind might still be affirmed, but traditional religion with its overt call to submit to something beyond ourselves, is seen not only as boring and antiquated, but also as dangerous and oppresive.”

Now I’m telling you this, because of how the passage which we’re covering today begins...

Don’t Judge?

About 20 or so years ago, if you asked people in the street, even those who doesn’t consider themselves Christians, if they knew any Bible verses, what is the most likely answer they would give?

John 3:16… Yes of course, probably the most famous verse of all time.

Unfortunately, it became so common, that it was almost a cliche… or at worse, a bit of a joke. What today we might call a “meme”.

Today, however, John 3:16 isn’t as well know… A more well known verse, even if people don’t actually know the reference, is the beginning of Luke 6:37...

“Judge not, and you will not be judged”.

As you can imagine, the reason why it’s so popular is because it fits in perfectly with the emergence of “Self Authorizing Morality”.

When people quote this verse, what they’re really doing is shutting down correction… You can’t judge me, because the Bible says you shouldn’t judge.

The problem with that of course, is the Bible very much teaches that we should exercise judgement...

Consider the following verses for example:

Philippians 4:8 “8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Now how could you possibly accomplish this exhortation from Paul if you weren’t exercising Judgement?

You need to judge, in order to determine what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent...

Although I’m sure some of you may be thinking, well these are good things… It’s ok to judge something as good!

Well, let’s have a look at this other list..

2 Timothy 3:1–5 “1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous

...without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

How could you possibly do that? How can you avoid these people, if you weren’t exercising judgement...

Without, in a sense, “judging”.

So why the contradiction then?

Context of Mercy

Well, let’s be reminded the context of these verses, which if you will remember from my last sermon in this series, is the most difficult thing that Jesus commanded his disciples to do...

It started off in Luke 6:27–28 … “27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

But of particular importance to us is the final verse of that passage, because of course it is the verse immediately preceding our passage, Luke 6:36 “36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

And so, given this context, what Luke 6:37-38 really becomes is an example of how we may show mercy...

Luke 6:37 “37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Now here’s the thing… if you have to show mercy… what does this imply?

It implies thaty you have been wronged in some way! You don’t show mercy when a person hasn’t done anything wrong to you...

You show mercy when someone is guilty of wrongdoing and yet you do not punish that person as deserved.

And yet, even though we have been wronged, even though, we, in a sense, would have the right to condemn and to judge, we are commanded not to...

This is how NT Scholar, Darrel Bock explains it:

“What is commanded is an attitude that is hesitant to condemn and quick to forgive. What is prohibited is an arrogance that reacts with hostility to the worldly and morally lax, viewing such people as beyond God’s reach.”

And so, we are absolutely expected to exercise judgement when it comes to identifying immorality and wrongdoing...

And yet, we are to be merciful towards those who are guilty as God has been merciful to us...

1 Thessalonians 5:14–15 is a great picture of how this commandment of Jesus is applied:

“14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

Context of Generosity

And with that, to make it abundantly clear that we are to read Luke 6:37 in the context of the preceding verses, the following verse, Luke 6:38 also returns to a theme that was also previously discussed...

And that is, Generosity… Luke 6:38 “38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.””

This verse of course ties in to Luke 6:30 “30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.”

And again, if you’ll remember from the previous sermon, the kind of radical generosity that Jesus commands is something that we can accomplish by keeping our eye on the heavenly reward...

As we learned from Colossians 3:1–3 “1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Biblical Discipleship

And with these difficult commandments in mind, Jesus turns to what we might consider to be the application points of his sermon.

Recall that this entire passage, from Luke 6:20-49, is called, in the Gospel of Luke, the “Sermon on the Plain”.

But is also popularly known in its longer form in the Gospel of Matthew, called the “Sermon on the Mount”

It is a sermon that Jesus gave to his disciples… Way back in Luke 6:17, in the introduction to the sermon, we see that Jesus was ministering to a “great multitude of people”, who were coming to him for healing.

But, in Luke 6:20, it says that Jesus then turned his attention to his disciples… those who were not just following him because of his miracles, but who actually want to learn from him...

And then he opened his sermons with the Beatitudes and Woes… an ironic twist to what people’s expectations are about who are blessed and who are cursed...

Which then lead to Jesus’ shocking commandment to love your enemies… which is a call to radical, sacrificial love and mercy...

And so now, we learn how to apply Jesus’ teaching, which since it is instructions for his disciples, would help us draw out some great points on how to exercise Biblical Discipleship...

And as is characteristic of how Jesus teaches, he does so in parables...

Although in the first two cases, which are the two that are part of our passage for today, these are not the types of parables that we are used to...

What we probably think of when it comes to parables, are something like a story with a moral...

Like for example, the parable of the Prodigal Son

The parable of the good samaritan

And so on… a parable isn’t always in the form of a story… in its most basic meaning, a parable is a model… it is a kind of example, or a symbol that points to a greater meaning...

You can see how a story can fit into this… but in our first two parables, simply gives examples of how to exercise discipleship, which we in turn can turn in to principles of Biblical Discipleship to follow...

The first one is to...

Choose Your Teacher Carefully

Luke 6:39–40 “39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

This is hardly shocking...

Disciples don’t just learn from teachers, but they also emulate them..

And in a very real sense, the words and actions of a disciple reflect the teacher that they had.

I remember watching this YouTube video...

it was actually a promotional video for this professional pianist named Hayato Sumino...

He held a series of concerts in South Korea back in 2022...

And the video they were “pranking” some piano professors by including Hayato Sumino in auditions being held for their music school...

And if you’re not familiar with how these types of things go… Usually, musical auditions for Music Schools and Orchestras are done “blind”

Meaning, the person auditioning is usually playing behind a curtain...

So they didn’t know they were hearing a world famous pianist playing...

They just assumed they were listening to a student auditioning for their school...

But what’s really remarkable is that these professors weren’t just able to realize of course that a remarkably good pianist playing for them...

They also recognized - not who his teacher was, of course that’s a little specific - but the style of his playing… which was from Poland.

Why? Because Hayato Sumino learned that style from his teacher, who learned it from his teacher… and on and on, this style of playing the from teacher to disciples, who themselves become teachers with disciples...

Disciples become like their teachers, and so it would be a good idea to be careful who we learn from...

And by the way, I do of course realize, that I am up here preaching this to you… in effect, acting as your teachers...

And so, it’s important that I tell you that I am very careful with which resources use when preparing sermons...

Nevertheless, you should also be careful with simply accepting everything that I say without evaluation..

Although, of course, I would hope that over time, I would have built a trusting relationship to you such that you don’t have to double check everything that I say...

But nevertheless, as:

1 John 4:1 says “1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

This is particularly important of the media you consume daily, what you read in the news… Especially in this day and age full of fake news, disinformation, biased opinions…

Take a moment to step back and question… is this really true?

This is especially true for you parents of your children out there… Are you monitoring your children’s device usage?

This is especially important because of how those with opposing worldviews, those who teach things contrary to the word of God… how these people have decided to insert their agenda into children’s programming...

If I can take a moment to plug Right Now Media for a moment right now.

RIGHT NOW MEDIA INFORMATION

And so we should choose our teachers carefully… Let’s be careful who we follow...

And related to this, if we seek to teach, lead and influence others, let’s be sure to:

Deal With Your Own Issues First

Luke 6:41–42 “41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”

Now we have to be careful with this however...

This verse, like verse 36 is fast gaining popularity for all the wrong reasons...

That is, it is quickly being used to shut down correction...

Who are you to judge me? You’re no better… You’re just a hypocrite...

Take the log out of your own eye first...

And in a very real sense this is true...

None of us are perfect… We are all sinful people… Every single one of us will have areas in our lives that we struggle with...

And yet, once again, the Bible is very clear that this should not be stopping us from leading and guiding one another...

I remember memorizing a verse a long time ago, which to be honest, made me a little uncomfortable...

It was Romans 15:1–2 “1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”

So we are expected to walk alongside those who are struggling...

The warning for us when we do so however, is, to deal with our own issues first...

Galatians 6:1–3 puts it really well in this way… “1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

Finally, l

Guard Your Heart

Why? Because from your heart

Luke 6:43–45 “43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Ezekiel 36:26–27 “26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Psalm 51:10 “10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”