A Life That Reflects God's Word

Luke 6:27-49 - Riley Boggs

Introduction

Often times people try to put a divide between the sacred (spiritual) and the secular. They have their spiritual stuff here on this side (going to church, reading the Bible, praying, etc.) and then on the other side they have their secular stuff (their job, their hobbies, maybe even their family, etc.) Many of you have probably experienced this if you’ve tried to engage people in spiritual conversations in so-called secular places. For example, when I worked at Starbucks there would be times where certain things would get brought up that began to blur the lines a bit. And many times when that happened, my boss who professed to be a Christian, would ask us to not talk about whatever it was, claiming, "this isn’t the place for that kind of conversation." Essentially, what she was saying was that this is a secular place, and if you want to talk about spiritual things, you need to do that in a spiritual space.

I remember reading about this idea in a book during my time Union, but I cannot remember the name of it now. The whole premise of the book was that this divide between the sacred (spiritual) and the secular doesn’t, or shouldnt, actually exist. It’s something that we have made up and falsely put into place. And as a result of that, Christians often end up living hypocritical double-lives. In their spiritual spaces, they are spiritual. They come to church and sing and pray and all the rest. When they are with their church friends, they play the part. But then, in their secular spaces, they act secular. At work they act like everyone else, nothing really sets them apart.

This is where we really get the idea of “nominal Christians”. That word, “nominal”, means “in name only”. So the idea is that if we separate these two things, then what happens is we create people who are Christians in name only. Yes, at times, in certain spaces, their life looks like a Christians life ought to look. But for the majority of the time there is nothing shows them to be a Christian other than their claim to be one.

Here’s the reason I bring all this up. This whole idea of separating your life into 2 different categories, sacred and secular, is nonsense. It really is. If you proclaim to follow Christ, it ought to affect every single part of your life. Every space that you find yourself in, it affects. It affects the way you treat relationships, how you work, how you speak, your choices, and ultimately answers the “why” for everything in your life. For example, if seek to do your job well and someone ask you why you work the way that you do, your answer should be more than “I just want to be a good employee”. I mean, that is part of it, but what’s the deeper reason? You do your job well, because you work unto the Lord and desire to honor Him in your work. Obviously, in that statement, this made-up divide falls apart.

In our text this morning, we are looking at the second half of Jesus’ sermon. In the first part, which we looked at last week, Jesus walks through 4 beatitudes and 4 woes and essentially says that things are not always as they seem. That is, those who follow Jesus must live with eternity in mind, weighing all things in this life against what is to come. In this second half of Jesus’ sermon, He walks through how those who follow Jesus must live. He gives guidance on what you, as a Christian, should seek to have your life look like. And so this morning, the way I’d like to work through this text is actually by starting at the end of the sermon, in verses 46-49. The reason for that is that I think in establishing the point He makes there, we can see the outflow of that truth in what He says in the earlier verses. So, the first point I have for us this morning is this.

1.) As followers of Christ, we must build our life on the Word of God (vv.46-49)

Look at what Jesus says in verses 46-49. He says, “46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus is comparing 2 different people here. On one hand, you have someone who hears Jesus’ Word and obeys it. That man is like a man who built a house, dug deep, and created a strong foundation. So strong in fact that when flood waters came against the house, it could not shake it. On the other hand, you have someone who hears Jesus’ Word, but does not obey it. That man is like a man who built a house without a strong foundation, and so, when the flood waters came against it, it immediately fell and ruined the house.

In this story, what is the difference between a strong house and a weak house? The foundation. So, what is the difference between strong faith and weak faith? The foundation. In order to have a strong faith, a faith that can withstand the waves of this world, it must have a strong foundation. That is what Jesus is saying here. But in the case of our faith, that foundation obviously isn’t a literal rock, it is the Word of God. A strong faith is a faith that is deeply rooted in the Word of God. It finds its strength there.

If you would turn with me briefly to Ephesians 4:11-16 – “ 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

In our life, we aren’t going to be faced with literal waves that could destroy your faith. But we will face spiritual waves. Things like doubt, when things get very difficult in your life. When you begin to wonder, does God still love me? Or when you’ve been praying for something for years and it has happened, and you asked, does God even hear me? Or when you find yourself in a season of suffering and you call out to the Lord and ask, God, do you see what is happening to me? Those are the kind of waves that we will endure in this life, and it is in those times that we must have a strong foundation in the Word of God. So that we know, for certain, because God said it, that He does love us, that He does hear us, and that He is for us. It is easy to say this when things are going well, but it is much more difficult when the waves come. That’s why we must build our foundation before the waves come.

And so, the admonition here from the end of Jesus is sermon is to build your whole life on the Word. Take all of your cues from the Word. The way you treat your friends and your spouse, the way you raise your children, the way you work, the way you spend your free time, how you spend your money; everything. Let everything you do be guided by the Word. Build your life on the Word and you will never regret it.

And if we do that, if we build our life on it, then we’ll find that our lives are beginning to reflect His Word. That is what I want us to look at for the second point this morning.

2.) As followers of Christ, our lives should reflect God’s Word (vv.43-45)

In verses 43-45 Jesus gives another illustration. Look at it with me. He says, “43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Think about what Jesus is saying here. If you build your life on God’s Word, if you fill your heart and mind with His Word, then you will find your life reflecting His Word.

If you planted an apple seed in the ground, what would you expect to begin to grow? A blueberry bush? A grape vine? No. You’d expect an apple tree to grow. Now think about our own lives. Often times we wonder why it is we are struggling to grow in our walk with God. We wonder why we continue to fight against the same sins, why we are feeling a bit stagnant in our faith, or whatever the case. But if took an honest look at what it is we have been planting in our hearts and minds, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. If we doom scroll social media, we shouldn’t be surprised when we find ourselves a bit more anxious. If we continually justify watching this show or listening to that music, we shouldn’t be surprised when we are having a hard time cleaning up our language around coworkers. If we continually fill our hearts and minds with those things and expect to grow in our faith, we are sowing apple seeds expecting blueberries to grow. It doesn’t make sense.

On the other hand, however, if we fill our hearts and minds with the Word of God, then we can be sure that the fruit of that will be seen in our life. The good treasure in our heart will produce that which is good in us and through us. Out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth will speak. Now that takes work. We’ve been talking about it in Sunday school, but this is why we must discipline ourselves in Godliness. We do the things that don’t come naturally to us, so that we might grow in Godliness. We aren’t inclined towards holiness; we have to work for it. That doesn’t mean we are working for our salvation, but rather we are working out our salvation. We are showing it to be true as we labor towards Godliness.

Now in our text this morning, in Jesus’ sermon, He gives us 2 specific ways that our lives should reflect His Word. For the rest of our time this morning, I want to turn our attention to each of them briefly. The first one is this.

A.) We love our enemies and show them mercy (vv.27-36)

Before we get into the weeds of this, I want to make sure that we are all on the same page regarding the context Jesus has in mind. It seems that Jesus is specifically applying this to when Christians are persecuted for the faith. And the reason that we know this is because Jesus just previously, in the first part of His sermon in verse 22, talks about being hated on account of the Son of Man. In other words, we are to love those who come against because we are Christians, and it is in that sense they are our “enemies”.

And so, what Jesus is saying here is that we must respond to those who come against us in the exact opposite way that they are treating us. When we are hated, we love them. When they curse us, we bless them. When they abuse us, we pray for them. When we get taken advantage of, we don’t try to get back at them.

Jesus acknowledges how difficult this is going to be in verses 32-35. What he says there is that it is easy to love those who love you. It is easy to do good to those who are doing good to you. It is easy to give to people when you know they will give back to you. All of that is much easier than loving someone and doing good to someone and giving to someone who hates you. And what Jesus is saying is that if you are to follow Him, you are being called to reflect the Word of God in your life in that way, by loving your enemies.

Now, let me clear here in saying that I don’t think this means we shouldn’t defend ourselves or that we shouldn’t intentionally remove ourselves from harm. We know this for 2 reasons. First, I was reminded by a previous pastor that in other texts such as Acts 23:2-5, where Paul appeals to the law as the reason for him to stop being hit in the face. And in that, there is clearly grounds for self-defense. The second reason we know this is because we know that Jesus is not calling on His disciples to place themselves literally in these situations that He is preaching about. We saw this in the previous weeks, but when He says, “Blessed are those who are poor, hungry, weeping, and hated”, He is not saying that in order to be blessed, these things need to describe you. Rather, what He is saying is that if and when these things happens, remember you are blessed. So, in this example, Jesus isn’t saying we can’t defend ourselves and we should allow ourselves to be taken advantage of. Instead, what Jesus is saying is that when that happens, the way in which you respond matters, and you must respond in a way that reflects Jesus.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let’s say someone at your work or school or community begins to mock you for your faith. They tease you and make fun of you for believing what you believe and doing the things you do. If that happens, how should you respond? The temptation might be to repay evil for evil. You might want to be put them in their place and lash out against them, especially after they have intentionally tried to embarrass you in front of everyone. And while that might be the temptation, this is where this passage finds its application. Rather than treating them how they are treating you, you do good to them. You pray for them and maybe even go the extra mile to help them out at certain times. You reflect the Word of God in the way that you treat them. And even further than that, if others begin to talk bad about this person around you, you show them mercy and only speak well of them. You don’t join in on the conversation in that way.

Now, let’s say that they notice your response. They realize that they aren’t getting a response from you, and it seems like the worse they have treated you, the better you have treated them. And they come to you, and they say, “I don’t know why I was doing that. I’m sorry.” If that happens, what do you do? You, without hesitation, forgive them.

Do you see how powerful of a witness this would be? And then, if you were able to share the Gospel with this person, showing them why it is that you’ve acted the way you have. Telling them that you sinned against God, and yet He forgave you of your sins, and daily lavishes you with grace and mercy. Do you see how affective for the Gospel that would be? Church, this is what we have been called to. And rarely does this stuff make news headlines. It isn’t the popular thing that draws a lot of eyes. But it is powerful, and is the manner in which we reflect the Word of God in our lives. This is what Jesus is calling His followers to. So if you are following Jesus, this is what you are being called to.

This doesn’t mean we don’t pursue justice or refuse to acknowledge the consequences of sin. That’s not it. what it means is that we act in a way that is altogether distinct from the world around us. A way that reflects the way that God has acted towards us. Love and mercy and forgiveness. There is one other way Jesus urges us to reflect the word.

B.) We walk in humility, examining ourselves (vv.37-42)

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve read or heard verse 37 misapplied. There have been countless times I’ve see someone doing something sinful, be called to repentance, and then they respond by saying, “No no, Jesus said not to judge.”  Let me just be clear, Jesus is not saying that we need to relax our fight against sin in our lives or ignore the sin that we see in our brothers and sisters lives. That’s not what He is saying at all.

What Jesus is saying here is that we need to walk in humility, seeking our own holiness first. In other words, we must desire to reflect the Word of God in our own lives before we begin demanding it in those around us.

Think about this with me. If we aren’t examining ourselves, if we aren’t obeying God’s Word, if we aren’t walking like Jesus, how can we expect to have the correct heart or eyes to see what others need? If we are blind to our own sin, how can we lead others who are blind? If we miss the log in our eye, how are we to see the right way to take the speck out our brothers eye?

Now the call here isn’t sinless perfection before we begin to walk with one another in the church. Rather, what Jesus is saying here is that if we spend all of our times looking around us and seeing how others need to grow, but neglect to evaluate our own life, we are in a dangerous position. Because not only are we going to judge those around us inaccurately because we don’t know the Word, but also, we might find ourselves in a spot where we think we know the Lord, but we actually don’t.

Remember what we talked about earlier, how a good tree will bear good fruit? And how out of our heart, the mouth speaks? What if all of the fruit and the evidence of our lives doesn’t point to actually knowing God? What if, like verse 46 says, we call out “Lord, Lord” like we know Him, but we don’t actually do what He has said? If that’s the case, but yet we spend all of our time evaluating others instead of ourselves, then we might just persist in unbelief our entire lives.

So, what Jesus is saying here is this. Yes, you’ve been called to walk with your brothers and sisters in Christ, helping them flee from sin. But, if you are going to follow Jesus, then that means you must continually evaluate your own life. You need to be looking at how you might better reflect the Word of God in your thoughts and actions, so that you might better help your brothers and sisters. So that you might persist in faith and obedience all the days of your life. If we are to follow Jesus, that means we must daily deny ourselves and seek to obey the Lord, and that requires honest self-reflection.

So, for those of you here who know Christ and are following Him, I want you to reflect on your own life for a moment. What have you built your life on? How is your life reflecting the Word of God? Have you loved your enemies? Have you forgiven others well? Have you been bearing the fruit of a follower of Jesus? I doubt anyone here feels like they’ve done all of those things perfectly. I know that I haven’t. I know I’ve neglected to reflect the Word in certain areas of my life. I know I’ve been hesitant to forgive and have lacked fruit. But the good news is, the call of this text is not to tighten your bootstraps and work harder. The call of this text, for those in Christ, is to reflect the Word of God in your life. And that means, in times like this we do what the Word tells us to do, we run to the Father for forgiveness, we joyfully accept it, and we press on asking that the Spirit would help us to grow. And when we fail, do it again. That is the beauty of the Word and the joy found in Christ.