Allen Jackson - Listening and The Kingdom of God - Part 2
Please understand that when we read the Gospel of Luke, we're not reflecting on history. We're trying to understand what it means to be followers of the Lord. We are rejecting God, and we will face the judgment for these choices if we don't repent. We shouldn't imagine that we can mock God and then demand his blessings. Nor should we presume upon the faithfulness of previous generations to ensure our place in the grace and mercy of God. It occurred to me as I'm listening to that news program, we are very similar to Jesus's audience, who were saying to him, "Abraham is our father".
We can point at our buildings, and we can point at our heritage, and we can tell stories about pilgrims, and prayers, and fasting, and national days of prayer in Lincoln, or Jefferson, or whomever you choose. But the question on the table is what will we do in our generation? What has overcome us? We are more timid in the face of the darkness. We want to make friends with the enemy and the adversary. I was reminded, I put in your notes, we read it in an earlier session, but it's Luke 3, this is John the Baptist, but he said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' 'Cause I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire".
Folks, those words are relevant for us. We cannot afford to say we're a nation with a Christian heritage. I won't yield the heritage. I won't allow it to be swept away and I remain silent. I'll do my best to shout it from the housetops. But more importantly is what will this generation do? Will we take those biblical values, that Judeo-Christian worldview, and insist that it be a part of the education of our children? Will we require that it be included in our places of work, in our hospital corridors, in our courtrooms?
How dare they tell us our heritage is illegitimate! And we can't afford to reject the truth of Scripture, and we should understand that if we do, the judgment of God will come. Not my opinion, Jesus said it very plainly. He said it repetitively. We'll look at several of those passages in the Gospel of Luke. In fact, judgment came to the inhabitants of the land because they refused to embrace the truth that was presented, and we should not imagine that we will avoid the judgment of God if we reject his truth. I know it's fashionable to say, "Well, it's the end of the age, and we're all gonna get, there's a big escape clause, and we're all gonna be good to go".
If we're the generation that rejects the truth, if we're the church that presides over unprecedented apostasy and a turning away from a faithfulness to the heritage of our faith, do we imagine the blessings of God will fill our future? It's an exciting time. It is truly an exciting time. We can be one of those pivotal groups. There was a group in Nineveh who repented and changed the future of that, that great city for a season. Why not decide we will be that generation?
All right, I'm back to Luke. If you're here for the previous session, we've just finished chapter 7. Chapter 7 ends with the story of the sinful woman, ooh. Doesn't tell us what the sin was, she may have cheated at cards, just tells us she was a sinful woman. But the biggest sinner in the story isn't the sinful woman. The sinful woman is very busy reorienting her life and bringing alignment with Jesus and is very willing for that to be known publicly, widely, broadly, loudly. The tragedy in that story are the people with great biblical knowledge. They have all kinds of spiritual habits, but they're not interested in listening to what Jesus has to say.
So there's a question on the table as we're walking through this gospel: to what extent are you listening? Not to me, to what extent are you listening to the Spirit of God? To what extent are you listening to the Word of God? Are we living presumptively like so much of the audience that was listening to Jesus's message? And we're saying, "Oh, we're all good. There's nothing to see here. All of our God business is complete. I've made a profession of faith. I have a baptismal certificate. I volunteer occasionally. I even give some money". Or are we allowing our lives to be transformed? Are we listening? Are we emerging? Are we becoming? Is God moving in our lives?
We get to chapter 8, Luke takes us immediately from that narrative with Jesus and the sinful woman and the Pharisees into a very familiar parable. Says, "After this," after that story, "Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve were with him, and also some women who'd been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; And Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; and Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means".
I think it's worth noting, just at least briefly, that the message that Jesus is teaching is the good news of the kingdom of God. Again, it's a bit of a deviation from our familiar themes. It's not a message of salvation and heaven. It's a message of another kingdom. It's this dimensional idea I keep inviting you back to. Jesus is inviting us to think of dimensions beyond our material world, a message about another kingdom, another King, another realm of authority, another set of governing principles that are every bit as real as gravity and water or our sun. Now, by this point in Luke's narrative, Jesus has an entourage, a learning group.
There's a group of people who are willing to publicly be identified with him, to make great investment in alignment with Jesus. I mean, the Bible describes it in this way: They've left everything to follow him. They've shuttered their businesses. They've changed their relationship patterns. Verse 4: "While a large crowd was gathering," now he turns from his disciples to talk to the crowd, "people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: A farmer went out to sow his seed. And he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, the birds ate it. Some fell on rock, when it came up, the plants withered. They had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown. When he said this, he called out, 'He who has ears, let him," what? "Hear".
Are we listening? Are we listening? Are we so certain that there's really not much left to be said to us? We know the answers to all the big questions. I don't know about you, but when I look at the future, I think, "God, if you're not guiding, if you're not directing, if you're not leading, I'm in some real trouble". I'm trying to learn to listen more carefully than I've ever listened in my lifetime. Then in verse 9, "His disciples asked him what the parable meant".
Some of the people wanted more information. Tell us what you meant when you said that. And Jesus said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, that, though seeing, they may not see; and though hearing, they may not understand". You see, one of the principles in Scripture is if you're not particularly interested in listening, God's not gonna shout. And he... I agree. Healthy babies make noise. It's okay. But in Hebrews 13, Jesus said, the Scripture says that God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
So in verse 11, then Jesus gives us the meaning of the parable. He says, "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy and when they hear it, they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they're choked by life's worries, riches, pleasures, and they don't mature. But 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".
I think it's worth noting that when Jesus explains it, everything begins with that statement in verse 11, "The seed is the word of God". All growth begins with God's Word. It's very difficult to overstate the significance of the Word of God. I pray that you are building the habit of a routine interaction with Scripture. For decades, we have not done that. We just haven't. I'm grateful to say that I see a turning towards it in recent years. But I pray if you don't have that habit yet, it's one to consider developing. And then there's these four locations where the seed falls. The seed along the path, Jesus said, the devil comes and takes away the Word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved.
There's a message there. We read in Luke chapter 4, where Satan came to tempt Jesus after his baptism. After this public affirmation when God speaks and says, "That's my Son. I'm really pleased with him," the devil comes and tempts Jesus. And Jesus tells us, tells his disciples that when the Word of God is sown in our lives, the devil comes with the intent of taking it away. I mean, if we stepped back, I think the simple way of understanding that is the devil's activity is closer than we often imagine. He tempted Jesus.
Now Jesus is telling us of his activity in our own lives. You better believe there are spiritual forces of darkness with the intent of disrupting your spiritual life. And there's the seed that fell on the rock, and Jesus said, "Those are the ones who received the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root". He said, "They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they will fall away". Jesus is very freely, openly, publicly, blatantly acknowledging that testing is a part of the development process.
"Well, I don't like that. Pastor, I just don't see why God has to test us". Well, you can ask him perhaps when you see him if that feels prudent in that moment, but for the time being, we have been told this is a part of the journey. You're not gonna get to hear the Word of God and have access to the Word of God and the truth of God without it being challenged. See, most of us are offended. "Pray for me. The place where I work, they're not all Christians"! "Pray for me. The school I go to, they're not all belie..." Yeah, I know. It's called testing. Pray for me. The building I work in, they're not all Christians!
If you want to understand the magnitude of the problem, stand in the parking lot after service and watch the way that people behave. Mostly those people on Sunday morning, not you. But it's worth noting that when Jesus talks about this group, this category, he said, "Joy and receptivity alone are not sufficient". You can't just joyfully receive the Word of God. That doesn't mean there'll be fruitfulness in our lives. Perseverance and endurance will be required. Isn't that a happy message? Then he said, "There's seed that fell amongst thorns". And Jesus said, "Those are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they're choked by life's worries, riches, pleasures, and they don't mature".
This one's pretty sobering. They're good listeners. They hear the Word of God, but they're choked by life's worries. The old English word for "worry" meant literally "to choke," in the way a wolf would worry a lamb by getting its jaws around its throat. Worry, anxiety can choke the fruitfulness of God's Word from your life, or they can be disrupted by riches and pleasures, and we don't mature. We become distracted. We chase pleasure more than we pursue God. Gee, that doesn't sound anything like contemporary American culture. And then Jesus described the seed that fell on good soil, "Those with," he said, "with a noble and good heart".
You see, our heart condition matters. We've been saying it for months now. Our problems, really, are not political. We have a heart problem. Elections are like a stress test. We get a count, a hard number, to reflect our heart condition. It's unbelievable to me that a party would have a national platform thinking they can consolidate power by promising we can terminate the life of our children at any point during pregnancy! What that says about our hearts is an abomination! Jesus's expectation is that the crop and outcome of our lives will be produced by rightly engaging God's Word. If there's not an outcome, if there's not something measurable, visible, transformational, we have a heart problem.
Now, only one of those four possible results is productive in outcome. That should capture our attention. Or you could say it the other way. Three of the four failed to fulfill their potential. And perhaps most tragically, all the failures Jesus described are self-inflicted. They could have been avoided by different choices. Those failures are not determined by outside forces. They're determined by inward. They're all self-inflicted wounds. Now Jesus goes on. The theme at the moment is discipleship, and fruitfulness, and productivity.
Remember, the disciples have asked for a private reading, a private explanation, and Jesus gives them one more passage in verse 16. He says, "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there's nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that won't be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him".
Jesus gives to his friends, this entourage, this inner circle, he gives them some insight into the discipleship process. Luke is gonna show us how we can be disciples if we want to. See, we haven't been interested. We thought discipleship was about going to Bible studies, like some of the most brilliant biblical scholars I have ever known. They know the Word of God in its original languages. They know its cultural context. They know the history from which it emerged. They understand the scholarship around it, but they don't know God!
Please understand. We have mistaken the pathway. Yes, you need to be familiar with the Word of God, but we need to be equally familiar with learning to listen to what God is saying to us. Jesus said, "There'll be nothing hidden, nothing concealed. Everything will be disclosed. Everything will be brought into the open". Wow, I believe him. You see, the nature of these relationships that we conduct are built to a significant degree on imagining that we can hide in the shadows. It's personal. It's private. It's nobody's business. Jesus said, not some random person, Jesus said, "Nothing's gonna be hidden. Nothing will be concealed. It's all going to be disclosed. All brought into the open". So he said, "Consider carefully how you listen".
Consider carefully how you listen. Listening enables us to receive more. A lack of interest, a lack of attention results in forfeiture of what you currently possess. That's what Jesus said, "Consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever doesn't have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him". If you don't care enough to listen, you'll forfeit what you have. Well, in a season of turmoil, confusion, antagonism, ungodliness, demonic assault, may I submit to you, it would be in our best interest to become world-class listeners, not to my sermons, to the voice of the Lord, to the Spirit of God. That begins by being willing to invest some time in the Word of God, but it'll grow beyond that.
Wow, you've got more notes than I have time. But the wonderful part about doing the Gospel of Luke is it will be there. I just want to be certain that we don't lose perspective on this. 'Cause if you're doing the Luke readings with us, it's so easy to read it and think, "People must have been stupid in the first century". Because Jesus does miracles and remarkable things and there's healings, and there are people whose lives are being transformed, and they're all in a relatively close proximity together.
The distance between Capernaum and Nazareth is really small, and you can walk between the two communities. And there are these people that are experiencing the move of God and these people who are stubbornly resisting it, and yet they're all these covenant people. They're all the people with the...they belong to the right group. If we use contemporary examples, they're all people who are attending churches. They've all identified as Christian, but some cooperate and some don't. It has my attention. I don't wanna reject the purposes of God for my life, but I'm concerned.
I hear all these statistics that say that, you know, Christians don't vote and 25 million evangelicals sat out the last election, that there's this sleeping giant. Look, I'm not sure that there is. I think we have a semblance. Paul describes it in 2 Timothy. He said, "We have a form of godliness, but we deny the power of it".
We don't identify as some other faith, some other religion, but we're really not in pursuit of God. We're not really living for the glory of God. We don't live in obedience. I mean, we visit a church, and we will give a nod. And that's a wonderful way to begin if you're new to the faith. I mean, I would invite you to read Luke and begin to imagine what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus. It's the most exciting adventure any individual could ever enter into. But I would caution you if you're a veteran away from the idea that your pedigree is so remarkable and your story so ironclad, we don't really have to listen anymore. 'Cause to whom much is given, much is expected. And we're at a pivot point.
Those people who are celebrated in those monuments in Washington that I referenced a few moments ago, they put everything on the line, their lives, their families's well-beings. Everything was on the line. If God didn't help them, there was no good outcome. And we look at a future that seems to suggest to us that if God is not helping us, there is no good acceptable outcome. And we think, "Well, that's awful"! I'm like, no, that's an assignment! That's a privilege! That's a gift! God has trusted us. Let's go! Let's raise our voices and our heads and our hands and our hearts and serve the Lord! I'm done. I brought you a proclamation. It's not new. But mercifully, I didn't bring the whole thing. Let's stand together. We'll say it together. Have you found it?
We have cast our lot with the Prince of Peace. We have yielded our will to the Lord of Lords. We are servants of the King. We reflect the beauty of the Lily of the Valley. We stand in the strength of the Lion of Judah. We live in health through the Great Physician. Our needs are met because He is Our Abundance. We know our path because we follow the Great Shepherd. We are participants in the Kingdom of God because we found THE Door. We are righteous because of His Sacrifice. We have taken hold of true life because He is risen. His name is Jesus of Nazareth. He is Christ, our Lord and our King. WE WILL NOT STOP, amen.