Hypocrisy and Humility

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 16

Psalm 16 ESV

A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 ESV

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Sermon:

Well, good morning church. I was glad when they said to me, let us go and worship in the house of the lord.

So many of you might know this, but one of the things that i love to do, i have loved to do it Since college is play board games. And i have a, a certain group of friends that i used to play. We haven't played in a while, but we used to play board games with. And it would get very Competitive... is how we'll say this nicely. And one of the things i always used to do is we would be playing There would be a game where you had to trade things that you have. And i would be winning. Because obviously! And all of a sudden, everyone would say, okay no one else at this table can trade with David, no more trading with David. Okay, And then i would do this movement. I would look, i would look one of them in the eyes and i would do this movement right here.

(“taking off the gloves”)

What was that? Oh, that's me. Taking off the gloves. Today in our passage, is the start of jesus. Looking at the pharisees and doing “this”, he's going to be taking off the gloves.

If we remember back our last little, we called it a mini-series as we went through the book of Matthew. We were looking at tests. What were the tests? Well there were three of jesus or three tests where people are testing jesus. And one test where jesus would turn the tables and flip it back on the Pharisees. Jesus answered in perfect wisdom. And beauty and grace. He showed truly that he was The son of god. That he was all that, he said he was And now in in chapter 23, we have what is probably my favorite portion of all of Matthew. Jesus is going to let the pharisees have it. Next week, we'll be looking at the seven woes. Where jesus Says, stronger words than i think we will find anywhere else in scripture that jesus says. Some harshness — some Very strong words, but probably my favorite as sort of as a Baptist hell fire and brimstone preacher It resonates with me.

But this week Jesus will be talking about what are two very opposite but interestingly connected thoughts. Hypocrisy. And humility. He will be looking to his disciples. And encouraging them. To live out one of these. Our passage for today, Matthew chapter 23 will be looking at verses one through 12 this morning Matthew 23 starting in verse 1.

Matthew 23:1–11 ESV

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant.

These are the words of the lord for us this morning. Let's open. With a word of prayer.

Dear Lord we thank you for today. Thank you for your grace. And your mercy. Thank you for your kindness towards us. We thank you that You are our father. That you love us -- that you sent for us your only son, jesus christ, our lord. Who taught us. Who showed us. What it meant to follow you to know you and to love you. May you use this time to conform us into his image. And we grow ever more like our savior, May you open our hearts? May we be a people who do not just hear your word and leave unchanged, but rather who are doers of your word. Change our hearts. It's in jesus name. We pray. Amen.

Just as a side note, i don't I didn't realize this irony until probably Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. It is father's day. And here's your message: Matthew chapter 23 verse 9 “and call No man, your father on earth for you have one father” I don't think that's what is in view here in this passage, or really this passage means, but what i would say, is fathers, if we were to live out this passage We would be a blessing to our children.

What our children need our fathers, who follow the lord, Who serve him who are devoted to him, Who train our children to love and follow the lord in these ways. And so, this message — I mean, you all know me, we don't stop for, we don't stop for anything, so We're not going to stop for a father's day message-- but i truly believe that on father's day this is a good message for us to hear. For as fathers. I think we struggle sometimes in particular In these sins. And in this way.

As we look at this passage, i just like to walk through it together. What jesus is doing is laying Hypocrisy and humility side by side and showing how one is the antidote for the other and how The other here gets in the way and prevents us from actually living Humbly.

So as we walk through, jesus will explore first hypocrisy and he opens by exposing hypocrisy showing us what hypocrisy looks like.

EXPOSING Hypocrisy

And we all know and are often painfully aware of the word hypocrisy. I Mean, It's thrown out all the time. Christians are — ask anyone in the world, --- Christians are hypocrites.

But what does that mean? If we were to just say, well, a hypocrite, is someone who doesn't do what they say they should do. Sure. I'm a hypocrite. If a hypocrite is someone, who doesn't live up to God's standard, but yet tells people, they must live up to god's standard i'm guilty as charged. Because the truth is no one can live up to god's standard. Second peter 1:16, “therefore you must be holy as god is holy” None of us reach that mark, yet scripture does not leave any room for us to NOT hold people to that standard. So if the call of being a hypocrite, if you are a hypocrite because you expect people to live holy lives and you're not doing it perfectly well then guilty as charged.

But as we look at what jesus does it goes deeper, and it's more important to understand how JESES lays out hypocrisy here, instead of taking our cue from the world. And the first thing we note is hypocrisy is exposed in WHAT IS DONE

What is DONE

Hypocrisy is not a sin about what is said. There are many sins that are sins of the mouth. James teaches us the tongue, Is vile, oftentimes, it can cause forest fires. It's with the same tongue that We praise god and curse our brothers. This should not be so! Those are sisn of what is said, but the way Jesus approaches this it is better seen as a sin of what is done. — Because the Pharisees say the right things verse 2. This is very strange. If we think about it!

“The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat.” Sure they claim to hold the law. This idea of sitting on Moses's seat means they have the authority of moses at least that's what they claim. So sure they would agree. We sit on Moses seek because we are the arbitrators and rulers and judges of the law — That's what the lawyer in the testing passage was all about.

So, Okay. We might think Jesus is gonna let him have it. The pharisee sit on Moses seat. So here comes So they are extra cursed and extra vile because they don't do this or that… No... The pharisees and the scribe sit on moses seat verse 3. “So, do an observe, whatever they tell you.”

What they say is, right! The first thing to note is their hypocrisy does not mitigate does not lower or Cause shade or even wrongness to come upon what God has said. What God has said stands over and above the Pharisees. “So do what they say, but Not the works that they do.”

It's the the works that cause hypocrisy to be so bad. In particular note, what the pharisees do: “They tie up heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders. But they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

The pharisees have added law upon law, upon law, tying up heavy heavy burdens, Burdens, we can note that the law, never put there. The law jesus, summarized it for us, two passages ago in two commandments: love god and love others! That's the burden that should be tied to people. That's not the burden in the Pharisees are guilty of or the ones that Jesus has in mind. The burden of the Pharisees is like, you can't walk more than two miles away from your property on a sabbath day because that's too much work and that's not honoring the sabbath. So hear me here: Good Burden: the one the Lord givers us: remember the Sabbath day and keep in holy. Bad Burden: Is going through this long list of how we can follow this or do that. Over and above what God has said. it is as we saw in Chapter 15 teaching as doctrines the commands of Men. It's going through. And we'll see this in the woes and say well you can't bear false witness but what that means is if you swear by god, you could probably not be fully honest but if you swear by the temple. Well, that's where god lives. So that's a higher standard -- they build all these weird laws and stuff.

But note, what they don't do and the heart of hypocrisy. The are unwilling to help others. They're not willing to go and say, you know, i struggle with this too. Here's some ways that god has helped me. The difference in what we talked about earlier, you know, a hypocrite is Someone who says god's standard is holiness, just do that. You're a hypocrite, if you say that but aren't willing to also say, you know what? I struggle sometimes too. I get the struggle. The sin that lies at your doorstep lies at the doorstep of my heart too. It's there. So let's follow god together. Its an issue of seeing yourself. You should be willing to help but the pharisees won't move their fingers so they are hypocrites.

Instead of trying to love god and love others, verse 5, “they do all their deeds to be seen by others.” That is the issue. When what is done Is done, not for god, but for others, you are a hypocrite. Even the right things, i would argue that even quote, unquote, “right” holy good things-- following god's law — if you are doing that so that others see and applaud others, See and lift you up, you're a hypocrite.

The things we do ought to be done for God. Which gets us to THE HEART of Hypocrisy

The HEART

It is not just what is done, but what is LOVED!

To try to encourage people to lift, people, up — to say you, you must honor. God. You must be holy. I do that. Because i love god.,First and foremost, And i love you! So You ought to try to please God, live a holy life. Do good deeds, live A holy righteous life, Don't keep sinning! These things we can say: If we love god And love others. The pharisees make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. What does that mean? A phylactery? It was a little box that you would wear on your arm and or on your forehead, it was supposed to have god's law. It was you would write verses on it, roll it up and put it in these phylacteries. The goal was. You were actually literally living out where we write god's law on your forehead. That it would not depart from you. They were tangible reminders of god's law. Truly If you love god's law, you would put it there and you would cherish it. There's nothing wrong with these phylacteries in general, but what do The Pharisees do? They make it broad. A phylactery didn't have to be big but there's was huge, awkwardly big, maybe just so everyone would look and say man. My phylactery uncomfortable. There's must be really painful. They must really love god.

They made their fringes long! the goal of fringes you would put it on the tassels of your, on the tails of your your shirt. So that every time you walk is you swing your hands, your hand would brush a tassel, every brush of the tassel, Would remind you of god's law and his goodness and your need to honor God in all things. Well, they made theirs long. the thought is the same: they obviously must really care about god's law and his goodness because their tassels are dragging on the ground.

In truth, they don't love god. They love the attention of others. Verse six. Jesus says this explicitly. “They love The places of honor. At feast and the best seats in the synagogue.” They love that other people think that they are important. They love their position, they love their authority, they love their — whatever their is that they're getting out of this. They don't love God.

This. Is the heart. Of hypocrisy.

They teach god's word, they don't love god's word, they love that people look at them and think that's a great teacher of god's word. They love the clout — they love the pats on the back, they love jesus says the positions of honor. They love when people say “oh, oh no, no pharisee. You don't sit there you come, take my seat.” That is hypocrisy. More than just saying, you ought to live this way, But then failing to meet that standard, i do too. Here's my goal. I will lift— Not just my finger— I'll put everything of me into helping you reach the same goal. I'm trying to reach So, when we go up to people and say, You are living in sin, repent. By saying repent, we're calling them. That's me lifting the finger to help them. Not just you're living in sin, but you're living in sin. There is an out. It is jesus christ, Our lord, who died for all of your sins. Trust in him. He is the perfect Savior. Pharisees won't do that.

They love their honor. In fact, if more people can't live holy lives, it's better for them. It becomes more exclusive as we live a right life, but you certainly cant. That Is hypocrisy. Well, what's the solution? Humility.

EXALTING HUMILITY

For the second portion of this passage, jesus looks to his disciples And once them to live in humility,

The solution, the cure for hypocrisy Is not Going and living out in the desert somewhere, where no one can ever tempt you or talk to you! If no one ever talks to you, you can never be a hypocrite. That's not the solution here. We've already sort of looked at some of what the solution to hypocrisy is because it's implicit in what jesus says here. But It's helping others encouraging others. It's doing things for love of god. Not for love FROM others. Humility Is Living out What jesus has said is the law. It's loving god, and loving others.

It's loving others, more than yourself. It's elevating, the wants needs desires cares, and concerns of others above your own. But then jesus goes into what humility looks like in practice. The pharisees, they're sort of condemnation of their hypocrisy in verse 7, ends with this thought “they love. Being greeted in the marketplace and being called rabbi.” So how do we have humility in practice? Verse 8 “But you are not to be called rabbi. For you have one teacher. And you're all brothers.”

This is what jesus is saying here. The rabbis like this position of authority. And this lofty place, where… Well, let's put it in modern terms because here's a temptation that faces people like me all the time. Oh, you're the pastor? So, you have A higher place of honor, you know, god's word better than anyone else and you have special access and special tools to understand god's word.

No one's your rabbi. You only have one teacher. It's god. And no one's higher in the hierarchy of god's people. No one is higher rather We are all brothers! We are all equal in this life. And so, as a pastor, This is how i view it: I am blessed and given a position, a great privilege. That i get paid-- my job-- Is to read and study God's word and bring it before you. But i don't have special access, if anything I just have more time. My prayers don't have special power because IM PASTOR David. This summer when we went on our family vacation. I got asked to say grace for a lot of the meals. And I would joke. Well, i'm glad you asked me. Because, as a pastor, you know, my prayers are much better than everyone else's, that's not true. They knew i said it as a joke. But the rabbis like this idea of well, i'm better. Well, don't do it. No one calls you rabbi. And we're all brothers, we're all equal. Verse 9 “and call. No man, your father on earth for you. Have one father who is in heaven”

Happy father's day fathers. There is no father on earth, only one in heaven. I don't think that's what jesus is saying here. We have earthly fathers, that's a position that's been given to us. So what's jesus saying here? The idea of father carries with it in what jesus is saying here this is a sort of religious Explanation of what jesus is saying here. It has to do with hierarchies in the real of getting to God. So I've always been rather stumped As to why. There are people who claim to be Christians, who call their priest father. Because jesus is explicitly condemning that here. And I think this is important because we all seem to inherently do things like this.

I had when i went out to Nebraska this last fall to do the wedding, One of the cousins of the bride was there. And He and i we spent a lot of time talking because we were like the two that weren't from Nebraska. He's a pretty cool kid. He worked on a submarine for the navy so he had a lot of cool fun stories. But he found out that I was a pastor. I mean, it was pretty obvious. I was there to officiate to do the wedding, and i said it. I don't hide it. And he knew i was from new mexico. So, he called me padre. I kind of giggled, i mean, if that's really what you want to, but I am not your father. Just David's fine. Pastor David if you really want to, you're a military guy. They like titles and terms of respect. So if you want to. But he liked to and more probably he thought it was funny, so he kept calling me padre.

The point here is two fold. One is that even non believers fall into this trap of thinking that certain people in certain positions are “father” and “fatherly” and therefore more able to be bette connected to God. So the real point, point number two then is that there Is that there is no one who has the authority to be the intermediary between you and god. There's no one who has a higher authority to connect you to god. More than god himself. And god has said, i am your father. And so positions of or titles of respect, they're good and right. But what jesus wants us to see here is in humility, You need to understand, That there's no one who's above you. There's no one who has special access to god.

This is sort of the same thought with the rabbi here. Also verse 10, no one's to be called your instructor for you have one instructor — It's christ. I don't have any special knowledge or any special word from god that is not available to all believers. There is no secret knowledge of something that That he taught me that i now have to teach you because if I don’t teach you this You can never know it. that is gnosticism and the earliest and most powerfully fought heresy in the early church. No, everything you need for life and godliness has been given to you. So read your word. Study scripture.

The final thing to note as we put this into practice. Here's the one that sort of most universal for all of us, verse 11, “the greatest among you shall Be your servant”

Be a servant of all. The solution to hypocrisy. Is interestingly to me to just be a servant of people. That's why jesus brought up this idea of laying on burdens but then not moving a finger serve them. See their burden. We all have the same burden. “Be holy” So help People! serve them. Love them. care for them. In what you do-- Be a servant.

Do this in practice. Do it in YOUR HEART.

IN HEART

Verse 12. This isn't the first time jesus said something exactly like this. Not the last.

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And whoever humbles himself Will be exalted.”

Humble yourself. It's an issue of your heart. Do you walk around thinking: How can people serve exalt and love me? Or do you walk around with a humble heart? Thinking, how can I serve love and care for others?

Don't be a hypocrite. The world will call us a hypocrite for their reasons. That's fine. Don't be a hypocrite in the way Jesus, describes it here. Place others above yourself. Paul would say it this way: “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in christ jesus, who though he was in the form of god, did not count equality with god as a thing to be grasp but rather humbled himself to the point of death even death on a cross.”

Jesus was so humble, he was willing to offer himself for all people. That's what it means to have humility in your heart.

May we serve and follow the lord. As we do these things. Let's pray.