A Character Worth Imitating

A sermon summary by Steve Fountain originally preached on March 17, 2013 called "A Character Worth Imitating" from Luke 6:36-49.

We arrive now at the third and last section of the Sermon on the Mount. 

Jesus shows us a character worth imitating (verses 36-38).

Then Jesus uses 4 parables to show us that we are all imitating someone or something (verses 39-45).  

Finally Jesus concludes his sermon with a stern, prophetic warning (verses 46-49). 

Character

Verse 36 is a bridge for what follows, highlighting again the importance of developing a character like our Heavenly Father.  “Be merciful, even as your heavenly father is merciful.”  In other words, “Since your Heavenly Father is known to be merciful, let your life take on the same merciful character.” 

Luke 6:37-38 we discern 4 characteristics of God’s mercy that we are to imitate followed by a promise.  We are to be merciful, gracious, forgiving, and selfless.  In a real sense, these 4 ways can be taken together as one. 

Parables

Blind leading Blind. 

 In verse 39, Jesus proposes the impossible—a blind person leading a blind person.  The inevitable outcome of this is to fall into a pit.  The natural answer to both of these questions is no, a blind person cannot lead a blind person to safety.  Jesus says, it is absolutely critical that you find someone you can trust and follow him.

 Teacher and Disciple. 

 In verse 40, Jesus draws our attention to the disciple-teacher principle.  We are not as well acquainted with the teacher-disciple analogy in our day — we don’t eat, sleep, and play with our teachers as they did in the ancient near east.  A better analogy that paints the picture for us in our day is of a Father-Son relationship.  And the point here is “Like Father-Like Son.” 

If we are not careful, we can acquire bad traits from our teachers that are not helpful.

 Logs and Specks.  

 In verses 41-42, we have the famous analogy of offering to take the speck of dust out

one’s eye, while trying to do it with a 2x4 sticking out of our own eye.  And sadly, we often take this analogy out of context.

In summary, Jesus is saying that if you have an obvious character flaw like a  judgmental spirit or a loose tongue, and you begin training others, your disciple will turn out just like you. 

Those who have the ability to examine themselves and remove the beam are in the best position to help someone else.  A person who sees their sin, repents, and is forgiven — this is not perfection, rather, it is humility—this is the person you should follow.

 Fruit or No Fruit. 

 We typically read verses 43-45 and say, “You cannot get bananas from an orange tree, or you cannot get pears from an apple tree,”  but this is not Jesus’ point. 

The good person brings out of his heart good things, and a bad person brings out bad — the overflow of the mouth is merely the overflow of the heart.  If you spill hatred, bitterness, and jealously — it is simply the exposing of the character of your heart.  When your life spills, does love or bitterness come out?

Warning

In verse 46, Jesus asks a very penetrating question.  “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”  The obvious answer to this is, “If I ignore the voice of God, and do not follow him then I am not his disciple — I am following someone or something else.”

And the answer to all our hearts longing is found in a deep, committed, praying, community relationship with Jesus Christ and His people.  Look at verse 47, where Jesus lays out discipleship plainly for us. 

1.  You must come to Jesus.  2.  You must hear his Words.  3.  You must do his Word.

It is that simple.

Those who refuse to come to the Father’s Table, refuse to repent of their sins and receive forgiveness, refuse to imitate the Father’s love, will one day discover that their house of cards falls flat.  But by then, it will be too late.