This week will be our last week looking at Jesus’ sermon on the plain. We have another familiar passage in front of us this week…
Luke 6:46-49… New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”
If you have time this week, I encourage you to read Jesus’ entire sermon on the plain… Luke 6:17-49. What stands out to you in Jesus’ teaching? I am struck by the simplicity of the teaching, but the difficulty of the application and living out Jesus’ teaching. There are plenty of scriptures that I have difficulty understanding. But not this teaching. It isn’t complicated. It isn’t hard to understand. Why do I find it so hard to live these teachings every day? As Anabaptists, isn’t that what we try to do, to move from just believing the teachings that Jesus taught and living our lives in a way that reflects Jesus’ teachings and invites “the faces we see each day” to encounter Jesus. We have the story of Menno Simons that as a Catholic priest he left the Catholic church and spent decades living as a hunted man. The Martyrs Mirror is full of stories who push beyond just believing and lived into the radical teachings of Jesus. We also have examples of those types of people in our families and in our church family. What a blessing to have these types of people in our lives who can model what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus. Not perfect…But exemplifies forgiveness, service, loving others (even the difficult people), being generous, even when the storms come. I think these are the types of people Jesus was talking to in his sermon on the plain. Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
~ Pastor Dustin
