The Self-Righteous Heart

Intro

Opening Illustration: Stories about blind spots…

Almost wrecking because there was a truck in my blind spot when Lauren and I were driving back from Oxford one day

Sitting in a restaurant with Chris Clark and realizing I had a hole in my jeans in a very unfortunate place

We’ve been talking about sin struggles common to college students…tonight I want to talk about a sin you didn’t know you were committing

MPT: Those who enter the kingdom do so only by repentance and faith in Jesus rather than their own moral goodness or social status

MPS: We need to repent of our self-righteousness and look to Jesus’ work on the cross as the source of our salvation

GS: My goal tonight is to expose self-righteousness in us and call us to deep repentance and humility before God

Probing question: How do you know if you have a self-righteous heart?

Body

You compare yourself to others spiritually (v. 9-14)

Matthew 23:23 ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

The issue was not the things the Pharisee did but the fact that he did those religious things while ignoring the kind of repentance that resulted in a changed heart

The tax collector’s prayer echoes that of David in Psalm 51:1 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”

“Be merciful” means to "be propitiated" and the word "propitiate" in English comes from a latin word meaning favorable or gracious. It means to win or regain the favor of God by doing something that pleases him

“A sinner" in English would be better translated "the sinner". The tax collector is only thinking of himself, not in a self-righteous way, but in a sinful way. He isn't concerned about the sins of others, only his

Illustration: Chase coaching me and the beach brawl guys to focus on lifting just slightly more than the guy next to us

You think salvation is something you have to achieve (v. 15-17)

Infants had no social status and remained that way until they had something to contribute to society

Cultural tension: we are way more transactional in life than Jesus is

Illustration: Talk about how much I used to hate when my dad would make me wash the truck until one day he offered to pay me. Cleaned the heck out of that truck - it was transactional and my motivation was earning a reward

Your emotions reveal your trust is in something else (v. 18-30)

“Doubtless he was perfectly sincere; but something within whispered to him that his keeping of the commandments was too easy a way of getting to heaven.”

Application: Your trials in life and the things God asks you to give up are what reveal what your trust is really in and what you really love

Illustration: Telling Lauren I was being patient about getting a truck and then pouting like a baby and getting mad when the plans fell through the first day I tried to sell the car - my emotional response in that moment revealed what was really in my heart despite what my mouth said was true

Conclusion

Gospel connection

Closing illustration - man on the middle cross

Response & Prayer