Morals Over People (2)

SLIDE 1-2 Turn to Matthew 5. While our passage this morning comes from chapter 7, we’re going to read a few verses as we make our way to the seventh chapter.

Little Tommy attended his first grade Sunday school class faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith told great Bible stories and she would always end the story by saying, “And, boys and girls, the MORAL of the story is. . . .” Tommy enjoyed learning about the morals of each Bible story. But when Tommy entered second grade he moved up to another Sunday school class taught by Mrs. Jones. She told Bible stories too, but she never ended them by giving the moral of the story. After a few weeks Tommy’s mom asked him how he liked his new Sunday school teacher. Tommy said, “Mrs. Jones is okay. The only problem is that she doesn’t have any morals.”

This morning we are continuing our series I’ve titled “Righteous Indignation.” We sing about Jesus being meek and mild and he was, but there were also times when he was angry. What’s interesting is we never see him angry with those who are lost or those who were referred to as “the sinners.” Where we see Jesus mad is with those who claimed to know God. Jesus got angry with those who set themselves us as examples for everyone else to follow.

Don’t miss my point. We are to be examples. Jesus made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount. SLIDE 3

14 You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. SLIDE 4 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

SLIDE 5 Later in the sermon, when talking about worrying, Jesus said: SLIDE 6

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

SLIDE 7 We are to have good deeds and we are to seek righteousness, but we need to be very careful about that righteousness. We don’t want to be self-righteous. We don’t want to look down on others from our so-called pedestal.

Jesus said to let our light or good works shine so that others might give glory to God. If non-Christians can’t see our lights or don’t know about our good works, how can they give God glory for them? The truth is we can’t always help what people think about us but we can control how we think about them. In chapter 7, still in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.(Matthew 7:1-5)

People looking down on others wasn’t just a Jewish problem in Jesus’ day, it is a world-wide still. And as Christians, it’s a problem we must resolve. So, today we are going to look at and define the problem of our “high” morality and then we are going to look at a solution for this problem.

We know this was not a problem for Jesus though. How do we know? First, because he’s Jesus and we know Jesus didn’t sin. Second, we know because of what the gospels say about his relationship with “the sinners.” For example, we read in Luke 15: SLIDE 8

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)

SLIDE 9 If Jesus had been looking down on them in judgment they would not have been gathering around to hear listen to him teach. Pharisees and teacher of the law on the other hand were calling them sinners and denouncing Jesus for having anything to do with them. The tax collectors and sinners were gathering while the religious leaders were muttering. Those two words should tell us a lot. This happened again in Luke 19 when Jesus decided to spend time with another tax collector.

SLIDE 10-11 Turn with me Luke 19. Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem. In a couple of days he will ride into the city on a donkey. But first, he has to travel through the city of Jericho.

1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”(Luke 19:1-7)

SLIDE 12 Did you hear them? They’re muttering again. Who are to muttering to? Themselves. To others in the crowd. I know who they weren’t muttering to, they weren’t muttering to Jesus. They’d learned by then that Jesus wasn’t much interested in what they had to say.

They were muttering because Jesus was befriending Zacchaeus, a known tax collector. To the Jewish people being a tax collector meant two things: he was a traitor and he was a thief. But instead of seeing their own failures, they focused on his. In so doing, they could elevate themselves in their own eyes.

In his book “Illustrations of Bible Truth,” H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter.

[Bishop Potter] was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser’s desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship’s safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, “It’s all right, bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!”

Jesus, of course, didn’t judge Zacchaeus. Jesus knew what Zacchaeus was and what he had done – but Jesus didn’t judge him. That’s why Zacchaeus had worked so hard to get a glimpse of Jesus and why he was more than willing to have Jesus come to his house to eat.

In our opening passage of scripture from Matthew 7:1-5, we find Jesus commenting on our judging others. Jesus warns us not to get into the habit of being judgmental. The result is that if we judge others then others will judge us in the same way. But the worst penalty is that God will judge us in the same way as we judge others.

Instead of judging others, Jesus expects us to be sensitive their needs and responsive to our own failures. Jesus illustrated it with the speck of sawdust in the other’s eye when you have a plank in your own eye. The moral of this story is simple. Don’t judge the minor flaws of another while you have a more serious failure in your own eye.

But it goes further than that. Once we take care of the plank in our own eye we will be better suited to helping others remove the sawdust in their eyes. It is not judging that we should be doing, it is spiritual healing that we should be concerned with.

SLIDE 13-14 Let’s look at one final passage on this matter of judging others also found in the gospel of Luke – Luke 18:9-12.

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ” (Luke 18:9-12

SLIDE 15 This man went from robbers to adulterers to tax collectors. When you want to think better of yourself it always helps to have a list of all the things that you are not.

Here is what a hierarchy would have looked like in the Jewish mind: 1) Pharisees and Sadducees; 2) Teachers of the Law; 3) Normal people; 4) Fishermen; 5) Sinners; 6) Prostitutes; and 7) Tax Collectors. So, where do you fit in a hierarchy list? The list helped to let you know where you fit in the social order. One man called this self-aggrandizement. He said:

The first step in self-aggrandizement is to make a list of the people who are beneath you. The second step is to make a list of all the things you do well.

Judgmentalism. That’s the problem. What’s the solution? The answer is humility. Humility is the answer to judgmentalism.

Humility is something that a Christian is to aspire to but can never become proud of. It is a very difficult task. Once more from Dr. Harry Ironside. Ironside said that he was once convicted about his lack of humility. A friend recommended as a remedy, that he march through the streets of Chicago wearing a sandwich board, shouting the scripture verses on the board for all to hear. Dr. Ironside agreed to this venture and when he returned to his study and removed the board, he said “I’ll bet there’s not another man in town who would do that.” So much for building humility.

The term humility has been defined as follows: SLIDE 16

Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself.

SLIDE 17 More simply, you could say the humble person is marked by a willingness to serve others.

Let us not go back to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican and read the rest of the story. SLIDE 18-19

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13-14)

SLIDE 20 Notice that the tax collector stood at a distance. He didn’t feel himself worthy to come any closer. Which was true. Because of his work with the Roman Gentiles he probably should have stayed in the Gentile court.

Listen to some quotes on humility.

Lao-Tzu:

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

Benjamin Franklin:

A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.

John Wooden:

Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

Saint Augustine:

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

Now let’s look at some verses from the Bible on humility: SLIDE 21

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:3-4)

This is a good Biblical definition on humility. SLIDE 22

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

God’s plan for us is to be humble – to walk humbly – and I must stress – to love mercy. SLIDE 23

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

SLIDE 24 We should never try to exalt ourselves. We must be humble. God is the only one who should exalt people. And lastly, when the disciples were arguing about who would be great in God’s kingdom, Jesus said that only pagans do that. SLIDE 25

26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – SLIDE 26 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:26-28)

SLIDE 27 The world loves to judge. The world loves to love themselves and to think of themselves as “better than others.” Not so the Christian. Our model is Jesus Christ.

What makes Jesus mad? In this passage we learned that Jesus gets mad when we think more of ourselves than we do of others. Jesus gets mad when we judge them and drive them further away from God and the salvation Jesus offers them.

SLIDE 28-29 Let me turn to one more passage. Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus came at the end of his ministry. This one came near the beginning when Jesus was still calling the twelve who would become his apostles.

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13)

SLIDE 30 We know how Jesus felt toward others; he showed love and mercy even to “the sinners.” We know how the Pharisees felt too; they only showed mercy and love to themselves. To others they showed judgment. But I wonder how the other disciples of Jesus reacted. The answer is we don’t know. You have to wonder if they judged Matthew along with the Pharisees. After all, he was in the category of the worst. Or did they show mercy and love? We don’t know. But what we do know is that at some point Matthew was accepted as one of them and eventually he became one of the four Gospel writers.

What a waste if would have been if they had not accepted Matthew. You see, we never know what someone may become. But one thing should be uppermost in our minds: that person is a potential child of God. That person is a potential Christian. That person is one who hopefully will share eternity with us.

Don’t be judgmental, be merciful and “walk humbly with your God.”