This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Misc. Luke sermons” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 4, 1992.
About this sermon
Audience analysis drives much of modern church strategy, and Matthew and Luke treat their audiences very differently. In Luke 6 the Lord denounces Pharisaic behavior and offers a different model from market research. Knowing an audience on Christ’s terms and catering to it are two different things.
Sermon transcript
Can I do a reading from Luke’s Gospel, chapter 6, beginning at verse 12? And it was at this time that he went off to the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also named as apostles. Simon, whom he also called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he descended with them and stood on a level place. There was a great multitude of his disciples and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. All the multitude were trying to touch him, for power was coming from him and healing them all.
And turning his gaze on his disciples, he began to say, “‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and heap insults upon you and discern your name as evil. for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and weep for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep Lo to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also, and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. And just as you want men to treat you, treat them in the same way.
And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same thing. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same payment. But love your enemies and do good and lend.
Expect nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Do not pass judgment, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned. Pardon, and you shall be pardoned. Give, and it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For whatever measure you deal out to others, it will be dealt to you in return. He also spoke a parable to them. A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher.
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye and do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take out the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, neither, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil, for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
And why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?’ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock, and when the flood arose, the river burst against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who has built a a house upon the ground without any foundation, and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.
Father, we might be found resistant, but we pray from the depths of our hearts that you would press your word upon us, that we would not then avoid its clear teaching and implication. O Lord, we ask that we might be found in your word, and may we, Lord, live in keeping with what you say. May you be pleased to help your church throughout the world, not only with respect to those who declare the truth from the word and preach it week by week, but also in terms of those who are given responsibilities to rule in light of that word and even to serve with the word as their guide. Built up, then, the eldership of the church throughout the world. Lord, encourage the beacons of your church so that they, in keeping with your word, would be responsive to the needs of the poor.
We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. It is perfectly reasonable that the whole question about audience analysis should, in the last thirty years, with the avalanche of technological advancement, the whole question about audience analysis should, in the last thirty years, pass from the realm of naive common sense to that of a sophisticated science. Political candidates and the world’s commercial concerns and interests invest big bucks for the purpose of making sure that they are saying the right things to the right people. In the mid to late sixties, the Church picked up on these advances. They picked up on this, or I should say the theological seminaries picked up on this, especially the practical theology departments.
I remember my seminary days. I remember the little cell group into which our class in practical theology was broken. I remember sitting around the table. with the bunch of us acting like a lot of professional sociologists. There were a few of us, however, thinking to ourselves just how silly this whole business was. And I sincerely doubt if any of my fellow cellmates are doing much scientific audience analysis today. I can hear my professor, however, saying, ìThatís right, boys. And that’s why you all have small, struggling, marginal congregations.
There was, however, a good side to the practical theology push for audience analysis. Interestingly, out of those classes, the more thoughtful students of the Bible began to asked many penetrating questions, questions about the specific audiences addressed in and by the biblical texts. There are various audiences, for instance, that are addressed specifically throughout the Gospels. Take Matthew’s Gospel. We have three audiences in Matthew’s gospel identified specifically. These audiences are addressed in a quite consistent manner. What are the multitudes? The multitudes in Matthew, at least initially, are not openly hostile.
They are, however, possessed of a halting indecisiveness, and this eventually lands them in the company of Jesus’ opponents, conspiring with those opponents against Jesus. For the most part, multitudes are viewed as those who are possessed of that halting indecisiveness. not knowing which direction to go, running hot one moment and cold the next. There’s no question as to how the Pharisees are running, however, how the Jewish leaders are running. They are consistently presented as hostile to Jesus. Their hostility is open, and their disbelief in him is equally open.
We have then these two groups, specifically addressed by Jesus, treated by Matthew in his gospel, and consistently so. There is the third group, however, the disciples. The disciples may on occasion be halting, somewhat like the multitudes, but at root, the work of God’s Spirit evident in them, they believe, they obviously believe, they are open in their belief. They stand behind, and with Peter and in his confession, they too confess, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus, in dealing with them, deals with them seriously, to be sure, but also solicitously, endearingly. But as consistent as Matthew is in keeping these audiences straight, Luke appears to be somewhat uneven and even inconsistent. in his treatment of the various audiences.
I want you, first of all, to look at Luke chapter 3. Here we have the account of the ministry of John the Baptist. I want you to note the progression in the passage with regard to the specific audience that is pointed out for us there, especially as you note verse 7 and the mention of the multitudes. We are told here that the multitudes were coming to John for baptism. Now note what follows in verses 7 through 10 as Luke goes on to report how John speaks to these multitudes.
He calls them, at the end of verse seven, a brood of vipers. He talks to them about bringing forth fruits in keeping with repentance. He charges them with pride, holding up Abraham, their father, as their security. And he talks about the ax that is already laid to the root of the tree.
Well, that’s familiar enough language, but you might be a little bit unsettled as you look here at Luke and the treatment here with respect to the multitude, and you recall the setting in Matthew 3 when those words are not directed to the multitude, but they’re directed specifically to the Pharisees.
But the story goes on. Before the story ends, verses 10-17, we have the multitudes viewed quite differently. They appear in the light of repentance and faith, poised for the appearance of the Messiah and his baptism with the Holy Spirit. There is a shift from Matthew to Luke. There is a shift. Matthew specifically having the Pharisees in view, Luke having the multitudes in view, but then Luke setting before something of a progression as the multitudes are looked upon very negatively and before your eyes seemingly transformed and treated very positively. What’s going on here? What’s happening?
Well, I hope that Luke’s emphasis by the direction of the Holy Spirit is coming through clearly for us as we compare Matthew with Luke and look at the various treatments of the audience in view. His message is this, those out of which then the church rises are no less than the Pharisees, a brood of vipers who but for the grace of God would never have been spared God’s wrath and judgment. Those then out of which the church rises are no less than the Pharisees, a brood of vipers so described, so identified, who but for the grace of God in Christ would never have been spared God’s wrath and judgment.” We have here, then, an extremely powerful message. Multitudes passing from wrath to grace, passing as it were from the world into the Church, and now this message coming to them as they are in fact seen to be part of the assembly, disciples indeed of the Messiah. This message from Luke is further reinforced in Luke 6, and reinforced in ways that may not be altogether clear to us as the case is prosecuted there in that sixth chapter. of Luke and in the so-called Sermon on the Plain. Note the context.
Jesus now has chosen twelve disciples specifically, which he has separated from the general lot of the disciples and from the multitudes themselves. Jesus now descends from the mount to the plain, and he is met by disciples, a broad group. He is met as well by multitudes so described, and he ministers to these But now we are told in verse twenty that he turns his gaze upon the disciples and he begins to speak specifically to them and about them. We now hear him speak with words which in many ways are similar to what we have heard in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew five through seven.
But you will note Here, in the Sermon on the Plain, there are remarkable differences against stressing Luke’s emphasis, an emphasis that he is bound to stress because of the work of the Holy Spirit in him. What do we find here? Well, something similar to what we found in the baptism story. There in that baptism story were words reserved elsewhere for Pharisees now spoken with respect to multiple and so also here we find words elsewhere reserved for Pharisees.
Those who are open hostility to Christ directed towards disciples or to multitudes who have gathered around Christ in a worshipful fashion. Now, I know that those woes seem to be directed specifically against those that would oppose the disciples and the multitude that would bind themselves to Jesus. Yet they are set in this context, and the terrifying character of them is communicated that in this context they are spoken to the disciples in such a way that the disciples cannot themselves avoid the implications of them.
But for whom are the woes reserved in Matthew’s gospel? Do you remember Matthew 23, the long list of woes that occurs there as Jesus goes through a litany of woes pronounced upon his enemies, those who are openly hostile to him? Check it out, Matthew 23 verses 13-30. Here, in this context, the woes appear in an address that is particularly applicable to disciples and to multitudes that would gather around Christ. In Matthew’s Gospel, the figure or the parable of the blind leading the blind applies to the Pharisees. Specifically, Matthew fifteen verse fourteen again in the woes passage, chapter twenty-three verse sixteen and also twenty-four. But here in the Sermon on the Plain, in the Luke in context, By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and his direction, that parable and that figure is applied to the disciples and to those multitudes who are attracted to Christ.
Now, I ask you, what is the Spirit’s intention in all of this? with the world, then here are not directed against pharisaical hostility, opposition and indifference. Again, what then are those woes directed? Are they not directed against a church caught up in its own affluence and leave a church in danger of forgetting the true nature of the kingdom? You disciples, you would-be followers of Christ, take stock of yourself, understand the seriousness of this matter in which you are engaged.
And the figure of blind guides, the parable of blind guides, here in the Sermon on the That parable is directed against the church’s self-righteousness, by which it glories in leading but never in following, even conceiving of itself as that in front of its master and teacher.
Jesus wants his church, his disciples, his followers to understand. that they are not above him, and it is their goal to be like him. As the Sermon on the Plain develops, his people must be more interested in performing their own lives than in judging the lives of others. If Christ’s people, if his church, cannot follow, cannot humble themselves, they become a paradigm of hypocrisy. Indeed, as Jesus’ words go on to prove, they become bad trees bearing bad fruit. capable of generating good words such as Lord, Lord, but words that lack meaning, substance and truth. Those who are truly his, then, Jesus says as he prosecutes his case here in this sermon, those who are truly his, hear his word and don’t These, then, stand in the day of judgment in a house well built against every storm, even the deluge of the Second Coming.
The message is clear as we move from Matthew to Luke. If our Lord has manifestly denounced Pharisees, how much more severe will he be to those who, in claiming that they follow him, so manifestly exhibit all the characteristics of the Pharisees? So then, the audience is important to the gospel writers as they tell the stories of Christ, and the audience is important to Jesus himself as he addresses various groups. Most specifically, he loves his disciples, it is obvious. What a marvelous testimony we have to that running throughout all of the Gospels. And he loves those drawn to him from the multitudes, those who come in sincerity, with due humility, broken in heart, casting themselves upon the mercies of God to be found in him. He heals them, he blesses them, and then he endows his disciples the apostles that are mentioned with great power in the Holy Spirit, but simultaneously he issues the most severe and serious warnings, warnings that are to be heard, warnings that must register upon the consciousness of those that would claim him.
As we move from one gospel to another, from Matthew to Luke, Moving into Luke, that warning becomes ear-piercing. For the church, the people of God, beloved of Christ, those for whom Christ has given himself, can never be content that God’s judgment is merely reserved for so-called card-carrying Pharisees. and the like. But his wrath turns as well upon even his own people if they are guilty of the sins that have been the undoing of many a Pharisee.
Father, we are wonderfully blessed, but we are duly warned. Will we not then approach the matter of your message and the kingdom with sobriety, with of your spirit wherein we would be able then to perceive the seriousness of the warnings that are uttered.
For surely, O God, you have no further word to send to us other than that word which you have given us in your Son. Your next act, O God, will be the end of the world. And Father, we who believe continue in our faith, recognizing that we have been duly warned, and that because of your love. May we all the days of our lives heed your warning.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.