Luke 6:39-49
Key verse 6:47-48
Recently, I read an
article, which was titled “Five reasons we quit jobs.” Can you guess what the
number one reason is? Many workers quit their jobs because they hate their bosses.
That makes sense to me. I had a great time at work when I had a good boss. But
I was troubled and eventually left the job when I could not stand my boss
anymore. Our boss can make us either happy or miserable. The same is true with
life. The leader we follow greatly affects our life and even determines our
destiny. So it is not too much to stress the importance of leadership again.
However, today I would like to talk about something that is as important as
leadership – followship. In some sense, we are all followers. It is we who
decide whom to follow. Who are you following now? Are you sure that you are
following a good leader? Does the person you follow care for you and lead you
in the right and best way? Who should we follow then and how? That is what we
are going to talk about today.
Let me first recap what we have learned so far. Onset of his
ministry, Jesus preached the gospel with power and authority. He embraced
sinners and declared forgiveness, which had never been heard and seen. But soon
the Pharisees opposed Jesus. Then, Jesus shifted his focus to his disciples. In
chapter 6, Jesus gave so-called the sermon on the Plain, which tells us who is
Jesus’ disciple and what he is supposed to do. Jesus blessed his followers who
sought the kingdom of God, but cursed those who put their hope and trust in
this world. Then he taught his followers to love their enemies and not judge
them because they were the children of God. In today’s passage, Jesus gives a warning about false teachers who mislead
people, and then he concludes his discourse, urging his disciples to make a
commitment to him by putting his words into practice. I pray that through this
passage God may help us to commit ourselves to Jesus’ word and become true
followers of Jesus.
Today’s passage begins
with the parable of the blind, which leads us to the main topic of this passage
that we should follow the good teacher, who is Jesus.
39 He also told them this
parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a
pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but
everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Here were some blind
people. They asked someone, “Would you please guide us? We are blind.” The man said,
“Sure! Just hold my hand and I will guide you.” But the blind people did not
know that the person was blind too. They trusted the man and blindly followed
him wherever he led. Where do you think they would end up?
Since the blind leader could not
see, he can easily fell into a pit and his followers also fell into it
together. So, they both ended up in a pit. The pit here is not like a pothole
or a ditch. It is a cistern, which is a deeply dug water reservoir. If a blind
man falls into it, it is almost impossible for him to get out of it by himself.
He actually could die there. So, it is very dangerous for a blind man to follow
another blind man.
Likewise, a wrong guide or leader
can endanger his followers. The students, followers, are not better than the
teacher. If they are trained fully, they can be like the teacher. But until
they grow, they depend on the teacher and follow him absolutely. But what if
the teacher lacks knowledge, direction, and discernment? What if the teacher is
bad and irresponsible? All his followers would fall into danger and suffer.
The sunken ship in Korea took about
300 lives, many of whom were innocent high school students. I saw the video
clips taken by the students at the moment when the ship was sinking. They did
not realize that they were in a great danger. They waited inside, believing
that the captain would do his best to rescue them. But at that time the captain
was already escaping from the ship, leaving hundreds of passengers behind even
without any announcement that they must escape. His irresponsibility eventually
took many innocent lives.
As such, leader’s blindness causes serious problems to his
followers. If the teacher stumbled, the students would stumble too. If the
teacher got lost, his followers would also get lost. Leaders must be
responsible and care for their followers first. Conversely, by saying this,
Jesus also teaches us how important it is to follow a good teacher or a good leader.
According to your leader, your happiness and destiny will be determined.
41 “Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own
eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother,
let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank
in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then
you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Here was a person who noticed something wrong with his
brother’s eye. He immediately realized that his brother had a speck of sawdust
in his eye. So, he said, “Brother, you have a speck in your eye. Please let me
take it out for you.” But the brother was confused and even scared because he
saw something in his friend’s eye too. It is a plank, much bigger than a speck.
Is it possible for a man who has the plank in his eye to clearly see a speck in
other’s eye and remove it? No!
What is his problem? First, he did not know his own problem,
which was much bigger than his brother's. He saw only someone’s problem though
he himself had a more serious problem. Jesus called him hypocrite. This
metaphor is an example showing how a person can mislead another because of his
blindness, which is hypocrisy here. People have a tendency to easily see and
try to correct others’ problems rather than their own problems.
One day while having a dinner, my wife said that I had a
grain of boiled rice on my face, but I saw a small piece of red pepper stuck
between her teeth. Anyway, we laughed together.
One pastor prepared a lot for a sermon for Sunday and
delivered a good message. After the service one lady came to him with a big
smile on her face. The pastor thought that she was moved by his message and was
coming to him to give thanks to him. But she said, “Pastor, let me tell you a
very important thing. There are some stains on your tie. It bothered me a lot.”
Probably during the Sunday worship service she tried to find something wrong
with the pastor rather than hearing his message.
If you try to remove the
speck in your brother’s eye but you have a plank in your eye or even a speck, he
would think that you are nosey, arrogant, stupid, and incorrigible and would not
talk to you anymore, saying, “You take care of yourself first. How dare you
tell me such things, you hypocrite!”
There is an idiom for this kind of person: “The pot calling
the kettle black” This idiom is used to
claim that a person is guilty of the very thing of which he accuses another. In
old times, pots were generally black and so were kettles. What if a pot calls a
kettle black? It sounds silly. Like pots and kettles, we are all black, sinful.
So, we should first pay attention to the plank in our own eye. Otherwise, we
will offend our brothers and mislead them when we point out their sins without
care. Many church members get hurt and even leave their churches because of the
hypocrisy of their church leaders.
But Jesus does not mean that we should not correct brother’s
wrongdoings or sins. He means that we should solve our own sins first before
correcting our brother’s sins. If so, we could see clearly the speck in our brother’s
eye and remove it as well. When we humbly recognize and solve our sin problems,
people will appreciate and accept our help.
One of the most powerful messages I have ever heard is the message
of David Wilkerson, who was the pastor of Times Square church in New York. In
his message, he pointed out the church members’ sexual immorality. But he did
not simply accuse them of their sins. He also confessed his sin that in the
past he was also tempted to enjoy sinful things while he was staying in a
hotel. At that moment he was greatly struck by the fear of God and so repented.
That way, he urged his congregation to come to God with fear and humility and then
he declared the forgiveness of God. Then, the people all repented of their sins
with sincere tears and thanks.
You cannot help others
without solving your own problems. If not, you are only hurting them,
judging them, and misguiding them like the blind leading the blind. We all have
planks of pride, self-righteousness, stubbornness, bitterness, grudge,
unforgiving mind, etc. May God have mercy on us and help us see our planks in our
eyes and remove them.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor
does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is
recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or
grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good
things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the
heart is full of.
This is another metaphor to explain what the hypocrite is
like and how not to be a hypocrite. How is a tree recognized as good or bad? By
its fruit! It is because no good tree bears bad fruit and no bad tree bears
good fruit. Likewise, a good man brings good things out of the good stored up
in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in
his heart. Our word and act is the reflection of what is inside in our heart.
Your word carries exactly what you think and what you store in your heart. If
you have selfishness, self-righteousness, and pride in your heart, you will criticize
and judge people like the man who has a plank in his eye. The mouth speaks what
the heart is full of.
Recently, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling accidently
said to his girl friend while watching his team game, “It bothers me a lot that
you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have
to?" Many people were outraged by his racist comments and the NBA
eventually has banned him for life. When you are situated, what is in your
heart comes out.
What is inside in your heart, shapes your characters, your
life style, your behavior, your word, and determines your fruit. If your heart
is full of bad things, you will speak bad things or you will be a hypocrite.
However, if you love, care for, and pray for a person, you will encourage him. This
is very important particularly to the one who leads people. By his word and
act, his followers can fall into a pit or be saved. Again, this comes from what
is stored up in his heart.
One time Saint Francis of Assisi was fasting 40 days
together with his disciples. It was 39th day of fasting. If they
fasted one more day, they could finish their fasting successfully. But one of
his disciples happened to smell food and was tempted and ate a spoon of soup.
All other disciples were shocked and stared at the loser with judging mind.
They wanted Francis to rebuke and punish him because he ruined their 40 days
group fasting. But Francis took a spoon and began to eat. His disciples were
shocked more. Then Francis said, “The reason we are fasting is to grow in the
image of Jesus so that we can love each other. The brother did not overcome the
temptation but it is not a sin. However, you are judging him, which is a
serious sin. It is much better to eat and love each other than to go hungry and
judge.” His word and act came from his heart, which was full of love, whereas
his other disciples judged the brother out of their judging mind.
So far, we have learned about the blind leader, the
hypocrite, and the fruit of tree. The leaders’ blindness can endanger his
followers. Particularly, his hypocrisy can lead them to destruction. And hypocrisy
is the fruit of the evil in his heart. By saying this, Jesus warned his
followers about false teachers, particularly the Pharisees who opposed Jesus
and blindly misled people. At the same time, Jesus meant that only he is a good
teacher, a good leader, who can lead them to the kingdom of God.
In line with that, now Jesus is concluding his sermon,
urging his followers to put his words into practice so that they may not become
hypocrites but truly committed followers of Jesus.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
There are two different kinds of followers of Jesus. One is who
hears Jesus’ words but does not put them into practice. This kind of person
always says, “Lord, Lord.” The person looks sincere and even desperate. But he
never puts Jesus’ word into practice. Jesus never recognizes such people as his
disciples. Their word is hollow. They are bad trees. They are hypocrites like
the Pharisees.
However, the other type of person hears Jesus’ words and puts
them into practice. They are like good trees bearing good fruit. God’s word
fructifies in them. In 6:40, Jesus said that if the student should be fully
trained, he will be like the teacher. By putting his words into practice we can
be like Jesus.
Again, just hearing Jesus’ word has no point. Confession
apart from obedience is worthless. Action and obedience should be followed
after hearing his word. As we learned last week, “Love your enemies and give”
is the sum-up of his word. We should not judge but love. True believers are not
recognized by his word but by his action and fruit, which is love.
Luke 11:28 - He replied, “Blessed rather are those who
hear the word of God and obey it.”
Mat 7:21 - “Not everyone who says to
me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Interestingly, Jesus compares these two different types of
followers to builders.
47 As for everyone who comes to me
and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they
are like. 48 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. 49 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.”
One is like a man building a house on rock. He digs deep into
soil until he hits the rock underneath. Then he lays the foundation on rock and
builds his house on it. The other is like a man building a house on the ground
without a foundation. In normal times, we cannot tell the difference between
them. So, the man who built his house without a foundation looks smarter.
But the moment of truth comes when a flood comes.
In Palestine, the
rains are not frequent, but when it does rain, the water pours down with great
violence sometimes. The torrent is so strong that it can destroy anything in
its way. The house without a foundation will be destroyed, but the house built
on the rock foundation stands firm.
Building a house is like building a life. How would you like
to build your life? Where do you want to build your life? Jesus said that we
should build our life on the rock foundation. It may be hard and take long to
lay the foundation on rock, but it is solid. There will be a time of flood and
the torrent will hit you. Hardship, difficulty, and temptation will hit you
like the torrent. Most of all, we all should stand before God to be judged at
the last day. At that time, the life built on the rock foundation will stand
firm and be saved. But the life without foundation will perish.
How can we lay a foundation? What is the foundation? Our foundation
is Jesus (1 Cor 3:11-13) and we can lay the foundation by putting his words
into practice. Then, Jesus will help us to stand firm against troubles in life
and he will also save us from God’s judgment. (2 Tim 2:19)
Are you a committed
follower of Jesus or just a hearer? Where do you lay your foundation? Do you
have Jesus as the foundation of your life? You have to decide now where to
build your life –on Jesus or something else. Remember that the consequences
will be very different and grave.
Charles Stanley said, “There is only one secure foundation:
a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through
any and all turmoil. No matter what storms are raging all around, you'll stand
firm if you stand on His love.”
By David Yun
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