Don’t Take the Bait: Without Love

Matthew 7:21–23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

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That story kinda messes with me.

Part of it kinda confuses me. Isn’t prophesying… casting out demons… performing miracles… isn’t that doing God’s will, Jesus? Are you saying that it’s not… or there’s something else… or… part of it kinda confuses me.

Part of it kinda scares me. You mean to say that it’s possible I might, you know… “get up to those pearly gates” and discover that I don’t have a reservation? To live my life thinking that you and I were cool, Jesus… but we’re actually not? And what happens to me if that happens to me? Kinda scary to think about.

And part of it makes me question some of my own understanding of how life with God actually works—

Which I think is probably Jesus’ point:

Not to be confusing or to be scary, but to make us pause and think.

You know…

We have this idea of “salvation” that is basically… “going to heaven after we die” and meeting Jesus. For a lot of us, that’s what it means to be “saved.”

But that’s not quite what Jesus is describing here when he’s talking about “entering the kingdom of heaven.” He’s not just talking about some spiritual place you might end up in after you die:

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The kingdom of heaven is people living under the authority of King Jesus now who then ultimately share in his eternal future.

To make heaven your forever home, make Jesus your king today.

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That’s what Jesus is talking about—living life connected to him on earth as in heaven.

Heaven isn’t a place that you get into because you said the magic words. Heaven has a king—and it’s filled with people—subjects!—who have joyfully received heaven’s king as their own—who begin living their lives today (imperfectly) like they’ll one day live fully in eternity.

If we said that same in a more negative sense, here’s how we’d say it:

If you don’t want Jesus as king over your life today, then you won’t want life with him in eternity. You can’t say that you hope you get to heaven later but live like you’re the king of your own life today.

(Pause.)

You’ve probably seen those memes or videos that say something like:

“If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell anybody. But there will be signs.”

And then the person uses an entire roll of paper towels to clean up a spill instead of just the one sheet or something like that (because they got the money to buy all of the paper towels).

And that’s kinda what Jesus is talking about here. There will be signs in our lives today that we’ve got heaven in store for us later.

But what are those signs?

Is it what you say about Jesus? Or how loud and proud you say it? “Prophesying in his name?”

Is it what you do for Jesus? Or do for others in Jesus name? “Driving out demons and performing miracles?”

If we’re going to simply listen to Jesus’ voice here…

No. Those aren’t the tell-tale signs that someone knows Jesus today and in eternity. There must be something else besides just what we say or just what we do.

Just before Jesus tells this really pointed and uncomfortable story, he said this:

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Matthew 7:15–20 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

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I know that this is a pretty heady, challenging, and forehead-wrinkling way to start a sermon. “Welcome to Prairie Lakes. Try this one on for size.”

But as we conclude our series this weekend, I really struggled to capture in words what this bait is like.

If you’re just joining us for the first time or you missed the last couple of weekends, we’ve been in this series called “Don’t Take the Bait.”

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A couple of weeks ago, Pastor John talked about when we’re baited to “Just Say It.” Freedom of Speech, baby. Don’t worry about taming that tongue; just say whatever you wanna say however you wanna say it. And he gave us this reminder: quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.

Last week we talked about the bait of showing “no mercy.” If you show kindness—especially to those you disagree with—you might as well be compromising the truth. Pick a side; take a stand; don’t apologize. And we had to be reminded that mercy isn’t a threat or a barrier; it’s the very thing that makes the first step towards God even possible.

But this week…

The bait we’re talking about this week might be the most sinister of them all—because:

It’s really hard to see; really hard to distinguish—

And sometimes looks so much like the genuine article that Jesus has to issue a warning about it at the end of his most famous sermon.

These false prophets had taken this bait.

These wolves in sheep’s clothing had swallowed it whole.

They got loud about Jesus, but they didn’t sound like him.

They worked hard to produce for Jesus, but their character … the fruit of their lives… who they were on the inside and how they treated others on the outside… didn’t look like him.

When they presented all the things they did in Jesus’ name, Jesus looked at them and said: “Do we know each other? I see what you’ve said and done, but who are you?”

What did they miss? What is this bait | that is so sinister, so deceiving, so genuine-looking but will get you hook, line, and sinker?

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Don’t Take the Bait: Without Love

The Lie: I can live a life unmarked by Jesus’ love for me yet still have eternal life with him.

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So here’s my goal for us this weekend:

My goal is that by the end of our time together, you are much more capable of seeing this bait—recognizing it as bait rather than the real thing. That’s what I want for you.

But if you’re going to see it clearly for what it really is, you’ve gotta see and understand two things:

First: you have to understand what Jesus means by “fruit.”

And second: you have to understand what Jesus means by “love.”

If we’re gonna see this bait for what it is, we have to understand what fruit is and what love is.

Let’s start with fruit.

Fruit

Turn with me to Galatians 5.

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Galatians 5:6; 19-26

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We spent a good chunk of Sundays last fall working through the book of Galatians; it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to go back this week to our website and re-listen to some of those—especially the one on Galatians 5.

But in Galatians we get this contrast between a life of law vs. a life of grace. You can either live your life as though God will judge you by what you did for him—kind of like the scales of justice… hopefully you’ve got more on the “kept the law” side than the “break the law” side—

Or: you can live your life as though God will judge you by how you responded to what he did for you in Jesus. You can admit that the scales don’t lie and they’re never gonna be in your favor—and that the only way into a relationship with God is by accepting what God has done for you in Jesus. That’s grace.

And Galatians is going to say it’s an “either/or.” Law or grace. And the only hope for you or me is God’s grace in Christ.

So then when we get to Galatians 5, we start to get a picture of what “fruit” is—what the life of a person who is connected to Jesus’ grace looks like.

Look with me in verse 6:

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Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

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Circumcision is a little bit of a flyer there if you don’t know the context. But that act was a sign for God’s people for millennia that they were different, set apart, and committed to a covenant relationship with God. They were gonna live their lives for God on his terms.

So what this verse is saying is this:

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Before it’s about what you do, it’s about who you are.

The only reliable sign that you have an authentic faith in God is love.

People who truly know how deeply they are loved by God in Christ will love others deeply.

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And if we wanted to tie this truth to where we began, we could say it like this:

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Before it’s about what you do, it’s about who you are.

The only reliable sign that you have an authentic faith in God is love.

People who truly know how deeply they are loved by God in Christ will love others deeply.

The official language of heaven is love.

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Love is what Jesus speaks. It’s what Jesus’ people speak.

Love is how they sound. How they act. How they live and move. How they relate to one another.

Love is their central aim and message. Love is their goal and platform. It’s the firstfruits of their lives. If your roots go down into Jesus’ soil, then the fruit on the branches of your life will be love.

Go down to verse 19 with me:

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Galatians 5:19–21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Galatians 5:22–26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

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So we’ve got this contrast: the acts of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. And the parallel here—what both of these lists have in common—is this: a connection between who you are on the inside and how you act on the outside. There’s an unavoidable connection between those two: you always act because of who you are, and who you are always determines how you act.

Whenever we sin, we do so because we are sinful people. Sexual immorality. Impurity. Selfish ambition. Discord and division. When we do those things, it’s because who we are on the inside is immoral, impure, and selfish and divisive. We act like jerks because we are jerks.

But when we encounter Jesus,

And when we encounter his love for us,

And we receive his grace of a cross that paid for our sin—this gift that we could never earn our buy for ourselves,

And we step over that line of faith—

We then receive his Spirit who begins to work in us from the inside out—so that we start producing a very different kind of fruit.

And the first one in the list—

The fruit that is the surest and best sign that we really know Jesus, and that Jesus really knows us, is…

Love.

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Fruit: who we are becoming on the inside that shapes who we are on the outside.

People who know Jesus’ love become people who love like Jesus.

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That’s what fruit is—and that’s the fruit of someone’s life who truly knows Jesus.

We’re in planting season in Iowa right now. Lots of green tractors in the field. Also some red ones… usually broken down and stuck.

But it won’t be long before the sea of black soil is dotted with little green plants that seemingly overnight grow to like 12 feet tall.

My wife is from Seattle. And when we were first married, whenever her folks came out to see us, it was a little bit like them taking a field trip to a farm for the first time.

One time they came out around this time of year, when the fields are all cultivated and freshly planted. And while we were on the interstate, one of them asked:

“So… when was the fire?”

Like, we’re in the middle of a billion acres of farmland, and they’re asking about a fire.

Well… that’s because the soil was so dark—and their only reference for soil that black was after it had been burnt.

Another time they came out in the heat of July/August when detasseling was happening. And so we had to explain that.

And I remember how fascinated they were to learn that if you walked into most corn fields, picked an ear of corn off the stalk, and tried to eat it off the cob, that…

You’d probably either chip a tooth or not really enjoy the experience.

As Iowans born and bred, we know:

There’s seed corn (that you detassel).

There’s feed corn (that gets fed to cattle, turned into ethanol, ground into food products).

And of course, sweet corn—that you eat right off the cob.

But if you didn’t know that…

And you’ve never seen it…

Then you wouldn’t know the difference between this:

SHOW DETASSELED CORN PICTURE

And this:

SHOW FIELD CORN PICTURE

And this:

SHOW SWEET CORN PICTURE

But you’d find out pretty quick…

If you bit into it.

Because whatever is actually on the inside will be made plain.

Sometimes you can’t tell what’s on the inside just by looking at it.

But make no mistake about it:

Whatever is on the inside—

Ripe or rotten—

Will become clear. Because there’s always a connection. That’s just what fruit is; that’s how it works.

And the fruit of a life that is truly connected to Jesus is a life that tastes, smells, and feels like… love.

Love

But what is love? What is it, really?

It’s cliche, but it’s true: love is an overused word—so much so that it sometimes loses its meaning.

And everyone from pastors to artists to activists | commandeers that word for their messages or their songs or their posters.

“Love wins.” “Love is love.” “Love conquers all.” “The greatest of these is love.” We’re using the same word but it doesn’t seem to mean the same thing.

I think the definitive definition and description of love—what the Bible calls “the most excellent way”—is found in 1 Corinthians 13.

Here’s what true love looks like. Here’s what it feels like.

When someone is truly connected to Jesus’ love, here’s how they live.

I’m just going to put these verses on the screen—but I’m going to explain as we go. So follow along starting at the very top:

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1 Corinthians 13:4–7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

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People who know Jesus’ love are patient people. Because Jesus has been so patient with them. They know how many times they screw up with Jesus; how many times they live in a way that probably should provoke him or even end the relationship… and yet, Jesus has hung in there with them. So that’s what how they are with others.

People who know Jesus are kind. They are willing to come alongside and help, rather than yell at you and condemn.

They aren’t envious. They don’t boast. They don’t brag about themselves or their accomplishments.

They aren’t proud—which literally means they aren’t “puffed up.” They don’t have to be the center of attention or the smartest in the room. They aren’t constantly trying to steer the spotlight onto themselves.

They don’t dishonor other people. People who are truly loved by Jesus aren’t crass or rude. People who are Jesus-connected and heaven-bound don’t allow themselves to talk about anyone as anything less than creatures made by God in his image with so much value that he came and died for them. Show me someone who relishes diminishing and dehumanizing people and I’ll show you someone who probably doesn’t know Jesus.

People who know Jesus aren’t easily angered. And they don’t keep score. They aren’t constantly tending to their own old wounds, holding fast to their old grudges, making sure that the abacus of all of their relationships and what that person said or did to them that one time never gets forgotten. Quite the contrary: they know that if Jesus had treated them that way, they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

People who know Jesus love the truth. And they are the first to protect others not attack others. They choose to trust even when it’s risky. They choose to hope because they know what’s in store for them. And they stubbornly persevere along this path of love because they know where it leads and Who is leading.

So listen to me, now:

If someone—anyone—

From the person you hope to see in the White House or the State House,

To the person you see in the mirror—

If that person doesn’t talk, act, look, feel, or live like that…

Because that’s what love is like,

Because that’s who Jesus is,

And that’s what someone looks like who knows him, then…

Maybe they—or you—have taken the bait.

Don’t take the bait. Don’t think for a second that you can live the opposite of everything that love truly is and truly know Jesus.

It’s not about how loud or how proud.

It’s about how deep and how wide.