Those Who Hear God's Word and Do It

Luke 8:16-25

Key Verse: 8:21

"He replied, 'My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.'"

Jesus came into this world to reveal the secret of the kingdom of God. Like a farmer, God sowed the seed of the kingdom of God to all people through Jesus. What might the farmer hope when he saw the seed? God want us to live fruitful lives. But it depends on how we respond to the words of Jesus. Today, Jesus tells another beautiful parable – the parable of the lamp on a stand. This parable tells us how we should respond to the word of God. When we hear God’s word with absolute attitude and put it into practice, our lives will be fruitful and we will have intimate personal relationship with Jesus as members of God’s family. I pray that God may bless us to listen to the word of God carefully through this message: God may bless us to put the word of God into practice, so that we may grow in Jesus!

I. Consider carefully how you listen (16-18)

Look at verse 16. "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light." Who lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed? No one dose it. Why does Jesus tell this obvious truth? It is to make a spiritual point. The purpose of a lamp is to shine so that those who come in can see things through the lamp light. Here we can think about two things. First, light shines. Here the lamp light refers to Jesus. It is the words of Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. God sent Jesus as the true light that shines in the darkness. In Luke 1, Zechariah praised Jesus, singing “Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." (Luke 1:78-79) God sent Jesus as the light of the world. It was not to hide himself, but to reveal himself to us through Jesus and his words.

We know that God is love. How do we come to know that God is love? When I saw Jesus who was carrying the cross of all my sins on his shoulder; when I saw him nailed on the cross for my sins; when I saw him who was praying on the cross for my forgiveness, I came to know that God loves me. God is might God who set us free from sin. When a paralytic was brought Jesus, he declared the forgiveness of sins by saying “Son, your sins are forgiven.” When a woman who lived sinful life came to Jesus, everyone despised her but Jesus declared “Your sins are forgiven.” God is mighty God who destroys the power of death. In the town of Nain, Jesus saw a widow whose only son had just died. She was full of sorry and grief. Jesus stopped the funeral procession and said to the dead person, “Young man, I say to you get up!” The young man got up and began to speak. Healing all kinds of diseases, Jesus demonstrated God’s mercy and grace for the poor and the weak. Calling sinners, forgiving their sins and transforming them into new creations, Jesus demonstrated that Jesus is the true light that gives life to everyone.

God’s purpose in sending Jesus is to reveal his love to all people of the world. Jesus did not hide the truth about God, but he demonstrated who God is through his life of obedience to God. Forgiving all our sins, setting us free from the power of darkness, healing all our sicknesses, teaching us the truth of God, especially transforming dirty sinners into precious children of God, Jesus reveals the secrete of the kingdom of God. Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Second, the light exposes everything. Look at verse 17. "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." Under the light, nothing cannot be hidden. The light drives out darkness, and we can clearly see everything under the light. Seniors in college and even graduate students are wondering without knowing what to do in this economic-crisis. It is not because of economic situation, but it is because they do not have the light, the word of God. Living without the word of God is like walking in darkness. In darkness, have you ever banged your head on a wall? Have you ever stepped on something and fell? Without the word of God, we will bang our heads on the wall of materialism. Without the word of God, we will fall into immoral relationships. Without the word of God, we will stumble over the obstacles of sin. Eventually we will be lost in the world. I thought that Maria might be happiest girl all the time because she used to laugh loud. But even such happy girl was a suicidal candidate when she did not have the words of God. Living without God’s word is like walking in darkness. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  The word of God is a lamp for our life journey. It shows us the way to God. The word of God guide our feet into the way that God want us to go. One who discovers God’s purpose of his life and lives up to it becomes a truly happy and fruitful person. When Dr. Samuel Lee came to America, he did not know what to do first. So he prayed and studied the Bible. Then one clear word of God came to his heart. It was Exodus 19:6 “… you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  This became our prayer topic. It gave us clear direction in a time of moral and spiritual decline. It gave a new hope to young Americans who were lost in pleasure-seeking and materialism. Now we know what to do: carry out intensive one-to-one bible study with students. Now we know what we must pray; May God make America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. I thank God that Maria seeks the word of God by writing and sharing deep personal testimonies every week. I pray for her to walk in the light of the words of God and become the happiest one in Christ.  

There is one problem. Sinners want to hide what they have done in secrete. But nothing can be hidden under the light. The light of Jesus exposes all our sins, all our secrets, and all we had done in darkness. Though God graciously shines his light in the dark world, the world dose not like it. John 3:19 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” The most difficult part in preparing the message is to stand before the word of God. I cannot hide all my dirty sins. Before the words of God, every time I felt being naked. Satan tempted me, saying “How can you deliver the message though you are a sinner?” What Satan says to me is right. Still I am a sinner. Then what should I do? I must come to the light of Jesus. I must let Jesus’ light shine into my heart. Jesus’ light exposes my sins as God sees them. It is not to condemn me, but it is to heal my sickness; it is to cleans and purifies me from all my sins and enables me to walk before God. 1 John1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.” I am a sinner. But I stand before the light of Jesus for his grace is greater than my sins. When we confess our sins and ask mercy, Jesus forgives us and purifies us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9).

Jesus gives us this light of life. Jesus gives us the word of life. Why does he give us this light? What are you going to do with this light, the words of God? I do not think he gives us light to hide under a bed. I believe God gives me Jesus, the light of life, so that I might shine his light through my life of obedience to him. God give me the one word “Son, your sins are forgiven,” so that I may reveal how wonderful Jesus’ grace of forgiveness is through my new life in Jesus. I must not hide the gospel in fear and shame, but shine the gospel with boldness and courage. There is a child's song about this. It goes like this: "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine; this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine; let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."

Look at verse 18. "Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." I think we are living in “Ear-phone” generation. Most of students are wearing ear-phones to listen to music. It seems like they selectively listen to what they want to listen. They do not want to listen unless they feel entertained. Listening carefully is something that we all struggle with. To have happy family, we should carefully listen to our spouses. To be promoted, we should carefully listen to our bosses. To get a good grade, we should listen to what the professor said. Jesus said, “Consider carefully how we listen.” Why? Because it determines whether we live fruitful lives or fruitless lives. It determines whether we will have eternal life or not. Those who have an absolute attitude toward the word of God will bear much fruit. What's more, they will be pleasing to God, and their joy will be complete. (Jn. 15:11) On the other hand, those who have a poor attitude toward the word of God will remain childish and unfruitful, and what they thought they had will be taken away from them. We must regard the word as the most important thing to us. We must study the bible with all our hearts, minds, and strength. Those who study the Bible with full concentration can grow endlessly in the truths of the gospel. They gain the secret of the kingdom of God, salvation, inner conviction to spread the kingdom, and more and more. But those who study the word superficially will be powerless, and in the course of time, lose even their shallow head knowledge.

But most of time, we fail to listen carefully. It is because we think what Jesus says is  not important. We think that we know everything and we are smart than God, and our way is better than God’s way. We do not listen carefully because we think that the word of God is not the word of God, but some moral doctrine. We do not want to listen, because already we determine what we are going to do out of our selfish ambition. We prefer to walk in the darkness rather than listen to God’s word out of our foolish stubbornness. We should renew our minds by the word of God and acknowledge that God’s way is right. God’s way is the best. Paul said in Romans, “Do not confirm  any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Let's read verse 18 together: "Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." Do we listen to the word of God with a right attitude? If not, we can be left bankrupted.

II. Hear God's word and put it into practice (19-21)

While listening carefully to God's word is important, it is not enough. In order to grow spiritually, we must put it into practice. How much important to put the word of God into practice is? Our parents and children are important to us. But putting the word of God into practice might be more important than our own parents and children. That is what Jesus teaches us here.

            One day Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him. But they were not able to get near him because of the crowd (19). Someone told him, "You mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you" (20). They must have expected Jesus to stop what he was doing and pay immediate attention to his family. Jesus did not rush to escort his mom into the meeting and give her a seat of prominence. He did not show any human favoritism to his own brothers at the times of teaching people God’s word. Here Jesus teaches us two things.

First, Jesus gave first priority to God's word. In this world, our deepest loyalty belongs to our family members. There is a saying that "blood is thicker than water." As a human being, Jesus just have had great affection for his mother. But he denied his human feelings. According to God’s will, he was teaching the word of God to give live to perishing souls. Nothing was more important to him. This shows how much we should give our heart and attention to the word of god. Only when we have this kind of commitment to God's word can we truly taste its spiritual depth.

Second, Jesus taught about the spiritual family. According to Jesus' word, those who hear and practice God's word become members of Jesus' spiritual family. They enter into a new relationship with Christ and his people. The Apostle Peter wrote, "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Pe 1:23). This new relationship with Jesus has been established not by how much we know about him, but by our obedience to his words. When we hear and practice the word of God, it gives birth to a new life in us, a spiritual life (Jn 3:6). We have a new identity as God's children (2 Cor 5:17). In Christ, we have the great privilege of being children of God and members of God's family. And as God's children, we are heirs of God's everlasting kingdom and are even co-heirs with Christ (Ro 8:17). We have a bond of love that is deeper and more powerful than any other.  Though blood is thicker than water, the blood of Jesus is more powerful than any blood. We have brothers and sisters who love us dearly and are willing to sacrifice for us in New Jersey, in German, in Korea and throughout the world. We also have the privilege of practicing God's love for our dear brothers and sisters and sacrificing for them. We must acknowledge the limitations of our human family relationships. Though we love our family members dearly, if they do not accept the gospel, our relationship will end at death. We cannot be together forever. We must not exchange the eternal word of God for what perishes. As Jesus set the example, we must honor our spiritual family members. We must love and serve one another with great affection. Thank God for precious brothers and sisters in Christ. However, we must remember that this great blessing is given only to those who hear God's word and put it into practice.

I was 28 years old when I came to America. Now I am 40 years old. I came to America not seek American dream, but to share the gospel of Jesus with campus students who would suffer and die without knowing Christ. Though I have two sisters, I never seen their weddings, their husbands, and their children. Strangely I did not feel sorry for that, but I have much thanks and joy because God has given me precious big brother, M. John, handyman brother Sh. David, Smart PHD brother Sh. Jason, and all others. I have three daughters only. But I never felt envy for M. John who has two sons because God has blessed me with many sons in Christ. In Christ, we are brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. We are members of Jesus’ family who share the same direction, same heart’s desires, same hope and even sufferings. In the end, we will be together forever in God’s kingdom. Jesus blesses those who hear and practice God's word, and makes us members of his glorious spiritual family.

III. We must practice our faith during the storms (22-25)

            We have learned how important to practice the word of God. Here, Jesus helps his disciples to put the words of God into practice in the storm. Look at verse 22-25. One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. It is interesting fact that Jesus invited his disciples to the storm. He led only those who love to the storm. In John’s gospel, Jesus let his loved one, Nazareth, to die. This storm is not ordinary one, but the perfect storm in which there is God’s divine purpose to help his disciples to know the power and the authority of Jesus, and to know who Jesus really is. This storm was God’s great wisdom and love. 

As soon as they sailed out, Jesus fell asleep. Jesus was tired after hard work and he slept deeply. Suddenly, a squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. Some of the disciples had been fishermen, who were used to sailing in the Sea of Galilee. However, this storm was so sudden and strong that they could not control the boat.  With all their strength and all their experiences, they tried to put the boat under control, but they could not do so. They yelled at each other and screamed and began to panic, realizing their lives were in danger. In a panic, they woke Jesus, saying, "Master, master, we're going to drown!" The fear of death gripped their hearts. They became paralyzed with fear. What was Jesus doing in the storm? He was sleeping comfortably! How could he do this? Was it because he was a very heavy sleeper? No, it was because he trusted in God. He slept peacefully because he trusted in God who was in control over all things.

How did Jesus handle the storm? Look at verse 24b. "He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm." With one word of his mouth, Jesus rebuked the wind and the waters and they immediately became calm. After calming the storm, Jesus asked his disciples, "Where is your faith?" This is an interesting question. But this question clearly points to their problem in this storm. It was their lack of faith. Jesus did not rebuke their lack of knowledge, their lack of skill, their lack of money, or their lack of strength. Jesus asked “Where is your faith?” It is because faith is the most important thing. Jesus will do anything to help us to have faith even if it means allowing storms to come into our lives.

In the storms of life, human knowledge, strength, money, talents can not save us. Those are useless. Only faith can save us from the storm. Only faith is useful in the storms of life. Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?” Jesus wants us to trust him absolutely in the midst of the storms. This faith pleases Jesus. The disciples had seen all the miracles that Jesus performed. They had heard all the powerful words of God every day. But still they did not believe that Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is God, the creator. With knowledge, we can not please Jesus, but only by faith, we can please God. Look at verse 25b. “… In fear and amazement they asked on another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obeyed him.” At Jesus’ command, the winds and waves became still. The lake became like a sea of glass. For the disciples, it was scarier than the raging storm. Their fear came from what Jesus had just done. It is different from the fear of storm. It is holy fear like that of Moses when he saw the glory of God.  Through the storm, the disciples come to know who Jesus really is. Through the storm, they come to have faith in Jesus. The storm became the opportunity for Jesus to display his glory as the Son of God and for the disciples to learn deep trust in Jesus. When we follow Jesus, he sometimes leads us through storms. We face the storms of painful relationship problems, health problems, career challenges, difficult school studies, and financial problems. But he uses these storms to help us grow in faith and to take deeper root in our relationship with him. We should put our faith in Jesus. No matter what the problem is, Jesus can calm our storm of life with one word of his mouth. Jesus brings us peace and victory.

In this passage we have learned how to grow in Jesus as Jesus' disciples. We must consider carefully how we hear the word of God. We must put what we hear into practice. We must go through storms of life by looking at Jesus all the more. Then we will grow strong, firm and steadfast in faith. We may not only have knowledge, but also have faith by putting the word of God into practice. May God bless us all to grow in Christ.