Hanging Around

Luke 19:48 ESV

But they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

Later Jesus insults them by telling them they have lost God’s blessing and they wish to take care of him then “but they feared the people” (Luke 20:19). Throughout his “career” as a preacher Jesus has gathered crowds. They have flocked to him to be healed but he would often move and become hard to find, even noting that he needed to go to other towns because he came to preach (Mark 1:38). When crowds would gather that simply wanted a good meal, he would make sure to say really hard things that many would be pushed away, choking on his teaching (John 6:22-71).

We are told that Christ preached and taught in such a way that people simply hung on his words. It doesn’t say they were changed or that they were convicted in any way, simply that they were listening well and his preaching style was more engaging than other preachers. The inclusion of John six in the biblical narrative gives hope to the rest of us preachers. Knowing that no matter how good a preacher you are, if you would preach the truth. If you would long for those around you to grow and mature, that they might wrestle with the hard things of God, you will be rejected by many. Your doctrine and method can be impeccable. You could literally walk on water and you will still be rejected, if you preach the truth and expect men and women to grow in understanding and faithfulness.

Yet, in this passage, God uses the mass of humanity hanging on the words of his son to protect his son until the time came. He then uses the fickle nature of their hearts to open the door for a crowd to scream and chant “crucify him” to a weak politician. How quickly do the hearts of men change and contort to reveal what is in them?

The question was pointed and sharp, “Does it matter which hundred are in church this morning?” Meaning that last Sunday you had ninety and this Sunday you have a hundred, but then went to the lake to play and twenty new came. Does this break your heart? The ten that have wandered away, allowing their fickle hearts to reject Christ and his Church, do they overwhelm your heart, or are you okay since the church was fuller this week? It is the answer that separates the preacher from the pastor, the answer that separates those that love their church and those that love their neighbor.

The first church Kelly and I joined after we were married, was a Baptist Church in Eureka, KS. It still had a Sunday Morning Service, Sunday Evening Service, and a Wednesday Prayer Service. As is the case with all such things, attendance declined as you went through the week. In commenting on that reality one fiery older saint noted that “those that come Sunday morning love their parents, those that come Sunday evening love the Church, and those that come Wednesday evening love Jesus.” (Paraphrased) I am pretty sure it isn’t biblical, but I am not sure it isn’t true. Watching churches in our communities unable to garner interest in either of two latter is a sign of our hearts nonetheless.

Coram deo