Luke & Acts: From Bethleham to the World!

Announcements:

Small Group on Tuesday, June 25th, 6 PM; Here at the church, instead of my home.

Good morning, it is wonderful to be back with you this morning. Whenever I have to be gone, I miss all of you. Thank you to everyone who stepped up and filled in, as both myself and Joel was gone....so, thanks for helping out to make sure that people can enjoy a meaningful church service. Before we start the message this morning, I wanted to share a bit about why I’ve chosen to pursue my Master’s degree, and a bit about my experience, down at Evangel. Do any of you know what I am getting my Master’s degree in? I’ve mentioned it a couple of times to a couple of you…but I’ve never shared it, officially. The name of my degree program is called:

Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

How many of you are familiar with the field of Behavioral Health, at all? The field of Behavioral Health encompasses Psychiatry, Psychology ( Psychologists) and Psychotherapy. Clinical Mental Health, which is what I am pursuing falls under the Psychotherapy field. Psychotherapists or Clinical Therapists are trained to diagnose and treat mental and emotional illness. We identify (what is called) psychopathology in people. Psychopathology simply means ways of thinking and behaving that negatively affects how a person lives. So, that is what I am studying.

Some of you may wonder why I am not getting my Master’s in theology or Biblical Studies, which is what I studied in my undergrad program. There is a good reason for this....which I’ll explain in a moment. The field of Behavioral Health is very well known for a couple of things:

1. A heavy reliance on our emotions, or, how something makes us feel.

2. Acceptance of secular concepts, especially in the area of homosexuality and D.E.I. (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)…i.e. Social Justice.

I’ll give you a quick example of D.E.I.. During one of our discussions, my professor was talking about those in lead pastor positions within the Assemblies of God. According to her, because women do not make up 50% of lead pastor positions within the A/G, this is evidence that the A/G is misogynistic....or, against women…purposely keeping them out of those roles. D.E.I. claims that if there is any sort of imbalance within an organisation....whether private or not, if women do not make up at least 50% of the leadership, it is always due to nefarious reasons. Also, if a person is suffering in some way, it is not because of bad decisions on their part, or because we live in a fallen world where people will suffer, it is because someone is keeping them down, they are being oppressed by more powerful forces. That is just a short snip it …but you get the point. Unfortunately, the field of Behavioral Health has become infected with this ideology. Here is the thing…does all of those things exist or have existed in our world....it is true that, especially historically, those in power sought to keep certain people…like women and certain minorities from gaining any sort of authority or power. It wasn’t too long ago that women were not allowed to vote and that black people couldn’t drink from the same water fountains or use the same bathrooms as white people…those things are real and they did real damage to people....we can not simply dismiss that or pretend that hundreds of years of slavery has no effect or consequences today. That said, that is not how our society is any more, as a whole. We aren’t perfect, but if a person is motivated to better their lot in life, opportunities abound, for the vast majority of people. Societal forces are no longer trying to oppress you and we do people a great injustice when we tell them such things.

So, if the field is so bad, why am I getting into it? Great question....there are 2 reasons:

The field badly needs godly men and women to uphold godly principles and a godly worldview.

I have always had a passion for trying to understand why people do what they do. Why they believe what they believe.

Practical reasons: My wife is retiring soon!

It is my desire to be your pastor for as long as you will have me. However, my wife is retiring in the next few years. Once she does, it will be my responsibility to provide the lost income and to provide our insurance. Realistically speaking, Ottawa First, even if we tripled our numbers, we still wouldn’t be able to afford a full-time pastor salary with full benefits. So, because I want to stay here, I must pursue a field of study that opens up additional revenue areas. If I got my master’s in a biblically related field, that would not open up another opportunity, other than leaving for another church…which I am not going to do. By studying a the field I’m pursuing, I will be able to do clinical work part time, provide for my family like the Lord desires, but still be your pastor…all of that, of course, if the Lord wills it so. So, that is why I am doing what I am doing. To be honest, it is a 5 year plan to get Laura and I to a point where she can retire without having to worry about our financial situation.

Thank you for indulging me, but I want to be as transparent as possible. It’s just a common thing in ministry that when a pastor pursues more education, it usually means that they are making plans to move on from where they are…as few people are willing to spend that amount of time, effort and money, but stay in the same location. I just want to assure you…that is not why I am pursuing my post-grad degree. It’s actually the opposite…it is so I am able to stay.

OK, enough of that. If any of you have questions, please feel free to ask me after service. Also, just so you know, the program is 3 years long…2 of classroom work and 1 year of practicum…or, field-work, where I am doing the work of a psychotherapist, but under supervision, of sorts. It is my goal to do my practicum on the Psych ward at the hospital here in Ottawa..it will be somewhere local, that is for sure.

Sorry if that was boring....Let’s move on now to this weeks message…which will be shorter, because of my …rambling.

PRAY (BEGIN Sermon)

Interestingly enough, today’s message actually is relevant to what I just was discussing…in a round-about sort of way. Today we are continuing our series on Luke-Acts. In week 1 we looked at Luke’s introductions to both of his books, in week 2 we covered 3 portions of scripture....2 from Luke and 1 from Acts. These talked about “The Good News,” how the Angels delivered the Good news about the birth of John the Baptist and Christ…in Acts, Paul delivered the Good news while speaking in the Synagogue....furthermore, we are all carriers of the Good news, and it’s our responsibility to carry that news faithfully. Today, as we move forward, we are going to be looking at a section in Luke chapter 6, verses 43-39, which we will break up into 2 sections.

Let’s go ahead and read the first one, then I will back up, fill in some context, then talk about them.

Luke 6:43–45 ““A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

Luke chapter 6 is all about Jesus’ earthly ministry. At this point, Jesus is teaching large crowds and has gathered quite a name for Himself. Further back in chapter 6, Jesus had separated himself from his disciples and spent all night in prayer to the Father…Jesus then summons his disciples and heads down a mountain side. As they were descending, a crowd gathered, so Jesus began to teach. Jesus begins with

Luke 6:20 (CSB)Then looking up at his disciples, he said: Blessed are you who are poor, because the kingdom of God is yours.

Now, this may sound familiar, to a sermon that Jesus taught in the Book of Matthew, called The Sermon on the Mount. There is a debate as to whether or not they are the same sermon, just presented differently. In both sermons Jesus is teaching about The Kingdom of God, more specifically, what it means for us to be proper image bearers, ways in which we should conduct ourselves…which best represent the Kingdom of God. In other words, what obedience looks like in God’s Kingdom. Often times, when Jesus wants to state a principle, He will use parables or metaphorors first, then He will explain in a more direct fashion what he means. In verses 43 and 45, Jesus uses the example of fruit. He says that a tree that is healthy will not produce rotten fruit. Not only that, but a person can look at a tree and tell whether or not that tree will produce apples or oranges....granted, it is not difficult to understand this metaphor, but just in case we miss it, Jesus explains it.

A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

This is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. Keep in mind that Jesus was speaking with a crowd of Jewish men and women. For thousands of years they had been taught that rule keeping was the pinnacle of goodness and holiness. Now, all of a sudden, Jesus is teaching about the motives of our heart, rather than having to keep specific rules. I think of it like this: it is the difference between Math and Philosophy. Math is very predictable and rule based. In Math, if you know the rules that undergird a problem, you can sole the equation most of the time. 2 plus 2 always equals 4, 7 times 8 always equals 56…there is very little nuance with Math (at the normal level). This, of course, doesn’t mean that Math is easy, but it is based upon certain rules. Philosophy, on the other hand, is less about rules and more about abstract theories that can mean different things to different people. Instead of 2 plus 2 equaling 4, it is

“I think therefore I am” – René Descartes (1596 – 1650)

This can mean something different to each person…or, it can mean nothing at all.

Jesus mentions

“storing things up in our heart.”

I think most people understand the picture Jesus is trying to paint here…but I think we often fail to really grasp it. The truth is, from the time we begin to understand the world around us, we begin storing things up in our hearts. Think of it like a jar of coins.

JAR OF COINS PICTURE

Every time we are hurt, we toss a coin into the jar. Every time we sense that something unjust has happened to us, we drop another coin in the jar. On the other hand, something good happens, a good, lasting memory, we drop a coin in the jar. Over time, that jar is filling with our experiences and memories. Depending on who you are and what you experience in life, that jar can fill up pretty quickly. Laura and I have had kids who’s jars are already bursting…they already have tons of negativity and abuse stored up in their hearts…and it comes out in their actions. For these kids, you can try to deposit something positive, but their jars are already overflowing.

For many of us, we’ve been storing things up in our hearts for decades and we are overflowing with all manner of problems. You see, we may be depositing a coin of hurt, but when all of those hurts overflow, it comes out as resentment and bitterness…this is what Jesus means when He says

“For his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”

Unfortunately, very few, if any people have more positive coins deposited in their jars…all we have to do is look at the world to discover that…and not even the world, but even in the church as well. The church is full of people overflowing with issues. But it is far from hopeless. In fact, when we put our faith in Christ, He slowly begins to replace the coins…but we must let Him do so. Once we put our faith in Christ, He doesn’t just upend our jar and we start over…we may want that to happen, but most of the time it doesn’t happen like that. Now, I’ve known some people who were one way before accepting Christ, and it seemed like overnight they were a completely different person…so, God can do that, but we normally learn the best from walking these things out over a period of time. and this is where obedience comes in to play.

Let’s go ahead and look at verses 46-49, of Luke chapter 6. After giving the example of the fruit, Jesus continues:

Luke 6:46–49 ““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.””

Jesus now poses a question to those who are listening. It was a difficult question back then and it is still a difficult question today. In scripture, whenever we see a name repeated twice, it indicates intimacy. We only see this a few times in Luke’s writing. For example,

Luke 10:41 “The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,”

Luke 13:34 ““Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Luke 22:31 ““Simon, Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.”

In your handout I’ve included a few other examples from the O.T.

Genesis 22:11; Genesis 46:2; 1 Sam. 3:10; Exodus 3:4

The Jewish men and women that Jesus was speaking to had been taught that intimacy with the Lord was more about keeping the Sabbath, paying your tithe, and doing your best to follow the Law of Moses. By this time in Israel’s history, the intent of the law had all but been forgotten. The law was powerless when it came to changing a person’s heart. Human nature has not changed in the centuries since Jesus said these words. The world is a different place today, but we still try to please God by being good enough or believing the right doctrine or listening to the right preachers. We approach the Lord with our words, rather than our hearts. We may even check all of the correct religious boxes, but we’ve never allowed the Lord to break our hearts.

The book of Matthew records Jesus saying something similar.

Matthew 7:22–23 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’”

This passage is often used way, way out of context. Jesus was talking about the Jewish leaders…the scribes and the pharisees, as they were the only ones who taught the scriptures. We like to use this verse against those who we think teach things we disagree with. That is not what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is not talking about matters of doctrine or theology, Jesus is talking about our hearts. Jesus is talking about obedience. In fact, what Jesus is saying here is that this person checks all of the religious boxes; Jesus is not at all suggesting that prophecy, casting out demons and performing miracles are wrong....these are all things that the early church did on a regular basis. Jesus isn’t declaring that his person had bad doctrine, Jesus is declaring though, that even though they did and even professed all of the right things, their hearts were disobedient. Their hearts were never submitted to God.

This is what Jesus is communicating to the people in the book of Luke as well. Although we don’t have time to read it all, if you were to begin at the beginning of Jesus’ sermon in Luke Chapter 6 you might notice that Jesus is building a narrative. First, Jesus takes what we might consider bad and turns them into a blessing, for example,

Luke 6:21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh.”

Then, Jesus takes things that we might consider good, and turns them into a warning:

Luke 6:24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.”

After that, starting in verse 27, Jesus begins to take common ways that people think and flips them on their head.

Luke 6:27 ““But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you,”

As I said, Jesus is building a narrative here, he is taking everything they have been taught and turning in around…you used to think this was good, now I’m telling you this. As the narrative builds, the ideas becomes more consequential…to the point where the very notion of intimacy with God is the opposite of what they believed to be true. Jesus says that true intimacy with the Lord is born from our hearts, not our actions. So much so, that many people who operate with perfect doctrine and even point people to Christ will be turned away, as their hearts are not obedient to the Lord.

John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

John 14:23–24 “Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.”

Scripture is very clear that we are called to be obedient, but we often confuse obedience with performance.

The line between obedience and performance can be a blurry one. Yet it is an important distinction to grasp, because an obedient heart leads to life.

Obedience is seeking God with your whole heart. Performance is having a quiet time because you’ll feel guilty if you don’t.

Obedience is finding ways to let the Word of God dwell in you richly. Performance is quickly scanning a passage so you can check it off your Bible reading plan.

Obedience is inviting guests to your home for dinner. Performance is feeling anxious about whether every detail of the meal will be perfect.

Obedience is doing your best. Performance is wanting to be the best.

Obedience is saying yes to whatever God asks of you. Performance is saying yes to whatever people ask of you.

Obedience springs from fear of God. Performance springs from fear of failure or the fear of people.

Obedience comes from a broken and contrite heart. Performance comes from wanting to people please.

Obedience breeds true repentance. Performance breeds being sorry for getting caught.

Obedience leads to humility. Performance leads to pride and arrogance.

Referring back to Jesus’ example of the tree that bears good fruit.... obedience will grow from a healthy tree, while performance will grow from an unhealthy and dying tree. Even back in the O.T., we see clues that God was more interested in a broken heart to longs after the Lord, rather than a person who makes all of the perfect sacrifices.

Micah 6:7–8 “Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my own sin? Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Jesus is declaring the same thing in Luke chapter 6…only in a different way. The Lord has not changed since then. The Lord still desires for us to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk in a humble manner. All of these character qualities are born of an obedient heart.

How do we practice obedience? What are some things we can do to make sure that our hearts are properly attuned to the Lord? To be honest, this is a difficult question to answer, as it does not involve a checklist of actions we can do. This is deep water stuff in our relationship with God. I wish it were as simple as saying:

Read your Bible every day

Spend 15 minutes in prayer every day

Pay your tithes

All of those things are good, and we should do them, but those things are born out of an obedient heart, they do not create an obedient heart. We spend time with the Lord and are generous because our heart is attuned to the Lord…but anyone can do those things, but still have bad fruit. So, I got to thinking about things that only a healthy tree can grow.

One particular passage did pop in my mind as I was praying about it....which is normally how it happens. It is a passage that most of us know well and could quote most of it by heart. Because of this, I almost didn’t want to use it, as the old saying goes: familiarity breeds contempt. Meaning, we tend to lose the meaning and impact of a scripture when we know it so well. But, it is the perfect passage to answer the question:

How do we practice true obedience that comes from the heart?

Philippians 4:4–9 (CSB) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

I have known many, many believers who seemingly operate in the exact opposite manner as what Paul is describing. I’m not talking about having a bad day or life hits you hard and you go through periods of lament and heartache. Sometimes things happen in life where rejoicing is the last thing you want to do. Paul knows this well. Paul suffered for his faith more so than anyone in here ever will. Even so, when the time come along where Rejoicing is difficult, our hearts can still be obedient to Jesus’ words in the book of Luke. We do that by thinking on the things that Paul describes.

True

Honorable

Just

Pure

Lovely

Commendable

Paul says that in these things we will find the peace of God....but that is not all, we will find that we are bearers of good fruit because our tree is healthy. We will find that our hearts are being attuned and obedient to the lover of our souls. When our mind if focused on these things, a broken and contrite spirit will naturally flow. We will want to spend time with God and his word, we will want to follow the principles of generosity, out of obedience, not out of performance. Over time, as we learn to practice thinking on these things, we are storing up righteousness in our heart, we are building our home on a solid foundation of obedience. The opposite is also true, we are constantly dwelling on our own pain, our own injustices, we focus on retribution instead of forgiveness... if we are dwelling on things of a negative report....that too will overflow.

I can not stress this enough…Jesus’ warning in Luke and Matthew is not directed toward those who believe the wrong things, it is directed toward those who believe the right things, yet their hearts are disobedient. It’s like when Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are good at doing all of the outward signs of obedience....but they have lost the plot when it comes to their heart. Jesus says to them…you should have kept doing those outward things, but also do the inward things. This is exactly what Jesus is communicating in Luke…Why do you call me “Lord, Lord, yet do not obey my words.” Throughout the gospel, Jesus’s words are all about the condition of our hearts.

Many years back I began to practice the advice in Phil. 4. I am far from perfect in it though. I can overflow with negativity and self-pity sometimes. All of our trees are still growing....we are all still building our home. As believers in Christ, the longer we serve him, the better we should become at filling our minds and dwelling on things that are lovely and just and pure and honorable. The more our hearts become obedient…it takes practice, a lifetime of practice, until one day we appear before the Lord. Look back over the last 5 years of your life with Christ. Have you become more obedient during that time…and I mean the type of obedience we are talking about today. Has your heart grown softer towards the Lord and those around you…are you the same person or have you become more obedient to the Lord. I’m going to challenge you this week to really begin practicing the type of obedience that Jesus is talking about in the book of Luke. We can do that by softening our hearts and thinking on the things that bring life.

Let’s Pray!