Taboo | Authority: Who Gets the Final Say (Luke 6:46-49)

Who gets the final say in your life? That question is a matter of authority. In a culture where we are raised to live out our truth, the Bible calls us to the exact opposite. We conform ourselves to the truth of God’s Word. That’s what it means to call Jesus "Lord." 

Transcript

Maybe I’m off, but doesn’t the topic of authority seem a little tame to start a sermon series pursuing “taboo” topics? That’s intentional. It exposes a subliminal theme in our culture that is quietly dictating so much of our perception. The concept of authority truly affects many of our cultural assumptions. Do any of these phrases sound familiar: “My body my choice.” “Live out your truth.” “Life is what you make it.” Michael Foucault, the French philosopher, captures the attitude of our modern culture towards any kind of authority: “Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint.” In other words, truth is whatever people want it to be, nothing more. Now, truth and authority go hand in hand, and without absolute truth, there really can be no foundation for authority besides individual or public opinion, right? And do we not see a tremendous lack of trust in authority today? Respect for government, churches, and schools are all at or near all-time lows. This all makes sense when we understand how our society has placed self as the authority. There’s one major problem with that…self by nature is deconstructive. Notice not only is it destructive, but deconstructive. What do I mean?

Not to get into the weeds of this, but deconstruction is a philosophy within a framework similar to critical theory that questions the ability of language to represent reality. It emphasizes that words have no stable meaning. So naturally, the belief that the words of the Bible are absolute truth is ridiculous to many in our society, because there is doubt that language can communicate unchanging truth. So for us to say that Scripture alone tells us of the reality of God and ourselves is radical and even arrogant in the eyes of secularism. So what we are being fed both knowingly and unknowingly through marketing and messaging is that only you alone can establish what language means. If you find a phrase offensive, then it must be. If you are triggered by a word, it must be problematic. The self becomes the authority in the writing of your story, and such deconstruction often leads to destruction. 

Interestingly enough, some of the post-modern “nones” in our world will use Jesus as an example of someone who questioned authority, and the language being used by especially the religious establishment. At the beginning of Luke 6, Jesus confronts the Pharisees, and calls them out for twisting the Bible and trying to discredit him. But Jesus is not anti-authority, nor is he deconstructive. Rather, he intends for us to have real foundational life certainty. He calls us to deny self because as the prophet Jeremiah put it, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” The message of the Bible continues to frustrate the world as well as our own sinful nature because we want to be the writer, producer, and actor in our story. Jesus’ parable in Luke 6 speaks directly to that sinful instinct.
 
Let’s read it again, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are 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, because it was well built. 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.” Jesus is talking to a large group of followers, and what he says is so convicting. He’s saying, “You’re mouthing that I’m your Lord, yet you are not truly following me wholeheartedly, but rather using me for your own self’s ambition.” 

Don’t we see this in American Christianity and even more close to home, right here in our hearts? It’s what makes this Taboo series difficult. We like to bring up the more culturally acceptable things of Jesus, we don’t like to touch the awkward, why? It comes down to authority. The authority of the Word to establish truth. The authority of the Lord over our lives. Both remain taboo topics because we risk offending someone’s thought process and opinion. Think about how sexuality can become the focal point of a person’s identity. If you dare to speak about how God identifies us or question someone’s autonomy, you know as well as I do the awkward and potentially fiery conversation that could transpire. We have so many fears of living in the authority of God. And as we live in that fear, do you see how you’re still putting self first? To follow Jesus is to go against your sinful instincts, regardless of emotions or even your own convictions. As Maximus the Confessor once said, “A person becomes spiritual when he is crucified to self-love.” In our time of so-called “spirituality,” this shows what true spirituality revolves around. Submitting to the authority of God, something we are entirely unfit to do according to our sinful nature. We use the “Jesus facade” to look the part while the foundation crumbles. We deserve to be swept away in the torrent of life’s storms, because if your and my entire lives are built on ourselves, that’s a shaky foundation, one laid on the surface and certainly not grounded on the bedrock of real truth.

So it comes as no surprise as deconstructive and destructive as the self is, the only way we could avoid being swept away is if self was denied. Which is precisely what the Son of God accomplished for you. Think of Jesus’ sheer love for you! He constantly submitted to his Father’s will, to the point of sweating blood, so he could build you into the spiritual house of his church, his family. His carpenter hands he allowed to be set in place on splintery wood, so now with those same hands he is constructing your heavenly home. Don’t you see? Everything else this world offers you will lead to dismantling and loss, but the gospel means true construction, true stability, and a peace that only comes from the only truth and authority this universe has ever seen. 

And this truth and authority, notice in this parable, will allow for torrents and storms to come. The LORD allows suffering, uncomfortability, unforeseen struggle to flood your life to expose you and me to where we’re weak. Not to deconstruct you, nor destroy you, but build you up again. To continue renovating you until you shine in the brilliance of your heavenly home. Through baptism you’ve been given God’s DNA if you will, through faith, your entire make-up has changed. You are his redeemed and ransomed child. And like the greatest parent he is, he wants you to have his character now. If we are content with merely verbalizing our faith, but not entrusting all that we are to Jesus for him to do with us as he lovingly pleases, we are missing out on the grandest adventure of all. Do you know what I mean?

To build our lives by his grace through His Word means resiliency. It means unchangeable joy. It means fearless living. This is ironically what the world wants, yet is so misguided in how to attain it. The first realization is that we cannot attain it on our own. The second is to see that your story has never been about you. When you relinquish every bit of selfish authority, in its place you find a freedom that only Christ can give you: The freedom of self-forgetfulness.

What is that freedom? It’s the freedom that says, “I will stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I will stop thinking about myself entirely.” When Jesus is the sole authority of your life, when he sets the boundaries, when his words set your compass, do you see how fear simply cannot be in the same room anymore? Can you imagine parenting without the hounding question, “What will my child think of me?” Can you picture boldly yet gently sharing your faith without any fear of blowback? Can you visualize not giving two cents to how your classmates judge you because you know the One who was judged in your place? Could it really happen that you could love the people in your life as they need to be loved without any concern about whether they will appreciate you or not? Can it truly be possible to not be so affected by the constant changes and traumas of this earth? Pastor Jonny, it’s impossible! And true it is, is that it’s impossible for us, but there is One for whom impossible doesn’t exist.

And he is your God who wants you to know such a life. A life where no storm can rattle you. A life where fear is an unwelcome guest. And such a life is not on you to make your New Year’s resolution. It’s the life you already have in Jesus. Through faith, Jesus has placed you on himself, the Rock and Cornerstone of your life. The struggle is not building certain hope for yourself, the struggle is daring to believe such hope is yours. That’s what’s so precious about the Bible. God’s words cannot leave you the same. His voice always rings differently. It’s the whisper behind each syllable, “It’s all true.” It’s why it remains the most controversial and banned book in history, because a person cannot read the Bible and not have a strong reaction. Could it be because our consciences even in our fallen state can’t help but hear the voice of the Creator? 

How much more wonderful it is that you know what his voice said from the cross, “It is finished.” His building of salvation is complete. Unlike a world motivated by fear, uncertainty, and avoidance of pain! Nothing ever done, hope never sure! By grace, we live motivated by God’s certain love, which propels us into the unknowns of life because we know dearly the One for whom nothing is unknown. That’s what makes this sermon series so exciting. It’s why you may be excited to bring a friend to join you in the coming weeks. Because we’re going to witness God’s Word do what it’s always done, even with the most emotionally disturbing, convoluted, and complex issues…bring clarity, bring reality, bring certain certainty. So what’s holding us back from putting this Word into motion? Sin and death? They have no hold on you! Self? Why would we choose ourselves when Jesus has chosen us and made us his own? See the freedom that it’s not your body, your choice, but it’s a body God crafted with his hands, and the only choice that truly matters is God’s choice to give up himself to win you. To see in him the authority we’ve always longed for. Truth himself clothed in a love beyond compare. You have every right to be overjoyed for today and tomorrow, dear Christian. Forget faux-Christianity! Forget superficial spirituality! By grace, we boldly face the storm with Jesus at our side! What’s holding us back from living for him?! Let his wisdom permeate every decision and choice you face! It’s what God’s grace has always done: Set the tone for the now, and for the glorious eternal ending in God’s house that awaits you. Amen.