How are you doing in your walk with Jesus? Are you growing? Are you making any headway in your growth as a disciple? Does God ever whack you on the side of the head to get your attention? Has He been doing it lately?
As we have been studying Scripture together, particularly in Luke, we have seen many different encounters that people have had with Jesus. We have learned Biblical principles that need to be applied, as well as warnings to avoid.
Now if you’ve been a student of Scripture any length of time, you know that a person can make Scripture say almost anything they want it to say. They pick a Scripture from here and a Scripture from there, put it together with some clever commentary and come up with something totally contradictory to what the Word of God actually says and teaches, we call that “proof texting.” But that’s not how God teaches. Scripture always needs to be taught in its context, rather than taking things out of contexts with snippets and sound bits like the news channels do.
Now we’ve been spending a lot of time in the Gospel of Luke. We’ve tried to systematically and deliberately go threw it to see what Jesus did and taught, so we can learn and do as He did. We’ve seen what He expected of people, particularly His disciples and what He expects of us today as His disciples. And one of the primary reason we are going through this study this way and providing you each week with a devotional for the next week’s message is because we want you to not only learn from Scripture, but we desire for you to encounter Jesus along the way, to grow and become more like Him in your behavior and attitude.
Now as we go through Luke, you’ll see that Jesus is a master teacher and a phenomenal coach. He always builds on what He just taught and our passage this morning is a classic example.
Two weeks ago we saw that All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30 but the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John. Luke 7:29-30
We talked about how when the people heard the Word of the Lord, when it whacked them on the side of the head, when the light went on in their souls and their spirit, they had a choice. They could either acknowledge God’s way as right, repent of the way they were going, that’s what the baptism of John was all about and accept God’s purpose for their lives or they could reject it. And that my friend is bottom line Christianity.
So here it is, plain and simple: Accept God’s way, turn away from your way, then follow His way.
Now Jesus, being the master teacher and coach that He is wanted His disciples to not only hear what He was saying, but to get what He was saying. There’s a difference you know! You can come to church, hear God’s Word, nod your head in agreement, throw in a few “Amens”, go home and have it do absolutely nothing in your life.
Why? Because hearing it does not necessarily mean that you get it!
So the people, including the disciples heard Jesus teach about what they needed to do. But instead of just telling them, He showed them! Does the Lord ever show you things? What I mean is that you hear it or are taught it, but then the Lord shows you. He gives you a living, breathing example of it in order to help you get it. Well, that’s exactly what He did.
The Lord showed His disciples in real time, kind of like a reality show, what He was talking about. Jesus was invited by a Pharisee, an expert in the Law to come to dinner. But the Pharisee was pretty rude and inhospitable to Jesus. He had heard what Jesus was saying and He may very well have got it. However, the problem was he didn’t want it!
You can tell from his actions and his attitude that he had already closed Jesus off and he had no intention of acknowledging that God’s way was right, and he rejected God’s purpose for his life.
Now as this is taking place, in comes a woman of the streets. A woman who was considered to be about as far from God as you can get. But instead of rejecting Jesus’ words, (she) acknowledged that God’s way was right, and began to accept God’s purpose for her life.
This woman had taken a bad path and her life wasn’t worth much to write home about.
But she came to Jesus and she poured her heart out to Him, just like the little Korean girl, the woman with the secret sin and Billy Moore who took the life of another from last week’s message. Each and everyone of them came with a boatload of struggles, problems, and fears that could have held them back and kept them from moving forward, accept for the fact that they acknowledged that God’s way was right, and accepted God’s purpose for her life.
We do a great disservice to people today. We spend enormous amounts of time telling people to accept Jesus, but nickel and dime it when it comes to living for Jesus. We sell the Gospel short by saying to acknowledge that God’s way is right, but then downplay God’s purpose for their life.
Why is that? Because we have bought into the popular cultural mantra that says, Most people don’t know what they want, all they know is that they want something different than what they have.
We tell them, Jesus said 28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. That’s wonderful! That’s good news! But Jesus then went on to say, 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Notice what He says, Come to me with your weariness and your burdens and I will give you rest and hope. But He doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say, Take up my yoke and learn from me. Why is that? Because most people don’t know what they want, all they know is that it’s something different than what they have.
As Christians, believers in Jesus we all like the first part of what Jesus says about coming to Him with our burdens and our woes, our worries and our loads, but that second part about taking up His yoke and learning from Him, we don’t like that so much.
It sounds too much like work.
It leans a little too much to “change” and change is not something we naturally gravitate to.
But change is what the Christian life is all about. Once you decide to get serious about following Jesus. Once you decide to become serious about becoming like Christ, you must begin to act in new ways. You will need to let go of some old routines, bad habits and begin to develop some new ones by intentionally changing the way you think.
For the conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the growth of a saint is the work of a lifetime.
Now the Holy Spirit will help you and empower you, but you must work with Him. The Lord tells us to Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Phil. 2:12-13
Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between you and the Holy Spirit. This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It doesn’t say “work for” your salvation, because you can’t add anything to what Jesus has already done. However, He does tell us to “work out” what we already have.
During a physical “workout” we exercise our body, not get a body.
Farmers “work” the land, not to get land, but to develop what they already have.
God has given us new life and He expects us to work it and develop it and that is exactly what He goes on to tell His disciples.
He says "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil and it came up and produced a crop a hundred times more than was sown."
Now to change your life, you must change the way you think. Why is that? Because behind everything you do, every behavior there is a thought and every though is motivated by a belief. Prov. 23:4 says Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts (TEV)
If you want to move beyond just acknowledging that God’s way is right, and move on to His purpose for their life, which I might add is called discipleship, you must first change the way you think. The Bible calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Rom. 12:2
Why? Because change always starts first in the mind. The way you think determines the way you feel and the way you feel determines the way you act. That’s why Paul says to be made new in the attitude of you mind Eph. 4:23
To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. And in order to develop the mind of Christ you must be willing to make a mental shift and acknowledge that God’s way is right, and move on to His purpose for your life. The Bible calls this repentance. That’s what John the Baptist was talking about and that’s what the Pharisees didn’t get and didn’t want.
You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks.
You repent not only when you say I’m sorry, but when you say I’m through with the way I’ve been thinking, acting and behaving. You repent when you acknowledge that God’s way is right and you accept God’s purpose for your life.
But how do you go about this change of thinking? How do you “work it out?” What is the process of becoming like Him?
Well, you not only have to change what you think about, His transforming truth, but you need to change how you think. This is where most Christians get messed up, so please pay attention.
As sincere, dedicated believers in Jesus Christ, we believe in God’s Word as true, we accept it as our authority and we seek to live by it, that’s wonderful! But that’s not the problem for most dedicated disciples. The problem is with process.
Now just because we hear something does not mean that we get it. And just because we get it doesn’t mean we know how to use it. Take coming to church, attending Bible study, and reading the Word of God, which are all good and necessary things. But just because you come, attend, and read doesn’t mean that what you’re hearing is causing any kind of change in your life.
Jesus says, He who has ears to hear, let him hear Luke 8:8 what the Spirit is saying. Nine times in our passage this week Jesus uses the word “hear or hearing,” that’s significant. Why? Because He’s talking about more than simply listening to what He has to say. He’s talking about listening with spiritual understanding and receptivity. He’s talking about taking it to heart and working it out so that it goes deep within our heart and causes change.
Now Jesus gives His disciples an illustration, a parable that explains in particular terms things that they can do day in and day out to bring about this change and transformation in their lives. Remembering that true change comes by changing the way you think and changing the way you think comes by changing your attitude and changing your attitude can come by changing the way you behave.
So Jesus explains His illustration, His parable to them by saying, the seed is the Word of God and your heart is the soil. Therefore, what kind of soil does your heart have?
The first attitude to overcome is a hard and unresponsive heart. V. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts.
This kind of disciple comes to church, hears what God has to say and does absolutely nothing with it? This kind of disciple likes to apply God’s message to other people, but not themselves? This kind of disciple gets set in a pattern and refuses to see what God is doing right before their eyes? This kind of disciple is like what my daughter Sarah said to me while in High School. She said, “Dad, the car’s making a funny noise, so I turned the radio up until it went away.” Do you want to grow? Then you need to change these behaviors. Hard and unresponsive hearts won’t grow because they can’t grow, because they shut God out and won’t listen to what the Spirit is saying to them.
The second attitude to overcome is a shallow and impulsive heart. V.13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. This kind of disciple gets all excited about what the Lord has said to them, but never carries it threw. They get all pumped up about working out in a ministry, but then don’t show up. They are the kind of disciple that has good intentions, but don’t follow through. But promises are like snowballs, there easy to make, but hard to keep. If you want to grow in your Christian life you need to not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. You need to do what it says. James 1:22
The third attitude to overcome is the crowded or distracted heart. v. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
This kind of disciple has trouble with prioritizing. This kind of disciple doesn’t focus on any one thing. This kind of disciple dabbles in many things, but never devotes to anything. This kind of disciple forgets that God holds us responsible, not for what we have, but for what we could have; not for what we are, but for what we might be.
The fourth attitude is the one He wants us to have, a good and responsive heart. v.15 the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
This kind of disciple is transformed by God’s truth.
This kind of disciple applies God’s truth.
This kind of disciple applies God’s truth first to themselves before they share it with others.
This kind of disciple leads by example.
This kind of disciple is dependable, faithful, responsible and trustworthy.
This kind of disciple re-priorities their activities so that they become doers of God’s Word instead of just hearers of it.
Here’s the bottom line, If you want to be a disciple you need to acknowledged that God’s way is right, and accept God’s purpose for your life.
In his book, A Whack on the Side of the Head, Roger von Oech say that if we if we desire to venture into new possibilities and change, we must first break free from our prisons of common boundaries.
All of us have a little Pharisee in us and all of us buck a little at acknowledging that God’s way is right, and accepting His purpose for their life.
If you want to grow you must be willing to embrace change, the kind that the Lord wants to make in your life. But in order to change your life, you must change the way you think and that requires changing your attitude and your behavior. So we want to help you with this by getting a handle on the attitudes and behaviors that keep you from growing.
In your bulletin we have an exercise sheet for you to “work out” and “work on”. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge that God’s way is right, and accept His purpose for their life, by acknowledging and repenting of certain attitudes and behaviors that are keeping you from growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Take that out if you will and look at it with me.
As Christians we say we want to be different and to make a difference, that’s great, but what are we willing to do to get there. Has the Lord been whacking you on the side of the head this morning?
