ONE QUICK POINT BEFORE WE GET TO THE ACTUAL SERMON: The definition of a Christian is someone hearing God’s word and putting it into practice.
- Luke 8:21.
- Matthew 7:21, 24, 26; Matthew 12:50; John 7:17; John 14:23; John 15:10; 1 John 2:17.
- Jesus says something here that is crucially important but isn’t the main point that I want to talk about this evening, so I’m going to handle it as a brief prologue before getting into the main message.
- Jesus here, as He does elsewhere, defines what a Christian is as someone who hears God’s word and puts that teaching into practice.
- This is not something that is only found here. It’s a consistent teaching of the New Testament:
a. Matthew 7:21, 24, 26.
b. John 7:17.
d. John 14:23.
e. John 15:10.
- This is important to understand, as I’ve taught many times before, because there is a misunderstanding in much of the American church that being a Christian simply means voicing a “belief in Jesus” that requires no further obedience to the actual teaching of Jesus. This is false.
- As clearly stated in our passage for this evening and in other New Testament passages, the definition of a Christian is someone who follows the teaching of Christ. This is not to say that we are saved by our works, but it is to say that works flow from genuine belief.
- This is essential for us to understand if we are going to see the church be what God intends for it to be.
- Empty belief - one that claims allegiance to Christ without making any effort whatsoever to actually embrace what Jesus told us to do - is a sham. It leaves people with a false security that they have salvation when they really don’t.
JESUS ON FAMILY: Jesus here redefines family.
- Luke 8:19-21.
- Romans 8:17; Ephesians 2:19; Ephesians 3:15; Hebrews 2:11.
- When you first read this, it initially comes across almost as though Jesus is being rude. When His family shows up, you kind of expect Him to say, “Guys, excuse Me for a minute. I’ve got to go talk to someone important.” But He doesn’t. Is He in fact being rude?
- I don’t think so. I think what He says here instead points in a different direction: the radicalness of the Kingdom that He is inaugurating.
- There is a temptation to treat the Kingdom of God that He is bringing forward as something along the lines of “be nice to each other and go to church on Sundays.” At least that is the popular conception of it with a lot of people. It’s so much bigger than that.
- The Kingdom of God is a radical reimagining of what it means to follow God.
- We start with the incredible and unexpected entrance into the world of no one less than the Son of God. People were hoping for a Messiah, but no one thought it would be the only Son of God.
- As Jesus begins His ministry, one of the reasons that He frustrates basically everyone (Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Romans, etc) is that He doesn’t fit in anyone’s preconceived categories. His preaching entrances the crowds, but in the end most of them walk away as well. He is constantly defying expectations and frustrating people.
- Why is that? It’s in part because Jesus’ Kingdom is different than anything that existed before that.
- For instance, it turned out His goal wasn’t overthrowing Rome, as most of the Jews wanted their Messiah to do. No, He came to overthrow sin.
- His teaching was with authority. He was able to easily handle the pointed questions of the different parties of His day. But they usually didn’t leave impressed. Instead, they left frustrated that He didn’t agree with them.
- He took the Old Testament Mosaic Law and pushed it much farther. “You have heard it said, but I say to you,” He proclaimed. This was no lowering of standards.
- He spoke in parables, sharing truth in a way that no one had thought of before.
- He claimed to be one with God, raising great objections from the religious leaders of His day.
- In sum, He came with a radical agenda. It upended everything. It pushed people to make commitments or walk away. It made challenging demands on people’s loyalties. We shouldn’t downplay that.
- One way that radicalness shows up is in a redefinition of the family.
- I think it’s easy to miss how wild what Jesus says here is unless we sit with it for a moment. Think about it: Jesus is redefining the family.
- Now, this doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to get married anymore and have kids. We have plenty of Scripture in the rest of the New Testament to know that was still supposed to happen. So Jesus is not saying that we aren't going to have flesh-and-blood families anymore. Indeed, He Himself took care of His earthly mother while He was on the cross.
- But He is saying that in a deeper and more profound sense, we have a new family. This is an eternal family. Rather than being united by the blood of ancestry we are united by the blood of Christ.
- My truest, deepest, eternal family is my brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God.
- A useful example of how radical this is and how this doesn’t fit into our normal preconceived categories is a phrase that became really popular in cultural conversation a couple decades ago: “family values.”
- This phrase was used to say that Christians believed that we should put the traditional family first. Now, I understand the attraction of that view and there were worthwhile points made within that argument.
- But when we look at our verses for this evening, if someone said that the Bible supports putting family values first, we’d have to pause and say, “Well, not exactly.” You certainly wouldn’t expect someone who was all in on family values to say that their real family wasn’t their family.
- This is another instance where Jesus is frustrating to people trying to pigeonhole Him into their preexisting categories. It is another instance where the radicalness of the Kingdom of God throws things off balance.
- In thinking about what Jesus says here, it’s also worth approaching from another direction: it’s a family you’re being invited into. Not an organization, bureaucracy, or company.
- Many think of the church as an organization. You know, you join the Little League, you join the PTA, you join the Neighborhood Watch, you join the church. It’s just another in a long line of organizations that we are a part of. No, it’s not an organization.
- Many think of it as a bureaucracy. This is especially true as we get over into the more high church denominations, where there are bishops with authority. The church is just a big bureaucracy. No, it’s not.
- Many think of it as a company. You will even hear pastors talking about running the church like a business. No, we shouldn’t do that. The church isn’t a business. It’s something completely different.
- We are being invited to join a family. [Hold thoughts on how great that is until the conclusion.]
- This makes me think of Paul’s reference in Romans 8 to us being adopted into God’s family. I love that passage. And it speaks to how deep the connection we have within the Kingdom of God is.
- One final note before we move to the implications: obeying creates a family resemblance.
- We all know that usually in families you can see a family resemblance. In our church family, the resemblance comes as we all obey Jesus and increasingly look more and more like Him.
- Now, all this leads us to an important question: how should this truth change the way that we approach our life with the church? There is lots that could be said, but let me highlight three of the most important.
A FEW IMPLICATIONS:
- I should note as I share these three things that this is just a starting point. There is a lot more to a church family that is worth saying, but hopefully this will at least point us in the right direction.
1. Get closer to your church family than Sunday morning politeness.
- Often in church life our relationships (if you can even call them that) is characterized by shallow politeness. We are nice to each other on Sunday mornings but there is little depth to the relationships.
- In fact, in many cases it would be stretching it to call our connections at church “friendships.” Calling them “acquaintances” might be more fitting. Maybe we don’t even know what they do for a living. Probably we have no idea the struggles they are dealing with.
- One thing that could look like is small groups.
- It is difficult in a large Sunday morning worship service to get to know people well. There’s not much participation within the service - it’s mostly someone on stage singing or speaking to the congregation. So the environment is not particularly conducive to developing friendships.
- In a small group there is a chance to get to know people through the discussion and prayer time. It’s a smaller environment and therefore more likely to see genuine sharing.
- I’m not saying that we need to have deep friendships with everyone in the church - that's really too many people - but we do need to have some deep connections.
- Another possibility in the same direction is serving together.
- As you work together in a ministry, there is casual conversation that builds friendships. It’s like how you gradually get to know the lives of your coworkers in your employment.
- Of course, this presumes that we are willing to step up to serve in a ministry.
- Another option is outside church connections.
- As we see a spark of connection happen within regular church environments, often we do nothing to further those. Why not invite someone over to our house? Why not get together for lunch?
- Building those relationships in this way requires someone to step out to initiate that deeper level.
- One small thing that can bring better connections is praying for each other.
- When we know that someone in the church is having a hard time, we can reach out to them, listen compassionately to their struggle, and then covenant with them to pray for their situation. Then, later, we can follow up to find out if our prayers are being answered.
- People really appreciate this. It’s encouraging to know someone is praying for you. It’s freeing to unburden yourself of your problem by sharing it with a compassionate listener.
- One final thing on this point: some people don’t want this.
- There are a number of people who like the current default way of doing it: walk into church, have a few hearty handshakes and greetings, sit anonymously, and then go your way. They don’t want too much religion. They don’t want to get drawn deeper. They want to keep it at a shallow level.
- Of course, I think they’re missing out on something great, but it is worth acknowledging that this deeper connection is not something that everyone wants.
2. Sacrifice more for your church family.
- Following up on the previous point of our relatively shallow relationships, we often aren’t there for each other in moments of difficulty.
- What might those moments look like?
a. It could be someone in the church getting laid off and struggling to pay bills.
b. It could be someone in the church getting sick and their spouse struggling with care.
c. It could be someone in the church wanting to adopt but concerned about the expenses.
d. It could be someone in the church caring for an elderly spouse and needing an afternoon of respite.
e. It could be someone in the church needing a babysitter while they go to a funeral.
- The examples are as diverse as life is, but the point is giving something that costs us something.
- This is one thought that is in the back of the minds of the people I was talking about a minute ago who want to keep things anonymous and just show up for worship and then go their way. They don’t want to get caught up in having to sacrifice.
- Compare the way that we normally treat our church family in terms of being willing to sacrifice with the way we treat our earthly family. (Let me note that I know that this isn’t true for all earthly families because there are some deeply dysfunctional ones. But let’s run with this thought.)
- We are so much more willing to sacrifice for our earthly families. We don’t even think twice about it. “Of course I’ll help - that's what I’m here for.” Yet we don’t act that same way around our church family.
- I don’t mean that we will end up doing this with every single person in the church. But there should be some people in our church family that we have those deep relationships with that we are willing to sacrifice for.
- Life is hard. We need some people who can take up the slack when we are struggling or just having a moment of difficulty.
- Our family - i.e. our church family - should be there for moments like that.
3. Be slower to leave a church.
- With an earthly family, you don't just leave them. You put up with their annoyances. You deal with their shortcomings. After all, they’re family.
- Often it is not so with our church family. We are far too willing to leave over relatively small matters.
- Allow me to say that I do believe there are times when it’s ok to leave a church family. If they move into heretical doctrine. If the pastor has been abusive and it would be dangerous to you or your loved ones to stay. There are other scenarios, but you get the idea.
- But those serious situations are not why folks generally leave. Things have gotten a little uncomfortable so they leave. I don’t like the music so I leave. I hear another church has a more interesting preacher so I leave. I don’t like the way the vote went in that business meeting so I leave.
- Almost always the people who depart do so with zero attempts to work things out with the pastor or with the church leadership. They just walk out the door.
- We should not be so quick to leave.
- There are guidelines in the Bible about going to a brother or sister when they are in sin. We are supposed to do all we can to work things out.
- Something similar is in play here. We should try to work things out where we can.
- Some people will say that one reason they don’t go to church is that there are people there that are difficult to get along with.
- To that I say: you’re right! And I also say: that's part of the point of church.
- Yes, there are people who are difficult. We are in the process, as we follow Jesus, of learning to love like Him. Having people who are difficult and loving them anyway is part of the maturity process. It’s part of acting like Jesus.
- This isn’t a bug in how Jesus set up church. It’s a feature. Church was never going to be a place where everyone who showed up was an absolute joy to be around. Jesus accepts people from all sorts of backgrounds and with all sorts of personalities.
- When we quickly and easily walk away at the first sign of trouble, it’s not only damaging to the church - it’s also damaging to our personal spiritual growth.
- One final phrase that's worth talking about under this heading: church shopping.
- We don’t think anything about it today - you should go around shopping for a church until you find one that meets your needs. And when it doesn’t meet your needs anymore, then walk out the door and go shopping again.
- Just for a moment, compare church shopping today v. to the early church’s limited options in a town. Back then there weren’t 100 options. There was one. You learned to get along because you were stuck with each other. That's a reality that pushed them to love each other even when they were annoying sometimes. We need some more of that and less self-centered narcissism in treating ourselves as the center of the church experience.
IS THIS AN IDEA THAT WOULD FREAK MOST NON-CHRISTIANS OUT? Actually, I think most people would find it incredibly attractive.
- John 17:20-21.
- I’ve used the word “radical” multiple times in this sermon and it’s fully justified. What Jesus proposes here is a significant reordering of the way we approach family.
- As we close, it’s worth asking, “Is this something that would repel people thinking about believing in Jesus?” I think the answer is, “No, they would find it attractive.”
- Finding it attractive doesn’t mean that they would sit down and study this doctrine and decide it sounds interesting. No, I’m thinking more along the lines of seeing it lived out in the life of an actual church family.
- What might that look like? Imagine there is a church family that is living this out well. They are deeply involved in each others’ lives, they are sacrificing for each other, they walk with each other through hard times, and the whole church is infused with a spirit of love. A non-Christian starts attending that church with a friend. They learn from the sermons but what is really striking to them is how the people treat each other. They genuinely care for each other. They look out for each other. It’s a family. This visitor is treated well as part of this family environment. They realize soon how much they want to be a part of that.
- Seeing this lived out is a beautiful thing. Experiencing this lived out is an even more beautiful thing.
- Just so we’re clear: what I’m saying here is exactly the point that Jesus was making in John 17:20-21 as He came toward the end of His life. He taught us that our love for each other would attract people to Jesus.
