Listen… Carefully.

Recently, Pastor Jared has mentioned (a few times actually) how sometimes, if we’re truly following Jesus, there may be situations where we can feel offended by Him.

And how, often, instead of sitting with that offense and allowing Him to refine us, we slowly but surely begin to construct our own self-reflected image of who Jesus is. Jared has also shared a few strong quotes which go along with that concept saying:

“You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

- Anne Lamott

And…

"In the beginning God made man in His image. And man has been returning the favor ever since."

- Mark Twain

Ooooooouch. These thoughts are kinda tough to stomach, right?!

BUT!

The sentiment is so true when you take a moment to honestly stop and think about it. At times we all have a tendency to “water down” Jesus’ message to fit our personal parameters on any given day or any given subject.

I mean, don’t get me wrong - we all want the smiling, luscious locks, “come to me all you who are weary and burdened” Jesus who can do no wrong in our eyes, am Iright?!

But yet, there are passages of scripture which sometimes hand us something different than we may want to hear.

For example, our Lent verses today in Luke 8 begin with Jesus teaching a large crowd a now very famous parable. In Luke 8:5 Jesus begins telling a story of a farmer sowing his seed. The seeds all fall in different places and Jesus uses this as a comparison to people who hear the word of God and react in different ways. He tells us that some people will get distracted by the devil, some will basically build their house on the sandy land and fall away quickly, some will let life’s difficulties sweep them away, and yet, some who hear the word “retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Luke 8:15)

I don't know about you but when I read this, I can sometimes be offended that Jesus calls out some of these terrible outcomes. I mean… yikes!

AND!

He doesn’t stop there.

In verse 18 He says,

“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

- Luke 8:18

Wow, that feels intense, Jesus.

WAIT!

There’s more.

In verse 19, Jesus’ mom (yes, the immaculate conception, virgin birth of our Savior, Mary) and His brothers try to get through the crowd to see Him and what does He do? Welcome them in? Nope. He basically turns them away saying,

“... My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

- Luke 8:19

Jeeeeesh.

I mean, if you can read through these verses and not take a little offense at first listen, kudos. But for most of us, the way Jesus spits straight truth, no sugar-coating, can be tricky to receive.

SO!

What do we do when we find ourselves tempted to only take what we like about Jesus and leave anything that feels offensive?

Here’s what I also gather from this passage:

Listen… carefully.

Like, truuuuuuuly listen to God’s Word.

In the NIV translation of this passage, it says the word “hear” 10 times and “listen” once. So, 11 times Jesus talks about the importance of listening. His emphasis on hearing in such a short amount of time makes me think of the age old saying “God gave you 1 mouth and 2 ears because He wants you to listen twice as much as you speak.”

Friends, don’t miss this!

Jesus’ message is as “alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12) now, during the 2023 Lent season, as it was in the days that He walked the earth. And He’s saying the same thing now to you and me as He said to crowds then: LISTEN CAREFULLY!

• How do we deal with feeling offended by Jesus’ truth at times? Listen, carefully.
• How do we reflect the true image of God over one crafted to reflect our own comfort? Listen, carefully.
• How do we live out the Gospel, one day at a time, thanking God for saving us during this Lent season and beyond?

LISTEN… CAREFULLY.

“Consider carefully how you listen” (verse 18) to Jesus’ words today my friends and see what He has to say. Start by slowly reading Luke 8:4-21 to find out just what God might have in store for you specifically and take it from there.

Love you!

Kyle Moss

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