Thayer Thursdays – Storms
It’s probably safe to say that if you were to go to just about any middle or high school gymnasium or sports field, you’d likely hear somebody talking a “big game.” However, they avoid stepping on the field because they know they can’t live up to the expectations they’ve set.
This phenomenon isn’t just relegated to grade-school either. I’m sure most of you have seen this lived out by adults in your workplace, at the gym, or at home. Most of us have probably even done it ourselves.
And what’s the last thing you want to happen when you “talk a big game” that you can’t live up to?
For somebody to call your bluff.
Well that’s what Jesus does in Luke 6:46-49:
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Jesus’ parable reflects a similar illustration given by God to the Israelite community through the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 13, God is indicting false prophets for speaking untruthfully about the reality of Israel’s sin and God’s impending judgment upon them. The false prophets were claiming that any calamity that was going to come was far off in the future and that ‘now’ was a time of peace. God claims that their so-called “prophesies” are really just musings of their own imaginations, not actual words from God.
They’re talking a big game, but when the Babylonians march into Jerusalem: God will call their bluff. Their lies of ‘peace’ when destruction is at their doorstep are about to be laid bare for what they really are. God says in Ezekiel 13:14 that He is going to send a storm, knocking down their walls and exposing their foundation for what it truly is.
As He recounts and re-tells Ezekiel’s image of God exposing the Israelites’ foundation for what it truly is, Jesus is bringing the same indictment on those who hear his words but don’t put them into practice.
He’s calling the bluff of those who are talking a big game, but don’t live out that reality.
To call Jesus Lord, is not simply some intellectual ascent to a reality about who Jesus is. At its core, to call Jesus Lord is to make Him King of your Life.
It is an inherent contradiction to call Jesus Lord and not live in the way He wants you to live.
Storms are going to come in this life. Jesus never said that the life of His followers would be easy. In fact, many places in the New Testament claim the exact opposite. Those storms are going to expose our foundation for what it truly is.
Is our foundation truly built on Him, or do we just talk a big game?
Chris Thayer
Categories: Biblical Theology, Blog, Ministry, New Testament