Sermon Series - Luke 6:37-49 - Inaction is NOT an option!

Christianity means a call to action!  Inaction in the Kingdom is disobedience.  

We have an Easter prelude class today as we step out of our standard Genesis sermon series to hear some of Jesus' teachings in the gospel of Luke. We better listen up and hear what God is telling us TO DO!

Don't let your house become a ruin of greatness. Shore up your foundation, shim a little here, remodel a little there and build up your legacy. Build up your home into one that people will talk about for generations to come.  Bear your shield and protect that foundation!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Hey true believers. Welcome back to the Baby Field Podcast. I'm your host, Ron Scheffler. And we're getting into sermon series today, but I'm not getting into Genesis. I just recently preached at my church. So for those listeners in Columbus, Wisconsin, hey, you'll be hearing this a second time if you've if you were there for the Palm Sunday service. So we'll be getting into Luke this morning and the Gospel of Matthew as well. And before I kick off with Luke, I just wanted to think about like Easter coming up. We're a week away from Easter. Here we are, Palm Sunday. You know, the interesting thing to me about Easter is it's it's always a different date, right? Um it's based on a different calendar of events in the church, and it's not like Christmas is December 25th, Valentine's is February 14th. We all know those dates are coming. And we know that it's the same day, same date on the calendar, right? Easter seems sometimes it just seems to creep up on me, especially like we've had like a longer winter here in Wisconsin, and it kind of creeps up, and all of a sudden, you know it's it's Easter. Um, and so I just thought, hey, this Palm Sunday, let's reflect a little bit before we get into the main crux of the of uh the Gospel of Luke. So I'm gonna start off today, Matthew 21, verses one through eleven. Reads this. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once. This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt the foal of a beast of burden. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them, and most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was stirred up, saying, Who is this? And the crowd said, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. And so where it says others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road, what this symbolizes is a great victory and celebration and a proclamation proclaiming that Jesus is king, not Caesar. And where it says Hosanna in the highest, in the strongest context, it's saying, Save us, please. And boy, don't we all need saving. You know, typically we tend to start prepping for Easter on Good Friday, you know, it smacks us in the face and here it is. But may I suggest that perhaps you start today and contemplate this holy week each day as you're able to reflect and prepare for Easter next Sunday in your mind, to get ready for the king. You know, because we can think that Christmas may be to some of the some of us, you know, like our best holiday, the most favorite holiday, and it's easy to do with all everything that's going on. But without Easter, Christmas means nothing. So we're gonna talk a little bit here on uh Jesus' teaching, Luke chapter six, and we're gonna go through the end of the chapter of 36 and or excuse me, of chapter six, but as you as you know, if you've been listening to the podcast, you know, I like giving the context or all the text first and then going through everything. But this time I think you know, I want to go through and read the verses in in each section here that makes sense, and then break it out. Um I think I think it'll be pretty clear as as we go along here. So here we go, uh Luke chapter six, verses thirty-seven and thirty eight to start out with. Verse thirty-seven. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for with the measure you use it, it will be measured back to you. So Jesus tells us basically what one sows, one reaps. Certain attitudes and actions often reflect back on us as individuals. And think about this once. We all know someone who has been mean in our life to us, right? Maybe it was a bully, or maybe it was someone that we loved. They're mean, brutal with their words, just angry at life and took it out on you. Think about this. Did they have a ton of friends around them, usually, you know? Did they receive a lot of gifts and affection? No, they didn't. They typically got what they gave out, squat. Or at least, if I can use a financial term, a minimal return on a lack of investment. Then later in life, they usually get a little more irritable and mean, right? We we know these people. You might have one in your family. Now think of the opposite. Someone who has been nice to you, nice to others, a friendly face, is typically surrounded by friends or family. You kind of want to be around them, right? And even later in life, they they still have people around them, and they they want to be around them. They're loved. Usually their minds can rest easy because they're believers and they've been nice, their hearts have been open in following Jesus. I mean, this is a basic truth, right? So I'm a product of the 80s, and I still, you know, still like some of my heavy metal bands of the 80s. One of them is Triumph. And even Triumph, you know, and this basic truth stated in their song Time Goes By. And I'm gonna sing it just like them.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

The love you send out returns to you in time. Right? The guitar riff goes.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, I know, I know. Um this guy's got talent. I know what you're thinking. No, but in all seriousness, right? In other words, non-judgmental, generous living, specifically here in mercy and love and giving is what it means, right? Invites God's abundant, overflowing return. If you aren't doing this, you aren't necessarily inviting God's abundance to come into your life. It's almost like ripping up your own party invitation and saying, I'm not coming. It's like, hey Ron, uh dear Ron, you're you're cordially invited to come to this party. Oh, no, thanks, Ron. I'm not coming. Rip. So let's look back at this verse 38 one more time. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure. Press down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. So what is that? A good measure? It's a full measure. It's all there is, right? Press down, think back. When this was written, this is talking about like figs or grapes might be pressed down together, squished into that, you know, down into that bucket or whatever the container would be. Thus, much more can be put into this measure, getting as much in as possible. Shaken together. Right? Think about like a bucket of rocks, small stones, sand, pebbles. You shake that all together, and the sand drops down, the little the little pebbles drop down, so that the big rocks in between all the gaps of the big rocks, everything is full. It's more compact, thus more to give. And running over, so full that the measure would overflow. You know, this running over, you can't, you know, you can't outgive God. And we don't give to get, right? But we all know what happens when we give. We do get back something differently. But we don't give to get. But look at what God says. If is given, if you do, right? A good measure overflows. Jesus also says then don't judge, right? Don't go around looking for others' faults. We don't know what people may have gone through recently. We should offer some grace. You know, uh, years ago to kind of tell you a little bit about me, like I think I can handle a lot of like nasty things, nasty smells and stuff, but there's one thing that I I just don't like, and it is like baby vomit, like the white curdly milk. If I'm turning some of your stomachs, I've done a good job right now. You understand that smell. And to tell you kind of how bad, how bad it was. Like at one point, uh my oldest son, Jake, when he when he was a little shyster, uh, he got sick on me on one of my favorite t-shirts, and it was that curling smell right up on my shoulder, and I couldn't take it. And I put him in his car seat, I ripped off my t-shirt, threw it over into the street, and got back into my van and buckled up and I took off. And my wife, Tracy, she was like, Ron, you can you can't just throw your t-shirt out on the highway, you know, and I'm like, anything ain't coming back. I just can't stand it. So now, you know, to go back before that, now that you understand the dilemma I'm gonna talk to you about. Um, we were new parents, and you know, it was snowing, long winter, and my wife and I, we we decided we're gonna go to the mall. And my oldest daughter, Gabrielle, um we put her in, she was a baby, put her in the car seat, off we drive to the mall. And I I think the mall was like, you know, 30 minutes away or something. Not something where something happened, we were gonna just go turn around and go home, right? We're gonna forge through. Well, lo and behold, what happens? Well, you can you guessed it, right? She gets sick, um, spits up, spits up the milk, so it's milk vomit, and and I get in the back seat, right? And it's cold out and open up the door, and I notice she got sick like down her chest. So it's like in on her coat, on her sweatshirt or whatever it was she was wearing, into her t-shirt. It was soaked through. And of course, we had blankets in the car, and we can certainly go ahead and and wrap her up, but I thought, you know, if I do that, then now the blanket's gonna be filthy and now she's gonna be smelly in the in the mall. And I didn't want to do that, so I stripped her down out of her clothes, wrapped her in a blanket, and then we got into the mall. And of course, what are we gonna do as soon as we get there? Well, we're gonna go to a department store that wasn't part of our trajectory and buy her some kind of outfit to dress her, right? So we get into the mall, I get her in the I got her in the stroller, I got her bundled up, and she's starting to get fussy because she's too hot with the blanket. So I take the blanket down, and now she's got you know no shirt on, and we're going through the mall and we're heading to whatever department store was nearby, right? Well, we're we're 20, 30 seconds into the mall, and this old fart sitting on the bench just looks at her and looks up at me and says, How sad that is. Like, dude, you don't know me. You don't know what just went down. You have no idea. I thought I made the better play, and to this day I think, you know, four kids deep and they're all adults, they all made it. I'd probably do the same play again. But just goes to show, give people some grace. Now, if they're continuously being insulting and bombarding you with stuff, that's something different. This was a one of man. The guy didn't know me. Give people some grace. Don't judge them, and we will not be judged. Not condemning, so that we are not condemned. And we are to forgive others generously. What does this look like? Well, God has forgiven us. Take a look at Psalm 103, verses ten through twelve. Reads this He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, okay, let's stop there a second. Have you ever watched a space movie where the astronauts launch into space and they take off, you know, the Hubble telescope, the all these other galaxies that are out there? Have you ever noticed anybody in a movie ever reached to heaven? No. It's more and more and more space, as far as the heavens are above the earth, right? There's an infinite gap there. So great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. And I think how important that verse is right now, especially during Holy Week, the how far the East is from the West, and if you just picture yourself stretching out your arms, that's how much God forgives us. His hands outstretched, nails into the cross, his crucifixion. That is how far and how much he loves us. And no matter if I travel to the east or to the west, it never s I never seem to get to that line that says you're now in the more west, you're now more east. It always seems to keep moving. As far as the east is from the west, he forgives us. So let's take a look a little bit more about forgiveness here. In Matthew 18, starting with verse 21 through 35. There's a conversation, Jesus and the disciples are together, and Peter comes up and says to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy, seven times. Now this isn't getting into I get to this number for all you math wizards out there, and I'm I'm good. I can start slamming people. No, it's an infinite forgiveness. Jesus continues on with his story, though. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Remember that number, ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denari. Okay, we had ten thousand talents, now we have a hundred denari. And seizing him he began to choke him, saying, Pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him. Have patience with me and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me, and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you and in anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. So I want to take a look at this a moment. In that society money was measured by a day's wage. A denari was one day of work, thus one hundred denarii or one hundred days, wages were owed the latter person, right? One hundred days. However, the first person owed the king ten thousand talents, which one talent equaled six thousand denari. That number is sixty million denari. Sixty million work days. No one will live long enough to gain that amount. So it's an unpayable debt that that person was forgiven. Are you telling me, Ron? Are you telling me that I need to forgive like that? Yeah. It's not easy, right? We aren't God. We aren't that forgetful if we wanted to forget the sins, right? As far as from the east is from the west. And you might be thinking, why should I? You you don't know what so and so did to me. No, I I don't. But you know who suffers more than the perpetrator? You do. Holding someone captive in unforgiveness keeps your heart hardened. Keeps you in forgiveness jail. Sometimes makes you act just like the person who sinned against you acted. And you can say yes, but all you want. But the fact remains there is going to come a time when you need to forgive before it's too late. And don't forget. If you want to be forgiven, as far as the east is from the west, as God forgives us. Remember the words we just read. With the measure you use it, it will be measured to you. So right now maybe you're thinking, Why in the world did I have to be such a good measurer? Alright, let's continue on with Luke. Chapter 6, verses 39 to 42. Reads this. He, meaning Jesus, also told them a parable. Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one, when he is fully trained, would be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that's in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite. First take out the log of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. So Jesus tells this story, right, and basically explains how obvious it is that the blind leading the blind will fall into a pit, a trap. Someone will not be able to hide their real standing on righteousness. If someone is unrighteous, they will certainly lead others astray. And you know, we should also be careful when we're a group of like-minded people, some friends of ours, right? It's great to have common connections, common thoughts, common beliefs. But don't simply blindly agree without putting it through the scripture test. Otherwise, everyone could be walking straight into a pit. Put the scripture test to everything that you believe in. And Jesus also stated that a person becomes like the one whom he emulates. I'd like to think back on a moment, if you will. Someone, you know, when you were a kid that you wanted to be like, you know, a person that came to mind for me was uh, you know, I watched Westerns with my with my dad and mom on the weekends, and it was John Wayne. Like maybe you tried to walk like John Wayne with his gait, you know, or talk like him low and slow, right? I asked my wife what she thought, perhaps, you know, she thought like Maria von Trapp in the sound of music, who was musical and brought peace and grounding to a family that was broken. She loves the sound of music to this day. And loved the portrayal of Maria von Trapp by Julie Andrews. Or maybe you jumped your bike up a ramp or over a curb thinking to be like Evil Knievel. You tried really hard to act that way, right? You were focused on that. That person, you dressed like that person, you talked like them. You wanted to be just like them. Why don't we focus on Jesus that way? Why don't we choose to walk like him, to speak like him, to pray like him, seek others out like him, forgive like him, be a friend like him, act like him, love like him. Thus Jesus is telling his disciples that they should emulate him. You have to get rid of a sin in your life if you're going to help others overcome a similar sin, right? Otherwise we are hypocrites, just like Jesus say, we can lead people into that pit. Jesus goes back to his carpenter roots here and uses the metaphor of a two by four, so to speak, versus a speck of sawdust. It's a big, big difference. But his point is that often our own sin is greater in our life than the one we criticize in others' lives. And we focus on the other person's speck because it distracts us from dealing with the issues in our own lives. Don't look to someone and say, at least I'm better than that dude. Oh boy. You're both in trouble, right? Your sights should be on Jesus. Not the lunkhead of a friend that you hang out with. Don't fall into the trap of focusing on others' issues just so that you don't have time to focus on your own improvements. We can get real busy doing good things while we spin in a rut. You want a standard to hold yourself to? The only standard is Jesus Christ. Learn from him and emulate him. And choose carefully who you would associate with. For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit, for figs are not gathered from the thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person 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. So in this section, Jesus teaches that a man's words will eventually tell what kind of person he really is. On the surface, someone may be nice at first, right? Think about like the first time if you're married that you start dating your wife. Oh your hair is done upright, and you know, you combed your hair for crying out loud and put on some nice clothes and you ironed them and then you know, next thing you know, 20 years later into your marriage, you're wearing pajamas at Walmart. Acts and looks can be deceiving. Eventually the truth shows. People know what kind of a tree it is by the fruit it bears. We know that by seeing apples is it's an apple tree. I think everyone could pass that test. Likewise, people know if someone is righteous or not by what comes out of their mouth. In the example that Jesus uses here, fruit stands for what someone says, not what someone does. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, said Jesus. Well, what comes out of your mouth? You know, I was so naive. I thought everyone, everyone around me was a Christian. You know, I used to think that people all around our society were praying all around me. I mean, I come from the construction industry and the turf industry and being out in the shop, and the number of times that I heard Jesus' name come out of everyone's mouth, I thought a revival was going on. Yeah, I'm laying on that sarcasm pretty thick. What's coming out of your mouth? If you have a potty mouth, maybe it's time to call Rotor and get your heart cleaned out. If you gossip and talk about others, call Rotorooter and get your heart cleaned out. And if you're screaming at people and say mean things to them, call Rotorooter and get your heart cleaned out. Maybe you're thinking, dude, like I ain't catching your metaphor. What do you mean, call rotorooter? Okay, well, let me tell you, this is how you do it. So I'm gonna pretend I'm calling Rotoroter, okay? I got a phone in my head. Yeah, uh look Jesus. Yeah, it's Ron again. Yep, yep, sorry. I know I'm a frequent caller here. Uh I need some help. God, my heart must be plugged up with gunk and bad stuff because I can't control my tongue without you. I'm completely clogged. I open my mouth, and I'm like this overflowing situation. I mean it's really crappy. I cuss, I'm too sarcastic, I can't stay out of gossipy situations, I enjoy talking about others so much to become a hobby. So whatever's going on deep down in my heart, Lord, please cleanse me. Help me to break through and get my pipes clean. Guide my thoughts and actions to do what you would have me to do to become a better person. Amen. I mean thanks, Jesus. Goodbye. Easy, right? Well get to it today. Alright, Jesus gives us yet one more lesson today. Finishing up Luke chapter six, verses forty six through forty-nine reads this Why do you call me Lord Lord and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does do and does them, I will show you what he is like. 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. But the one who bears or who hears, excuse me, 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. Obedience is more important than outward expression. Jesus asks, Why do you call me Lord Lord and not do what I say? Let me give you this one takeaway thought, if nothing else, yet today. Inaction in the kingdom is disobedience. Inaction in the kingdom is disobedience. It's not just enough to call Jesus Lord. We must, as believers, do what he tells us. Otherwise, what are we doing here? Right? What are we doing here going to church having community with fellow believers? The believers that hear Jesus' words and act on them literally do what Jesus says to do, can be confident and secure in their faith. Like the guy who laid a solid foundation for his home. Folks, build your home. Or perhaps you weren't such a good contractor at first. And maybe you need to renovate your home a bit to have Jesus as your foundation. Then when troubles come, and they will, you can still be secure in your faith that Jesus is still your Savior and that He's with you no matter what comes down the path. However, those that build their house without a foundation, trouble came and it fell. People heed these words, take this seriously. It takes work to build a solid foundation. There's no denying that, but once you build on the correct foundation, Jesus, other materials and the other frameworks and things like that become a bit more easier to maintain, to build upon. If you don't and you build without a solid foundation, trouble is just waiting around the corner, and when trouble comes up, it's more difficult to get through those years, those tribulations. God's word states a chilling result. The ruin of that house was great. Jesus is talking to his disciples, reminding them to do what he tells them. To some extent they have already, just by following him, right? They've left their nets, they left their homes. But they always didn't get everything all the time. And we don't either. Which is why we have to stay in the word, hear things repeated to us over and over and over again. Who knows? We just may get something to land. You know, and I think to some extent Jesus isn't telling his disciples to hear and to follow. He's also providing a warning too. These are this small list is a call to action, like wake up. Wake up. Call to action. Don't be lazy. Second, listen to what I'm saying. Focus on me. Listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth. Hear what I'm telling you, right? Don't just listen. Hear the words, let them penetrate you. Again, a call to action. And then do what I have just told you to do. Call to action to do. Because remember, who was he talking to? Right? His disciples. And even in that Mary Band, someone was not listening. Someone had his heart twisted in knots. Someone was not building his home with a foundation. It was the purse bearer, someone whose heart loved money more than Jesus. It was Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus. And not listening to Jesus, not hearing him, not doing what he said, not cleansing his heart, it would become the ruin of him. Judas betrayed Jesus for just a bit of silver, then hung himself over the guilt. You know, I know several homes that were not built with a good foundation, several friends and families' homes that were lacking Christ, outwardly appearance that may have been great. But like rebar in the concrete of the home's foundation, and there was often chaos and a lack of love even in good times. And when trouble called in bad times, houses crumbled. The ruin was great. So let me ask, how are things structurally in your home? Maybe it's time to get your tool bag out and repair some of the damaged areas in your house. My home always needs a little bit of shimming here and there. How about yours? So let's talk about this in its totality as we wrap up. If you don't build your faith on solid ground, right what we ended with, then how can you do the rest? How can you expect to forgive others? To give generously in mercy and love, to lead others away from sin, to watch how you speak, to have your heart be righteous deep down so that you don't have to worry about what comes out of your mouth. Then why should you care about these things? Well, Jesus has called us to follow him. And not only follow him in general, but to follow him in how he does things, right? To talk like he talks, to do what he does, to act like men and women of the Lord Jesus, because inaction in the kingdom is disobedience. Folks, check your heart. Pray for cleansing. And show up your home to be confident and secure. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening, everybody. Got it.