Two Sets of Joneses
Luke 6:46-49
Parables with a Point
Jefferson M. Williams
10-02-2022
Foundations
When we built the addition to our house in Pontiac, the first thing that Milt did was dig a deep hole. My job was to clear all the rocks out of the hole. ??He explained that we had to build a strong foundation in order for the addition to have structural integrity.
Of course, we knew that intellectually but it was amazing seeing what had to happen before we actually started building. In fact, it looked like not much was being accomplished. But, the work done on the foundation would go on to make the rest of the project easier.
The Empire State Building in New York is 1,454 feet tall. Its foundation is nearly 6 stories underground.
The foundation of the Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, is nearly one hundred feet deep.
The tallest building in the world, the Shanghai tower, has a foundation that extends 262 feet into the ground!
When it comes to building structures, the foundation is the most important part of the process.
Jesus says that the same can be said of human beings.
The world loves dividing humans into categories - male/female; Black/White, young/old, Republican/Democrat, those that understand the genius of Barry Manilow and those who don’t.
But Jesus only has two categories - lost and found. There are those who build their lives on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and those who build their houses on the shifting sand of popularity, prestige, power, and, ultimately, pride.
At the end of Luke 6, as He is wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus focuses on obedience to His Word and ways. He then tells a parable to help them understand the difference between a person who obeys His word and one that only gives lip service to His directives.
Turn with me to Luke chapter 6, verse 46.
Prayer
Parable Preaching
Jesus often told stories to make his point. Parables are earthy stories with a heavenly point. He told more than forty parables.
Parables are a way to go around someone’s defenses. People love stories and often get drawn into the details without realizing that the parable may be about them!
Parables are subversive. Imagine two famers hearing Jesus talk about the four soils. They walk away confused and wondering what Jesus meant. The next day, as they are walking in the field, one of them suddenly exclaims, “Wait! I don’t think He was talking about dirt. I think the soils represent types of people.”
In Luke 6, Jesus addresses judging:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:37-38)
He then tells a parable about the result of following blind guides:
“Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” (Luke 6:39-40)
He encourages us to deal with our own sin before going after others:
“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? 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. (Luke 6:41-42)
He then gives us a way of telling a true follower from a fake one. We’ll come back to this one in a minute.
Jesus then pauses and asked a question that still reverberates two thousand years later:
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Lord Lord
To call someone “Lord,” means to submit to their teaching. In that culture, “Lord, Lord,” would be a sign of great respect.
In one of the scariest passages in the Bible, Jesus said,
“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. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:21-23)
Who are the true disciples? The ones that do the will of the Father.
There will be people that claim the name of Jesus, teach in His name, drive out demons and even perform miracles. But Jesus will say to them that He never knew them. What this means is that He never had a real relationship with these false disciples.
R.C. Sproul wrote that the real question isn’t “Do you know Jesus? But does He know you?”
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“The common temptation is, instead of really repenting, to talk about repentance; instead of heartily believing, to say, ‘I believe’ without believing; instead of truly loving , to talk about love without loving, instead of coming to Christ, to speak about coming to Christ, and to profess to come to Christ, and yet not come at all.”
Jesus sets up the parable with these words:
“As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.” (Luke 6:47)
The word “hearing” in this verse is very strong. It literally means “hyper-hearing.” It means to really hear and put into practice.
Two Houses
At this point, Jesus tells the parable:
“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.” (Luke 6:48-49)
If you notice, there are two men doing the same activity - building a house. They both encountered a flood but the results were radically different. What was the difference? The way they went about building the foundation.
It’s important to know something about the climate in Israel works. Israel is in the desert and received very little rain. There are many wadis - dry river beds. When it does rain, those wadis fill up quickly and become a wall of water that will sweep away anything in its path.
The first man dug down to the bedrock and built the foundation on the rock. Matthew records Jesus’s words:
“The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matt 7:48)
The house couldn’t be shaken because it was well built.
But the second man built his house without a foundation - on sand. It doesn’t stand a chance against the water. The very moment the water hit, the house collapsed and the destruction was complete.
We’ve seen this play out on Sanibel Island this past week where nearly every structure is either gone destroyed.
What is Jesus trying to tell us through this parable? He’s not talking about houses. The houses represent our lives. So the question becomes, “What foundation are you building your life on?”
Two Foundations
Chuck Colson, the hatchet man for Richard Nixon, built his life on success, power, and prestige. He became a successful attorney then a political advisor to the President. He was known as ruthless and the “evil genius of the administration.” It was said that he would run over his own grandmother to get Nixon reelected.
He wrote Nixon’s infamous hit list, proposed firebombing the Brookings Institute, and tried to destroy the career of a young John Kerry.
He had everything. He was one of the most powerful people on earth. Until, Watergate brought the house crashing to the ground.
He was indicted on March 1, 1974. Facing arrest, Thomas Philips, chairman of the Raytheon Corporation, reached out and gave Colson a copy of “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis.
After reading it one night, Colson realized that he had built his entire life on sand and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. He changed his plea to guilty and served seven months in prison.
It was that time in prison that led to his second act, founder of Prison Fellowship. He spent the rest of his life ministering to prisoners and their families.
Tim Tebow grew up going to the Philippines and even preaching to huge groups as a teenager.
He was named Mr. Football in the state of Florida twice.
He attended the University of Florida and played quarterback, winning the Heisman trophy as a sophomore and two national championships. By the time he graduated, there was a statue of him erected on campus.
While playing, he would write Scripture verses on his shoes and on his eye tape. People mocked him and his faith. But during the 2009 Championship game, when he wore John 3:16 on his eye tape, Google had 90 million searches for that verse in the following 24 hours.
He was drafted in the NFL and played for Denver, winning a thrilling payoff game, New York, and New England. But he didn’t succeed in the NFL.
He then was in the broadcasting booth for a year.
He then became part of the New York Mets baseball organization and played four seasons but never made it to the majors.
It would be easy for Tim to feel like he failed professionally. Many people have said as much. But Tim Tebow’s foundation was built as a child on the mission field in the Philippines when he met a kid who had been born with his feet backwards. He was considered cursed by his family but God reminded Tim that this kid was made in the image of God and was worth his love.
He will tell you that being an athlete is fun but whether he succeeds does not affect his worth.
The foundation of his life is the rock of Jesus Christ, which he has spent his entire adult life sharing with others.
One of the many ways he does that is by sponsoring a “Night to Shine,” a prom for those who are special needs.
Good Tree/Good Fruit
90% of Americans say that they believe in God. Many Americans identify as Christians. We can’t judge a person’s heart but Jesus did say that true Christians will be known by their fruit.
In the section right before this parable, Jesus taught:
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 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.” (Luke 6:43-45)
Recently, a friend said she was sharing Christ with a family member. This person responded, “I love Jesus with all my heart!” Then she added, “But I’m going to live my life however I want to!”
The real test of discipleship is obedience. The Apostle John makes this clear again and again:
“If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15)
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” (John 14:21)
“Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” (John 14:24)
This lady had obviously made up a Jesus to worship that doesn’t demand anything from her - not her obedience, not her allegiance, or her life.
Sadly, many people that claim to be Christians are simply functional atheists. They give lip service to obeying Jesus but live their lives as if He didn’t exist.
Remember, Jesus divides the world into two categories only - lost and found. There are those who have built their lives with no foundation and the destruction in the end will be complete.
Venice, Italy may be beautiful with its canals but the truth is that it is sinking and will one day not exist.
The Solid Rock
In Isaiah, God give a prophecy of the coming Messiah:
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” (Isaiah 28:16)
Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, and Peter all quote this passage. Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. A cornerstone is traditionally the first stone laid for a structure, with all other stones laid in reference. A cornerstone marks the geographical location by orienting a building in a specific direction.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Eph 3:19-20)
What does it mean to build our faith on the apostles and the prophets?
The Living Word, Jesus, and the written Word, The Bible, must be the foundation of all we think, say or do.
The five week All In series was a great opportunity for us to be in the Word every morning with our devotions. And, remember, Mike Baker does Mike Talks Monday through Saturday that are downloaded at 7:00 am.
We can’t say that we follow Jesus if we don’t know what He expects of us. That’s why Wednesday morning Bible study, and Wednesday Night Live, and Sunday school, and small groups are so important. As we read the Word individually, these experiences give us the opportunity to encourage each other to trust and obey.
Edward Mote didn’t grow up in church. In fact, by his own admission, he ran the streets of London on Sundays.
But as a young adult he attended a Gospel preaching church and surrendered his heart to Christ and became a Christ Follower.
He was very gifted in carpentry and soon owned his own shop. He was walking to work one day, and decided that he wanted to write a hymn.
By the time he got to the shop, he had the chorus. Before the end of the day, he had four stanzas.
The next Sunday, he went to visit a friend whose wife was near death. He read Scripture and prayed then pulled out a piece of paper from his coat and sang the song that he had written.
"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name."
Chorus:
”On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand."
She liked it so much that he had 1,000 copies printed. He eventually became a pastor and served his church for more than 20 years. As far as I can tell, this is the only hymn he wrote.
Song: The Solid Rock
Communion
Paul makes it clear that we should examine ourselves:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor 13:5)
Two Sets of Joneses (Jeff on guitar and singing)
By: Steve Wiggins [Big Tent Revival]
This here's a song about two sets of Joneses
Rothchild - Evelyn, Reuben and Sue
Just for discussion, through random selection
We've chosen two couples who haven't a clue
Rothchild was lucky to marry so wealthy
Evelyn bought him a house on the beach
Reuben and Sue had nothing but Jesus
And each night they would pray that He'd care for them each
And the rain came down
It blew the four walls down
And the clouds, they rolled away
One set of Joneses was standing that day
Evelyn's daddy was proud of young Rothchild
He worked the late hours to be number one
But just newlyweds and their marriage got rocky
He's flying to Dallas, She's having a son
Reuben was holding a Gideon's Bible
He screamed, "It's a boy!" so that everyone heard
The guys at the factory took a collection
Again, God provided for bills they'd incurred
And the rain came down
It blew the four walls down
And the clouds, they rolled away
One set of Joneses was standing that day
So, what is the point of this story
What am I trying to say
Is your life based on the rock of Christ Jesus
Or a sandy foundation you've managed to lay
Needless to say, Evelyn left her husband
And sued him for every penny he had
I truly wish those two would find Jesus
Before things get worse than they already have
And the rain came down
It blew the four walls down
And the clouds, they rolled away
One set of Joneses was standing that day
