Luke 8:16-21 "Family of Light"

Sometimes I’m tempted to wonder what difference all this Jesus stuff makes in anyone’s life. A bunch of people have stopped going to church, especially since COVID. Most people seem to live as if there’s no God. What does it matter?

Of the people who do show up sometimes—probably less than they used to (I’m not only talking about NewChurch) —what difference does their faith make in their life? Do Christian parents raise better children? Do they have better marriages? Are they healthier? More prosperous? Wiser? Do they live longer? Is there any benefit at all to following Jesus?

Am I making you nervous? I said sometimes I’m TEMPTED to wonder these things.

There are most certainly benefits and blessings to following Jesus—in this life, and in the life to come. But as we’ll learn from this week’s lesson, we’ll only get the good things God has for us if we listen carefully to what He told us, if we believe what He told us, and if we actually do something with it.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, You are holy, You are light, in You there is no darkness. Help us to keep Your name holy today and always, illuminate us with Your Word, make us holy. AMEN

We’re still in Luke chapter 8, your Bible probably has a little title just before verse 16 called “A Lamp on a Stand” or something that makes you think Jesus is starting a completely new thought. He’s not. This is further explanation of the parable He was just talking about. 

He told the parable of the sower and the seeds, then He explained it to the disciples. Basically, Jesus throws the Gospel of the kingdom of God on all the dirt no matter where it is. Whether the seed will be able to grow or not. The seed is always the same—the Word of God is always the same. Also, dirt is dirt. There’s really no difference between “good soil” and “bad soil.” It’s all bad soil. The only difference is where the dirt is located, what else is going on, and how much other dirt is around it. Jesus explains that the seed is the Word of God, the Gospel, and it will only grow in perfect conditions. What are those conditions? The dirt, which represents the person who hears the Gospel, the dirt can’t be on a hard path (jaded by a heart that has rejected Jesus for whatever reasons), the dirt can’t be on the rock (where they hear about Jesus and get all excited but can’t grow roots so they wither and fall back into their old ruts), the dirt can’t be filled with thorns and weeds (trying to mix a little Jesus with all the cares of the world and pleasure and distractions—they might grow a little but they’ll be overcome with all those other things and get choked out). The seed of the Gospel is only going to grow in a field that’s been set apart by Jesus, the Sower, the Farmer. A field that He purchased and prepared specifically for growing seeds into a fruitful crop. A place with lots of dirt. Row after row of seeds planted in dirt where it can be watered and tilled and nurtured. It’s so obvious this parable is about how spiritual growth can only happen in Christian community—the church—that most people miss the point completely. Can’t see the garden for the dirt. Dirt has to be surrounded by other dirt in order for the Gospel seeds to grow. It’s the message of the kingdom of God.

So, ignore your little chapter heading and realize that Jesus is continuing to explain the parable of the Sower, Verse 16:

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 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 8:16-18

Here’s that first line again…

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.

Those Gospel seeds grew because Jesus made them grow. Now He’s going to talk about the purpose of the crop—He made the seeds grow into a crop for a reason. In this story, Jesus the Sower becomes the person who lights a lamp and puts it in a house. He tells the story with a little humor, it’s a couple of ridiculous images.

A person lights a lamp—it’s the kind of lamp filled with oil that burns a wick. He’s talking about fire. No one would light a burning lamp and stick it in a clay pot. If you don’t want light, you wouldn’t waste the oil. The clay pot would just block the light and put out the fire. Not smart. But you know what would be even dumber? Light the flame and then stick it under your bed. That’s called burning down the house.

A person who’s not an idiot would light a lamp and put it on a metal stand, so anyone who comes into the room would be able to see. Anyone outside the house who might be walking around at night could see the light through the windows and know it was a place to get out of the dark. Light to see what you’re doing, and light to guide other people to safety.

This is obviously another picture of the church. The people of God. The kingdom of God. Not just you and your little lamp.

In the same way that the only place the seed of the Gospel can take root is where there is plenty of dirt set aside for the purpose of growing faith in the hearts of those who hear—Jesus is saying the only reason He puts the light of the Gospel in the hearts of believers is so we can give light to each other. We are not supposed to hide our faith.

You only have faith because you heard the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ. This morning you came to a garden set aside for the purpose of growing believers from Gospel seeds. This is also where lamps are lighted and set on stands. This is the place where you can hear the Word of God carefully, with minimal distractions, with other believers—rows of good dirt, where the Gospel seed can grow and take root. A place to be reminded of everything Jesus does for you that you can’t do for yourself, and a place to hear what He wants you to do with this new life He’s given you.

Here’s the basic deal: God exists and you know it. His fingerprints are all over the universe—this didn’t just happen by chance. There’s a Creator. There’s a God—you instinctively know that. What you didn’t know until someone told you, is God sent His Divine Son Jesus Christ into His creation to live for you, die for you, come back from the dead and offer you the promise of eternal life. Salvation. Hope. 

Consider your lamp lighted. Now…

[“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.] What would it look like to hide the light of your faith in a clay pot? It would look like hearing the Word of God and not believing it. Ignoring it. Not wanting it to affect anything. Not wanting anyone else to see it. Maybe because you’re ashamed, embarrassed—being a Christian isn’t very trendy right now. Maybe you don’t want to deal with awkward conversations. Don’t want to risk losing status, or promotions, or popularity. Jesus said if you deny Him before men, He’ll deny you before the Father—I don’t think you want that. Got to shine that light! The Book of James says if we think we have faith but we don’t do anything with it, our faith is dead. Dead faith doesn’t do any good. 

Or maybe you hide the light of your faith because you’re the one who doesn’t want to see. Maybe you don’t want to deal with whatever God might show you. You know, correct your bad ideas, reveal your patterns of sin, show you how to treat the people in your life—challenge all those assumptions you’ve picked up along the way. So the last thing you want to do is read the Bible during the week. It jacks with everything. You come to church with your fingers in your ears, and let your mind wander the whole time. Or maybe you just hear the Word of God and don’t do what it says. Don’t make any use of it. Light is meant to shine, not be snuffed out in a clay pot.

And then there’s the idea of putting the burning lamp under your bed. Sounds dangerous. Set the mattress on fire and destroy the house. Remember, the light is our faith. It’s God’s Word in you. What are ways we use God’s Word to hurt people? Instead of loving them we condemn, judge—jury, and executioner, too. Instead of showing kindness and forgiveness— Instead of showing compassion and grace like God gave us grace, we throw Bible verses at people to win arguments. See them as dirty rotten rebellious sinners instead of people God wants to invite into His house. Fight with fellow believers in the church about what parts of the Bible are more important than others. No one wants to come into a flaming house we keep setting on fire with our angry attitudes and critical rants.

This applies to your own house too. Not just the church. Are you showing kindness and grace to your family? To your kids when they mess up? To your spouse when they make you mad? Do you let the light of grace and truth shine in your home? Or do you hide your faith in a clay pot most of the time—then pull out some version of sinners in the hands of an angry God when you lose your temper? 

Remember what I said a few weeks ago: Love the sinner, hate your own sin. This is true in your church and at home, too.

Verse 17 said,

For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Luke 8:17

You need to use the light of God’s Word to see all the things you need to work on. Don’t be shining the light in everyone else’s eyes—that’s not going to help them see anything. Shine the light on your own sin. Repent of your own sin. Let God worry about what He’s doing in other people’s lives. It’s all going to come out eventually. Nothing is going to stay hidden. 

Everyone knows the concept of “your sin will find you out.” If a celebrity doesn’t write a memoir, someone else will write an expose’ that tells all. No one gets away with anything. I’m not even talking about judgment day, of course everything will be exposed then—but no one gets away with anything in this life, either. Abuse your family and you’ll lose your family. Mistreat your friends and you won’t have friends. Lie, cheat, steal, sluff off your responsibilities—you’ll lose your job, you’ll lose everything. Your sin will find you out. Everything comes into the light eventually. Sin has consequences. Life on planet earth is always “you reap what you sow,” it’s always some kind of karma. Instant karma’s always going to get you.

But we’re Christians. We believe in grace, not karma. We believe God will show us mercy and forgiveness—not because of how great we are, but because of how great Jesus is. Not because we deserve it. We don’t. Contrary to what the world says, you don’t deserve happiness, you don’t deserve heaven. If it wasn’t for Jesus, you’d end up in the same pile of smoldering dirt with all the other sinners. God shows us grace in this life and grace in the life to come.

But that doesn’t mean our sin won’t still have consequences now. It will. Use that light Jesus gave you to avoid as many pitfalls as possible. They are everywhere. Life has sharp edges hiding in every dark corner.

You better listen carefully. You better hear the Gospel and let it grow in you. And when it does, you better let that Gospel shine. Don’t snuff it out trying to hide it. Don’t burn down your house and everyone in it by misusing it. Does that sound too harsh? Verse 18: Jesus 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

Be careful how you listen. Don’t sit there thinking everything applies to everyone else. Elbowing the person next to you. Looking down the aisle to see if a certain someone is paying attention. Thinking, “I sure wish so-and-so was here—they need to hear this.”

When you listen to the Word of God, apply it to yourself. Believe it. Do what it says. 

You have the Gospel growing in you. Faith is growing in you. Grace and truth are growing in you. This should always lead to greater hope. Jesus has promised to show you mercy—no condemnation, no guilt, no shame. He shares His kingdom and all its joys with you. Faith should always lead to greater faithfulness. A desire to live like a true citizen of the kingdom of God. A law-abiding citizen. Helpful. Kind. Interested.

That’s what it means to listen carefully. Believe what God said. Do what He told you to do. Believe that He forgives you when you fail. Those who continue to listen carefully, continue to believe what He says—to them He will give more and more. More grace, forgiveness, joy, all the good things. To those who stop hearing, stop paying attention, stop showing up to this house of light—even what they think they have will be taken from them. 

It sounds harsh but notice how this plays out in the parables: The hard-hearted and jaded who refuse to listen, the ones who listen for a moment but then follow their emotions and fall into the same ruts over and over, the distracted who start to grow but are also seeking pleasure, obsessed with the cares of this world, make everything a priority except for gathering with God’s people to hear His Word and encourage each other—what they have will be taken away from them. 

Jesus sets the light of the Gospel in you—you either let it shine for others or it burns out. 

There’s probably a connection we could make between not hiding our light under the bed, and pulling the covers over our head on Sunday morning instead of showing up to encourage your brothers and sisters in your local church. The light you were given isn’t just for you. The Gospel is a bonfire, not a flashlight. Or maybe it’s what happens when we all use our flashlights together.

Quick story: on Mother’s Day the kids and I took Kim to see Coldplay. It was at Reliant Stadium—I didn’t know Coldplay was one of the biggest bands in the world. 70,000 people at that concert. Anyway, when we came in, they gave everyone an LED wristband that would light up and be part of the show. Each individual wristband wasn’t that impressive or bright, but when there’s 70,000 people with synchronized lights shining—it would light the whole place up! I don’t really understand how it worked because they could do it by section, they could make heart shapes over here or have different colors in different areas. The wristbands were handed out randomly. It was some kind of electronic wizardry for sure.

But what if most of the people refused to wear them or just shoved them in their pockets? It’d have pretty much ruined it for everyone. If Jesus was the person handing them out and He saw someone not putting their wristband on, Jesus would be like, “if you’re not going to wear it, give it back. Let someone else wear it.” He might not even let them into the show. He’d definitely want them to know It’s a lot more fun if they let it shine.

That’s kind of what the church is like. We’re supposed to attract people to the place where they can hear God’s Word by letting the light Jesus put in us shine. Hold up those lamps, help each other see. Encourage each other. It’s better for everyone when we do.

Your Bible probably has another heading before verse 19. Something like “Jesus’ Mother and Brothers.” Once again it’s misleading, Jesus is still explaining the same big idea. Verse 19:

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:19-21

This might be the same time His mother and brothers and sisters came to see Him in Matthew, it might be a different time. His brothers and sisters weren’t believers yet—they didn’t believe until after the resurrection. There were times when they showed up and tried to get Jesus to stop what He was doing before He got Himself killed. 

So, on this occasion, His family shows up but they aren’t able to get to Him because it was too crowded. Someone interrupts the teaching and Jesus uses the moment to make a final point about what He’s been talking about. This is the big conclusion.

Listen… The seeds that take root and grow in you… The light that is placed in you… This is the Word of God. It’s the Gospel that promises forgiveness. It’s the Law that tells you how to live. Those who listen carefully—those who show up when the Word is read, those who believe what it says, those who do what it says—Jesus says that’s who His family is.

He destroys the kinship laws, the Jewish ancestral tribalism. The people of God’s identity is no longer about being a Jew. It’s no longer about what tribe you're from. Or not from—it’s not about Jew and Gentile anymore. 

As Christians, our identity doesn’t come from the modern tribes that are so important to us, either: North and South. American or other nationalities. Red, and yellow, black, or white. Man or woman. Liberal or conservative. Baptist or Catholic or Lutheran.

It’s about the baptized and the unbaptized. Water is thicker than blood, here. It’s about being in the family of God or not. Jesus is our brother, He shares His Father with us, He shares His inheritance with us. When we pray, He told us to pray like this, “Pray to my Father… say Our Father,” We usually think He just means God is the Father of all of us, but don’t miss the most important thing He’s saying—He’s sharing His Father as the only begotten Son of God with us. He’s telling us to pray like He prays, that when we pray we’re praying with Him to His Father—He wants us to know God is our Father now, too.

How do we get to be in the Family of God, with Jesus as our brother? We hear His Word and put it into practice. We hear it and believe it. We hear it and do it.

At home. At work. At school. At all the places we go to do business. At church.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. The day we remember when the Holy Spirit brought all the nations of the world together as one united people of God. One family. One church.

Churches are to be planted all over the world so the seed of the Gospel can grow. All those local gardens. In those churches, the light of Christ is to shine as bright as possible so people outside will see it and come in, so everyone inside can continue hearing and learning and teaching.

The kingdom of God is everywhere Christ rules by grace through His people.

You enter by faith, and faith comes by hearing the Gospel, the Word of Christ.

Take care how you hear, and believe, and put it into practice.

So faith can grow.

So the light of the Gospel can shine, so we can see what we’re doing,

So we can show the way for others to join us,

So the mysteries of the kingdom of God can be revealed,

So everyone who hears God’s Word and puts it into practice can become a member of the family of God. Sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus, united with one one body and one Spirit—one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

What difference does any of that make? If we listen carefully and believe, it makes all the difference in the world. AMEN