Luke 6: Making Jesus the Lord of Your Whole Life

Q: What does it mean to call Jesus "Lord"?

The Greek word kurios means master, the one who holds supreme authority over another. For Rachel, this is not a mere polite title: calling Jesus Lord means recognizing his authority over creation, sickness, death, sin and your own life.

Introduction

"I wonder if it's easier for us to receive Jesus as our Savior because we know we need him. But it can be harder, I think, to keep putting him as Lord." Rachel, senior pastor of Woodlands Church, which she leads with Nigel Savage, starts from the baptisms multiplying in her church to ask a simple question of those who already follow Jesus: how do we keep choosing him as Lord?

The Sunday before, the church had spoken about Jesus as Savior. This time, the message is about his lordship. At the heart of the text is a word of Jesus in Luke 6: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say?"

With a family scene, a steering wheel borrowed from her son, and two people who fell at Jesus' feet, Rachel shows that the lordship of Jesus is not only played out in Sunday morning worship, but in the areas where you prefer to stay in control.

Message outline

1. Savior, but also Lord

About ten people are to be baptized this term, mostly young adults, at the evening service. In front of about 400 people and live on YouTube, they declare their commitment to Jesus.
They say it in front of their family and friends, sometimes colleagues who are "a bit bamboozled" by what is going on.
The question put to those being baptized is clear: do you renounce sin and evil, and do you turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
We readily enjoy the benefits of Jesus as Savior. Going on saying "you are also my Lord" can be costly and difficult.

2. What "Lord" means

Jesus is called Lord over 700 times in the New Testament, about 740 times depending on the version. In the Gospels as in Paul's letters, people fall on their knees before him and call him Lord.
This is not a throwaway title, "like Mr. or Mrs." It is a declaration about the identity of Jesus and about what that identity carries.
In the nativity story, the angels announce to the shepherds that "there is born to you today, in David's city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
In the hymn of Philippians 2, Paul writes that God gave him the name which is above every name, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" and "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
The Greek word kurios means master, the one who holds supreme authority over another. Applied to Jesus, it describes his total authority over creation, the spiritual realm, sickness, death, sin, and over us. "Whether we believe it or not, Jesus is Lord of all."

3. "You're not in charge of me": contested ground

This is where the ground is contested. "I like being Lord over my life, and I'm pretty sure most of you like being lord over your lives too, if you're very honest."
Rachel recalls a moment with one of her children when he was small. Sent to the naughty step, following the house rule (as many minutes as years of age), he shouted at her from the step: "You're not in charge of me!" She answered: "Yes, I am. Whether you like it or not, I'm your mother."
She admits she was setting a very bad example at that moment, then reassures: "We're fine now. We're all healed and forgiven." But that child was expressing what we all feel: I want to be in charge of me, I want to make the decisions.
We want to stay in charge of our finances, our careers, who we talk to, who we forgive and who we don't, who we agree to live in peace with. "I don't want to be told I have to love someone horrible. It makes no sense, God."
Jesus wants to be Lord there too: not only during worship, but "on a Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 in the office," next to the difficult person who shares your space.

4. Luke 6: building your house on the rock

Jesus says: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say?" Whoever comes to him, hears his words and puts them into practice is like a man who dug down deep and laid the foundation on the rock (Luke 6:46-49).
Jesus expects the one who calls him Lord to do what he says: to obey his teaching, his way of living, what he has shown us. "It's almost too simple. Is it really that simple, Jesus? Really? Yes."
Storms come, sometimes relentlessly: they are here, they have just left, or another is on the horizon. Around the house built on the rock, the wind blows, the windows rattle, the drafts come in, but it is neither shaken nor swept away.
Whoever listens without putting it into practice builds without a foundation. "Who would do such a thing?" His house collapses.
Making Jesus your Lord means coming under his authority and walking, with the help of the Holy Spirit, in obedience. "He doesn't come under our authority. We come under authority. He is Lord and we are not."

5. Who is holding the steering wheel?

Rachel takes up an image she learned as a teenager, a steering wheel borrowed from her son in her hand: our life is like a car, and we like being in the driver's seat.
We like deciding about our money, what we give away and what we don't, our career. At bottom, it is a question of control.
So we invite Jesus to hop in the back, "with the kids and the dog and all sorts of sweetie wrappers stuck on the floor." He can point out the view. Sometimes we move him to the passenger seat, because he is very good at directions and comforting in traffic jams. And when we crash the car, he gets out and sorts it out.
"But friends, he's not meant to be the passenger. He's meant to be the driver."
You really find out whether Jesus is Lord in the moments when he asks you to do what you don't want to do: be more generous, forgive someone you have put on hold, change a behavior. He is meant to be Lord of everything, "not just bits and bobs."
Jesus knew that moment in Gethsemane. In anguish, he prays: "not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42). He knows the tension of surrender, yet it is the way of freedom and love.

6. Why keep choosing Jesus as Lord

Jesus is Lord anyway. So why does it matter to choose him? First reason: because it is true, and freedom is found in truth. When Rachel, at great cost, made Jesus Lord of one particular area of her life, she found there "a power and a freedom."
This truth does not restrict us, it enlarges our life: "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).
Second reason: Jesus leads your life better than you do. He loves you more than you love yourself, he is more trustworthy, he sees the bigger picture, he has placed gifts in you that he wants to bring to fruit. "He knows you better than you know yourself. What a relief."
We look for safety in control, but control is an illusion: one unexpected event is enough to realize we control nothing. Our safety comes from Jesus.
We have to do it again and again, not just once: relationships, career, behavior, choices, money, children, future, health, sickness. "When we hand it all over to him, that's where freedom is."

7. Falling at Jesus' feet

Reading through the Gospel of Luke, Rachel was struck by one detail: the woman who had been sick for twelve years, healed by touching Jesus' cloak, falls at his feet. In the same story, Jairus, whose daughter is sick, also falls at Jesus' feet (Luke 8:40-56).
Falling at Jesus' feet can look like weakness. It is actually a sign of strength, trust and surrender: "I cannot do this, Jesus. I need you to do this. Not me, but you."
"When you fall at Jesus' feet, good things happen." The woman is healed, and so is Jairus' daughter.
Where the enemy whispers "Don't bother. It's fine. Ignore it," Jesus says: "I want to be Lord of that area of your life." Obedience seems restrictive, but "where obedience is, that's where freedom is."
Paul writes that no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). "Ah, relief." It is not about clenching your fists: the Spirit gives the strength.
Jesus is not "a bully, a narcissist, a dictator." It is an invitation to put him in the driving seat of that area of your life. Rachel then prays that the Holy Spirit would bring freedom and the strength to make Jesus Lord of every area.

Key takeaways

Receiving Jesus as Savior is one thing. Continuing to choose him as Lord is another, and it has to be done again and again.
"Lord" is not a polite title: it is the supreme authority of Jesus over all creation and over your life.
According to Luke 6, calling Jesus Lord means doing what he says. It is this obedience that keeps the house standing in the storm.
Jesus is not meant to be the passenger in your life, but the driver.
Where obedience is, there is freedom, and it is the Holy Spirit who makes us able to say "Jesus is Lord."

Personal application

Which area of your life (money, career, relationships, forgiveness, future) are you still keeping for yourself?
Where is Jesus in your car right now: in the back, in the passenger seat or at the wheel?
What has Jesus asked of you recently that you have put on hold?
Who is the difficult person, at work or elsewhere, toward whom Jesus wants to be Lord of your attitude?
In which area do you need, this week, to fall at Jesus' feet and say: "Not me, but you"?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to call Jesus "Lord"?

The Greek word kurios means master, the one who holds supreme authority over another. For Rachel, this is not a mere polite title: calling Jesus Lord means recognizing his authority over creation, sickness, death, sin and your own life.

What does the parable of the house on the rock teach us in Luke 6?

Jesus asks: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say?" Whoever listens to his words and puts them into practice builds on the rock: when the storm comes, the wind blows and the windows rattle, but the house is not swept away. Making Jesus your Lord means obeying him.

Why does obeying Jesus set you free?

Because Jesus is Lord anyway, and living in the truth sets us free. He leads your life better than you do, he loves you more than you love yourself and he knows you better than you know yourself. Control is only an illusion: safety comes from Jesus, not from being in charge.