Matthew 23 1-12 You Have One Instructor: the Messiah

Dearly loved people of God,

Two weeks ago I was the on-call chaplain at the Tillsonburg Hospital. Among the other things, I stop in the rooms of new patients to say “hi.” Sometimes it’s a quick hi/bye. Sometimes it leads to a longer conversation.

One day, popping in to say “hi” turned into an hour-long conversation. He had trouble with religion, he said. Christians don’t have a good track record of being good people. He had lots of evidence. He mentioned how some priests and ministers sexually abused kids.

In London, around the same time, former Anglican priest and professor David Norton was sentenced to a 9-year prison term for sexually abusing boys from the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. The judge had a comment that stood out when I read the news article:

Justice Lynda Templeton told the court that Norton purported to be a man of God but that his conduct ran counter to the meaning and message of Christianity. [1]

I’m glad she made the distinction. Norton’s behaviour doesn’t fit the gospel message.

But the man in the hospital didn’t have to look too far for examples of Christians failing to live up to their calling. At the Spring congregational meeting I mentioned George Barna’s findings. Barna runs “a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behaviour of Americans.” In his book Growing True Disciples, Barna writes:

In thoughts and in deeds the thinking and actions of believers and non-believers are almost indistinguishable (75)

Think about that! The behaviour and values of Christians aren’t different from other people. If the guy in the hospital is looking for Christians to be examples of good, at least they aren’t worse than everyone else. But they’re no better.

If you’re a leader among followers of Christ, Jesus’ comments about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees should roll around in our brain for a while. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had all the teaching about God’s laws correct. They inherited Moses’ role as teachers and judges among God’s covenant people. Surprisingly, Jesus instructs his followers “to do everything they tell you.”

See, much of Jesus’ teaching agreed with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. They sang off the same song sheet. Both had great respect for God’s instructions given through Moses. So the religious leaders agree with Jesus that God’s people are called to love God with all their heart, mind and strength and love their neighbours as themselves. If anything, Jesus indicates in , the religious leaders don’t carry the law far enough.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment.

(NIV)

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

(NIV)

Obedience to God’s law isn’t just about actions. God’s instructions need to transform his people’s thoughts and attitude as well.

Jesus criticized the religious leaders for piling on rules for holy living, but failing to offer any help in doing it. Being a preacher, Jesus’ concern rings in my ear at times.

They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

(NIV)

It’s really easy to come up with lists of things for others to do. Bossing people around sounds like fun some days. But that’s not what the leaders of God’s people are called to do. Not in Jesus’ day. Not now.

The burden of living up to God’s standard is real. Jesus’ word picture of a heavy, cumbersome load works. A few decades later, when the early church struggled to determine what it looked like for Gentiles to become disciples of Jesus’, they wrestled with the difficulties of living up to God’s OT law.

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

(NIV)

Paul, a recovering Pharisee himself, responded strenuously:

Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.

(NIV)

The grace of our Lord Jesus is exactly the kind of help we need! Only in Jesus can Christians live up to God’s standards.

Judge your success for yourself, but I find that I don’t live up to my own benchmark for goodness, let alone God’s! Without help, we’re doomed to fail. Worse, sin causes death. So we’re doomed to die: physical death and eternal death.

But Jesus is a preacher and teacher who practises what he preaches. When he says, “the greatest among you will be your servant,” he puts it into action. He offers himself as our whipping boy. What’s a whipping boy?

Back in medieval Europe, no one was permitted to hit royal children not even for discipline and certainly not by teachers. So the court hired a whipping boy to take the cuffs and spankings that a prince or princess deserved – essentially, that’s what Jesus did for us.

In our daily readings and on the church calendar we’re getting close to the climax of the Gospel story. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are just 3 weeks away. We’ll celebrate and remember how Jesus took our punishment.

The Roman governor knew that Jesus had committed no crime, yet at the end of his trial, Pilate had Jesus flogged. Then he handed Jesus over to be crucified. Jesus didn’t deserve that flogging. He didn’t deserve to die. He was innocent of any wrong-doing before God and people. But he took that beating and he carried the cross in order to lift the burden of sin and guilt off of your back.

Jesus, the King of kings, took your punishment so you can be counted part of his royal family. By faith, your guilt and shame is removed. You’re given life with Jesus’ resurrection.

It’s a gift that all Christians count on. All of us depend on Jesus’ death and resurrection. It’s a level playing field.

Oh, we have different abilities. Some believers have years more experience. Some believers are more mature in their faith than others. But all followers of Jesus depend on God the HS to live good lives. God is the one who transforms us to become more and more like Jesus.

It saddens us and disappoints us when we fail and when others fail. Things aren’t perfect yet. All of Jesus’ disciples struggle with temptation and sin.

It saddens us when the sins of leaders get exposed. They should know better. They should act better. While they are the public face of Jesus’ church, they aren’t the standard by which Christianity should be judged. Jesus, in all his goodness, love, and humble service is the focal point of our faith.

We look to Jesus for perfection, for leadership, for hope. The psalmist sang of the unreliability of human leaders and the dependability of God years and years before Jesus:

Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

(NIV)

The Bible is the account of the Lord’s faithfulness in helping his dearly loved people – particularly through Jesus, the Messiah. Human leaders are helpful and dependable when they faithfully point to Jesus as our hope and salvation.

So Jesus instructs his followers not to get caught up in titles and positions. Don’t call people Rabbi, Father, Instructor. It isn’t about human power and authority. Christianity is radical because each person has direct contact with God himself as teacher, as heavenly Father, and as Messiah.

You’re going to encounter people with concerns about the behaviour of Christians. If you get talking to people about the gospel of Jesus, they might ask you about what residential schools did to First Nations children – the collaboration between the government and churches. They might ask you about TV preachers cajoling their fan base for money to buy private jets. They might ask about all kinds of scandals in the history of the church. How will you respond?

The only response we have is to point to our Saviour and Redeemer. We know human leaders are still tainted by sin and hypocrisy. Nobody can stand on a pedestal for long.

We see it in politics. We see it among celebrities. We see it in the church.

But our hope is in the Lord our God! He came down and became human to rescue humankind, to redeem all creation. If you’re going to judge the gospel, you need to look at Jesus.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/david-norton-sentenced-1.5066273