Sermon Notes for Luke 6:43-45
Key verse: Luke 6:45 “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
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Our passage today comes from the section in Luke called the Sermon on the Plain and is parallel to the more familiar Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Here, Jesus talks about the nature of discipleship as more than just words. He invites us into a relationship with God which will change our hearts and in turn change our behavior. Recent studies on religion show that Christian leaders used to believe that the change pattern began with belief: believe, behave, belong. In other words, people believe in Jesus first, which changes the way that they behave which in turn gives them a feeling of belonging. However, postmodern people prefer to belong first; they long to be in authentic relationships which then impact how they live. The pattern now looks more like this: belong, behave, believe. As people relate to others and get a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, they begin to live differently which then leads to seeing life differently, through the eyes of belief. Jesus seems to imply this relational-based pattern here: a relationship with God changes our hearts which changes our behavior and then leads us to see Jesus for who he really is. Faith involves more than just saying the right words or believing the right things or even keeping the right laws. Instead, the relationship with God changes the very essence of who we are.
What does this have to do with our topic on measuring success? Many times we become tempted to succeed at all costs because it makes us look good and we think we can do good things. But, if we lose our integrity in the process, we accomplish nothing. We may all nod our heads in agreement with this, but living it is harder than it seems. The world does not reward doing what is right; it rewards doing what is profitable and what looks good. So, we find bankers facing lawsuits because they stretched or withheld the truth in order to make profits. What about ourselves? Do we cheat on our taxes because it gives us more money? Do we step on people in order to promote ourselves? What is the cost of all of this? Jesus also asks: “What good does it do for a person to gain the whole world and lose their soul?”
So, how can we keep our soul intact? Jesus says its about bearing good fruit, which comes from a good and healthy heart. In reflecting on this passage, several others come to mind. Read the verses below and reflect on how Jesus may be calling you to cultivate the love in your heart in order to be successful in heaven’s eyes.
Jeremiah 17:10 (The Message) “I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be."
Matthew 7:16-20 (New Living Translation) “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
Matthew 12:33-35 (New Living Translation) “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.”
Psalm 1:1-3 (New Living Translation) “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Ephesians 3:16-19 (New Living Translation) “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Ultimately, then, we do not make our tree good; a relationship with Jesus does. It changes our hearts and our lives, our actions and our beliefs. Then, we find true success in the eyes of our Creator. How might Jesus be calling you to cultivate this heart of love? How can you spend time basking in that unlimited resource? How can you let that love overflow into your words and actions and relationships daily? How can our outer lives reflect our inner hearts?
