When I Think I'm Better

Modern Day Pharisees When I Think I’m Better Matthew 23:5-12 Pastor Pat Damiani June 23, 2019 NOTE: This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript. A story is told of a very wise turtle that wanted to spend the winter in Florida, but he knew he could never walk that far. So this very wise turtle convinced a couple of geese to help him, each taking one end of a piece of rope, while he clamped his vise-like jaws in the center. The flight went fine until someone on the ground looked up in admiration and asked, "Who in the world thought of that?" Unable to resist the chance to take credit, the turtle opened his mouth to shout, "I did--" As humans, we like to take credit for the good things that we do. While there are exceptions, it goes against human nature to do something good without getting recognition. Most of us want that warm feeling that we get when someone recognizes and appreciates us. And even worse, we often keep track of those things in our head and begin to think that because we’ve done something good or helpful for someone else that they now owe us. While we do it with a very “tongue in cheek” attitude, Mary and I often play that game. Every week when she handles all the children’s ministry so that I don’t have to worry about it, especially on those weeks when she has to fill in for someone who doesn’t show up for Children’s Church, I tell her I owe her. And when I go help her with a rocket launch at school or prepare dinner for her book club, then tell her that she owes me. But let me just say that in those situations, being in debt to each other often ends up being a very enjoyable position to be in. But when that happens in the church, it is not nearly as pleasant or profitable. When those who claim to be disciples of Christ practice their Christianity in order to be seen and recognized and even to demonstrate that they are a “better” Christian than others, that causes problems within the church family and it also becomes a big “turn off” for those outside the church. And as I think we’ll discover this morning, all of us are probably a lot more prone to doing that than we might think. This is the second message in our current series – Modern Day Pharisees. We’re using Jesus’ final public sermon in Matthew 23 to do two things: 1) To recognize the areas of our life where we may have developed some Pharisaical attitudes and where we may have become “modern day Pharisees”. Last week we summarized what we’re going to learn in this series by saying that… You might be a “modern day Pharisee” if… • You judge the Scriptures rather than being judged by them (We covered that first trait last Sunday) • You think you’re better than other Christians (We’re going to cover this second trait today) • You are more interested in making clones of yourself than disciples of Jesus • You look for loopholes in God’s Word in order to excuse your sin • You major in minors and minor in majors • You work harder at looking good than being good 2) To develop some practical ways that we can deal with those attitudes in a Biblical manner. This morning, we’re going to focus on this second indication that you might be a “modern day Pharisee”: [Read Matthew 23:5-12] The scribes and the Pharisees considered themselves to be superior to their fellow Jews. As we saw last week, they had elevated themselves to a place of authority that was not rightfully theirs. And they abused that authority and judged the Word of God rather than being judged by it. In today’s passage, we’re going to see how these scribes and Pharisees focused on externals that they thought would demonstrate their superiority over their fellow Jews. As we dig into this passage this morning, we all need to be very careful about judging these Jewish religious leaders for their actions while at the same time failing to recognize how we do the very same thing, albeit in different ways. So I want to encourage all of us to personalize this passage and think about the ways that we are tempted to show other Christians that we are superior to them with our outward actions. Once again, we’ll begin this morning by using this passage to help us identify the actions in our own lives that might show we are “modern day Pharisees”. HOW TO TELL IF I’M A “MODERN DAY PHARISEE” 1. I desire attention This is really the overall idea of this section. Jesus remarks that the scribes and Pharisees do all their deeds to be seen by others. They desired to draw attention to themselves rather than bring attention to God. Jesus mentions two particular ways that they do that, both of which are probably not real familiar to most of us: • They make their phylacteries broad. If you don’t know what a phylactery is, don’t worry, you’re in good company. Before I explain what it is, let me give you a little background. The idea for making these phylacteries comes from four verses in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Since all four of those verses are very similar, let me just share one of them: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Deuteronomy 11:18 ESV) Some Jews took these passages literally and designed small black leather boxes containing small pieces of parchment with four specific Scripture passages written on them that they wore on their foreheads and their arms. [Show picture of phylacteries]. What is really interesting is that the development of these phylacteries probably didn’t occur until around 400 BC in the period between the Old and New Testaments. That is likely because the passages they are based on were never intended to be taken literally. • They make their fringes long. Again the idea of fringes or tassels on a garment has a Scriptural basis: “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. (Deuteronomy 22:12 ESV) We know that Jesus followed these instructions and wore these tassels or fringes on his garments because it is mentioned specifically four times in the New Testament. Many of you are probably familiar with the passage where the woman who was ill came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of His garment and was healed. In Jesus’ time those tassels were on the outer garment, but later in Jewish history were worn on the inner garment. Today, since orthodox Jews wear black suits those fringes are usually on their prayer shawls. [Show picture of fringe on prayer shawl.] There was nothing wrong with wearing these phylacteries or fringes. We know for sure Jesus wore the fringes and He likely wore the phylacteries, too. But in order to show how pious and spiritual they were compared to others. The scribes and Pharisees made their phylacteries much larger than everyone else’s and the fringes on their garments much longer. But the real issue here was not what they did outwardly, but rather what that revealed about their hearts in which they considered themselves superior to their fellow Jews. Obviously today, none of us wear phylacteries or fringes, so certainly we couldn’t possibly be guilty of being like the Pharisees when it comes to bringing attention to ourselves, right? Of course we can, we just do it in different ways. I want you to think for a moment about some ways that Christians bring attention to themselves in order to try and demonstrate their superiority to other Christians. This is by no means an exhaustive list but here are a few that come to mind: • This hasn’t happened to me recently, but in the past when I have gone to visit church members or guests, I have often noted that their big family Bible is put in a place where I was sure to notice it. A few times those people failed to dust it off before my visit, which was a dead giveaway it hadn’t been used in a while. • I once worked with someone who always had an answer for every question that someone asked about the Bible and who I never once heard say, “I don’t know”. The problem wasn’t his knowledge of the Bible, which is to be commended, but rather in the way he called attention to the fact that he had that knowledge. • I’ve also known people who could quote a verse and a Scripture reference for every possible situation in life. Again, memorizing Scripture is something we probably should all do a lot more of, but when we use what we’ve memorized for the purpose of impressing others, we are probably being a lot like the Pharisees. • I want to be really careful on this last possibility I’m going to mention because I know I run the risk of offending almost everyone here this morning. But how about people who adorn their bodies, their cars and their homes with all kinds of Christian clothing, jewelry, art, bumper stickers and even tattoos? There is nothing wrong with any of that, especially if the motive is to point people to Jesus. But if I do that to call attention to myself or to make me look spiritual, then I may very well be a “modern day Pharisee”. 2. I desire recognition Wherever they went, the scribes and Pharisees wanted to be recognized as the supreme guests of honor. If they went to a feast they wanted to be seated at the head table, preferably at the place of honor to the right and left of the person putting on the event. Near the end of Jesus’ ministry some of His disciples were seeking those places of honor when Jesus ushered in His kingdom. When they went to the synagogue, they wanted the best seats. I know that here, many of you consider the back row to be the best seats in the house, but in the synagogue the best seats were up front on a raised platform facing the people so everyone would see them. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they arrived fashionably late, so they could make a grand entrance with their large phylacteries and long fringes and take their seats next to the dignitaries who would pray and read the Scriptures. And when they went to the marketplace, they wanted people to recognize them and call them “rabbi” in front of all the other people who were there shopping. In today’s culture they would be the ones welcoming the paparazzi to photograph their every move or the ones posting pictures to their Facebook feed showing themselves praying, or reading the Scriptures or engaging in some religious ritual. This may very well be the most subtle and dangerous of the three traits we’ll talk about today. It feels good to be recognized by others doesn’t it? And appropriate recognition can actually be a very effective motivation for us to excel and do our best. The problem comes in when we need that recognition to feel good about ourselves or when we seek that recognition as some kind of validation that we are superior to others. And when we do that in the body of Christ, we may very well be “modern day Pharisees”. 3. I desire honor These scribes and Pharisees loved it when others would honor them by calling them “rabbi”, or “instructor” or even “Father”. There was nothing inherently wrong in being called by those titles. It is also important to note that the Bible actually commands us to give respect and honor to those who God has given to us to teach the Word of God and shepherd us. But when anyone desires and seeks and clamors for that kind of honor, then there is a problem. The way the Pharisees were enamored with titles reminds me of some people I’ve run into over the years who obtain a doctorate degree and then insist that everyone call them “Doctor” rather than just call them by their name. And unfortunately, that even happens in the church when pastors who earn a doctorate degree insist that they be addressed as “Doctor”. Over the years, once people find out I’m a pastor, they often ask something like this: “What am I supposed to call you – reverend, or minister, or Father, or His holiness?” I guess it’s not all surprising that people would ask a question like that since so many religions have come up with titles that they give to their leaders and people are genuinely confused about those titles. That is especially true with one of the titles Jesus specifically addresses here – father. That title is used commonly, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and a few other denominations. In fact, if we were in the church of England today, my proper title would be Right Reverend Father in God. Can you imagine introducing me to someone and saying this is the Right Reverend Father in God Pat Damiani? So when someone asks me a question like that, I tell them just call me Pat. I’ve shared this with some of you before, but I’m even uncomfortable to some extent when people call me Pastor Pat. I appreciate that many of you address me as Pastor or Pastor Pat out of respect, and so I’m not going to make a big deal out of it or try to correct you. But I think one of the reasons it makes me a bit uncomfortable is that it puts far too much emphasis on the importance of my role in the body of Christ. While I am in vocational ministry and my role here is more public than others, that doesn’t mean it’s any more important. I wouldn’t go to your workplace and call you banker Steve or HR guru Ryan or Uber Eats driver Nancy or retired Jerry. And in the church I wouldn’t call you Greeter Steve or Greeter Melissa or Sound Tech Jon. Before we leave this trait, let me point out that Jesus is not in any way saying here that we shouldn’t call our earthly dads “father” or that it’s not appropriate to do like Paul did and describe himself as a spiritual father to Timothy or like John did and refer to his spiritual children. He is merely pointing out the danger of a heart that seeks to be honored by the way others address us. And if you do that, you might be a “modern day Pharisee”. THE REMEDY 1. Consider my motives As we’ve already discovered the main problem the Pharisees had was not with what they did, but rather with the motives behind their actions. There was nothing inherently wrong with wearing a phylactery or fringes or being seated in a place of honor or even being called by a title that communicated honor and respect. The problem was that the Pharisees did all these things to be seen by men. They sought these things out because they believed they were evidence of their superiority over other “common” Jews. That is why two people can do the exact same thing and it could be a sin for one person and not for the other. And that can even be true of church ministry. And looking back, I can see where there were times in my life where I was serving with motives that were questionable at best. When we lived in Albuquerque there was a season when I was involved in a number of ministries at our church there. In addition to being a deacon, I also taught Bible study, served as an usher and oversaw the finances of the day care center. And while I served in those ministries for many of the right reasons, as I look back on that period, I can see that I also enjoyed telling people how busy I was and having people give me props for that. One of the things I learned from that period in my life is that being too busy is often a good indicator that I’m doing too many things in order to please other people or get noticed by them. I’m convinced that God gives every one of us enough time to do the things that are important to Him and if I’m too busy to read my Bible or pray or be a part of a Bible study or attend church or use my gifts to serve within the body, then it’s likely because I’m doing some things I probably shouldn’t. And not always, but certainly much of the time when that happens it is because I’m doing those things to be seen by others. So I need to make an honest evaluation of the things that I’m devoting my time, talent, and resources to in my life and consider my motives. 2. Focus on what we have in common The Pharisees were focused on what they had and did that their fellow Jews might not – things like their education, their knowledge of the Scriptures, and their religious acts. But Jesus points out to them that they ought to be more focused on what they have in common with their fellow Jews. They have one teacher, one Father, and one instructor. And then He points out that they are all brothers. So when it came to their relationship with God, they were on equal footing with every other Jew. The fact that they might have more education or a title or any other advantage they thought they might have had meant nothing in God’s eyes. The apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee himself, addressed the idea that none of those things matter. The only thing that really matters in God’s kingdom is in knowing the one we all have in common – Jesus: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Philippians 3:7–9 ESV) In God’s kingdom, we might all different roles, different gifts, different abilities, different educational backgrounds, different financial resources. But none of those differences make us superior to or inferior to any other disciple of Jesus because what we all share in common is the righteousness that depends on Jesus alone and not on anything we can do. And the more we focus on that common salvation, the less prone we are to start comparing ourselves to others. 3. Serve others Greatness in the kingdom of God is not measured by all the things the Pharisees considered to be important like being recognized and honored because of their outward religious acts. Instead it is measured by the degree to which we are willing to humbly serve others. If you doubt that, look to the example of Jesus Himself: For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 ESV) The Pharisees were so busy putting on a religious show for others that they didn’t have time to do what would have really made a positive difference in the lives of others by serving them. They were far too proud to humble themselves and take on the role of a servant. But as Jesus points out here, self-exaltation has no place in the life of His disciples. Over the years, I’ve observed that one of the most effective ways to promote unity in the church is for us to serve together. Whether that has been a work day at the church, or serving at the Gospel Rescue Mission, or our “Be the Church” Sundays where we have served together at Legacy School, there is something about working side by side with our brothers and sisters in Christ that tends to break down barriers and help us to see each other as equals who are all part of the same team and not competitors seeking to one up each other in our relationships with Jesus. We’ve seen this morning that… I don’t know anyone here who would ever do that intentionally. But as we’ve seen this morning, we might be more prone to doing that than we would like to admit because we naturally like to be recognized, respected and honored by others. But Jesus has made it possible for us to overcome those natural tendencies and to live in harmony with one another rather than be in competition with one another. And when we do that, not only do we benefit individually and as a body, but we also make the kingdom of God more attractive to others. [Prayer] As always, it is important for us to make sure that we apply what we’ve learned today. So as the worship team comes back up and we prepare for our offering, would you take just a few moments to prayerfully consider how God is leading you to apply today’s message and then write that down in the space provided on your sermon outline. Discussion questions for Bible Roundtable 1. What kinds of problems do “modern day Pharisees” cause both within the church and in the way outsiders view the church? 2. Why do many Christians have a natural tendency toward the kind of legalism that the Pharisees exhibited? How do we guard against that? 3. What are some things that modern day Christians do to call attention to how “spiritual” they are? 4. How do we know when we’re doing things to be seen by others rather than to please God? 5. When does the respect and honor shown to church leaders cross a line where it becomes inappropriate? How do we guard against that?