You can view video of this worship service on Facebook here -
https://www.facebook.com/david.p.charlton.9/videos/10164303383320298
Or on Vimeo here -
https://vimeo.com/467131880?fbclid=IwAR3IXu_ZL2L81z46-ZGwZ7FpEwyNLTT5R_mTbg6CT5SHUPVBevnv98izqSE
I began this series of messages – What Did Jesus Do?– on the first Sunday of July. I am now into the fourth month of this series and this is the thirteenth message. At the beginning of the series I planned to do what I do with almost every other series of messages I’ve done – wait on the leading of the Spirit before I go in another direction. That finally happened on Friday evening. I will be gone next week, so two weeks from today I will begin a new series called A Tough Faith for Tough Times. In that series we’ll take a look at various Biblical characters – Joseph, Moses, David, Peter, Paul – and how their faith helped them navigate the difficult times of their lives.
This morning’s message, then, concludes What Did Jesus Do? With the message He Condemned Self-Righteousness. Our Scripture text is Luke 11:37-46, so follow along with me as I read that passage –
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table.
38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them.
Wow. Let me say that again. Wow.
Those are some harsh words, aren’t they? Jesus is not just critical of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in this passage; he is absolutely blistering in his critique of them. It is a scorched earth commentary on the Pharisees and the experts in the Law. And he offers his critique while he was a dinner guest! I think it’s safe to assume he wasn’t offered dessert, and probably wasn’t invited back.
And I can’t help but shake my head at the expert in the Law (in verse 45) who says to Jesus, Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also. That guy wins the award for most clueless person in the room, as he invited Jesus to critique him and his associates as well. If ever there was a time to sit and keep quiet, that was the moment. This guy was probably the ancestor of every person in class who reminds the teacher, five minutes before school is dismissed on Friday, that she hadn’t yet assigned any homework for the weekend. Do everyone a favor and just. Be. Quiet!
So, this morning, let’s contrast self-righteousness and true righteousness.
1. True Righteousness Begins Internally and Becomes Evident Externally.
When we speak of righteousness, here is an important truth to remember – the external is always a reflection of the internal. Let me say that again – the external is always a reflection of the internal. What I mean by that statement is this – the person we are on the outside, the person that others see, is a reflection of who we are on the inside. The external person is a reflection of the heart and soul. If we have a true and genuine heart, our actions will follow, and they will be true and genuine. The internal and the external are one and the same. What you see on the outside exists because it is an extension of what is on the inside.
But it is never the other way around. That is, the internal never follows the external. It is possible for a person to fake who they are for a while. A person can fool people for a time by putting up a false exterior of righteousness, but if that is not who they are, the truth will eventually be revealed. Jesus says in Luke 8:17 that there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. I believe that what Jesus meant by that statement is this – the true person, that is, who a person is inside, in their heart, in their mind, and in their soul – can never be hidden away. If they are a good and a righteous person, that will be revealed, and conversely, if they are not a good and a righteous person, that too will be revealed. A person can only hide their true nature for so long, be it good, or be it bad.
Jesus, on more than one occasion, spoke about the difference between what people saw on the outside, and what was true of that person on the inside.
In Matthew 15:7-11 he says,
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.
11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
In today’s passage, the discussion about the internal and the external begins in verse 38, when Luke makes this comment –
38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
Jesus responded by saying –
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
Here was a group of Pharisees and experts in the Law, and yet they did not understand that true righteousness begins inside of a person. They emphasized correct actions, and prescribed rituals, and proper interpretations of the Law, but none of that resulted in their hearts being in the right place. It is ironic that they were the ones who were the so-called “experts” in the law, because they did not understand or practice the Law’s true intent. The Pharisees – and the experts in the Law, according to Jesus – didn’t have true righteousness on the inside. If they had righteousness on the inside – in their hearts – some things would be evident, he said, such as being generous to the poor.
2. True Righteousness Exhibits Humility, While Self-Righteousness Exhibits Pride.
Before the pandemic, Tanya traveled a lot for her work, and I tried to go with her on a couple trips a year. Several years ago I went with her to Boston, and we loved going to some of the historic churches, such as the Old North Church, where on the evening of April 18, 1775, the church sexton, Robert Newman, and Vestryman Capt. John Pulling, Jr. climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea across the Charles River and not by land. This fateful event ignited the American Revolution. We were able to climb up into that steeple, which was quite an amazing experience, to stand in a spot that has such historic significance. What is really interesting about that church – like many of its time – are the pews. The pews are basically box seats. The wealthy and prominent families would purchase the boxes – and the pews – as a sign of their wealth and prominence, and their names would be on the outside of the box. The closer you were to the front, the wealthier and more prominent the family (those of you sitting in the back might want to take note of that).
I don’t mean to pick on the Old North Church, or any like it, but that does go against several Scriptural admonitions. James, for instance, says, 1my brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
In Matthew 23:6, another passage where Jesus is very critical of the Pharisees, he says of them,they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. And then Jesus goes on to say in verses 11 and 12, 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
The image of self-righteousness is a puffed-out chest, a grin that tells you, I’m better than you, and a head that is tilted back in order to better look down the nose at others.
Pride is also blinding to truth and reality. One of the problems of a self-righteous person is that they do not have enough self-awareness to understand the manner in which they come across to others. The expert in the Law was so blind to his own self-righteousness, for example, that he was unable to recognize himself in the words that Jesus spoke. Instead of listening with humility, and learning from what Jesus said, the “expert” could only react with offense, remaining clueless to his own self-righteousness. It’s rather sad, actually, that this man could so utterly fail to hear what Jesus had to say.
Where there is pride, there is always self-righteousness. Where you find humility, it is impossible for self-righteousness to exist.
3. True Righteousness Practices Compassion While Self-Righteousness Is Consumed With Legalism.
The theologian Karen Armstrong created the Charter for Compassion, which asks people – and especially people of faith – to embrace compassion as a core value of their lives. That emphasis came out of a very popular and widely viewed TED Talk that she gave in 2008 for which she won the TED prize.
(https://www.ted.com/talks/karen_armstrong_my_wish_the_charter_for_compassion) And it’s not just a movement for individuals, but for groups and even for cities. Did you know, for instance, what city was recognized as a model city for the Charter for Compassion, and was listed as the Model City for compassion for four years running, from 2012 – 2015? Louisville.
Part of where the Pharisees and the experts in the Law went wrong was in their belief that sin was an external dynamic, something that originated and existed outside of the person, rather than beginning in the heart, as Jesus contended. For them, being righteous became a matter of avoiding contamination from things outside of the body, which led to practices such as ritualized handwashing and even the avoidance of certain kinds of people, such as the so-called “sinners and tax collectors” (you can read that story at Matthew 9:10-17, Mark 2:15-22, and Luke 5:29-39). Where the Pharisees emphasized the importance of avoidance, Jesus emphasized engagement. Pushing deeper, Jesus reminded them that sin begins in the heart, and all the avoidance in the world could not make a person righteous if their heart and soul was corrupt.
The avoidance of certain activities and behaviors as a sign of righteousness is still a strong element, at times, of faith. Now, I want to say that it is not wrong to avoid certain activities and behaviors; it is wrong, however, to believe that the simple act of avoidance of certain activities and behaviors automatically makes us righteous. In one of my previous churches, I had taken some time to study the minutes of business meetings from early in the 1900s, which was quite interesting. I was surprised at how many times the church had kicked people out of the congregation for activities such as playing cards. At home! One January, when the winter weather had people searching for inside activities, a group of us had gathered in the church fellowship hall to play Rook. Partway through the game I casually mentioned that the church had kicked people out for playing cards in their homes, and there we were – playing cards in the church building! What a scandal!
The critique that Jesus leveled at the Pharisees and the experts in the law was that they saw faith as simply conforming to some kind of external requirements. James 1:27 reminds us that religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. That is an act of compassion. Caring for the vulnerable. Looking out for those who have no one to look out for them. Protecting the weakest and most vulnerable. In verse 46, Jesus says, you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them. Not only did the Pharisees and the experts in the law not lift a finger to help others; they created loopholes for themselves as a way of escaping the call to compassion.
And maybe this meal is why we have so long been told that one of the topics that shouldn’t be discussed at the dinner table is religion, as it proves that it’s not just food that might be the only thing hard to swallow at a meal. The truth can be hard to swallow as well, and it sure was hard for the Pharisees and the experts in the Law to do so.
Let us heed the call to be righteous, and to forsake that of self-righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment