Sermon - Called to a Method, a Mission and a Ministry
Luke 6:46-49
Nearing the end of the sermon on the mount, Jesus had had enough. For too long His crowds had been listening without acting. They engaged him with a respect that lacked response. They were ordinary men with ordinary interests and ordinary engagement. They were polite and casual toward Jesus.
But Jesus was more than an ordinary teacher. And it was time for Him to say so: Luke 6:46-49 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 47 I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. 48 It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49 But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” (Luke 6:46–49)
I’m sure we can see and hear the seriousness in Jesus’ voice. He hadn’t come to earth to simply make friends and fit in. Jesus had not prayed all night, selected disciples, and led this crowd to the mount of olives to remain ordinary. This was a place of transformation. God the Father had given him a job to do and that work would never succeed on the backs of a crowd that were too casual or cowardly to do the hard work of becoming disciples. Jesus’ goal wasn’t to just impact men, it was to build the foundation for a kingdom that would stand in the face of the world, the flesh, and the devil. His long-term vision guided his words. The crowd was astonished by his words, but were they willing to change?
Jesus started with a goal of showing a picture of true discipleship: “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is 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.”
The illustration Jesus used may have been new to them, but the lesson wasn’t. Jesus was constantly teaching them about becoming. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He showed them the fruit of a surrendered life is obediently following Him. He urged them to do what He did. His teaching was more imitation than explanation, more “follow me” than “listen to me.” Yet they struggled to understand.
So being the master teacher he was, he continued by telling them why they needed to put His teaching into practice: “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 storms struck that house, it collapsed, and its destruction was complete.”
Think about their foundation then - The words must have rung in their ears, “Its destruction was complete.” Jesus wasn’t saying that houses couldn’t be built without foundations. They could. They were. They are! But the difference between utter destruction and success wasn’t whether the house was built, but rather what happened to it when the storms. Houses built without a solid foundation are destroyed when tough times come. On the other hand, a house with a solid foundation can withstand a disaster. Building a foundation is hard work, but it’s well worth it. It’s the difference between what lasts and what’s a waste of time and resources.
Now think about our foundation now - What was true for Jesus’ disciples then is also true for Jesus’ Church now. We can build houses of worship without doing what Jesus said. We can go through the motions of loving others without really loving them, we can preach theologically astute sermons without living it out in our personal lives, and we can run great programs without putting His teachings into practice. Remember, a storm is coming.
But to build a church that will stand up to the storms, we must model our disciple making after Jesus. He showed us how to build a foundation upon which the church will thrive. The biggest misconception of the American church is that we think it can thrive on a foundation other than Jesus-style disciple making. We think if we get bright enough lights, loud enough music, great dancers, and preachers, we can draw a crowd and call it a church. It can’t stand, and the pandemic is revealing that.
So, with what foundation is the church designed to thrive? 1Co 3:10 “Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.” On Jesus’ foundation, the disciples would build by living it out and proclaiming the Gospel that the nations and all generations of disciples who would believe through them (John 17:20). Here, I want to point out three outcomes of Jesus’ Call.
1. They Followed His Method - Jesus’s method was for each individual disciples would become a disciple maker. - Jesus’ goal for each of them was their transformation. To be clear, that transformation was to be after Jesus’ model (Luke 6:40). They were to become fishers of men (Matthew 4:19) and they were to be sent out (Mark 3:14). Jesus kept that reality before them when he talked to them about how to become great in the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5) and when He challenged them to surrender to His Lordship (Luke 6:46). It was not about getting a blessing; it was about becoming a blessing. It was about His kingdom, not ours. They Follow His Method
2. They Joined His Mission – The disciples were driven by an individual commitment to the mission of being disciples and making disciples. They were committed to following Jesus and becoming fishers of men. There is no doubt storms struck Jesus’ disciples. Jesus was brutally executed, the government persecuted them and eventually killed most of them, and there was no establishment for them to lean on. In spite of all this, the disciples stood firm and Jesus’ work wasn’t washed away. Yet what persecution and trials could not do, our lack of commitment to His vision has eroded the Church’s influence. Our commitment is weak, and many are trying to build a house on sand again. No foundation, no hard work, no discipline, they are commitment only to easy and pleasure. They Joined His Mission.
3. They Were Empowered by Their Connection to Jesus and One Another. Despite persecution and uncertainty, the disciples were incredibly strong. Together they faced beatings, death, theological disagreements, and imprisonment without turning on one another or abandoning the faith. Instead, they praised God for the opportunity to face such challenges and lived into the mission they’d been given. Why? Because they were connected to Jesus and to each other. Heb. 10:25 “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
A connected church is meant to thrive on the foundation Jesus built. Becoming credible, Christian disciples and the becoming disciple makers means staying connected to Jesus and to one another. That connectedness was the power of Jesus’ movement and it will be the power of our movement today. We must live so the broader community can see our unity, connectedness and witness the life of Jesus on display, lived out in the context of everyday life. The church has one mission. Today, few followers are willing to walk in unity and to live their faith as witness to the world. If we would only do what Jesus said, our witness would be multiplied. The volume of our commitment would be amplified, and we would impact the world by taking the Gospel everywhere.
