Four Questions

Introduction

This morning, we are concluding our study of the sermon on the plain. The first week, we saw a radical vision of God’s kingdom that will raise up those on the bottom and bring low those currently on top. Last week, Jesus called us a life of radical ridiculous generosity as one way of living out the vision of this kingdom that will fully come only when Jesus returns.

This week, Jesus concludes the sermon with four very short parables or images of the work we need to do to live well in this kingdom. Let’s dive right in to Jesus teaching.

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But first, le tus ask for God’s blessing on the reading of his word.

Lord God, you have declared that your kingdom is among us. Open our eyes to see it, our ears to hear it, our hearts to hold it, our hands to serve it. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Luke 6:39–49 NIV

He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

L: This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

P: Praise to you, O Christ!

Who are You Following?

Jesus begins with a powerful image of a blind man leading another blind man around. Neither can see where they are going. It is not hard to see the challenges they will face.

The reality is we all follow someone. We all listen to other people who shape how we think and see the world. The things we listen to and watch shape us. You won’t rise above the level of the people you follow.

So, who are you following in life? Who are you giving the most time and space to shape you?

When I drive, I normally listen to either sports radio, NPR, or a variety of podcasts. But a few weeks ago, I ran across and article about the heavy metal band Metallica. I listened to Metallica back in the day and so I decided to stream some Metallica while driving that day. I listened to Enter Sandman, One, and Nothing Else Matters, so only about 20 minutes of music and I just felt angry. Not at anyone, but the music and singing itself were angry and I felt angry too. And then I remember, I felt angry a lot as a teenager.

Normally, I am pretty careful about the messages I get. I mostly listen to sermons from people I respect like Timothy Keller or Andy Stanley or The Holy Post Podcast which makes me laugh and Pete Scazzero who talks about emotionally healthy spirituality or Heather Thompson Day who interviews social media influencers about their faith. Pretty tame and boring things. And then I read my Bible and thoughtful theologians a lot.

I avoid the controversial, the angry, the fearful people, the people who seem to thrive on making people scared of the world, because I don’t need their influence in my life.

If someone from the outside watched you for a day, who would they say you follow? Who is your teacher? Would they guess it was Jesus or have you tucked him away in a corner for daily devotions and then given the rest of your day to talk radio, 24-hour news, music or movies, or your social media timeline?

That’s the first questions: Who do you follow?

What Don’t You See?

Next, Jesus calls for a deeper self-reflection. The default for most people and certainly in a social media age is to see the mistakes, the inconsistencies, the logical fallacies of others. Jesus urges us to first deal with the telephone pole in our own eye. Well not quite a telephone pole, but certainly more than a 2x4. The image is of the support beam for an entire house. We worry about specs in other people’s eyes while we have beams in our own!

Jesus is trying to help us recognize a deep and painful truth, we are all hypocrites.

Hypocrite both does and does not mean what you think it does. The word hypocrite is one of those words that is not translated, just carried over into English. So, it certainly does mean someone who says one thing, but does another, but in the first century it was a little more nuanced.

A hypocrite in the first century was an actor. As in an actor on stage. But, back then, actors wore masks. you know the masks you occasionally see for a theatre troupe, a happy and sad mask. they would wear those masks so everyone would know their feelings. You could be sad or angry in real life, but if you put on the happy mask, you were happy in the play.

All of us to some extent or another are hypocrites. We all, at times, choose to not share every emotion or feeling we have in the moment. Sometimes, we hide our feelings because it is our job. If you work in customer services, you need to be friendly and happy with the customers even if they are getting on your very last nerve. It is a requirement of our job. When your children are acting out and you feel angry inside, you don’t let that emotion out, but you look for ways to redirect their attention or help them get their emotions under control. When you have a spat with a family member or a friend on your way to church, you may put on a happy mask when you get out of the car because you don’t want people to know about the argument. We all are hypocrites sometimes. We manage our images and massage our profiles so that people think good things about us.

But Jesus is actually speaking to a deeper kind of hypocrisy, not the lies we tell others to look good, but the self-deception that allows us to avoid seeing the truth of who we really are. We all have blind spots. We all have parts of ourselves we don’t actually see.

Social scientists call this the Johari window. (Show picture) There are things about you that everyone knows. Things about you only you know. Things about you other people know, but you don’t know. And things about you only you know.

Here is the thing about specs and beams in our eyes. We can’t get them out on our own. When you have a spec in your eye, you may feel something uncomfortable, but you can’t see the spec. And, in Jesus’ day, a world without clear mirrors, you will never be able to see clearly enough to remove the spec of beam. You are helpless to deal with those issues you can’t see, the beams you hide from yourself. Your only hope is for other people to help you remove them. It may be a counselor, a discipleship group, a good friend, a family member, but someone needs to help you begin to see the beam, Without that help, there is not way out, you are stuck with a beam in your eye.

Even more so, there are beams in your eye, no one else can even see. You have hid it from yourself and everyone else, but it still impacts how you live. It keeps you from being the fully human person you were made to be. You need someone who knows all of you, every square o the Johari window to help you see yourself more truly and then help you remove the spec. You need God.

By definition, you can’t help yourself, you don’t even see the problem. Others can’t help you, they don’t see the problem. But God does and by his Spirit he can help us become more fully who he intended us to be. This is process of removing planks from our eyes is what the church has called sanctification, becoming more like Jesus. It is not something we can do, it is only something God can do as he sets us free form the power of sin, of brokenness, of selfishness, of chaos in our lives.

Here is the point Jesus is making, you can’t help other people with their tiny specs, until you go through the humbling process of seeing your beam removed. Only when we recognize our own brokenness, our own frailty, our own sin, can we begin to help other people out of a position of love and not superiority.

So, what are you not seeing that you need to see? How will you let God show you?

How’s Your Fruit?

Third, Jesus starts talking about trees and fruit. Every plant bears the appropriate fruit. Apple tress make apples. Orange trees make oranges. Raspberry bushes make raspberries and so on. Good trees bear good fruit and bed trees bear bad fruit. So, how is your fruit?

If you wonder what kind of fruit your life is bearing, watch your words. You could keep track of how you respond when things don’t go your way. When you are tired and stressed what words come out of your mouth. When you are frustrated with someone, how do you talk to or about them? Pay attention to your worst moments and the words and emotions you express. The words of our mouths reveal the health of our hearts.

Thankfully, scripture already gives us a list of virtues, of fruit, we should be looking for our in our lives. Paul provides one list in Galatians:

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

These are the real measure of Christian maturity. Not how often someone reads the Bible. Not knowing all the answers in Sunday School. Not being a leader in the church. Not having a successful career and a picture perfect family. But do you show these fruit in your life. Do others experience you as loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. This is the pattern our lives should match.

So, how is your fruit?

And let me make one brief aside before we get to our final question.

You should ask these middle two questions of the people you follow in life. Of the people who get to shape your view of the world. Do they have the character to admit when they have made mistakes? When you are with them, do you experience the fruit of the Spirit in their life? If they are not someone you know personally, but a media figure, a celebrity, social media influencer, or news commentator of some kind, do they speak of others with kindness and love. Do they offer grace to those who make a mistake or who disagree with them.

Remember, the things we let in our minds, shape how we live. 20 minutes of Metallica and I was feeling angry. Imagine what an hour a day or even three hours a day of listening to someone who bears bad fruit can do to your mind. You will never rise above the ones you follow, make sure you are following people worth emulating.

What is Your Foundation?

And then Jesus comes to his image. A house weathering a storm because of its foundation or falling apart from the wind because it has no foundation. Which leads to the final question: that is your foundation?

We all build our life on something.

There are some people who build their life on their performance. They know they have worth and value because they get all ‘A’s or they play on varsity or they got that promotion or they always hit their sales target or the principal always trusts them with the hardest kids or their house is immaculate or the list could go on and on. In a “what have you done for me lately” world, we can all be tempted to build our sense of worth and value on what we have done.

But, if that is your foundation, have you ever wondered what happens when you don’t perform. When you don’t get an A. When you fail to meet your sales goals. When you can’t reach that kid. When you not only don’t get the promotion, but get fired. When you don’t make the cut because you aren’t good enough. Then what?

Other people build their foundation on their relationships. They find their security and worth in the support of their immediate family or their deep relationships with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, or in their tight circle of friends. But what happens when your family let you down. When your family can’t be there for you. When you discover you are not as close with a friend as you thought. What happens when your people let you down?

Others build a foundation on their power. Maybe they are always the biggest and strongest in the room and so they have physical power. Or maybe they have connections and job titles and positional power. But eventually. all of us lose our power. We grow old and more frail. We retire and lose those titles.

What happens when the storm comes and we discover our foundation is not solid. Life falls apart. We fall apart.

Jesus reminds us today to build our house on his teaching. Don’t just listen to what Jesus says, put it into practice. And here i want to be absolutely clear so no one misses the point.

Jesus is not saying that when you obey his teachings your life will always work out. He is not even saying you are able to fully put his teachings in to practice. We will all make mistakes. We will all sin and fail to be fully who God created us to be.

But, you put into practice someone’s teaching when you follow them. When you give them authority in your life. Then you obey their commands. Obeying the teaching of Jesus is one way we demonstrate that he is Lord of our lives.

It is one way we live out the truth of the Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1.

I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

A few weeks ago, Rachel and I went out for supper with my sister and her husband Jeff. Jeff’s dad passed away a little over a year ago and we were talking about things Jeff learned from his dad. One of them was this very point.

His dad would always tell him you can live with assurance, whether you make the team or get the job, bot because of what you do or others may do, but because you are not your own, but belong to Jesus.

You are going to have great days and terrible days in life, that is just part of life in a broken world, how you respond will reveal the true foundation of your life.

If you want a solid foundation, let Jesus be your teacher, let him get the beam out of your eye and cultivate the right fruit in your life, and you will build a life that can endure the darkest of days,

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.