We’re off to a great start. We just launched our “Be Salt” series, examining some of the most transformative teachings of Jesus. Before we get too deep, I want to hit the “pause” button. In a church this size, not everyone is on the “same” page, eager to go on this journey.
Later in Matthew 13, Jesus tells of a farmer scattering seed. Now the seed being sown is pure and uncorrupted. You know how it is… you go to Menards to buy pure Kentucky Bluegrass—but half the bag is junk seed! The seed is the same… but what isn’t the same is the soil upon which the seed falls. Some fell along a foot-hardened path, and the birds snatch it up. Some fell on shallow, rocky ground, where no root could form. You know the parable. Some fell on thorny soil, where the seed gets choked out before it bears fruit. Some fell on good soil where it flourishes.
Jesus’ whole point is that the receptivity of our heart determines the fruitfulness of God’s Word in our life. Matthew 13:23 says, “But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.” Sadly, a person can be ever hearing and never understanding. Ever seeing but never perceiving. Not everyone’s soil in a gathering this side is same. Before true transformation can happen a soil test (of heart) must be taken.
We’re calling today at Lakeside, Decision Day. Only you, with the help of the Holy Spirit and Holy Word, can truly test what’s in your heart. At the end of Matthew’s gospel we have what I consider a three-part test that is sufficient to size up your soil type.
Step #1… I’ll say it as a question… Do you Acknowledge Christ’s Authority?
In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” The Christian life can only advance, if in the deepest part of our being, we recognize the authority of Christ. In Luke 6:46, Jesus asks, “Why do you me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do the things I say?” As much as that sounds like a question, its actually a diagnostic statement. We cannot expect real transformation to happen if we merely give lip service to Christ’s authority. Is the soil of your heart truly receptive? In the deepest part of your being, are you inviting Jesus to be the Lord? What would it take for you to bend your knee before God of Universe?
Step #3… yes I’m skipping ahead… Do you Practice Actionable Formation? Back to Matthew 28:18-20. Jesus says, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The easier part of discipleship—is content. We love verse by verse, word by word exposition. We love to indulge our minds with everything Jesus ever said, or did, or commanded. We love information—and it’s more readily available on demand than anytime ever! But the hardest part of discipleship isn’t downloading information. No, it’s teaching the heart “to obey!” How do you teach someone “to obey.” You can bombard people with content… but moving a stubborn human heart is harder than moving mountains! We have machinery to literally move mountains, or till the hardest soils. But can we move a stubborn, calloused heart?
Allow me to return to Jesus’ question. Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do the things I say?” These are the first two tests. Do you acknowledge God’s authority… do you engage in actionable formation? Luke 11:28 Jesus says, “Rather, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep (do) it.” Nothing we’ll talk about in coming weeks will produce an ounce of transformation unless we submit to God’s authority and put the word into practice.
Now lets talk about critical, but overlooked Step #2: What is your spiritual posture? Sandwiched between “All authority has been given me…” and “teaching people to obey” is Jesus’ commandment “Go” and “baptize.” Baptism is the bridge between the personal recognition of a new authority in your life… and learning to obeying that authority. It’s one thing to give lip service to Jesus, “Lord, Lord…” But you’re only blessed if in the deepest part of your being, you’re saying, “Yes Father… Yes Lord… yes Holy Spirit… have your way in me…”
Now I want to commend the intention so many churches have when they baptize small children or infants. In Catholic tradition, it’s the Priest’s faith, that is operative in baptism. Baby is completely unaware of the ceremony. In other traditions, it’s the faith, good intentions, desire of the parents that is expressed in baptism. Yes your priest, church, and parents want you under God’s authority… we all agree, that’s a beautiful thing! But what is binding upon you in Scripture, is not the faith or intentions of others, no matter how dear they are. What matters to God is to whose authority you choose and demonstrate yourself to belong.
In 1 Peter 3:21, Peter describes baptism as “the pledge of a good conscience towards God.” The only legally binding pledges made in 1st century were by those considered to be of an age of accountability. Baptism begs the question—do you want what that church, or priest, or parent wanted most… What God wants for you! If so… baptism is your opportunity to step up the plate… to confess what you believe… to repent and invite God to wash away all your sins… to invite God to fill you with his Holy Spirit and enable you to become a New Creation in Christ.
So many believers sit listless in their pew… somewhere between needing to acknowledge Christ’s authority over their life… and actually obeying his commands. How can you ever obey God’s commands if you don’t first assume a proper spiritual posture of submission? To humble yourself in the waters, and invite God to raise you up to be a new man or woman or creature in Christ?
The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes. The first beatitudes are all about spiritual posture. What does God desire in us but a broken and contrite spirit? I’ve found that a person doesn’t really become receptive until they’ve become utterly poor and broken in spirit. What does the Bible say? God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Until a person really gets on their knees in repentance, and mourns over their personal sin. Until a person is so famished in the world, they’ve nowhere else to turn, and beg God to fill their hunger and thirst. Until a person becomes so bored scrolling through all the world has to show, they’ve no other resort but to want to turn and see God!
Jesus invitation is Matthew 6:33 is to “seek first the kingdom of God.” How might a person ever seek a Kingdom other than their own until their own kingdom first fails. How might a person ever come to trust greater authority of King and Lord Jesus until they recognize the failure of their own authority to bring about life, peace, joy?
In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus again invites us, “Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and who seeks finds, and knocks the door will be opened.” Nobody (no matter how much you love them, no matter how much you revere them) can ask, seek, or knock on your behalf!
Matthew 7:21, Jesus says, “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 in heaven.” Matthew 7:24, 26, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. . . But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”
A decision to trust Christ in baptism bridges what would otherwise be a hollow acknowledgement of Christ authority, and allows substantive, actionable formation to take hold. Listen to what the Bible says about John’s Baptism. Luke 7:29-30, “(And when all the people, including the tax collectors, heard this, they acknowledged God’s way of righteousness, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.)" Baptism is your declaration, your pledge, your YES to God’s plan for your life. Why would you ever let someone else answer that for you. What is your response?
[Brief Instructions about Baptism… if you have already made plans to be baptized this morning, go ahead and make your way to back of auditorium. If you are sitting there thinking, why shouldn’t I be… why haven’t I been baptized… what am I waiting for? You can also make your way to the back. We have everything you could possibly need (logistically) to be baptized this morning. The only thing we can’t do is make your decision. What shall you do? Step out of the crowd and declare Jesus Lord!]
Just now we’re going to turn our attention to communion. If Jesus is truly the Lord of your life, take the elements. Taking the bread is our acknowledgement that Jesus paid a high price for our redemption. He broke his own body that he might heal our heart, mind, body, and soul. Take and Eat!
Taking the juice is our acknowledgement that Jesus finishes what God has started in our life. By his blood we are forgiven, by his blood we are washed, by his blood the price for our sins no matter how great have been paid, by his blood Christ’s clothes us… his righteousness becomes our righteousness… Take and Drink!
It’s never too late to explore hope. We’d love to see you at the Point. We’d love for you to grab lunch of your choice and see you at Southwind Park at noon.