“One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, ‘I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me ‘Ma’am.’ at the time I thought, ‘Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service. I decided latter was the most likely, so I asked, ‘You in the service?’
‘Yes, Ma’am, I am.’
‘What branch?’
‘Marines.’
‘Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?’
Operation desert Storm, Ma’am.’
‘No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?’ I asked. ‘A year and a half.’ I’m on the way home. My family will be at the airport. I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East. ‘Oh, no, Ma’am, he replied. ‘We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were.’” (Focus on the Family, July, 1993, p. 5)
Wow! What commitment that this soldier had to the military and what his commanders told him. I couldn’t help but think about the soldiers last words here, “to be fully available right where we were.” Could you imagine the difference Christians could make if they made that same commitment. The commitment to be fully available right where we are, right where we are placed. To many Christians spend time wishing they were in a different place or in a different position instead of making the commitment to be fully available right where they are. God has placed us where we are for a reason. And when He is Lord in our life we are fully available to Him for whatever purpose He may have for us.
We have been dealing with questions that Jesus asked in our series. This morning we will look at a question from Christ that strikes at the heart of our commitment and His Lordship in our lives. It’s a question that can hit hard.
Luke 6:46-49
This question is a question that lands with a punch. It’s a hard hitting question that leaves an impact. It’s interesting to note that in a issue of Tabletalk it says that to repeat a person’s name is a Hebrew expression of intimacy. When God speaks to Abraham at Mount Moriah as he is about to plunge a knife into the breast of Isaac, He says, ‘Abraham, Abraham.’ Or when God encourages Jacob in his old age to take the trip to Egypt, He says, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ Compare the call of Moses from the burning bush: ‘Moses, Moses,’ or the call of Samuel in the night ‘Samuel, Samuel.’ Or consider David’s cry of agony, ‘Absalom, Absalom.’ Jesus’ cry of desperation from the cross, ‘My God, my God.“ Where Jesus confronted Martha, when He warned Peter, and when He wept over Jerusalem--in each case the word repeated for intimacy’s sake. When he asks the question, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and then do not do what I say? It seems like maybe he was trying to say, “Why do you act like we are close, why do pretend to have this deep relationship with me and then do not do what I say.” You see this was a question for those who claimed to follow Christ yet maybe their actions showed differently. But maybe it was also for that person in the crowd who really did believe in Jesus yet they had not fully surrendered. This morning we will look at why “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue. The first answer is simple. Because calling Him Lord doesn’t make it so. The Random House dictionary defines the word “lord” as someone who has dominion over others. Other words, a person who has control over others. It’s surprising that the sixth definition that the dictionary gives for Lord is the Savior, Jesus Christ. But for someone to call Christ Lord implies that he has dominion or control over your life; that you have surrendered yourself to Him. And let’s face it, there are a lot of people in the church that will call Christ, “Lord”, and then go out and live life in their own control and their own way. Back in 1986 Glamour Magazine did a survey of 25,000 readers. Most of the women were between the ages of 18 and 35. In this survey 77 percent pray and 87 percent felt like God is always helping them or has helped them through a particular period in their lives. Yet, nearly half of the poll disagree with the church’s teaching on premarital sex and a third of them disagreed with the church on the issue of abortion. Now that is a convenient faith. You let the Lord be Lord over areas you are comfortable with but you just ignore the areas you are not. Now if that study was in 1986, how much more is it true today. I could almost guarantee that the numbers would be even higher. All across this country in churches today you will find people who are doing that very same thing. They will come to church and they will refer to Christ as their Lord. But they have areas in their life that go against everything that Christ stood for. I imagine that Jesus Christ would ask them that same question today, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” There are couples in the church that are living together and having sex and aren’t married. Don’t get me wrong, I want them in the church, they need to be here. But there are couples doing that and living in sin and saying, “Christ is Lord.” If Christ was really Lord of their life they would be obedient to what God wants for them. If you asked many of these same people if they loved Jesus Christ they would say, “Sure I do.” But Jesus’ idea of love is different then that. Because He says in John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me…” He doesn’t say those who follow the commands that suit their lifestyle love me. He doesn’t say those who follow most of my commands love me. You see if you truly loved Christ you could not live in direct opposition of a command that He has given you for your life. If there was a true intimacy you would follow what He wants for your life. Now there maybe some other people here this morning that maybe you are a follower of Christ and He is Lord over your life except for one area that you have been struggling to let Him be Lord over. The fact is, either He is Lord over all of your life, or He isn’t Lord! This morning you have to give that area of your life to Him. Calling him Lord doesn’t make it so. Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” A life yielded totally to what He wants is what makes Him Lord in our life.
Now looking back at our text this morning Jesus talks about negative of living our life apart from his commands. In verse 49 He says, “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.” You see knowing Jesus’ teachings and commands aren’t the answer for what we need. But putting His words into action is. So another reason why “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue is because knowing the Lord’s language and being able to speak it won’t keep you from a collapse. You see it’s plain and simple. When you live your life with God’s Word as your foundation for everything you do then no matter what comes your way you will be able to stand up under it.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa has always been a fascination with people for many years. It is a popular tourist site. It’s amazing that someone’s lack of forethought could become such a popular attraction. “The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is going to fall. Scrientists travel yearly to measure the building’s slow descent. They report that the 179-foot tower moves about one-twentieth of an inch a year, and is now 17 feet out of plumb. They further estimate that by the year 2007 the 810-year old tower will have leaned too far and will collapse onto the nearby ristorante, where scientists now gather to discuss their findings.
Quite significantly, the word ‘pisa’ means ‘marshy land,’ which gives some clues to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed. Also--its foundation is only ten feet deep!” (Source Unknown) There are a lot of people who talk a good game, they can speak Christianese with anyone. But in reality they haven’t applied what they know to their life and when the storms come their life will come crashing down with a thud. Why? Because they have no foundation or like the Leaning Tower of Pisa it is so shallow that gradually it leads to a big crash. The truth is, sometimes the storms that take people down are storms that they brought on themselves because they didn’t live by the principles God gave them in His Word. We see a church that is so different today. In some respects it’s good and some respects it’s not. We see a church that is almost a mirror reflection of the culture that we live in. That is good on the aspect that we as a church in many respects are reaching out and ministering to the hurting and those that are truly in need of the love and healing that Christ can bring after a crash. But the flip side is there are a lot of people who identify with the church and consider themselves Christians that are a mirror image of our culture around us. And that isn’t good because the church is supposed to stand out and be the light and beacon in our culture. And it is far from doing that in many aspects. The divorce rate in the church is no different then the divorce rate in the world. Christians have as poor a record of handling our money and making sound financial decisions as many in the world do. And there are all kinds of truths from God’s Word about how to handle our finances. You can go on and on and in many respects we have a church that knows God’s Word but isn’t applying it to their lives. And because of it, many in the church are experiencing storms that are caused simply from not grounding their life in God’s truths. The church should be experiencing storms for standing up for God’s truth in a world that has abandoned it, but instead we have a church that is having storms because they have abandoned applying the truths to their lives. Yes, “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue. It needs to be more than a language that we speak, it’s got to be the life we live!
Now looking back at our text this one last time, Christ gives us the result of what happens when we do put his words into practice. In verse 48, he said, “He is 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.” So another reason why “Lord” needs to be more than a word on our tongue is because only walking the talk gives you a foundation that can’t be shaken. When you actually live out God’s truths, spiritually you are laying down roots that will secure you no matter what you come up against. Now earlier I said that a lot of people encounter storms simply because they aren’t living their life by God’s principles. But you can tell from what Jesus wrote here, that no matter how you live you will face storms. The difference is, when we live our lives putting God’s Word into action then we will stand strong despite the storms. We have been dealing with Job in Sunday School. But Job is a great example of a man who followed the ways of God as much as He understood them. Job was a man who was blessed with unbelievable wealth. And essentially he lost it all, his family, his livestock. If that wasn’t enough, he began to suffer sickness. At one point his whole body was covered with sores from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. Now here was a man who had everything going his way and God had blessed him tremendously and the man was following God. But he was going through a terrible storm. Even in the pain and suffering that he had he wouldn’t turn on God. If you remember his own wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job’s response to her was, “You are talking foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Now although things did get bad enough for Job to question God about why this was happening to him, his foundation was strong enough in God that He was never blown over by everything that happened and the storms that he went through were more than most of us will ever face. He just didn’t talk the language of a believer, He lived it! And because of that He was firmly grounded. And the storm in his life eventually passed and we are told that the latter part of Job’s life was more blessed than the first. When we are grounded through putting God’s truths to work in our lives it doesn’t mean that we will understand everything that happens to us. We might even question God and ask why? But through our faith in His faithfulness, and His power in us, we will stand strong.
There are some of you that face a decision in here this morning. The decision is: Am I going to truly make Christ the Lord of my life? Am I going to give him full control of my life? Or am I going to continue to just talk a good game? The choice is yours. “Bruce Larson, in Believe and Belong, tells how he helped people struggling to surrender their life to Christ:
For many years I worked in New York City and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with this yes or no decision. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a beautifully proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden. ‘Now that’s one way to live.’ I would point out to my companion, ‘trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now come across the street with me.’
On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand. My point was illustrated graphically.
We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, ’I give up, Lord; here’s my life. I give you my world, the whole world.” (Richard A. Hasler)
For those of you this morning who are just talking a good game and Christ isn’t truly Lord over your life, the weight of your storms will get heavier and heavier. But when you make Him Lord over your life, it’s a whole different feeling. “Lord” has to be more than a word on your tongue, if He’s Lord He is your everything. What is it going to be?
