WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:11.859 Good morning everyone. That's nice. So this morning we are continuing our theme, What 00:00:11.859 --> 00:00:20.679 Would Jesus Do? And I've been given the subtitle, Teach the Bible. The question, What Would 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:25.839 Jesus Do? is a great question to ask ourselves, isn't it? I remember as a teenager having 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:31.039 one of those wristbands with the letters WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? stitched in. Did anyone 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:36.519 else have one of those? They were very much a Christian fashion statement for a while. 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:41.320 And I think maybe we should bring them back because they were great conversation starters. 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:48.219 But also they reminded me when I was wearing mine to keep my thoughts, my words, my actions 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:55.719 and reactions aligned with the way that Jesus lived his life. See as Christians we are 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:03.600 called to live lives like Jesus, to do our best to follow his example, to be Christ-like 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:12.239 or as Paul puts it in Ephesians 5 verse 1, to be imitators of Christ. In fact the word 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:16.980 Christian literally means little Christ and you might have heard the old joke, if you 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:22.859 take Christ out of Christian all you're left with is Ian and Ian won't save you. 00:01:22.859 --> 00:01:30.439 Ha ha ha. Or if you take the word Christian out of Christianity and add an N, you're left 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:37.400 with is inanity. It is silly, it is futile, it is useless. And so we're led to conclude, 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:46.060 if we haven't already, that Jesus Christ is central to our discipleship journey. Different 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:52.900 ages, stages, processes alike, we need Jesus to be the centre. And so we're led back to 00:01:52.900 --> 00:02:02.820 this question, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus do? We don't have to look far in the 00:02:02.820 --> 00:02:08.560 gospels to know that what Jesus does is he loves his neighbour, befriends the outcast, 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:14.879 talk to the rebel, he eats with the sinner, heals the sick, casts out demons, he raises the 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:21.000 dead, he takes a nap, he spends time alone to pray, feeds the hungry, calms the storm, and 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:30.840 time and time again what Jesus does is he teaches the good news. Jesus' whole life is given over 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:39.960 to teaching the good news about God. John 1, 1, in John 1, 1, John writes about Jesus, 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:46.820 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He continues 00:02:46.820 --> 00:02:55.319 on to say, in him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. If you look at the pages of 00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.460 this scripture in your Bibles, you'll see that John gives the word, word, a capital letter. He's 00:03:00.460 --> 00:03:08.840 signifying that he is referring to Jesus being the word, or logos in the original Greek. At the time, 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:18.300 the Greek philosophy was that logos was the rational divine intelligence, the reason for everything. 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:24.480 So for John to come along and say Jesus is the word, he is logos, was massive. 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:34.840 Jesus Christ is our divine rational being. He is our reason for everything. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:44.960 He is our example to look to, our example to live by. He is the word. Jesus came to teach about God, 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:51.719 to fulfill the law and the prophets. He came to bring forth the kingdom, to show us the way. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:58.780 As he says in John 14, verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:06.000 father except through me. So we need to know him. We need to know the way, the logos. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:15.860 And again, as we explore the way of Jesus, as we live our lives to be more like him, we come back to this 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:25.620 question, what would Jesus do? And our subtitle today gives us an example, an answer. He teaches the Bible. 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:31.680 And I'd like to point out here that we can't teach unless we first study. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:40.100 Behind every book and commentary you read, every podcast or sermon you listen to, every seminar or workshop 00:04:40.100 --> 00:04:47.319 that you attend is hours of studying, of praying, of listening to the Holy Spirit. And it's up to us to do that 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:55.600 ourselves as well. And by that I mean, get to know our creator. Read the Bible for ourselves, get to know it. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:02.060 Get to know him. Read and listen to things that inform us. But most of all, as we read the Bible for 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:09.580 ourselves, we need to be asking the one who authored it to be explaining it to us as well. Because we can't 00:05:09.580 --> 00:05:16.980 live off secondhand revelation. When we stop and listen to what God wants to say to each of us 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:24.680 us personally as we spend time alone with him. He will reveal things to us personally that can fuel 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:29.319 our faith like nothing else. And that is so exciting. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:41.600 In the Bible, we find wisdom. We find instruction and history and information. Through reading the Bible, 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:48.420 we get to know God more and more. Grow in our intimacy with him. We come to know his plans and 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:59.939 his purposes for our lives. We get to know his good, pleasing, perfect will. The Bible holds so much power 00:05:59.939 --> 00:06:16.139 for us. In Hebrews, the Bible holds so much. And we can take loads of verses from the Bible and see the power 00:06:16.139 --> 00:06:22.139 in teaching and knowing the Bible. Proverbs 22.6 says, 00:06:22.139 --> 00:06:27.419 Teach a child in the way that he should go and even when he is older, he shall not depart from it. 00:06:28.979 --> 00:06:36.759 2 Timothy 3.16 says that all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:43.740 and training in righteousness so that the servants of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:54.759 Romans 10.17 says that the faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of God. Psalm 119.105, 00:06:54.860 --> 00:07:01.800 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And even Jesus' last words in the gospel 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:07.900 of Matthew would go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 00:07:07.900 --> 00:07:14.840 and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them everything I have commanded you. And surely I am 00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:24.639 with you always to the very end of the age. We know Jesus sets a good example to us of teaching the word 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:31.420 of God to everyone he encountered, from the crowded streets and the likes of Zacchaeus, to the lonely 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:38.500 well side and the likes of the women who have been rejected by society, to every person, every crowd 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:46.360 Jesus encountered, he took the opportunity to teach them about God. And what we read in our passage this 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:54.920 morning is no different. As we read Jesus telling the parable of the sower to such a large crowd that he had 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:59.400 to take a boat a little way out onto the shore so that everyone who came could hear. 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:11.100 In the parable, the farmer who represents Jesus goes out one day to sow his seed, representing the word of God. 00:08:11.900 --> 00:08:19.920 And in this parable, Jesus cryptically tells us about the different kind of seed, different kind of ground 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:26.379 that the word of God can land on in different people's lives. As the farmer scatters his seed, 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:33.779 the first lot lands on a path and is quickly eaten up by the birds. The next lot lands on rocky places 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:41.980 where the soil is shallow and the roots can't take deep root. And when the sun comes out, it's burnt up. 00:08:42.740 --> 00:08:49.700 The third lot, it lands on the soil with thorns so that when they grow, the thorns choke them and they die. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:58.299 But the last lot, the fourth lot, lands on good soil where the seed takes deep roots and it grows 30, 60, 00:08:58.719 --> 00:09:07.759 100 times what was sown. And then before explaining what he means, as we ended on it in our reading this 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:16.240 morning, Jesus quotes the words of Isaiah and says, whoever has ears, let him hear. We all have ears, 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:24.820 don't we? And I read a quote from a commentary on this piece of scripture that says, the same sun 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:36.440 that melts the wax also hardens the clay. Effectively, what it says is that for the one with a humble heart, 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:41.399 the word of God will open up their hearts. It will melt them into the heart of Jesus. 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:48.579 The parables and the teachings of Jesus will be understood by those who are seeking him. 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:57.899 But the one with a dishonest or lazy heart like clay, their hearts will be hardened against him. 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:06.579 What Jesus is saying is, let the one who is ready and willing to seek hear and understand what I'm saying. 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:15.460 Sounds a bit weird, doesn't it? Because surely Jesus wanted everyone who came to him to hear, 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:21.920 for everyone to listen and understand. Surely he wanted everyone who listened to him to have their 00:10:21.920 --> 00:10:29.759 hearts and minds opened up in faith. I always hope and pray when I'm teaching and preaching that 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:37.480 it will have an effect even on the most interested about other things in life members of the youth group. 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:45.360 So why did Jesus say, whoever has ears, let them hear? Why didn't he, you know, God just open up 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.340 everybody's ears to listen, hear and understand? 00:10:51.259 --> 00:10:55.480 And so I spent some time wrestling with and researching around this question because it was 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:01.460 really bothering me. And I came to the conclusion that I don't think it's that he just wanted 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:08.360 certain people to hear and understand, particularly his disciples, but that it's about faith and how 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:16.759 faith needs to be about a heart and a spirit movement of trust, of spending time with the one who we believe in. 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:27.419 Not just seeing or hearing and therefore believing. For it to be faith, there has to be trust. There has to be an element of uncertainty. 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:33.379 Actually, there has to be an element of, you know, one day I could find out that this isn't real, but I choose to believe 00:11:33.379 --> 00:11:36.419 because I believe in my heart that this is real. 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:48.579 And so Jesus sheds enough light in his teaching that people can make that choice of faith, but not enough light that he's forcing anybody's minds. 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.919 Jesus could never be accused of brainwashing. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:58.779 And I suppose in part, at least, this was the point of his parable. 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:08.039 Just like the seed that was choked by the weeds, the seed that was snatched up by the birds or that that quickly withered in the sun. 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:15.419 Those who let the anxieties and worries of life, the stresses and the heat of all of the things that we encounter, 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:19.559 snatch up the seeds of God's word in our lives. 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:21.939 Those people won't hear. 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:33.679 But those who prioritize tending to the soil of their soul so that it's rich and fertile despite everything that's going on, 00:12:34.079 --> 00:12:36.139 those people will hear and understand. 00:12:37.079 --> 00:12:40.079 They will see and they will know. 00:12:40.419 --> 00:12:41.899 And the roots will grow deep. 00:12:42.239 --> 00:12:44.639 And the shoots will grow big and strong. 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:50.000 I know which soil I would like to have in my heart. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.480 And we will come back to that. 00:12:52.319 --> 00:12:56.059 But thinking about this question, what would Jesus do? 00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:00.399 When we're thinking about how do we teach the Bible as Jesus does, 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.139 there are a couple of quick and easy things that I think we can learn from this passage. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:08.860 And the first is that he kept it simple. 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:17.300 Jesus talked in parables relating to the society and the culture of the day so that at least on a surface level, 00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:20.220 everybody could understand what he was talking about. 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:26.960 The second is that he kept it available, meeting people where they were at. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:31.039 He put himself in a position where people would come and find him. 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:33.240 And then he took the opportunity as it arose. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.060 And lastly, Jesus kept it real. 00:13:38.940 --> 00:13:43.899 Teaching the Bible isn't just about standing on a stage with a microphone like this. 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:48.539 It's about taking opportunities to share what you believe, 00:13:48.680 --> 00:13:54.779 something of your faith with a friend over coffee or a friend on your walk to school. 00:13:55.799 --> 00:13:59.240 It's putting yourself in positions where opportunities will arise 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.240 and you can take them to tell people about Jesus. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:08.279 Like a Christian union or in the lunchroom, in the office, on a walk. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.200 And we see it all the time with our youth that bring their questions to youth group 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.580 because we make ourselves available to them. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:24.299 Jesus keeps teaching the Bible simple, available and real. 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:30.500 And so we can take that model ourselves and apply it to our own teaching with the people that we encounter. 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:33.460 We don't need a qualification. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:37.620 Remember, Jesus doesn't call the qualified. 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:39.379 He qualifies the called. 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:49.480 And before we finish, I want to go back to this idea of the soil that Jesus is talking about 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:55.539 and just take a couple of minutes to look closer about what he meant about good soil. 00:14:55.539 --> 00:15:03.799 In preparation for a discipleship school that I went on at the beginning of 2020, 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:10.120 we had to read a book called Rooted by Banning Liebshire and then write a book report about it. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.799 It's the one and only book report that I've ever written and I still, to this day, 00:15:14.079 --> 00:15:15.599 don't know if I got the right idea. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:20.420 But the book is about the soil of our heart. 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:25.240 And since then, this idea of heart soil has really stuck with me. 00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:33.120 Liebshire says that there are three types of soil that are important for growing our Christian faith. 00:15:33.560 --> 00:15:37.220 And these are community, service and intimacy. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:41.100 Number one, we need community. 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:43.779 We were designed to live in community. 00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:50.339 We see it right from the outset of the Bible when God created Eve because it was not good for man, 00:15:50.439 --> 00:15:51.919 for Adam to be alone. 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:58.980 We need people around us to encourage us, to keep us accountable, pray with us, 00:15:59.079 --> 00:16:03.339 support us in our tough times and celebrate with us in our good times. 00:16:03.539 --> 00:16:08.659 To point us to Jesus and to help us to, as it says in Hosea 10, 12, 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:14.279 break up our fallow ground because it is time to seek the Lord. 00:16:15.459 --> 00:16:17.120 We need community. 00:16:18.939 --> 00:16:25.659 Number two, we need to be serving, living our lives in worship and service to God and his people 00:16:25.659 --> 00:16:29.139 because that is also what Jesus would do. 00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:34.360 And in serving God and his people, we become more like him. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:41.019 We become more humble in heart and we get to serve the one who died and rose again for us. 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:47.740 And number three, perhaps most importantly, intimacy. 00:16:47.740 --> 00:16:51.000 Into me you see. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.879 We must press into the heart of Jesus. 00:16:56.180 --> 00:17:02.320 Spend time in the secret place with him because that is the place from where everything else flows. 00:17:05.120 --> 00:17:10.539 Whilst I was preparing this talk, I actually went back and read the book report that I wrote four and a half years ago. 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:14.120 And I want to share some of what I've written with you. 00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:23.959 Rooted confronted me with the harsh truth that I've not been positioning myself to be really, really rooted in the soil of intimacy 00:17:23.959 --> 00:17:26.219 as much as I like to think I have. 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:34.119 Chapter seven says that revival will only come when we spend time in the inner room, this secret place with God. 00:17:35.239 --> 00:17:40.759 And that there are things that God will only reveal to us when we spend time with him there. 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:46.400 I realized that whilst I hunger for God, whilst I want to spend time building my relationship with him, 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.579 I have not been prioritizing time spent in the inner room. 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:51.960 And I didn't like that confrontation. 00:17:52.819 --> 00:17:56.299 But I did enjoy the simple message that chapter seven brings home. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:58.920 That we need to spend time in the inner room with God. 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:03.700 It's not about kneeling down and praying long, holy prayers. 00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:07.980 But about coming as you are into his presence. 00:18:08.420 --> 00:18:13.759 Submitting yourself to his will day after day and listening to what he wants to say to you. 00:18:15.580 --> 00:18:20.039 And I don't share this because I've got it all sorted out in the last four and a half years. 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:21.100 Don't believe that. 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:29.319 Sometimes I feel more like I'm crawling in exhaustion to the inner room than I am running up the steps with zeal and joy. 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:34.859 But because since then it has become one of my biggest joys in life. 00:18:35.439 --> 00:18:40.059 To prioritize time with the Father in the secret place every morning. 00:18:40.939 --> 00:18:46.079 And I'm discovering that as I do, I'm learning more about the heart of Jesus. 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:49.220 What he says to me feels louder and clearer. 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:52.619 And his word is opened up to me every day. 00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:59.979 And as I said in the book report, it's not about praying big, long, holy prayers. 00:19:00.199 --> 00:19:02.079 It's about coming as we are. 00:19:02.419 --> 00:19:05.119 Surrendering our whole self to the king of our heart. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:08.339 And there is so much joy to be found there. 00:19:11.579 --> 00:19:20.839 The soil of our hearts is so important if we want to learn and teach about God and his Logos word. 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:27.000 And as I think about what that means for you and for me today, I actually feel so excited. 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:32.359 Because where it all starts is that secret place, that inner room. 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:35.279 Wherever that might be for us. 00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:36.619 But it's with God. 00:19:37.399 --> 00:19:39.379 It doesn't have to be fancy. 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:42.379 It doesn't need to have some holy aesthetic. 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:45.079 It needs to be me and Jesus. 00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:48.379 My heart and his word opened up. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:51.460 So that he can tend to the soil of my heart. 00:19:51.780 --> 00:20:00.620 So that the seed that the farmer sows will take root and harvest 30, 60, 100 times what was sown. 00:20:02.300 --> 00:20:08.220 And I feel confident that for each of us, if we can prioritize that secret place, 00:20:08.360 --> 00:20:14.980 the overflow of that will be a fresh outpouring of Jesus-shaped lives being lived. 00:20:14.980 --> 00:20:17.740 Of the word of God being taught. 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:22.500 And the Holy Spirit breaking out all around this town. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:24.620 Let's pray. 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:32.759 Yeah, Heavenly Father, I just thank you that you love to teach your word to us. 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:40.059 That it's not some cryptic message, but one that you love to sit with us and explain to us. 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:46.579 And I pray for each and every one of us here as we go away from church this morning, 00:20:46.679 --> 00:20:53.700 that you would give us courage to take your word into the situations we find ourselves this week. 00:20:53.700 --> 00:21:01.279 That you would bring out those opportunities to share something of who you are and what you do for us 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:03.599 with those people around us. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:10.059 And whatever our lives look like, whether they feel busy and chaotic, 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:13.899 or whether they just feel slow and peaceful at the moment, 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.699 Lord, would you give us those opportunities to sit with you in your secret place? 00:21:19.740 --> 00:21:22.419 Would you tend to the soil of our hearts? 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:28.840 And would that seed that you are planting day after day after day in our hearts, 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:34.860 take root and grow 30, 60, 100 times what you are sowing? 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:37.740 In your name we pray. 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:39.300 Amen.