Words to Live By

The words you live by determine who you will become.

When I was growing up, I remember imagining what my life would be like when I was 25. That age seemed quite far off, like the distant future. When I was 25, the picture didn’t end up being what I had imagined. The picture wasn’t bad, but just wasn’t what I had imagined.

Here’s a picture of what my life is like now: married, one son. There’s more to the picture: I’m pastoring a church, I’m living in Bears country (not what I would have planned), living in the town where Groundhog’s Day was filmed. When I was a kid, I didn’t plan a lot of what my life is like.

What’s in the picture frame of your life right now? If someone could snap a picture that fit all the parts of your life into it, what would we see? And is the picture of your life what you planned it to be or expected it to be? Did life turn out as you had imagined it or as you wanted it to be?

Even now, you probably have a picture of what you want the future to be like. You are imagining what life will be like when summer starts, when you are 50, when you retire. You are imagining what it will be like in the future.

The question is: where does that picture of the future come from? Why are those the elements that you want in the picture frame? Who or what influenced your picture of your ideal future?

In our passage today in The Gospel According to Luke, Jesus gives us pictures of our future. But it’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure book where what our future looks like depends on what path we follow or better yet, it depends on who we follow. Who we follow determines what our future looks like. Jesus gives a warning that the picture we are heading towards is drastically different depending on who we follow. Where we are going and who we are becoming are determined by whose words we live by.

This passage we are looking at, Luke 6:39-49, is the final section of this sermon of Jesus’ we’ve been in. Let’s remember who the audience for this sermon is. Jesus prayed all night on a mountain then called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them to be called apostles. Then he came down from the mountain to a level place where there was a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people who had traveled from all over the place to hear Jesus and be healed by him. After healing people, 6:20 says Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples and began to teach them. So Jesus’ primary audience here are his disciples - people who have indicated some sort of commitment to him. But he is also speaking in the hearing of the crowds who came to be healed.

Jesus ends this sermon using four pictures to wake up his audience to their need to do something with his words. It’s a personal challenge to each of them and to us to consider: “Who are we following? Whose words are we building our life upon?”

We’ll look at this conclusion to the sermon by looking at each of the four images and how they connect together. Let’s start with verses 39 to 40.

Blind Leading the Blind (6:39-40)

This whole first part of the sermon’s conclusion, verses 39 through 45, is continuing on the theme of mercy. In verse 36, Jesus said, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Then he explained what that mercy would look like in verses 37 and 38: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” Then he explained that the measure we use for others is what God will use to measure us: if we are giving out judgment and condemnation, that’s what we will receive. If we are giving out forgiveness, mercy, and being generous, then that’s what we will be given.

Then in verse 39, Jesus says:

39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? (Luke 6:39)

This is a humorous and somewhat ridiculous image. How can one blind man come up to another blind man and say, “Here, take my hand, I’ll help you along and show you the way and get you to where you need to go.” The one leading is no better off than the one following because they are both blind. Both will end up falling into a pit. A blind man needs someone leading him who can see.

Jesus applies the image in verse 40:

40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

The image of the blind leading the blind is about who we are following. A disciple will become like his teacher in character, conduct, and destiny: “like father, like son” or in this case, “like teacher, like student.” A disciple will never become greater than their teacher but they will become like their teacher, so whatever their teacher is, that’s who they are becoming. Just like a blind man who puts his trust in another blind man and then falls into a pit with him, so your teacher is going to determine the way in which you walk and where it takes you. The implication is: choose your teacher wisely. You need a leader who can actually see in order to lead you. Jesus is pointing to himself as the teacher they should listen to.

What is Jesus saying they are blind to? The themes of the sermon so far have been about the blessings of the kingdom and the mercy of God. A blind teacher is one who is blind to these things: God’s kingdom, how it works, God’s mercy, God’s ways, what he is like.

The question is: who or what are we letting teach us? Who are we following? We are all disciples of someone or something. The question is whether who we are following can actually see. If they aren’t any better off than we are, then they can’t be taking us anywhere good. We need a teacher who can see. The blind can’t lead the blind.

The next image shows how people act when they are blind to these things. Look at verses 41 to 42.

Beams and Specks (6:41-42)

41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye. (Luke 6:41-42)

These verses continue the metaphor of sight. The first image was about blindness, this image is about something obstructing someone’s sight. This is another humorous image. The “log” refers to a beam of wood that would be used in roof construction or to bar a door. We are to imagine someone with a beam of wood sticking out of their eye trying to remove a speck from someone else’s eye. Is such a person qualified to do the task they are attempting to perform? Should they not remove the 2x4 from their own eye before trying to remove a piece of sawdust from another person’s eye?

To what does the image of removing a speck refer? What activity is this person with the beam in their eye involved in? They are engaged in the criticism or correction of others. They are seeing what’s wrong in another person’s life, pointing it out, and correcting them. Now this activity of correcting one another is not wrong in itself. The New Testament tells us we are to help one another walk with Jesus both through instruction and correction and warning. Jesus even says after you remove the beam from your own eye you can see to remove a speck from another’s eye. The problem is that this person has their own obvious shortcomings that they have not dealt with. Have you ever heard someone say, “Do as I say, not as I do”? This is someone recognizing they aren’t being a hypocrite, not living in line with what they tell others to do. Or have you ever thought, “You should follow your own advice”? That’s you seeing that the person giving you advice isn’t very good at keeping their own advice. They are a hypocrite.

We just saw an example of this in 6:1-11 where Jesus got into two controversies with the Pharisees about keeping the Sabbath. Jesus’ disciples were plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath which the Pharisees considered work which is prohibited on the Sabbath. They asked the disciples why they were doing what was not lawful on the Sabbath. Immediately after this, the Pharisees were watching Jesus to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They were spying on him, looking for a reason to accuse him. Jesus asked them: is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or destroy life? They didn’t answer and when Jesus healed, they began plotting how to get rid of Jesus.

What’s going on? They are nitpicking the specks in others’ eyes while missing the huge beam in their own eye. Jesus’ disciples plucked some grain and Jesus healed on the Sabbath. They are taking issue with this while they are spying to accuse and are plotting how to get rid of Jesus. They aren’t seeing the log in their own eye. They are doing harm and destroying life on the Sabbath.

What makes the difference between a judgmental, condemning attitude and healthy correction? When the person doing the correction has already first taken the log out of their own eye, they are able and ready to help others. This is a person who recognizes that they have sin, failures, and shortcomings and are in need of mercy. This makes them able to actually help someone else with their issues. They are more observant about their issues than other people’s issues. The best person to correct others is the person who knows how much they are in need of correction in their own life and how desperately they need God’s mercy.

If someone does not deal with their issues first or are unaware of them (perhaps because they are so focused on other people’s issues), they are a “hypocrite” because they are dealing with someone else’s issue when they have obvious issues of their own. They need to be less concerned with removing specks from someone else’s eye and more concerned with removing the beams from their own. I’ve heard it said that we are usually very good at being merciful toward our own shortcomings while judging and condemning the shortcomings of others. One author says, “no one gives grace better than a person who knows he desperately needs it himself” (Dangerous Calling, 74).

We are all born with a gavel in our hand and a law degree on our wall. We are very good at using our gavel as a judge to judge and condemn others. We are also very good at using our law degree as defense lawyers to defend our own actions. We need to put the gavel away and not activate our inner defense lawyer.

This whole first section is about who our teacher is and who we are becoming as a result. Do we follow blind teachers who are concerned with the specks in other people’s eyes while blind to their own? Or are we following a teacher who is merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful.

A Tree and Its Fruit (6:43-45)

Verses 43 through 45 add another image, showing how deeply one’s teachers influence and shape a person. The teacher you follow is going to determine what your heart is like. And your actions flow out of your heart. Why should someone take the log out of their own eye so they can see clearly to take the speck out of their brother’s eye? Verse 43 says “for” or “because” no good tree bears bad fruit and no bad tree bears good fruit. Why? Verse 44 explains that trees produce according to their kind. Thorn bushes don’t produce figs and bramble bushes don’t produce grapes. Trees produce according to what they are.

Verse 45 applies the image: a good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good while the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil. People produce according to what’s in their heart. Actions, and specifically speech, reflect what is inside. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If one’s speech is filled with judgment, condemnation, speck-picking, and critique, then that shows the condition of their heart. Going back up to verse 36, it shows that this is not a heart where mercy has found a home.

Foundations (6:46-49)

Jesus introduces the final image with a question. In this conclusion to the sermon, he has already asked four questions.

1. Can a blind man lead a blind man?
2. Will they not both fall into a pit?
3. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4. How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye?

And finally here he says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” With these questions, Jesus is pushing his audience toward self-examination: “How am I living? Am I living the way Jesus tells me to live? Or am I following someone else? What’s coming out of my heart?”

With this final question, Jesus makes clear that calling him “Lord” doesn’t mean he is Lord of their life. Just giving him a term of respect or reverence doesn’t mean much. What shows if Jesus is Lord is whether someone does what he says. Actions reveal who is Lord of someone’s life. What we do shows whose words we are building our life on. This is addressed to people who have begun following Jesus and also to the crowds who came to hear him and be healed.

Jesus uses the image of house foundations. One person dug deep for their foundation until they hit rock then built their house on that. Another person didn’t dig deep and just built it on the dirt on top of the rock. When it rained and the flood waters came, the house on the rock was stable. The rain washed the dirt out from under the one built on the dirt and the house was destroyed.

The application is that building your life on Jesus’ words is building your life on a solid foundation. To do what Jesus says means your life is built on a foundation of rock. To build your life on someone else’s words or to hear Jesus’ words and not do them means you have no foundation to your life.

This image goes back to the blessings and woes at the start of this sermon. The one who builds their life on Jesus’ words will experience the blessings of the kingdom in verses 20-23. Perhaps their situation doesn’t look great now, but when the storm comes they will remain standing. The one who doesn’t build their house on Jesus’ words will experience the woes of verses 24-26. Perhaps everything looks good now, but when the storm comes they will experience a great ruin.

The point is that Jesus’ words do us no good if we aren’t doing them. If we just listen and don’t do, Jesus’ teaching is of no benefit to us. A life built on Jesus’ words is a life in the kingdom of God and its blessings.

Where are you headed in life? What’s going to be in the picture frame in a year, five years, ten years, twenty years from now? Who you follow will tell you. The words you live by will tell you. Jesus says, “Look, the words you live by are taking you somewhere. Who you follow is taking you somewhere.”:

• The words you live by will determine where you are going.
• The words you live by will shape your heart.
• The words you live by grow your fruit.
• The words you live by determine the quality of your life.
• The words you live by determine how secure and stable you are.

So the question is: Whose words are most important to you? Whose influence are you under? Who is discipling you? Who are you following? Whose words do we let tell us what to value, how to think, what to do, or how to live? Whose words are telling us what we should want and desire in life? When you imagine your future, what do you see there? And who gave you that picture?

Jesus says: “If you don’t live by my words, here’s the picture you can expect. You are going to fall into a pit. You are going to be a hypocrite with a log sticking out of your eye while trying to help others with their specks. You are going to be a tree with bad fruit. Your life is going to fall apart like a house built on no foundation when the storms come.” Is that the picture we want in our future?

Maybe your picture of the future comes from your family: what you were taught to value, how you are supposed to live. Maybe you think your future will be a lot like what your life was like growing up. Our culture also gives us a picture of what life should be like. We have the American dream selling us the gospel of “up and to the right” living. A dream of constant progress if we set our minds to it.

Jesus is giving us a picture for our future: “People who are led by someone who can see. People who don’t fall into a pit. People becoming like their teacher. People who are able to actually help others. People who bear good fruit from good hearts. People who stand firm and stable in the storm.”

There is a warning in this passage about who you follow. There is only one person’s words who will give you a stable foundation. There is only one person leading you to a heart change. There is only one person who won’t lead you into a pit because he can see.

Jesus wants us to look within their own hearts and at our own lives to consider whether we are building our life on his words. Look at yourself first. Let who you are following be your greatest concern. Then you will be in a position to help others. Your teacher determines the direction of your life.

What’s a good foundation to build your life on? The foundation is what you put your hope and trust in. If you get that foundation right, everything else will be stable and good. What other foundations do we build upon besides Jesus? You might build your life on what you do, what you have, or what others think of you.

Building your life on what you do is putting your trust and hope in what you can accomplish. At the base of our life, you think it stands or falls on what you do. Building your life on what you have is putting your trust and hope in what you possess: money, possessions, relationships. Building your life on what others think of you is putting your hope and trust in the opinions of others and their evaluation of your life: whether they approve of you, like you, accept you.

But these are not a foundation to build a life upon. Jesus says to build our lives upon his words which means we have made him our teacher and are following him. We will become like our teacher. If we let what we do, what we have, and what others think of us become our teacher, then what are we becoming? We reflect what we revere. We are what we love. We become what we behold. We are held captive by what captivates.

So if we follow Jesus and build our life on his words, what is our picture of the future like? What’s guaranteed about our future is that we are becoming more like Jesus if we are following him. Often we aren’t imagining who we will become in the future. We imagine what we will have done or will be doing; we imagine what we will have; we imagine what people think of us. But what if we began imagining who we will become? What if we imagined what our character is like? What if we had a picture of how we will have become more like Jesus?

How do we build our life on Jesus’ words? Jesus wants us to hear and respond to the gospel. When we believe the gospel, we enter into Jesus’ kingdom and its blessings. We are given a new status and position with God.

Jesus knows people’s view of God grows the fruit in their lives. We become what we worship. So he is giving them a picture of God as the one who blesses, the one who loves his enemies, the one who is merciful.

Picture yourself as a tree. The fruit on your tree are your behaviors, your attitude, your feelings, your habits, and so forth. At the root of the tree is your view of God - your beliefs about him, what you think of him. Whatever is at the root of the tree grows the fruit. A bad view of God grows bad fruit. A good view of God grows good fruit. If you have bad fruit, you can trace it down to bad beliefs about God at the root.

True change comes from knowing God as he is. Not just knowing about him but knowing him in our experience and in our feelings. To know all the right answers for a theology quiz won’t do it. We need to really know God personally and experientially.

What is a disciple? Someone learning how desperately they need God’s mercy because they have taken the time to look at their own sin and shortcomings. Someone who is being led by a teacher who can see. Someone becoming more and more like Jesus. Someone who has a good heart producing good fruit. Someone building their life on Jesus’ words. Someone with a solid foundation in the storm. I’d like all this to be true of my future self. I’d like this to be the kind of person in the picture.

Going further back in Jesus’ sermon, I’d like to be someone who is quick to forgive and give rather than judge and condemn. I’d like to be someone who is merciful as my heavenly Father is merciful. I’d like to be someone who loves my enemies, who does good to those who hate me, who blesses those who curse me, and prays for those who abuse me. I’d like to know I am blessed even if my situation and circumstances don’t look like it.

What if we were a community of people who have taken a good long look at ourselves before we ever tried to help someone else with their issues. What would that make us? It would make us humble. It would make us compassionate toward the sin, struggles, and weaknesses of others. It would make us conduits and channels of God’s mercy. Most importantly, it would make us a lot more like Jesus who loved the most hurting people of this world. I’d like my future self to look a lot more like Jesus. That’s what surrendering all of life to Jesus and inviting others to do the same is all about. We can only invite others when we have surrendered. We walk with Jesus and we walk with each other as we all walk with him.