What are your actions saying?
Matthew 23:1-12 New International Version (NIV)
A Warning against Hypocrisy
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 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.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Previously Jesus had taught about the importance of being a Servant, of giving service of becoming humble
John 13:12-17 ESV
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ...
Practice what you preach. Do unto others, Actions speak louder than words, all that glistens is not gold – we often hear about items on the news where someone in authority has done something wrong – even someone that perhaps growing up we looked up to or admired but underneath it all they were a fake.
Sometimes it can be a sad or missed opportunity fake – I had a lady in my class this week – Natasha was in her late 40’s, has worked pretty much all her life in large Administration positions, she turned up to class on time each day, dressed smart casual or corporate, spoke about her jobs, what she could do and the type of work she wanted. On the last day of class I sit with clients - one on one – I could see that her resume was all over the place and she hadn’t got anywhere with re writing it, I asked about her life – she broke down saying that she was almost homeless, her depression had returned and she didn’t know which way to turn. Her hypocrisy hurt her – she wasn’t authentic, if she had been authentic from the beginning she could have got help sooner.
Today’s talk is showing us the Hypocrites in Jesus time and then what we can or should do about it now as Followers of Jesus
In Jesus time it was easy to identify the teachers of the Law – they wore identifying clothing and articles to say – “Hey look at me I’m important” and Jesus started this verse warning Christians to be vigilant in what they adhered to.
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 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.
Both Pharisees and Scribes are leaders in their church, highly respected and knowledgeable, Moses seat - special chair of honour in the synagogue where the authoritative teacher of the law sat, where the scriptures were kept. These leaders had an education, a special place to sit in the temple – they worked all their lives to get to this status, this promotion.
The Teachers of the law (Scribes) would read the Torah (The Law) first 5 books of the old Testament and the Pharisees would then explain/interpret for the Jewish people, from there they developed ‘rules’ to assist with understanding of Gods law – the Torah was supposed to be of a story about how God is creating people to love Him and love others, to be a servant, to be authentic. When Jesus spoke about the Torah, He talked about how He was bringing this story to its fulfillment but they started making it about rules and laws and then this led to the rules becoming more important. They started to forget the meaning and became obsessed with creating and maintaining rules, to be authoritative, to be rulers.
There are 613 commandments (rules) – both positive and negative – interestingly there are 365 negative – one for each day of the year and 248 positive (To Do) a number ascribed to the number of bones and main organs in the human body.
An example today of rules that the Jewish people still keep an eye on when following the Sabbath (which is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night) –is around not working on the Sabbath – 39 main rules to observe and there is then sub rules ie don’t use electricity, automobiles, Sabbath elevator which automatically stops at each floor so that you don’t have to work by pushing the buttons. So our fridge has the Sabbath mode – which means the lights go out and you cannot alter the buttons on the control panel
The rules became overwhelming and the real reason of the Torah was overlooked but Jesus was not about rules – he said in Matthew
Matthew 11:28-30 The Message (MSG)
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
This verse in Matthew is A Warning against Hypocrisy – Back in Jesus’ day Hypocrisy in Greek meant acting – you would say he is a Hypocrite (Actor) it now has a negative meaning not practicing what they are preaching. If you accuse someone of being a hypocrite, you mean that they pretend to have qualities, beliefs, or feelings that they do not really have.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
In those days it was easy to identify the Teachers and holders of the Law – just by looking at them they wore Phylacteries boxes containing scripture on their head and arm they took this literally
Deuteronomy 6:8 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
They also wore Prayer shawls with tassels – there was a large tassel on each corner – each has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totaling 13. The sum of all numbers is 613
I’m not sure these days if we as Christians are easily identifiable How are we identified as being Christian? Maybe today it can be the size or wornness of the bible you carried, the conferences you attend, Christian authors you quote, maybe your ministry, stickers on your car or the t shirt – How do people know you are a Christian? Maybe you are bold and say it out loud “I am a Christian”.
MSG 8-10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.
These last verses warn us about our leaders and walking our Christian life
Rabbi means “My Lord” a title given to outstanding teachers of the Law
In this verse the Leaders love for the position grew stronger than loyalty to God, with power comes responsibility, and they weren’t living up to it. We see today both Mega and many Mini churches with huge responsibilities to the people of the church. Jesus instructed his followers to listen to what they were teaching – teaching His writings, His word but not to follow what they did – they did not practice what they preached. I feel that this verse is saying to be careful and discern “Biblical Teachings” ensure that they are from the Bible and not from what someone would want the Bible to say. It also says to us to not be a hypocrite.
Leaders who slowly become the sole interpreters of Scripture and tell the Church what to do and not to do, Leaders build up the skills and gifts in the church – Leaders guide. Then there is our walk – are we a servant? Are we following God’s direction – can people ‘see’ that we are Christians – do they know we are Christians by our love? Many Churches look into man made rules rather than sticking with what the Bible says – this maybe why we have so many churches around today as they may not be based entirely on Bible teachings it fits into what people want – hence why we have an ETHICS Bible Study
MSG 11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.
Actions speak louder than words
Pharisees looked the part – they knew the scriptures but didn’t live by them – just like Christians who know the Bible but don’t change their lives or live by the word - It’s not what you do, it’s why you do it.
Jesus came as a servant - Jesus walked hundreds of miles. He likely often slept on the ground. He was pawed at by people. He got dirty. He had to deal with the bickering of his coworkers. He washed his follower’s grimy, smelly feet. He did what was needed to advance the gospel. While pursuing that end, there was no task beneath him. His Actions = his beliefs
Saint Francis of Assisi abandoned a life of luxury for a life devoted to Christianity after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment. St. Francis of Assisi once invited an apprentice to go with him to a nearby village to preach a sermon. The young monk quickly agreed, seizing an opportunity to hear his teacher speak. When they arrived at the village, St. Francis of Assisi began to visit with the people. First, he called in to see the butcher, then the cobbler, then a short walk to the home of a woman whose husband had died recently. After that, a stop at the school to chat with the teacher, and this continued all morning. After some time, St. Francis of Assisi told his disciple it was time to return to the abbey. But the student didn’t understand.
“But we came to preach. We haven’t preached a sermon”.
“Haven’t we? People have watched us, listened to us, and responded to us. Every word we have spoken; every deed we have done is a sermon. We have preached all morning”.
It was the same St. Francis of Assisi who also wisely said … Preach the Gospel at all times and where necessary use words Francis of Assisi
I feel these days that rather than having rules or identifiable badges saying that we are Christians we blend in – or maybe we are the opposite where we preach loudly but do silently. Is what you see what you get with your walk as a Christian or do you need to step up humbly and step out in your Christian walk?
What Are Your Actions Saying?
Jon Bloom from Desiring God.org says … So if we want to know what we really believe, we must look at our actions. For sinful humans whose selfish pride so frequently grabs for control of our tongue, the words of our mouth can be unreliable. But the words of our works speak with a powerful, and sometimes painful, eloquence about what we believe.
What are your actions saying? What do you do when you are alone, or when your plans are interrupted, or you are disappointed, or your weakness is exposed, or you’re tempted to fear, or someone else prospers or excels you, or you’re called on to help meet someone else’s financial need? How much of a priority do you make your local church? How willing are you to serve obscurely? When those who are closest to you are honest, those who observe you in your unguarded, uncalculated moments, what do they hear from your actions?
These are exposing and convicting questions. Jesus had perfect consistency between his words and works.
John 13:34-35 34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Australians are hyper sensitive to religious hypocrisy beware that you aren’t falling into that trap – following too many rules or maybe not even observing some of the rules – St Francis lived out what he believed, Jesus was the ultimate leader living out what he believed and spoke about. Become a servant.
Your actions speak. Your works are words. The question is what are they saying?