A Journey with Jesus: Do
Notes
Transcript
03/06/22
Dominant Thought: Disciples of Jesus do what He says.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to connect with examples in Luke where the disciples respond to the words of Jesus.
I want my listeners to read through Luke looking for the words: do, did, done, make, bear fruit.
I want my listeners to choose one way to follow Jesus more closely this week.
Disciples of Jesus do what He says. That’s the sermon in a sentence today. As I read through Luke in preparation for this series, I found a few times in Luke where Jesus instructs His disciples to do something and then Luke records something like, “and they did it.” I thought it was such a simple phrase that carried so much meaning. Disciples of Jesus do what He says.
I need to be careful to balance this message with last week’s message. Our goal as followers of Jesus is “Life with Jesus.” Our motivation for obedience should not be manipulation—life under or over or from or for God. Our motivation for obedience cannot be to earn our salvation. Our motivation for obedience should be because we love Jesus. Disciples of Jesus do what He says.
In our time today, I want to highlight four stories in Luke’s gospel that describe people’s response to Jesus. Each of these stories contains a simple word, “do” or “did” or “make.” In the original language it is all the same word, but the context in our English Bibles gives it a little flavor. In fact, 88 times in Luke’s gospel we encounter this word for do. Sometimes, it shows up as show, redeem, bear (fruit), offer, yield, journey, give, and one time as “shrewdness.” But in its simplest form, it is the word, “do.”
Our first story is in Luke 5.27-32. Jesus meets a tax collector named Levi. it is possible that Levi could be the same person as Matthew. Both Mark and Luke, call this tax collector, Levi. Jesus invites Levi to follow Him. And similar to our fishermen earlier in Luke 5, Levi leaves everything and follows Jesus. Then, in Luke 5.29, Levi held a great banquet for Jesus. Some translations say, “made or gave a great feast.” When’s the last time you threw a party? Maybe it was a birthday party or anniversary or retirement? We are just a couple of months away from graduation parties. Would you agree that it takes some work to throw a party. Luke tells us that Levi made a great banquet. Banquets will show up throughout Luke’s gospel. In our culture, you need invitations. Who’s coming to the party? Then, you know what is next. Food. What’s the menu? Is this sit down? Is it finger foods? Is it a full meal or snacks? Cake and punch or pulled pork? Those are decisions one must make. A follow up question is venue. Where will we have the party? Levi gave the party at his house. So, you know what is next. We’ve got to clean the house. Levi had, past tense, had money. He was a tax collector. So, it is possible that he may have had some hired help to clean house. You have to get the house ready for company.
So, Levi is a prime example that disciples respond to the words of Jesus by throwing a party. Now, I know some of you are all in for this idea. So, I want you to think about celebrating with Jesus. How can you throw a party for the guest of honor, King Jesus. Our calendars give us at least two great opportunities to throw parties for Jesus: Christmas and Easter. Think about throwing a party for the next person in your family or friendships who is baptized. Weddings and baby dedications are great opportunities to shine the light on the love of Jesus.
Years ago, I served on a camp team for Ozark Christian College. Four of us from the school traveled to 9 weeks of church camp that summer. At one camp, we befriended a high schools student named Carrie. Carrie heard the good news of Jesus that week at camp. I’m pretty sure she even heard this story of Levi the tax collector. She was baptized either at camp or shortly after that week of camp. A few weeks later that summer, Carrie sent one of our teammates a letter. She told us how she threw a party for her friends much like Levi did in our story. What a cool way to invite your friends to experience the love of Jesus.
As we look at the stories of Levi and Carrie, we find simple acts could lead to celebration.
Second, Jesus meets a man with a shriveled hand in Luke 6.6-11. In this story, it is Sabbath and a meeting at the synagogue. It is a gathering to read the Torah, the Hebrew Bible. Jesus wants to provide a teachable moment for all who came to worship that day.
A man with a shriveled hand attends. In addition, religious leaders were eyeing Jesus to find some way to accuse Jesus of wrong. Jesus could read their their minds and He knew what they were thinking. Jesus called the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone” (Luke 6.8). Now that would get everyone’s attention. Notice the simple action of the man with the shriveled hand, “So he got up and stood there.” It was a simple response to the words of Jesus. He wasn’t lame. He had a bad hand and he could stand up. So, he did. Now it may have taken some courage to stand up in front of the crowd of the synagogue, especially if the man was shy or introverted. However, he responds to the words of Jesus and stands up.
Then, Jesus asks the group a question, “Is is lawful to to good or to do evil on the Sabbath? To save life or to destroy life?” He doesn’t give them a chance to respond. Or, Luke doesn’t record the response. Jesus looks around at all the crowd and says to the man, “Stretch out your hand” (Luke 6.10). Then, Luke records the simple phrase, “He did so...” Three simple words in our English Bible. “He did so.” Same word used for Levi when he made a great feast. He did what Jesus asked him to do.
How difficult do you think it was for the man to stretch out his hand? Physically maybe a little effort? Emotionally, he may have been ashamed of his deformed hand. However, he responds to the words of Jesus and stretched out his hand. Dr. Luke records what happens next, “and his hand was completely restored.” Sometimes, simple acts can lead to healing.
In this story of healing, Jesus backs up His claim that He is Lord of the Sabbath. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were furious of the actions of Jesus. They began to discuss what they might do to Jesus. Even as early as Luke 6, the leaders are starting to plot against the life of Jesus.
In this story with Jesus and the man with the shriveled hand now restored, we find simple acts could lead to healing.
Third, Jesus instructs his disciples go to the other side of the lake (Luke 8.22-25). The story begins, “One day Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake” (Luke 8.22). I’m not sure what Jesus had in mind. The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful area. He may have wanted to go for a boat ride with friends. I love going on a boat ride.
The disciples respond to the request of Jesus. It is a different word from the other passages, but carries the idea of doing what Jesus asks. It means, “they were led up.” Again, disciples of Jesus do what He says.
The story continues with a squall, a storm. The Sea of Galilee sits down low between a set of mountain ranges and the weather changes quickly. They begin to take on water and in great danger. The disciples wake Jesus, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” Remember, a handful of these disciples made their living on the Sea of Galilee as fisherman. Do you think putting a boat into the water was a challenge for these men? No, I think it was simple and something they did most of their lives. It’s a simple action, put the boat in the water.
As they sail across the sea, Jesus falls asleep. This details tell us a couple things about Jesus. Jesus got tired and needed rest. He was fully God and fully man. Jesus was a hard sleeper. The storm didn’t scare Him.
Jesus got up rebuked the wind and the raging water; the storm subsides and all is calm. Jesus then asks the disciples a question, “Where is your faith?”
The disciples gripped with fear and amazement ask one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves and they obey Him” (Luke 8.25).
The disciples may have recalled the words from many Psalms that describe the power of God over water and nature. In Psalm 65.5-8, we hear about awesome and righteous deeds of God our Savior.
You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
I wonder if the disciples knew they would nearly perish in the storm if they would have set out in the boat in the beginning? Sometimes, simple acts could lead to challenges. Jesus questions them about their faith. Where’s your trust? Sometimes, the simple acts of trust can lead you to some challenging situations. Remember, where you place your trust? Remember who’s the captain of your life. God has a great track record of leading His people through the waters: Noah through the flood, Moses and the children of Israel through the Red Sea, Joshua and the next generation through the Jordan River. God even rescued a sleepy reluctant prophet, Jonah, from the waters.
In this story of the disciples and the boat ride across the lake, we find simple acts could lead to challenges.
Fourth, Jesus instructs his disciples to organize the crowd for a meal (Luke 9.12-17). In this story, Jesus and the Twelve meet a crowd in a remote area. Luke tells us 5,000 men have gathered. The Twelve suggest to Jesus to send the crowd away to find food and lodging. Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat. They answered, ‘We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd’” (Luke 9.13). Luke then gives us the headcount of 5,000 men.
Jesus then instructs the disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” Then we come to phrase, we’ve seen in the other stories, “The disciples did so” (Luke 9.15). This verb is the same one for Levi made a great feast. The man with the shriveled hand did what Jesu asked. And now the Twelve did what Jesus commanded. Remember Disciples do what Jesus says.
So, they sit the crowd into groups of 50. Have you ever tried to do that? Take a group of 5,000 or 10,000 people and organize them into groups. You have no microphone system. No messaging system. Just twelve men and most of the population of Jacksonville, IL. How many toddlers were running around? It was at least a hundred groups of 50. Matthew, the tax collector, the numbers guy may have done the math.
It would have been a taller task than stretching out your hand or putting a boat into the water. I wonder how long it took them. Again, simple acts can lead to some amazing results.
The story continues after the disciples obey Jesus’ command and the people sit down. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and looked up to heaven and gave thanks and broke them and gave them to the disciples. They went out to their groups of fifty and started passing out food. I wonder how this miraculous feeding took place. Did it multiply in Jesus hands when He broke the bread? Did the baskets simply not run out? What did it look like that day?
Luke tells us, “They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over” (Luke 9.17).
In this story of the miraculous feeding, we find simple acts could lead to satisfaction. Earlier in Luke 6.21, Jesus said, “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.”
The simple act of obedience to the commands of Jesus gave the Twelve a front row seat to a miracle. They had the opportunity to bless thousands of people that day. They simply did what Jesus asked them to do and watched God work.
Levi went to a great amount of work to throw the party for Jesus. Small acts can lead to celebration The man with the shriveled hand simply stretched out his hand. Small acts can lead to healing. The disciples got into the boat and rowed to the other side, a little more work, but nothing crazy difficult. Small acts can lead to challenges. In the story with feeding the crowds, the disciples provided crowd control to get thousands of people into groups of 50, but it was doable. Small acts can lead to satisfaction.
What’s something small you could tweak or focus upon this week to become a better follower of Jesus?
In 1979 a passenger jet carrying 257 people left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, there was a minor 2 degree error in the flight coordinates. This placed the aircraft 28 miles to the east of where the pilots thought they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before. They had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). Sadly, the plane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board. It was a tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees.
Experts in air navigation have a rule of thumb known as the 1 in 60 rule. It states that for every 1 degree a plane veers off its course, it misses its target destination by 1 mile for every 60 miles you fly. This means that the further you travel, the further you are from your destination. [Source: Tandem Financial | The power of one degree course correction.]
One degree over a long period of time can make a big difference. So, what’s one small thing you can do each day in your life with Jesus that could produce eternal results?
Each of these four stories highlights something spectacular from a mundane and routine choice. What are some ways to tweak your normal mundane routines to allow Jesus to walk with you in a more powerful way? What is Jesus speaking to you in this moment? Could it be that you ask God to bless your children before they go off to school or as you tuck in them in bed at night? Could it be that you place your Bible somewhere visible so that you can more easily spend time in God’s Word? Could it be that you ask your server if they have anything going on that you can pray about when you go out to eat next time?
This week, began the season of Lent, a season of repentance to prepare for Easter. What is one way you want to focus your relationship to Jesus during this season?
The last time we see our theme word of “do” in Luke’s gospel, we see Jesus hanging on the cross. Luke 23.34
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
My friends, we live on this side of the cross and the empty tomb. We know who Jesus is. He offers forgiveness to all who will accept. He invites us to life with Him. The perfect Son of God wants to empower us to advance His kingdom mission. Remember, disciples of Jesus do what He says.