Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Last week, as we worked through our series on Jesus’ parables, we talked about the doctrine of Hell.

If you look at surveys or ask someone on the street if they thought they were going to go to heaven or hell, almost every person would say "Heaven.”

And if you were to follow up with why they believed that, they would say something to the effect of “I’m a good person.”

Or, at the very least, “I am not as bad as that other person.”

You will hear people try to justify their way of life by saying they are just trying their best, or being true to themselves and if you question their life, you are immediately answered with “Well who are you to judge anyway?”

The underlying belief that currently face in our culture is the same belief of every other major world religion.Other than Christianity, every faith and philosophy or way of life that teaches you are able to live in such a way that you are able to be good enough to be accepted by God or some higher power so that you can be blessed or enter heaven whatever that might look like.

Especially in our Bible-belt culture, we live in a world where people believe they can live a good enough life to justify themselves before God.

In other words, they can be a good enough person with a little bit of Jesus on the side to get God to love and accept them in their own power.

First Moralistic, it simply means that you should try to be a good person.

Especially in our Bible-belt culture, we live in a world where people believe they can live a good enough life to justify themselves before God.

In other words, they can be a good enough person with a little bit of Jesus on the side to get God to love and accept them in their own power.

The problem with this is that the good is vaguely defined.

In a culture of relativism, that says no truth is greater than any other truth, the good usually defaults to whatever seems right to you as long as it meets the Therapeutic standard.

By Therapeutic I mean doing whatever feels good.

So the morality of the individual is determined by whatever seems right to them as long as it feels right to them.

You will hear things like people need to be true to themselves, or who are you to judge how someone else is trying to live their life.

You will hear things like people need to be true to themselves, or who are you to judge how someone else is trying to live their life.

According to their worldview only one being can judge them and that is a god or being or force who is barely interested in them in the first place.

According to their worldview only one being can judge them and that is a god or being or force who is barely interested in them in the first place.

Finally, there is the element of Deism.

Deism is a belief that there is a God or higher being or force out there , but it is ultimately disconnected from the created world.

absent from working in his creation.

So our culture believes that as long as you try to be the best person you can be by doing whatever feels right to you, then God, however he or she or it exists will accept you in the end.

Basically, God is not that involved in your life and as long as you aren’t as bad as Hitler then you are a good enough person and will be blessed or rewarded in some way whether through karma, reincarnation, or whatever.

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is nothing new.

In fact, it teach the same basic philosophy of every major world religion because all religions outside of Christianity teach some form of self-justification.

In other words, that you can earn acceptance from God or some higher being or force through human accomplishment.

The big idea is that outside of the gospel, every religion or philosophy says that you and I can do enough in our life to be a good enough, or righteous enough, person that deserves to be accepted by God.

This idea has even infiltrated the Christian Church especially amongst Millenials who say that as long as your faith or worldview is vaguely connected to Jesus in someway, regardless of what the Bible says, then it is good enough to pass as Christianity.

Who are we to judge.

During his time on the earth, Jesus constantly warred against the idea that you and I can do enough good works in order to make ourselves acceptable enough to be loved by God.

Have you ever wondered why some of the things Jesus says don’t really sound like grace?

For example, in :16 a man comes to Jesus and asks, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” and Jesus replies, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?

Or consider :25 where a lawyer comes to Jesus and asks, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus responds, “What is written in the Law?

How do you read it?”

27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Why does Jesus not share the gospel with these men?

Why does he just give them the Law?

Because the law is what they needed to hear.

In both cases, these men had no idea how lost they actually were.

They believed they could still earn God’s acceptance, the could still earn eternal life, through their religious good works.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

That they could do enough to get God to love and accept them.

You will hear people try to justify their way of life by saying they are just trying their best, or being true to themselves and if you question their life, you are immediately answered with “Well who are you to judge anyway?”

The underlying belief that currently face in our culture is the same belief of every other major world religion.

Other than Christianity, every faith and philosophy or way of life that teaches you are able to live in such a way that you are able to be good enough to be accepted by God or some higher power so that you can be blessed or enter heaven whatever that might look like.

We deal with this same temptation in our Bible-belt culture.

We live in a world where people believe they can live a good enough life to justify themselves before God.

They don’t need to give their whole life to Jesus.

They just need a little bit of Jesus on the side and they can take care of the rest to to get God to love and accept them in their own power.

What these two men and many people in our city struggle with is self-righteousness.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The gospel has nothing to say to the self-righteous person.

A person that looks at their life and say, “You know what?

I’m a pretty good person of course God would love me and save me.

I’m not bad of a person.”

Someone that looks at their own self-righteousness as the basis for why God will save them has no concept of their need for grace and because of this they are deaf to the good news the gospel proclaims.

Jesus knew that you and I could never do enough to justify ourselves before God and as we look at the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Jesus is going to show us the difference between trying to earn salvation by Human Accomplishment, and being given salvation by God’s Grace.

Human Accomplishment vs. God’s Grace

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

Here Jesus is teaching a large group of people about the kingdom of God.

In this group are some of his followers, curious onlookers, and some Pharisees.

And the Bible tells us that Jesus tells this parable specifically to people who were trusting in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

Jesus is telling this story for the benefit of self-righteous people.

Righteous here means holy, or living a life that reflects God’s own character and will

Jesus is telling this story for the benefit of self-righteous people.

So Jesus is telling this story to people who believe that in themselves, or in their own ability and works, they have made themselves acceptable to God despite their sin.

Righteous here means holy, or living a life that reflects God’s own character and will

The second thing at play here is that the way these people’s self-righteousness manifests itself in their life is by how they treat others.

So Jesus is telling this story to people who believe that in themselves, or in their own ability and works, they have made themselves acceptable to God despite their sin.

The second thing at play here is that the way these people’s self-righteousness manifests itself in their life is by how they treat others.

By treating other people with contempt, these self-righteous people are truly just living out what they believe.

That they are better than other people.

They look down other other people and silently, or even not so silently, judge others thinking to themselves, “Can you believe they struggle with that?

How pathetic are they?”

I am so glad I’m not like that person.

I’m so glad tat I’m holy.

And this is such an important parable for us in our day because even now, every one of us is tempted toward self-righteousness.

Every single one of us is tempted to believe that our own works are the basis for why God loves us.

Well that’s not me!

I mean, I know the gospel, I know that I can’t make myself right with God.

But what is so insidious about self righteousness is that it blinds us to three things.

It makes us believe that we don’t really need God’s grace.

and because we don’t really need God’s grace, we don’t really see that what God did for us in Jesus Christ is worthy of all our worship.

Another way that self-righteousness insidiously gets into our life is that we don’t see our sin as big of a deal as it is.

That we start allowing sin to fester in our life instead of putting it to death like the Bible says.

Finally self righteousness can be so insidious in us because we can treat other people with contempt.

We can say to ourselves, “Man, can you believe their marriage, their parenting or their finances?

I am so glad I’m not like that person.”

And this causes us to not love one another.

The Big Idea is that self righteousness is detrimental to your Christian faith because it prevents us from loving God and loving other people.

And Jesus shows us this dichotomy between trying to earn salvation through human accomplishment and being given salvation by God’s grace by telling a tale of two prayers.

A Tale of Two Prayers

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.