Why Do You Call Me "Lord, Lord"?

Why Do You Call Me Lord, Lord …?

Buck Parsons shares this experience in the January, 2004 Tabletalk Magazine:

"A few years ago I heard a sermon by the eminent Swiss theologian Dr. Roger Nicole. Prior to the sermon, I read the bulletin for the service which noted Dr. Nicole’s sermon title. I recall that I became somewhat agitated when I read the title: ‘Lord, No’. I remember thinking: ‘What Sort of title is that?’ I soon realized, however, that the title was intentionally ambiguous. To say, ‘Lord’ conveys supremacy, and to say ‘no’ conveys disapproval or denial. Thus, the phrase, ‘Lord, no’ is an oxymoron. We cannot say in the same breath, ‘Lord’ and ‘no’ – the two are completely incompatible."

When I read these words, I thought of one of the simplest and most straightforward questions that Jesus ever asked His disciples. "Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). These are the introductory words to Luke’s version of Jesus’ parable of the builders, a parable that is recorded twice, though with slightly different emphases.

In the more familiar Matthew account, the rhetoric is confrontational. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, had just revolutionized His audience’s understanding of the Law of God given by Moses but corrupted by the practices of the Pharisees and the conclusions of the teachers of the law. He agitated those so-called religious men throughout His sermon and He must have infuriated them with His parable, for it is essentially a challenge to build their lives on the rock (His Father’s way) or on sand (the Pharisee’s way). Were that not audacious enough, in Matthew’s account of the parable, Jesus couched obedience and disobedience in terms of wisdom and foolishness. All the conflict and tension of Christ’s way verses the Pharisee’s way is present. We can almost visualize the steam rising from beneath their collars.

Gentiles were not so familiar with Jewish Pharisees, so Luke recorded a version of the parable that seems to appeal more to Greek reason than to first-century Jewish passion. Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" Luke’s detail of how one builds on a rock is slightly different. In Matthew’s account, a builder chooses rock or sand, based on his relative wisdom or stupidity. In Luke’s account, the emphasis is more on clearing away that which distances us from a suitable foundation of rock:

46"Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. – Luke 6:46-48

The simple emphasis of Matthew is obedience, and sometimes, that is precisely the emphasis I need. Luke seems to speak more to the clutter of life that needs to be placed in perspective in order to be as obedient as we desire to be. To truly live under the Lordship of Jesus, much debris needs to be pushed away so that life’s solid foundation can be found.

Living more thoroughly under the Lordship of Jesus is always a worthy resolution whether or not a New Year is upon us. Ongoing effort is required if we are continue to clear away human wisdom, worldly values, fear of men, religious traditions, sacred cows, materialism - as well as all the other clutter of life that keeps a person from truly building his life on the Rock. No Christian should attempt to live out the oxymoron of an unsurrendered life. Rather, strive to submit to the Lordship of Christ without compromise.