Transcription

Chris
So today, Jeff, uh, it talks about my little heading says Jesus tells the parable of the lamp. Oh, yeah. Whenever you hear the word lamp, I don’t know what you think of, but I think of 1991, uh, Disney’s cartoon Aladdin. Uh, at the very beginning when he goes, this is no ordinary lamp. Okay? That’s what we’re talking about.

Jeff
Either we’re talking about Jesus or Disney today, either one or the other. So he’s Chris and I’m Jeff and we’re the Bible guys.

Chris
All right. Yeah, I said during the Roland, Jesus and Disney. Those are not the same thing.

Jeff
Same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, talking about Aladdin, did you ever read, like, 1001 Nights or Arabian Nights or any of those?

Chris
No, no, I know the song Arabian Nights. It’s not what.

Jeff
I was talking about, but.

Chris
Williams. Robin Williams sang it.

Jeff
Well, hey, I got it on my shelf in my office if you want to read it.

Chris
So. Okay.

Jeff
Yeah, it’s all about Aladdin.

Chris
Wow. Books and stuff.

Jeff
Yeah. It’s cool. Yeah.

Chris
Hey, so our segment today is who’s most likely birthday edition. Birthday edition, because it’s our birthday week. Yeah, it’s our birthday. We are one year old as the Bible guys. Wow. Look at you, huh? So I’m just full of it. You are full of it. Everybody. Everybody knows that. Okay, um, so we have five things, and it’s who’s most likely. So you ready? Yes. All right. So we’re going to we’re just going to say these out loud. Me or you. Yeah. Me or you instinctively. As quick as we can first thing. All right, all right. You read them. Number one. Who’s most likely to forget an important date? Me?

Jeff
Really? Yeah, yeah. I think you’re way more sentimental than me.

Chris
Yeah? Yeah, well, the important date didn’t mean sentimental. It just said important.

Jeff
I know, but.

Chris
Usually they’re sentimental. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I would say you, too.

Jeff
I think you make plans. You make way more plans. Like you packed up, took your wife to Broadway. Yeah. Yeah, right. All those kinds of things. You plan way out, I’m like, oh, no. Usually that’s me. I’m the worst.

Chris
You’re going to Yellowstone? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s like a bucket list thing.

Jeff
Yeah. But that’s.

Chris
Yeah. Something different. Yeah. All right. Number two, uh, who’s most likely to be late to their own party? You. That’s definitely me.

Jeff
You’re going to be late to your own funeral.

Chris
Yeah, but you know what? It’s always only, like, very. It’s it’s just it’s just barely late. Yeah.

Jeff
Just ten minutes.

Chris
Well, that’s the maximum. Come on. Ten minutes. All right. Ten minutes is a long time to be late. I know, so.

Jeff
I’ve waited for you most of the time.

Jeff
Huh?

Jeff
Stop it. So I harass Chris about being late all the time. And then three weeks in a row, I walked into the studio late.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. That’s right, that’s.

Jeff
Right, I know, and you were sitting there with such a smug look on.

Chris
Your face. I did not, and you didn’t. Hey, you know what I told you, though? Like, uh, you know, uh, you know how many times you have to be late in order to get a reputation for being late? Yeah. Is three just three times three is what they say, right? And all of a sudden, you become a person that has a reputation for being late. Yes. If you have a reputation for being late, uh, how many times do you have to show up on time in a row to change your reputation for. Wow, that person has a reputation for being on time. Oh, I don’t know. They say over 100.

Jeff
100 times.

Chris
Yes. Wow, wow.

Jeff
So are you saying that you’ve only been late three times, Chris?

Chris
Uh, no, I’m just telling.

Jeff
Flip those numbers.

Chris
I’m telling you that sometimes you may be, you know, because you’re an on time guy. Yeah, yeah. Give us the give us a little break here, okay, I.

Jeff
Will, I will.

Chris
All right, so number three, uh, who’s most likely to get a cake smashed in their face? I’d say both of us. Yeah.

Jeff
I don’t think I’ve. I think I’ve only had cake smashed in my face, like, once or twice my whole life.

Chris
Oh, well, then the answer would be me then. Yeah.

Jeff
Really?

Chris
Yeah. Well, you know, we, you know, goofy family. So when you get married a thousand years ago, like, you guys.

Jeff
Smash a cake.

Chris
Yes. Oh we didn’t. Yeah, we totally did. Yeah. We didn’t. Yeah. So I mean, if I wouldn’t have, my whole family would have, like, cornered me and said, bro, what is your problem?

Jeff
Oh yeah yeah.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Now, now they’re much more polite.

Jeff
Bonnie and I agreed to it. We were like, we’re not going to smash her.

Chris
Yeah. Of course. Yeah. And that’s what most couples do today. In fact, I don’t think I’ve done 250 weddings. And I don’t think that I have seen cake smashed in somebody’s face, but maybe twice. Oh, wow. Because I think it used to be a thing. And I don’t think it’s a thing anymore. Not a thing anymore. You know why? Because, uh, marriages and or weddings were simple back then.

Jeff
Yeah. There’s so much more expensive now.

Chris
Yes. Yeah, that’s the reason why. Yeah, that’s too big of a deal. Uh, and then number four, uh, who’s most likely to get mad when people sing Happy Birthday wrong.

Jeff
That’s both of us. That’s both of us. But, but but you.

Chris
You’re being polite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, uh, Desiree wrote that because I made a comment, uh, just at the all staff meeting, uh, just the other day. Um, so that’s really funny.

Jeff
So I used to, before you came on staff. I used to complain about it every time we’d sing Happy Birthday. Really? Oh, every time I would complain. Why is it sound like a funeral? Happy birthday to you. And I’d be like, come on.

Chris
So, by the way, just in case our listeners know, we work at the same church, and, uh, Chad, our executive pastor, discovered that, uh, I keep tempo when I sing Happy Birthday. That’s right. Right. So. So now I’m the happy, and I’m glad to do it, I love it. It’s the happy birthday guy. I’m the happy birthday guy, and I and I bang on the table. Happy birthday to you. Right. Keep it going. And here it.

Jeff
Is. It needs to bounce. It needs to lilt. Yes, it should sound like a funeral dirge, right? It should be like a bouncing, happy party.

Chris
Hey, by the way, by the way, in my youth group, we used to do this thing. Uh, sorry to add more time. Go ahead. But. But my youth pastor used to go, uh, let’s sing Happy Birthday. And we had this thing where we go, happy birthday, happy birthday. Pain and sorrow fill the air. People dying everywhere. Happy birthday. That’s.

Jeff
We did. That sounds so.

Chris
Nice every single time. So. And it was, it was hilarious. And then we just used to do like, zombie looks when we sang it, and we used to just crack up at ourselves. We just thought that was the funniest thing.

Jeff
When I was a youth pastor, we would sing, this is your birthday song. It isn’t very long.

Chris
That’s it, that’s it. That’s funny. Yeah.

Chris
All right, number five. Who’s most likely to forget how old they are?

Jeff
Do you? Me? Me? Yeah. When I turned 50, I told everybody for a whole year. I was 51. Yeah, so I was 51. You made yourself. I was 51 for two years.

Chris
You did? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And by the way.

Chris
50 is a big deal. Yeah. It’s like the biggest.

Jeff
Deal I know. I turned 50 and immediately started telling everybody I was 51. Yeah, I don’t know why.

Chris
Yeah. That’s so funny. Hey, listen, if you’re watching on YouTube, would you do us a favor? Would you, uh, subscribe to it? Uh, would you definitely put a thumbs up? What would you share with somebody? Because it’ll really help us with the metrics. It helps us in every way. And also it exposes our podcast to those who, who knows, might want to listen to it. So we appreciate that very much. Well, today we are going to dive into the, uh, teaching on the parable of the lamp. It’s found in Mark four, Luke eight, and Mark four. Look what it says.

Jeff
Yeah. Mark four and Luke eight.

Chris
And Mark four and Luke eight. Look it look, it says on the show sheet, okay.

Jeff
So. What is she saying? Also to read 26 to 29.

Chris
That’s what it says.

Jeff
Okay, well then we’re going to read three, uh, three passages. Okay. So Mark, chapter four, uh, Jesus tells the parable of the lamp and he says, Then Jesus asked them, would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not. A lamp is placed on a stand where its light will shine, for everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Then he added, pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given, and you will receive even more to those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. In Luke chapter eight, he says no one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house, for all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought into the light and made known to all. So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them. And then he shifts gears just a little bit in Mark chapter 24, verse 26, he says, Jesus also said, the kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground night and day while he’s asleep or awake. Jeff
The seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First, a leaf blade pushes through and then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle for the harvest. Time has come.

Jeff
There you go.

Chris
Yeah. Were we supposed to read that? I’m wondering if that was, uh, supposed to be in tomorrow’s episode. I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like the same.

Jeff
Thing to do it. It’s not the same thing.

Chris
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.

Jeff
One of these things. Is not the same as the other.

Chris
One of these things is not like the other. Um, so, uh, but but the first two are clear. So let’s talk about that, okay. Yeah. So, um, by the way, this sounds a lot like Matthew five and verse 13 where Jesus actually says, remember when he says, let your light so shine? Yeah, let your light so shine. Because he does say, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel. Yeah, or under a bowl, but puts it on a lamp stand. It gives light to the whole house. So but obviously those are different teachings. That’s right. Because Jesus mentioned this more than once. Yes. So and I think.

Jeff
It was a theme, I think it was a common thing he talked about.

Chris
Yeah. And by the way, there are strong themes all throughout the scripture. So like, remember first John talks about light and darkness, doesn’t he? And um, Jesus often in this case in multiple times refers to light piercing the darkness. And I think that, you know, there’s there’s themes of like shepherd and sheep, right. That’s a, that’s a, that’s a big theme throughout the scriptures, all throughout the scriptures. I think that there’s, uh, there’s a theme about, uh, light. And I think there’s one more big one. I can’t remember which one it is. Oh, it’s the it’s the it’s sowers in the seed. It’s seeds. Sure. So it’s all about harvesting and things like that. Yes. And those are probably the, the, you know, because I would include, I would include, uh, all illustrations under that. Remember Jesus said the vine, the fig tree producing. Right. You know, so it was all about like the, you know, faith of a mustard seed, right? Right. It was all about seeds bearing fruit and bearing fruit. Right? Yeah. And so those are the sort of the big three themes, I think, that carry us. And they’re so rich. They have so much depth to them, don’t they?

Jeff
And he unpacks it from different angles every time he comes at it. Right.

Chris
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. So, uh, I do like the idea of, uh, you know, that visual. And by the way, uh, he, he really is getting at the purpose of light, isn’t he? He’s saying, okay, so you have light. Everybody knows how useful light is, right? Yeah. And he says, so take this. How absurd would it be for a person to light something and then cover it? Right. You know, he says no one does that, do that. Right. And so what he’s really trying to say to us is he’s trying to say, If I’ve given you a light, use it.

Jeff
You have to let it shine. Yeah. You know, in the Matthew five passage that you talked about, he said, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your.

Chris
Father in heaven, which is heaven. Yeah.

Jeff
So, uh, we’ve had people comment in some of our, our comments on YouTube, um, mentioning where Jesus says, whenever you’re going to do good deeds, go do them in private, right, so that your father and so that you glorify your father in heaven. So it’s interesting. On one side, Jesus says, let your works. Let your good deeds so shine before men. And that’s what he’s saying is your light. The light in you is how you live. It’s what you do so that they would glorify your father in heaven. And then on the other side he says, go do your good deeds in private. So I think that Jesus second statement, go do them in private. Contrary to let your good deeds be shown before men. I think what he’s talking about is attitude. So if you’re doing good deeds to be seen, you should go do them in private.

Chris
Yeah, right.

Jeff
But if you’re doing good deeds for the purpose of letting people see that God changes lives and giving glory to God with your life, well, then that’s not something to hide. That’s something to to stick out and put it out in the open and not, not cover it up. So the light that we have comes from Christ but should compel us to good deeds. Yeah. And those, those two things are flip sides of the same coin is there’s the spiritual side of it, but then the spiritual side should always be translated into practical, everyday living. That’s why Jesus says, everybody who has an ear to hear, let them hear, actually apply these things. Don’t just talk about them. Don’t just learn about them, do them.

Chris
So when he talks about the light, he makes a comment and says, for all that is in secret, will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to the light and made known to all. And by the way, first John also mentions that theme as well. And he says, everything that’s in the darkness will eventually be brought into the light. Uh, the Life Application Study Bible says, when the light of the truth about Jesus illuminates us, we have the duty to shine and that light to help others. Our witness for Christ should be public, not hidden. We should keep the benefits for ourselves, but pass them on to others. In order to be helpful, we will have to be well placed. Seek opportunities to let your light shine. Um um. Oh jeez, that wasn’t what I planned on reading.

Chris
Yeah, actually, I like that.

Jeff
In order to be helpful, we need to be well placed.

Chris
Oh, yeah. For sure.

Jeff
We need to be looking for, uh. So we lost power. A storm blew through. We lost power several weeks ago, and we have a couple of little oil lamps that we will use around the house sometime.

Chris
Really?

Chris
Yeah. Oil lamps.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah, because they’ll run forever on, you know, pennies as opposed to batteries. So we’ve got a couple oil lamps and, uh, I always like to make sure as soon as the power goes out, I try to get an oil lamp in the bathroom, because the worst thing to do is still go stumbling around there and not be able to find your way around, right? Right. So, um. Uh, so I was getting I had just gotten home and I had been doing a bunch of work. I was sweaty and, um, so I take this oil lamp in, and then I keep setting it in different spots in the bathroom to try to find figure out where the most light would come from. Finally, I found this perfect spot and I was so proud of myself going, look at that! So if I set it here, it it was enough light, but they were still dark shadows on the stuff. But if I set it in just the right spot, I was getting a nice reflection off of the mirror and the whole room lit up really great. And I thought the placement of that lamp where I put the light so the light was important. Light’s the most important part of it was light, but then placement was incredibly strategic. And we have to understand when God places you at your work, or God places you at your school, or God puts you in your neighborhood or in your family, and you’re thinking, man, I wish God would change this place. I wish God would change these people. God’s like, I put that lamp exactly where I needed it. Now let your light shine, right? And so God’s to God placement is important. But then also us looking at how do we how do we let our light shine? Jeff
It might be that you place things that you’re strategic in placement by saying, hey, let’s go to lunch and then finding a way to get a spiritual conversation started, or, uh, by doing a good deed just to say, hey, I’m praying for you. You’re thinking about you and getting a spiritual conversation started. How can you be strategic in how you place your light?

Chris
So when I was in high school, I was in choir. Um hum. Right. And so all the way through high school, I loved choir. I was in choir at church, I was acquired school. And, uh, there was a group of friends that I had among the tenors and basses and, uh, two, two friends in particular. And, uh, one of them would make fun of me for being a Christian, right, all the time. And so whenever and they would talk about things that, you know, kind of raunchy things and, and then I’d make a comment or something and then he’d go, oh, right. And he would do that kind of thing. Well, you know, that went on for like two and a half years. Well, later on, I found out that this guy becomes a Christian and becomes a pastor. Now he’s a pastor in my hometown, and I’ve moved away. And then, uh, later on, we sort of connected when I found out he was a pastor and I was like, Holy cow, you know? And it was a very prominent church in our, in our, in our area. So it was kind of a big deal in that little small pond. And, uh, and I remember contacting him and sure enough, man, he told me essentially he didn’t say it this way, but apparently I was shining my light in high school, and apparently it made a difference. And even though he was mocking, and even though he was saying this, he said he always in the back of his mind had a respect. And, uh, no matter what he would say, I would still stay faithful and stay strong. And he said that made the difference. And so when it came to believing in Christ and considering that and going to church, he said, my first thoughts were always of you. Chris
Yeah, yeah.

Jeff
And that’s something.

Chris
And so and so all that to say you don’t. And by the way. Wow. Right. Yeah. But but but what a privilege. Yeah. What a privilege. Uh, but you never know what a difference you’re making. So you’re like, well, I’m shining, but I’m not making a difference, right? I met this, I met this, I met this workplace that God placed me in. Jeff. But guess what? I’m not making a difference. I’m trying to shine. I’m not making a difference. And I would say you don’t know what a difference you’re making right this side of eternity. We will not know the difference that we make until we get to the other side. Or in this case, you know, I found out 20 years later. Right. Which is great.

Jeff
So.

Jeff
If you take this, you know, we’re reading these passages one, you know, one idea per day, right? But in reality, these are going back to back to back. This is kind of a series of messages Jesus is talking about, because we finished up in, um, you know, the harvest and the rocky soil and, and all that stuff. And the very next verse says, Then Jesus asked them, would anyone light a lamp? So this is a continuation of the seed. So if you I think that there’s some connections there. So on the one side, letting your light shine isn’t just about good deeds, but it’s about deeds. He’s also talking about the Word of God being sown or planted. Right? What he’s talking about is there’s this active engagement with the world that’s happening. A planter, a farmer, is actively putting seed where it needs to be. He’s actively, actively cultivating soil. Then in this one, it’s somebody is actively lighting a lamp and sticking out there. So be careful that you don’t cover it up and make the impact less impactful, right? Or make the lamp less impactful. And so I think that there’s there’s a lot to be said about us thinking about the fact that we have a responsibility with God’s Word. We have a responsibility to speak up, not just act like a Christian, but to speak up like a Christian, to look for opportunities to share our faith. And I think a lot of times as Christians, we don’t because we haven’t developed the skills yet. And so, um, learning the skills of how to transition a conversation from baseball to, you know, or football and football or football season. So, uh, from football into faith, how do you do that or how do you get, you know, somebody talking or looking for an opportunity? Jeff
Somebody’s talking about a difficulty in their life. And then you say, hey, you know what? I’m a Christian. I’d love to pray for you. I believe God answers prayer. How can I pray for you sometimes can be all it takes. That later on I had that happen two different times. I was working at Marriott where I wasn’t going around preaching all the time and I wasn’t looking for opportunities to preach, but I was consistently looking for an opportunity for spiritual conversation. Two different times we had an employee, we had 900 employees in my hotel that I worked at in Chicago, and two different times, employees that I knew were struggling. And I’d just go up and say, hey, one guy, Alfredo. I said, Alfredo, man, I just noticed you’ve been having a tough time and I’ve heard about some of the things going on. I said, I just want you to know, I want to pray for you. How can I pray for you? And he teared up a little bit and he said, would you pray for my wife? So we prayed, and about a week later he came back to me. He said, hey, I want to talk to you about some other stuff. Right? And what he wanted to talk about was how could he know he’d go to heaven? But because I cared enough to just let my light shine and say, I just want to pray for you because people will let you pray for them when they won’t let you preach at them. But then this planted the seed in his mind that I had something he didn’t have. He wanted to come talk about it. And another time with a lady named Vanessa that I worked with. Same thing. Jeff
Um, she had her sister had a miscarriage, and and I wanted to pray for her and her sister. And she said, let’s pray right now. And or I said, let’s pray right now. And we did. About a week later, she came back and started talking about faith things, and it turned into an extended conversation. So it’s about being strategic with our words and the placement of understanding where God put us and our lifestyle, looking for opportunities without being preachy or being jerks about it.

Chris
Yeah. And then also I would just say we’re we’re reaching our time, uh, thematically, just like you were saying, like thematically, they’re going together. Uh, he also says at the end of this passage in Luke, he says, so pay attention how you hear to those who listen to my teaching, more teaching will be given to those who are not listening. Right. And that’s very consistent with what you just said with the parable of the seed. And it’s also very consistent with what he said earlier. So so again, he’s just asking us to, you know, just lean in, lean in, which is great. So, hey, that’s a great place to transition. And we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.