Into Practice

 Read Matthew 7:24-27

We will embark on a journey in the first part of 2024 that we will call the words of Jesus. How can you go wrong with something titled The Words of Jesus?

You can go wrong with the words of Jesus.  Jesus said so.  How?

The person who hears the words of our Lord and Master and Savior but does not put them into practice will see his life go to pieces, now and perhaps forever.

But this can’t be us, right?

We live in a time that I would say observes Casual Christianity. We know what the commandments are.  We know what Jesus said.  We cling to the words that we who are weary and heavy-laden should come to Jesus.  He will give us relief.  He will give us rest for our body and soul.

But we ignore the next verse that says take my yoke and learn from me.  Jesus said learn from him.  Jesus said to take his words and practice them.

We ignore the part that our rest is tied to putting the words of our Master into practice.

But instead of putting his words into practice, Casual Christianity says, make a post.  Use a Bible verse. Tell people if they don’t share, they are not really a Christian.

We live in a time where Christians have never had it so good.  We want for little. We have modern conveniences. We fuss about what to eat never wondering if we will eat.

We have a roof over our heads.  We can shelter from the Oklahoma winds. We don’t even have to go outside to draw water or use the bathroom.

It may seem like the end of the world when the Wi-Fi goes down, but we have it easier than any generation of Christians has ever known.

So, is our world at risk of crashing and leaving us devastated?  The world at large is headed for a very turbulent time—tribulation and great tribulation.  But what about us?

We are warned that the person who does not put the words of Jesus into practice risks everything.  He is like the person who builds a house on a flimsy foundation.

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Have you ever been to the beach?  The sand looks the same day to day and week to week, but it’s not.  Some sand is washed ashore.  Some are washed back to sea.  Some migrate left or right depending upon the waves.

It looks smooth. It seems to be constant. But it is sand and it does not make a good foundation.

But there are high rise buildings along every coast with a nice beach.  Their foundation is not on sand.  Pilings are placed far into the ground until there is something to support the structure above.  Sand won’t do the trick.

No builder is going to put a $10,000,000 condo on a $10,000 foundation, but do we?

We who live in this time of Casual Christianity need to be sure of our foundation.  Jesus said that to be sure, we must put his words into practice.

That doesn’t mean Facebook wars over whose favorite scripture trumps someone else’s favorite scripture.

It doesn’t mean pointing out where others fall short of the words of Jesus.

It doesn’t mean finding the most convoluted interpretation of scripture to promote your own doctrine and make your own god.

It means taking what Jesus said and doing it.

That might take a little thinking of how to apply his teaching in our time, but that thinking process should not be debilitating. We are not to think on his directives for so long that we don’t do anything.

Here are the words of Jesus. Practice them. Learn from him by doing what he said to do.

Don’t skip over the ones that seem too hard.

Don’t just do something once and say, “I’ve got this.”  Remember, this is practice.  There is repetition in practice.

Don’t modify the instructions. Go and sin no more is not the same as do the best that you can. We are to strive to hit the target every time.

Do you understand the difference between shoot that way and hit that target.  Shoot that way is my metaphor for our best effort.  Hit the target is my metaphor for what Jesus told us to do.

Both shooters might miss the target but at least one is aiming for it. We must continue to aim for the target, not just something in the general area.

Sometimes, hitting the target involves only our hearts and minds.  Sometimes is physical action, but it’s always with focus on what Jesus told us to do.  That’s our target.  We must keep it in our sights.

God will never leave or forsake us but that does not mean that we get to lower the bar. Do the best you can is not the standard.  We must do the best that we can, but the target is whatever Jesus told us to do.

We probably won’t get it right the first time or the twenty-first time or for those like me the hundred and twenty-first time, but we keep practicing.

We practice. We put his words into practice.

Here’s one that I use often in the teaching of thinking skills.  Does practice make perfect?

No! Perfect practice makes perfect.

Back in my golfing days, I had a swing that was tolerable.  I could hit the fairways most of the time but I could also find the worst possible places on any golf course for the rest of the time.

I put my time in on the driving range, but I kept practicing the same old swing.  I got really good at a bad swing.

Why would I do this? It was comfortable. It seemed to work out most of the time. I wasn’t ready to do the work needed to get a good swing.

Are we ready to do what is required to live as our Master told us to live?

Do we understand that living his way is for our own good.  I’m not talking about going to hell. I am talking about abundant life. I am talking about weathering the storms of life. I am talking about finding your purpose in life.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

For the next few months, we will be looking at the words of Jesus.  We won’t cover them all. We will probably do this again sometime down the road.

For now, consider that every word that Jesus gave us was to be put into practice.  Some are direct. Some come in metaphor. All are meant to be applied in our lives.

What is worse than not knowing what to do in a situation?

Knowing exactly what to do and not doing it.

Jesus tells us what to do, how to live, and even what’s in it for us. We must be willing to move beyond our comfort zones. We must be willing to put the words of our Master into practice.

We must be willing to endure a little scorn from those who do not believe.

We must be willing to sacrifice when Jesus calls us to sacrifice.

We must be willing to reach out to those who are not in our social circles.

We must be willing to change our schedules.

We must be willing to love people that we don’t even like.

We must be willing to take the yoke of our Master and learn from him. Do you know what they call people who do this?

Disciples.

We must be the disciples of our Master.  We live in an age of Casual Christianity, but we must be serious about being the disciples of our Lord.

How?

We put his words into practice.

Amen.