Allen Jackson - Decisions Regarding Jesus - Part 2
Luke is gonna present to us today, quickly, a group of people making decisions regarding Jesus. But I want us to understand we're not just reviewing something from antiquity. We're not considering a theological tone, that we're sitting here with our one time journey under the sun, our one opportunity to represent the kingdom of God in a journey through time, and the question I want you to consider is, how are you doing with decisions regarding Jesus? How are you doing when he points a conversation towards us that feels awkward? How are we doing when alignment with Jesus will bring rejection to our lives? Do we go quiet? Do we just get silent because we don't want to offend. How are we doing?
Luke chapter 8 and verse 19. We're in Luke 8. We started in this in the previous session and I didn't get past the verse 18. "Jesus' mother and brothers came to see Jesus, but they weren't able to get near him because of the crowd. And someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers don't like big church. And so they left.'" I'm sorry. "'Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They wanna see you.' And Jesus replied, 'My mother and brothers are those who hear God's Word and put it into practice.'"
That's not some distant, obtuse statement that's been made by Jesus. In the preceding verse, he's unpacking, he's helping the disciples unpack a discipleship. He's told them a parable, the parable of the sower, the farmer who sows seed and it falls in four separate categories. It's an often-discussed parable. I suspect, you know generally the outline of that. And as he's helping them understand the implications of discipleship, because in that parable, only one in four actually are able to hold on to the truth of God's Word. And the statement that he's made in the preceding verse is "Consider carefully how you listen".
Consider carefully how you listen, that listening to God becomes an essential component that Luke is sharing with us in becoming disciples. Not attending, not being busy with religious rule observance, but consider carefully how you listen to what God is saying. We live in a very confusing time. There is propaganda and censorship in unprecedented ways. We have communications tools, the likes which the world has never known before. We are bombarded with messaging, much of it is ungodly. It's disorienting. We're gonna have to become better listeners.
And immediately upon that, Luke gives us this little scenario. It seems to almost be out of place in this chapter, that Jesus' mother and his brothers present, and they would like to say something to him. Maybe they brought lunch. We don't know. And Jesus answers with what seems obtuse if you peel it out of context. He said "Those who hear my Word and put it into practice". You gotta listen and implement.
Another familiar parable Luke told us was the parable of the builders, the one who built on the sand and one who built on the stone. And he began that parable that we've used in such a happy, friendly way, and he said, "Why do you call me Lord and not do what I tell you"? He said, "The one who builds a house on a foundation that will withstand storms is the one who hears my words and puts them into practice". Then in the parable of the sower, he's saying to us, "Considerly carefully how you listen". And now he says the message for his mom and his siblings is, "Listen to God's Word and put it into practice".
Do you think Luke might have a theme emerging? Do you think there was something he understood Jesus wanted his disciples to know that he's trying to communicate to us? It's an essential component to being disciples, or followers, of Jesus. Verse 22, "One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let's go over to the other side of the lake.'" It's the Lake of Galilee. One side of the lake is Jewish, the other side of the lake is not, so it's more than just crossing a lake. There's a cultural change. Jews were not particularly enthused about intermingling with other cultures. They understood their vulnerability.
So Jesus said, "Let's go to the non-Jewish side of the lake". "So they got in a boat and they set out. And they sailed, he fell asleep. The squall came on the lake and the boats being swamped and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him. 'Master we're going to drown!' So he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters and the storm subsided, and all was calm. So he asked the disciples, 'Where is your faith?' In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"
Again, we often look at these little narratives out of the context and we just look at the miracle, and it's legitimate. It's a remarkable story. But Luke is doing more than that. He's weaving together a narrative to help you and I understand Jesus, the message he taught, the things he believed, and how we might become faithful disciples. And he's introducing us again to this authority that is outside of the dimension in which we live. It's an authority we can't understand. Nobody speaks to the wind and the waves. I mean, there's some irony in this story. There's some funny components, if you prefer. Jesus is in the boat with the fisherman, he's the carpenter.
So the fishermen are navigating the lake, the carpenter is taking a nap. Up to that point it all makes perfect sense. But the fishermen become so aware of this sudden storm, so frightened by it, that they think they're going to drown. So they wake up the carpenter. This is not a cruise liner, folks. Jesus wasn't in the air conditioned cabin having dozed off after a snack. It's an open boat. If there is a storm sufficient that the fishermen think they're going to drown, it suggests the boat is being swamped, the waves, the wind, and Jesus is sleeping.
Now, this is my addition. I can't prove it from the text. I think Jesus is watching. They wake him up, "Lord, we're gonna drown"! And then he acts like a carpenter. He stands up in the boat and he speaks to the wind and the waves. What intrigues me is what he said to his friends. "Where is your faith"? Where is your faith? What are you looking at? What are you believing in? We're in chapter 8 now. They're not just beginners any longer. They've been along the ride for people being raised from the dead and remarkable miracles.
Where's your faith? What are you thinking about? What are you looking at? I'm pretty comfortable that if Jesus stood with us today, one of the questions he would say to us is, where is your faith? "Oh, I go to Bible studies. In fact, just last week, we spent the entire time discussing whether or not God still does miracles". Where's your faith? The next phrase is perhaps my favorite in this. It's a totally new experience for the disciples. They've never seen anybody speak the wind and waves and it's just that their response was a mixture of fear and amazement.
May I ask you a question? When was the last time in the context of your faith and your response to God, you had a combination of fear and amazement? See, we've tried to reduce our faith to an intellectual exercise. Can you spell "Nebuchadnezzar"? We think it's a burden and imposition if somebody suggests we read our Bible. Well, I mean, that'd take 10 minutes a day. I'd have to skip halftime.
You see, we have drifted so far away. And I say we because I've spent my adult life in the Christian church. I've been in that boat that was drifting. We've drifted so far away that when they told us our faith wasn't welcome in public, we said, well, all right. When they constructed a false gospel that said the cross was no longer really essential because we're not gonna talk about sin. We're just gonna talk about behaviors and we don't wanna be judgy and suggest that anybody's behavior is inappropriate. Therefore, we don't really need the cross.
Look, the point of the cross is our sin will forfeit any opportunity we have for the kingdom of God. And we need forgiveness that we can't earn or produce or engineer on our own. It required a divine intervention on our behalf. But to benefit from that intervention, we have to come acknowledge our sin and repent, change how we have thought about the behavior and change our direction. Well, that message is so controversial. People will say you're being kind of critical. So we kinda backed off the whole cross thing and the redemption thing. It's got a bloody, I mean, we don't want... How about a hug? Fear and amazement. Jesus isn't done.
"They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes". I'm not gonna finish your outline today, but I will. Hope springs eternal. Verse 26, "They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake. And when Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town". It's another familiar narrative. "For a long time the man hasn't worn clothes or lived in a house, but he lived in the tombs".
You know, you can read some things in the Bible and you kind of read past them. The boat lands. Let me just imagine, you've gone to the lake for the day. Then you pull up for the picnic with the family and the first person you meet's buck naked. It's in the book! Luke just said it with a little more eloquence. He didn't grow up in Middle Tennessee. "For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but he lived in the tombs. And when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God?'"
You know, we meet all these people who reject Jesus, who will not acknowledge him, who will not yield. They stand in their stubborn pride and say, who does he think he is? And this man who is clearly troubled, a demon speaking through him, says, "I know who you are, you're the Son of the Most High God". "'I beg you, don't torture me!' For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places".
This is really a pretty, it's a fascinating scenario if you're not involved. If you're in the boat, this is awkward. Jesus stepped ashore. That's what Luke said. He stepped ashore and immediately he's confronted by a naked man who's demonized, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Don't torture me"! That is an awkward day at the lake. And some of you know the balance of the story. "Jesus asked him, 'What's your name?'" He's not talking to the man, he's talking to the spirit. "And the spirit said, 'Legion' because many demons have gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them into the Abyss. There's a large herd of pigs", that's why you know it's not a Jewish community.
True, "feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When those tending the pigs saw what happened, they ran off", no kidding, "and reported in the town in the countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to see Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. And then all the people of the region asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got in the boat and he left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying 'Return home, tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him".
Okay, It's a pretty simple story. I mean, it's not complex. You don't need a mastery of Greek verbs or even 1st century culture. Luke is relating it with the eye of a diagnostician. He's a physician, he tells you a pretty straightforward story. From that we gain some insight into demonic activity. We prefer to pretend they don't exist. Jesus believed in them. We should change. We get a little insight here, demons are tormentors. They're destructive. They destroyed a man's life, they destroyed a whole herd of pigs. They tormented him. He couldn't even live in a house. He couldn't even maintain clothing. That's a tormented way to be.
So I find it somewhat intriguing that we're more willing to believe in the demonic, satanic, occultish expressions of power, than we are willing to believe in the power of Almighty God. Demons torture, torment, they're destructive. They have a great impact on behavior. They had a tremendous He couldn't be controlled. You couldn't even bind him with chains. They had a tremendous impact on the behavior of a herd of pigs. The pigs destroyed themselves.
As a direct result, Luke reports, as their interaction with these demons. There seems to be some symbiotic relationship that the demons have with living beings. That's why you should understand a bit more about them. You see, we're willing to believe in angels, that they have an impact in our lives, but we're somehow intellectually offended by the idea of some unclean, destructive, evil spirit that could impact us. And then we deter or we deteriorate into theological discussions about whether we can be possessed or... stop it! Clearly, unclean spirits, evil spirits, influence and affect human behavior.
There's much we don't know, but there's some we do. The good news in the narrative and the part I would submit is the focus point is this man who's demonized, so dramatically influenced by these unclean spirits, is set free. He's delivered. Through the authority that Jesus has and then he begs to stay with Jesus. No kidding! If you've been in that tormented condition and you meet someone who brings freedom to you and peace to you and contentment to you, you'd wanna stay with that person. And Jesus says, no. You have to go home. Go tell your story of freedom. And the man did. Which means now he has to go own his stuff.
I'm thinking people didn't recognize him with a shave and a haircut and a trip to Old Navy, right? And he has to go say, I'm the guy. Did you ever go past that cemetery? Remember that crazy guy? That screamed and frightened everybody and nobody knew what to do with. Yeah, I remember him. It's me. Well, what happened to you? What was wrong with you? What were you smoking? Wasn't smoking anything, but I met this man named Jesus and he changed my life. I was crazy, tormented, out of my mind. I lost everything and I met Jesus!
Luke gives us a contrast, which is his habit all throughout this book. The people from the community recognize the man is sane and civil and they don't beg to go with Jesus. They beg Jesus to leave. This is the contrast Luke gives us over and over and over again. The whole community says leave us. We don't want you here. Do you think that's the only crazy man in town? No. I mean, he may be chief crazy but I promise you there's a whole tribe of crazy. Come on. But they don't think about that. They don't process that. You just need to leave us. We don't want anything to do with you.
So you have this man who's been tormented, begging to go with Jesus. And he says, no, you have to go home and you have a whole community of people who have tremendous needs. Tremendous needs. We have tremendous needs every time we gather. And they're telling Jesus, you have to leave. Again it's a message that Luke tells us over and over and over again. In Nazareth, they tried to kill Jesus. He went to the synagogue, he read the scripture portion and they were happy up until he began to apply it to their lives.
You see, in the contemporary church, we will have Bible studies until we are too tired to talk anymore. But we get really tense when we start saying, what does this mean to us? What are the implications for us? And when Jesus gave them those implications in Nazareth, they tried to kill him. But he went to Capernaum and they brought all the sick people they knew and said, can you help them too? And he crosses the lake and there's a demonized man who's completely out of control and he he goes home and tells everybody the story. I'm the guy! Yeah! You should go to sport cuts too, they'll make you look better.
But the leaders from the community, you leave us we don't want any more of that here. Folks, it's the same challenge we have today. We're waiting for the majority opinion. We're waiting for the parade and the applause. We're gonna have to begin to say, listen, I was the broken one. I was in a desperate place. My life wasn't so great. My family system wasn't so great. You see, we want everybody to think it's all perfect. Jesus transforms lives and I wanna follow him, I wanna tell the story. I don't know everything, but I can tell you what he's done for me. I don't have answers for every question. I can't explain everything I read, but I can tell you what he's done for me.
In the book of Revelation it says that the believers on earth overcome Satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. You have an irrefutable God story if you're willing to tell it, but you'll have to acknowledge our own brokenness. And we'll have to be willing to stand in the midst of a community that goes, we'd rather not talk about that. We don't wanna think about that. We didn't like bacon anyway. You'll get it on the way home, just keep thinking about it. What was he talking about with bacon? We have to be different.
Folks, an election is not gonna fix us if we don't have a heart change. And as much as we want to point through the windows and say it's their problem, it's not. So my suggestion is we begin to say to the Lord, Lord I wanna follow you. I wanna use my voice wherever you put me, in the neighborhood where you've planted me, with the friends that my kids know, with my neighbors. When I'm out with my friends, if they're engaged in a conversation that's ungodly, I'm gonna curse to talk about Jesus.
Well, that would be awkward. You mean like Jesus did? Well, they'll think I'm being self-righteous. Would you rather them think you're ungodly? Do you understand the bargain we've made? We don't anybody think we're judging them. So you want them to think that you're endorsing them? Do you understand how messed up the messaging has become? We don't want anybody that's ungodly to feel uncomfortable in our presence. We have hope. I've been more ungodly than you have and the Lord's helping me change. He would help you.
I brought you a prayer. I know my time's up. It's at the end of your outline. Way down there. It's actually a proclamation that's familiar to all of us. Why don't you stand, we'll say it together. We're gonna say out loud what the Word of God says about us. Sometime before we're done with this little run, I'll bring you the scriptures that go with this proclamation. Let's read it together.
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 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.