What’s The Good Word?
Luke 8:16-18
Introduction
There once was a poor rice farmer. Each year his crop was
poor, and as planting season was approaching, he had no hope that this year
would be any different. Still he rode his tractor—his kuliglig-to the rice
field he worked. When got there, he was amazed to find it was already planted,
the healthy, seedling rice plants perfectly laid out in rows. He tried to
figure out what had happened, but couldn’t figure out who had planted in his
field.
He could not believe his good fortune. The crop was healthy,
and his harvest yielded more kilos per hectare than any rice crop he’d ever
seen or heard of. But what to do with this big crop? If his neighbors, or worse
yet, his in-laws knew about his good fortune, they would certainly be coming to
ask, ask, ask from him. So he determined to not tell anyone, and threshed it at
night, and stored it in jars and baskets under his house. For once in his life,
there was no pressure. He had enough bigas (rice) for two harvests! So he slept
in, sneaking rice from his hiding places when he thought no one was looking,
growing plump and enjoying his hammock through the next season. But then he
noticed a problem. The weevils and mice were enjoying his rice, too. By the end
of the season, so much was rotten, moldy or eaten that he had to borrow money
for his daily food. He dreamed of another big crop, but at planting time he
went to the field and found it dry and empty. So because he squandered his
blessing selfishly, the blessings dried up. What will you do with God’s ‘good
news’ towards you?
Is God’s word good? And, if it is good, then how good is it?
We’ve been studying the life of Jesus as it is recorded in the Bible. In
chapter 8 of the book of Luke, one of the four biographies of Jesus in the
Bible, it records a new period in Jesus’ ministry:
1After
this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were
with him,
The ministry consists of the message: the ‘good news of the
kingdom of God’ which included both his miracles and his sermons, the Messiah:
Jesus, and the community: the twelve disciples and others who traveled with
them.
When people asked him about this ‘good news’ he often told
stories to describe what the he meant. And last time, we learned how the good
news means that we can change; that we can be new and improved
when we are humble and welcome God’s word.
15But
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.
God can change us. God
does change us. He changes out attitudes. He changes our habits. He
changes our want-to. He changes what we hope for. He changes what we dream
about. He changes our relationships. He produces love, joy, peace and patience
in our lives (Gal. 5:22-23)
But what is the change for?
Why did he change you? Now some of you think this is a trick question. Jesus
died on the cross to fix me, to remove the sin which he hates and which
corrupts every decision I make, so that I can be truly “healthy”. And that’s true.
But why did he do that?
In the next few verses-verses
16-18-of Luke chapter 8, Jesus explains further using a different picture. But
even though we are not talking about ‘seeds’ and ‘crops’ we are still talking
about the same topic. We are still talking about the change that results from
God’s word active in our life. Let’s read together:
16“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. 17For
there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that
will not be known or brought out into the open. 18Therefore consider
carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not
have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
We Are God’s Projectors
In order to get his point across, Jesus uses a sort of
ridiculous picture. Look at it again, in verse 16.
16“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.”
He says “Can you imagine?” Can you imagine lighting your
candle, but then sticking it in a pot or a stuffing it under the mattress. How
ridiculous? So what do you think about God? Did he make a mistake with you?
“That Tim, he’s wet wood. A lot of smoke. A lot of sputtering. But no fire!” No
way. He has set the spark in your life to start your world on fire.
Did you see? “He puts it on a stand” He is going to put you
out there, where the new and improved you can shine the brightest. We don’t
need the flashlight in here. Why do Christians end up in the worst and most
difficult situations? Because the light shines brightest where the darkness is
deepest. Because the light shines to greatest effect to those who are lost in that
darkness.
8For you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and
truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. – Ephesians 5:8-9
You know, you are like this projector. The cable on the back
of the projector, that’s where the signal comes in. The cable carries the
message. But there is something in the projector, the light, the bulb which
gets combined with the message to show it large. The projector is a message
amplifier.
And we are God’s message amplifiers. He gives us the signal,
and he lights us up and we shine his message around us. Some of us are content to show off in
well-lit Sunday churches. Frankly, if we all just sit around and point our
lights at each other, we never see what God wants to say and we just blind each
other.
We are God’s projectors in dark world.
We Are God’s Reflectors
But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Listen to what he says next:
17For
there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that
will not be known or brought out into the open.
Do you remember what Jesus was doing? Back in verse 1 says
Jesus was going around proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.
The good news is not about me. Incredible! Hey, the good news is not
about you, either. Impossible? No…the good news is about God! It is his
kingdom.
Back in verse 16, what was supposed to shine? What was not
supposed to be hidden? It was the word of God. It was the good news. It was God
himself. But now look at verse 17: there is nothing that is hidden that will
not be disclosed, there is nothing concealed that will not be known.
You can’t hide God. He’s too big. You try to stuff him down,
hide him, squeeze him, he starts bulging out and showing up in expected places,
in unexpected ways. Sort of like those boxes people ship back to the
Philippines, the balikbayan boxes. The manufacturer’s specification says they
are 18x18x18, but I swear duck tape and desperation adds an extra 100 cubic
bulging inches to their dimensions. I worry that they are like mines—one touch
and that box will explode with gifts all over.
That’s the gospel: just waiting to explode. And the primary
path of detonation is your life. He is
too big to hide!
May
the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and
for everyone else, just as ours does for you. – 1 Thessalonians 3:12
May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so
that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. –
Romans 15:13
It is natural for the good news to overflow. Compassion and
truth should be the natural result, because that is what is being poured into
us.
Starting at 5:15pm on May 20th of this year, Sacramento
will get a front row seat to an unusual event for nearly 2 hours. During that
period, instead of white and glowing, the moon will appear black. Normally,
because the moon is relatively shiny and high in the sky, it collects the sun’s
light and reflects it down to the surface of the Earth where we can see it.
But, for these few hours, the moon appears black because, during that period,
it will stand directly between the sun and the Earth. That shouldn’t be a big
deal, right? I mean, the moon is 64 million times smaller than the sun.[1]
But given the right placement, it blocks 87% of the sun’s light. 87%.
We are designed to be sun reflectors. We don’t give off
light of our own, but when properly positioned we reflect God’s light, his
compassion and truth, to the world. But when we are out of position, we block or
deflect people’s vision. We are mirrors for God. We are the moon, to His sun.
We are reflectors.
God’s Neglectors
We’ve already looked at how God wants us to be projectors,
and reflectors. But what if we don’t? What if we do eclipse God? What if we are
God’s neglectors? What happens? Look at verse 18:
18Therefore
consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more;
whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
What happens when the moon blocks the sun? The moon gets
moved.
If you have a pen or a pencil, find those words “consider
carefully” and circle them. When Jesus tells you to ‘consider carefully’-to pay
attention, you’d better sit up straight, because it means that He is about to
say something important. Consider carefully how you listen.
At work, when the boss tells an employee to do something,
and that employee doesn’t do it, or isn’t careful about the instructions, what
does the boss do? The first step is bypass. The boss stops talking to him, and
starts telling someone else to do it. During this period, the employee either
notices he or she is out of the loop, and talks to the boss. Or the employee
says: life is good, my job is easy and I still get paid. If they do that, then
the boss takes the second step: bye-bye. Now the employee is un-employed.
Now look at what Jesus said: if the good news you are
hearing is stopping with you, do you think God is going to let your deaf-ness
stop the gospel? No, of course not! The good news must get through. So maybe he
bypasses you, and gives the good listener more good news. Or maybe he says
bye-bye and stops telling you the good news. It’s like the farmer and the
field. If the field stops producing a crop, why waste more good seed?
So how can I be a better listener?
1.
Get used to the sound of God’s voice. A lot of
people have strange ideas about what God really sounds like and what he would
do. (John 10:4b) But God left us thousands of pages of recordings so that we
can get used to his style. So that when he does give you directions, his voice
cuts through the noise. (Acts 17:11)
2.
Get alone where you can hear him. 10 minutes, 15
minutes alone, no cell phone, no TV, no distracting voices. Precious minutes
that provide enough space for God to say something through his Spirit. Talk to
God in prayer, but then silence is ok.
3.
So, God’s Projector, God’s Reflector or God’s
Neglecter. Jesus says you have to get serious about the good news.
Conclusion
The seed and the spark, they are both from God.
You know, sometimes I hate sermons like this one. Why? God
has been good to me, and my family. Normally, that would be a good thing. But
Jesus tells me that God’s goodness is supposed to have a result. I am God’s
projector. I am not allowed to be a God’s black hole, sucking the light in! I
am God’s reflector. I am not allowed to be God’s superstar. He is the star. I
am the shiny rock.
But I am the shiny rock through which flows the brilliance
of the love of God:
And
hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. – Romans 5:5
I hate sermons like this one because I am a coward.
Sometimes, I prefer the bland, mediocre life, because no one notices whether I
am good or bad or irrelevant. But I know the truth: God is real, his kingdom is
expanding, Jesus is the rescuer of the world and my life is irrevocably changed
by his grace. Because I don’t like the wishy-washy part of myself, so I wrote
some resolutions for myself, just for this week. Paul did this also, when he
started a church:
2For I resolved
to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
– 1 Cor. 2:2
I share them with you, because I am determined that the good
news, in all its forms, should not stop with me this week. And you can help me.
And you can join me. And we can rejoice together.
Resolution #1: I resolve that the
when someone asks what I did this weekend, I will talk about my time at church.
Resolution #2: I resolve that
someone will find out I’m a Christian this week, who doesn’t know.
Resolution #3: I resolve that when
someone has an expected need this week, I will help meet it without drawing
attention to myself.
Resolution #4: I resolve that when
I hear about big news in someone else’s life, good or bad, I will offer to pray
about it. [Elden Shepherd’s job]
Resolution #5:
_________________________________
Be a God projector. Be God reflector. Not a God neglector.
[1]
The sun is 1.409 x 1018km3. The moon is 2.1958 x 1010
km3. That’s 64,167,957 times smaller. http://www.smartconversion.com/otherInfo/Volume_of_planets_and_the_Sun.aspx,
retrieved on April 28, 2012
