Master of the House

Bethel: House of God Sermon Series

Series on being a part of God’s royal house, his kingdom: started with Jacob and his dream, seeing angels ascending & descending, “God is in this place and I didn’t know it!” God is right here, his kingdom.

Talked about creation story, God made us in his image and made us to rule along with him.

Started into Sermon on Mount, Jesus masterful teaching, looking at series of questions

What is good life? What does it mean to be blessed?

recognize and trust availability of kingdom to us right now through Jesus

Saw that in all those who were blessed because of Jesus (those who mourn, meek, show mercy)

Last week - what does it mean to be good? Who is good person?

Jesus talks about righteousness greater than Pharisees and Teachers of Law, he’s talking about true inner goodness

Truly good, perfectly - heartfelt love for all others (God first, then our neighbor)

That it’s inner, inside-out - not just actions, but our hearts, our motives

This morning, Who’s teaching you? From whom are you learning to live good life, to be good?

Prayer / Matthew 7:21-29

Question - Who Teaches You?

Dallas Willard quote: “Who teaches you? Whose disciple are you? Honestly. One thing is sure: You are somebody’s disciple. You learned how to live from somebody else. There are no exceptions to this rule, for human beings are just the kind of creatures that have to learn and keep learning from others how to live.”

In West, we tend to have very individualistic mindset, like to think of ourselves as independent thinkers, we’re our “own person”. But reality is, we’re taking in information and knowledge and being shaped and formed all time by people we engaging with, what we read, what we watch

God made us this way, starts in childhood - as kids we soak it all up

we learn it from our parents and broader family, from our teachers, from kids we go to school with and the kids we play with

In modern world especially from media, it’s often non-stop presence in our lives

Who is teaching you today, where are you getting your day-to-day learning? How much our formation comes from Facebook, news media (NPR or CNN or Fox News), watching Youtube videos or TikTok

What about Movies / TV we watch? Streaming services - currently highlighting black films and documentaries, some TV shows that are deleting episodes in which blackface was used

When Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” came out - a lot of controversy, series like “Cosmos” has very particular worldview behind it (The Cosmos is all there is or was or ever will be)

Social media influencers who promote lifestyles, fashions we wear, gadgets we have to have, brands we buy

Was watching conversation on Unbelievable between Christian apologist and guy who used to be lead singer of Christian band - he’s talking about why he walked away from Christian faith. And I think, I know exactly where he got that idea from, I’ve read that book

All those things shape us - what we think about all sorts of things, how you view Confederate flags, abortion, LGTQ+ issues, politics, or even if you think all that’s junk

Lot of debates about statues of historical figures - going far beyond statues honoring leaders of Confederacy, but figures from founding of nation, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington

They’re evil because they supported slavery - but underlying assumption is that they should have been able to see all these things way we see them now. That somehow we would not have been so heavily influenced by cultural mindset of time if we’d lived back then.

Which, of course, raises dangerous presumption that we are not being heavily influenced - being taught - by culture around us

And this is exactly point Jesus in making in his message

Jesus as Our Teacher

Want to go to end of Jesus’ message in order to prep us as we make our way through Jesus’ Sermon on Mount, what Jesus is teaching us toward

Remember, our question is, who teaches you?

According to Jesus, the clear and unabashed answer should be, You, Jesus. You are my Teacher.

Jesus, you are one through whom I enter into good life.

Jesus, you are one who can teach me how to be good.

Jesus, you are one who teaches me what life in Kingdom of God is all about. In the House of God, in Bethel, you are Master of House, Head Master.

To take this seriously requires two things, as we’ll see from Jesus’ teaching

Conviction that Jesus truly is Master Teacher. He really is one who can and does teach us these things.

Second thing is Intentionality, that Jesus just doesn’t become our teacher by accident. We must allow him to be teacher, look to him as teacher.

First, Conviction, Absolute Trust that Jesus is Master Teacher

At very end of sermon, we see response of crowd. They are amazed at Jesus’ teachings

It’s clear that’s true, Jesus’ Sermon on Mount is masterpiece of ethical teaching. It’s unparalleled.

Reason why it continues to instruct us today - it’s absolutely brilliant how well Jesus knows roots of evil within us - and what it takes, therefore, to be truly good.

You would think Jesus made us, he knows us so well.

Knows how anger and contempt drives evil we see if world around us (and in us!). He knows our lusts. How we lie and manipulate, judge others. Knows, too, how we can learn to be people who love others well. With heartfelt love. Jesus can teach us all these things.

But I want you to notice something important - it’s not just how good this teaching is, but how Jesus taught it that amazed crowd.

Jesus taught us as one who had authority, not as teachers of law.

Here’s what that means: Pharisees and teachers of law would always appeal to a tradition of teaching.

They would quote accepted interpretation of Scripture rather than offering their own

They would appeal to that as authority when making point - “according to so-and-so”

We do same thing today - cite experts, scholars, cite study or body of research as our appeal to authority

Perfect example would be parable Jesus uses in his teaching here about wise and foolish men building their homes. Parable was not unique to Jesus

There was Jewish tradition that person who looked to Torah, Law, was like a wise man who built his house on rock. Jesus is playing on that tradition, but with a huge difference.

Jesus himself IS the authority. Listen to me.

Wise man is one who hears my words and puts them into practice.

Jesus says you’re foolish if you hear (again) my words and don’t put them into practice.

You have no place in Kingdom because you don’t really know me, who I am, what I’m about and what I’ve taught.

So Jesus declares: I’ll just say to you, “away from me!” Because if you don’t put into practice what I taught then you did not practice true righteousness, you weren’t truly good - you were an evildoer!

Jesus is absolutely blunt here. Right to point. He does not mince words. I am the authority. It’s my teachings, my words, you should put into practice.

No wonder they were amazed at how he taught. The authority he claimed in his teachings.

So, either Jesus is an arrogant, self important know-it-all OR he is greatest teacher of all time. Or, he is, as Dallas Willard describes him, smartest man in world. And no one else can come close.

This is how Jesus comes to us. Do you believe that Jesus is smartest man in world? That he is the Master Teacher? Hugely important question. Because if we don’t believe it, why be his followers? We’ll continue to look elsewhere.

I was listening to comedian other day, Nate Bagzate, part of his routine is that he’s not very smart (watch him long enough he realize he’s very clever). Series of jokes about not understanding stuff, to point that if he time traveled to 1920’s, he’d tell everyone about all amazing stuff we have today - like cell phones. Of course, people would ask how they work. He’d mumble something about satellites, and they’d ask what that is, he’d try to mumble his way through that.

Punch line is, he couldn’t prove that he’s from future because he couldn’t explain anything.

We look at people who make all those things out of stuff here on earth: cell phones, satellites, computer programs as smart people. What about person who made all stuff? Earth itself!

Dallas Willard points to fact that “at the literally mundane level, Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine. That knowledge also allowed him to take a few pieces of bread and some little fish and feed thousands of people. He could create matter from the energy he knew how to access from ‘the heavens’, right where he was.

Willard continues, “He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life. He knew how to suspend gravity, interrupt weather patterns, eliminate unfruitful trees with saw or ax. He only needed a word. Surely he must be amused at what Nobel prizes are awarded for today.”

And this is true in every area of life (in relationships, in ethics, in work, in finances). Jesus has mastery over everything. One more quote from Willard, “‘Jesus is Lord’ can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, ‘Jesus is smart.’”

In other words, if you’re not absolutely convinced Jesus is most brilliant person who ever lived, you will not follow him. You will not hear his words and put them into practice.

Much of what we’re going to look at is going to be hard - you and I will be confronted - whom we’re willing to love (our enemies), ready forgiveness, what we treasure in life

If you don’t believe Jesus is smartest man in world, you’ll continue to live in “wisdom” you picked up elsewhere, you essentially conclude yourself to be smarter than Jesus (we do this all time). We’ll be in Jesus’ words, foolish men and women.

If you do believe Jesus is smartest man in world, you will center your life around Jesus and his teachings.

You’ll sit at his feet with eager expectation.

When asked question, who teaches you, you’ll say clearly and unabashedly, Jesus.

Leads us to second point - Intentionality

Being student, follower, disciple, of Jesus requires intentionality

If we don’t intentionally look to Jesus as our teacher, putting ourselves in place where we hear his words and then put them into practice - then by default someone or something (or likely, many someones or somethings) will be our teachers.

We actually see this in Jesus’ parable - at first glance, it may seem accidental, where houses are built.

May well be true with foolish man who built his house on sand, just picked spot and started building with no thought or planning. This’ll do.

But not wise man. He intentionally built his house on rock. We see this more clearly in Luke 6:48, where Jesus, in this same parable, says wise man dug deep and laid foundation on rock.

That was practice in building house properly - to dig into ground until you hit rock, then set foundation on that rock.

Because when everything is fine, it doesn’t matter much, either house will work.

But storms will come - they alway do. Winds howl and torrents of rain pour down.

We’re struck by sudden illness in family. Financial crisis. Child caught in addiction. Global pandemic. We’re faced with moral dilemma.

Don’t we want life that will withstand all of that? To be anchored into something sure and strong?

Key difference is hearing and putting into practice. And that always requires being intentional - I intend to do this.

Difference is taking what I hear from Jesus and willingly changing how I live my life based on what he teaches me.

If you and I never change way we think based on reading passage of Scripture, if we don’t change our behavior based on what we hear in sermon - are we really putting his teachings into practice?

Is Jesus really my teacher if I come to church week after week but it does not change way I live my everyday life?

We’ve talked a lot about sowing seeds of faith, love, surrender and the Gospel. We’ve been doing that because that’s what Jesus teaches us to do. As church we’re trying to put into practice what he teaches, to be intentional about loving others in name of Jesus, to put into practice his command to make disciples of all nations, to grow as his followers.

In training we’ve been doing on Sunday evenings, we’ve been talking about growing as Eager Conversationalists, becoming people who more readily engage in spiritual conversations.

We’ve all made commitment to put something into practice (re-cultivate habit of reading Scripture daily, a couple of us have committed to reading books, some of us are praying daily that God would open doors for conversations - taking advantage of opportunities)

What about you? How has Jesus been teaching you recently? How have you been putting that into practice?

Been learning to forgive others? Or be more generous? Have you been actively seeking to sow seeds of faith, love, surrender or the Gospel?

The other way to ask that question is, are you building your house on rock or are you building in on sand? The only thing that makes them different is being intentional about putting words of Jesus into practice. Doing them. Sowing seeds.

So, let me leave you with this challenge: What will you put into practice based on what you’re hearing from Jesus today?

Examination of your life and how you spend your time, and therefore, whose voices you are listening to? Who’s teaching you?

Simple change would be simply to pray, Jesus, teach me (teach me to listen to your voice, teach me to pray, teach me to love that neighbor I can’t stand)

Intentionally put his words in front of you on daily basis (so you can hear his words)

Or consider what you might take from your daily Bible reading (example of reading Psalm 51 - create in me a clean heart and renew steadfast spirit within me)

The question we started with: Who teaches you? Whose disciple are you? Honestly.

Can you say that with Conviction, “Jesus is my teacher. My head master! He’s smartest man in world”?

How will you be more intentional about putting what you hear from Jesus into practice? How will you build your house on rock, on Jesus himself?