No Room . . . For Hypocrisy 30129974ed55220b51b8-e2d199e7575b6d364b8a7f301d3e18e6.r78.cf2.rackcdn.co

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No Room . . . For Hypocrisy – Luke 11:37-42; 13:10-17 Starting a new series – No Room Chuckle at God’s timing in this – our lack of room for people will be a constant reminder these next few weeks that there’s also . . . No room for pride, or anxiety, or hypocrisy That’s where we’ll start this morning – No Room for Hypocrisy from Lk 11 and 13 Lk 11:37-42; 13:10-17 Ever been called a hypocrite? Not sure which is worse – being called one when you are . . . Or being called one when you’re not Either way, it stings; Especially so when it comes from Jesus (13:15) – You hypocrites! If that jumps off the page at you, don’t despair – you’re in good company Hypocrisy – deliberately acting like you’re good, when you know you’re not Believers are particularly open to this charge, because we’re not perfect But people, in their worst moments expect us to be Because of that, we’re open to the charge of H “If you’re such a good Christian, how come you’re doing that? (fill in the blank) Real or perceived, H is a problem . . . Breaks down trust – especially in personal relationships (marriage) If you’re hypocritical in one area of life, then what’s really true in other areas? Increases doubt – in the minds of those who know you Wait a second, she says she’s a Christian, but drinks and parties with the best of them He says he’s a believer, but his language/jokes are right there with the worst of them Repulses people Few things disgust people more than H People want to know that what they see is what they get Even if what they see is bad, or don’t like it – at least they know it’s real How many times have you heard – “I’m not going to church; it’s full of hypocrites!” That usually says more about the condition of their heart than those in the church But one thing’s for sure – even the perception of H repulses people, and prevents them from coming Which is why there’s no room for it; Not even a hint Leads to shame If the charge is true, it leads to shame on the part of the guilty If it’s false, it leads to shame on the part of the accuser Either way, your relationship is at risk, and so is your ability to influence others For these reasons, there’s no room for hypocrisy From Jesus’ scathing indictment of the Pharisees, we find 3 ways to avoid it Be the same – inside and out (v37-40) 37 – prominent teachers were often invited to lecture at meals; talk about topics with others who liked to show off their education and knowledge 38 – he was offended because Jesus was unclean morally/spiritually He didn’t go through the ritual washing prior to eating For background – Mark 7:1-4

Pharisees held to the tradition of the elders – not OT patriarchs, but leaders of Pharisees Hand-washing was a big part of that Jewish tradition Came from the oral law that intended to interpret the written Law (Scripture) Meant to reinforce and protect you from violating the written law Unfortunately, ended up superseding the written Law in many instances (like traditions tend to do), adding unnecessary restrictions/demands to God’s Word Eventually that oral law was written down starting about 200 AD – Mishnah Read Mishnah (Hughes, 22) – re hand-washing Hand-washing was a big deal Pharisee believed that Jesus’ hands were morally unclean Therefore his presence defiled everyone he was around, and everything he touched Including – furniture, pitchers, cups, plates, utensils, and even the food If ate defiled food, then whole body would be unclean; Cats/dogs sleeping together • Jesus wasn’t about to affirm such beliefs and practices Wanted to break down the external barriers that prevented them from seeing their sin Didn’t want to reinforce them Wanted to show them that moral purity is a matter of your heart, not your skin 39 – you go to such great lengths to clean the outside of things, including eating utensils . . While neglecting the inside of your body; Your soul; Which is full of sin Ever taken pains to shine an apple, only to bite into a rotten center? That’s the picture 40 – doesn’t God know; Doesn’t he want it all to be clean?! • Acting all good on the outside, while being full of sin on the inside, is hypocritical Might be fooling some people some of the time, you’re not fooling God any of the time God calls you a fool for trying • Clean hands and a rotten heart make for a foul-smelling life Better that you come clean on the inside, and throw yourself at the mercy of God Than continue to mask it with your H, and stink up the room Ananias and Saphira learned this the hard way (Acts 5:1-11) Came to the apostles and gave them the proceeds of land they had sold for the church Problem was – they didn’t bring it all That would have been okay if they hadn’t acted like they were bringing it all They had clean hands and a rotten heart, and God struck them dead because of it • When it comes to H, looks can be deceiving – make sure yours aren’t Be the same – in public and private; when people are looking and when they aren’t Inside and out Second way to avoid H is to . . . Be obedient – cover to cover (v41-42) You can almost hear the objections of the Pharisees – who me? Hypocritical? Come on! Jesus is like – ya you; But give as alms . . . (41) Those things that are within refer to what should come from our heart Next verse clues us in – For you tithe . . .and neglect justice and the love of God. (42) Rue – medicinal plant with little yellow flowers

41 – Instead of measuring out wickedness and greed, which is what you’re filled with now Start giving as alms (freely/generously) – love and justice from your heart (from within) Start giving that out, and you’ll be clean inside and out They were picking and choosing their truths to live by Just like you can’t pick and chose your neighbor . . . • You can’t pick and choose your truth Can’t pick and chose what you want to apply and what you don’t What you like and what you don’t like To do so, and act like you’re not, is H Jesus responds with strong words – woe to you Pharisees! (42) Woe was an expression of both judgment and pity Woe you’re judged; Woe you’re pitied – because you’re hypocrites You follow God’s command to tithe down to the penny . . . But fail to love God, and treat your neighbor with justice You observe the one and neglect the other So what’d he say, forget about tithing and focus on love? No! (read 42b) Do them both; Be obedient to all of God’s Word – cover to cover Anything less leads to H Chuck Swindoll in Growing Deep in the Christian Life (Illust. 296), tells humorous story Man bought a bucket of chicken for himself and his date late one afternoon Employee mistakenly gave him a bucket with the day’s proceeds instead of chicken After driving to their picnic site, instead of chicken they discovered $800 cash Quickly got back into the car, drove back to the restaurant and explained to the frantic manager what had happened Manager was so thrilled and amazed with the honesty of the couple, he started calling the newspaper to have someone take their picture for a story Man quickly stopped him, leaned across the counter, and in hushed tones said, “Please sir, don’t do that – the woman I’m with is somebody else’s wife.” That’s called selective obedience – leads to H Be obedient – cover to cover Third . . . Be consistent – day to day (13:10-17) In Lk 13:10-17 – Jesus heals this woman in the synagogue, on the Sabbath And the guy in charge is beside himself – that’s work! Rebukes Jesus, the woman, and anyone else who even thinks it’s a good idea “You gotta problem? You gotta need? Wait 24 hours” Jesus is like – hello! You loose your animals from their bonds on the Sabbath to give them what they need Why wouldn’t you loose this woman, one of your own people, from her bonds, to give her what she needs? Doesn’t make sense; Not consistent form one day to the next; One situation to another • That’s H – acting like you’re doing what God wants every single day, but knowing full well you’re not

Inconsistently applying the Scriptures from one situation to next when you know better It’s one thing to inconsistently apply the Word when you’re genuinely trying Or when you don’t know any better It’s another thing to intentionally ignore them, while acting like you don’t That’s what Paul accused Peter of (recorded in Gal 2:12-15) Rightly so – Peter ate and fellowshipped with the Gentile believers at Antioch, but when some other Jewish leaders showed up, he refrained and separated himself He wasn’t consistent from one day to the next; from one situation to another It led to H 4 Reasons why we’re Inconsistent (in our behavior) 1. Because we fear what others will think (Peter) “If I start acting at work like I do at church, what will people think . . . “I’ve been this way for 20 years; People are going to wonder” “I don’t want to act too good all of a sudden – I might turn somebody off” If someone is going to be turned off by you, better they are turned off by . . . Your consistent application of God’s truth, than your H 2. Because we let tradition get in the way of truth (Synagogue ruler) “We’ve never taken care of people on the Sabbath before, we’re not going to start now” He was not only inconsistent, he was consistently inconsistent; Consistently wrong This is a killer for a church “Never done it that way in the past, we’re not going to start now” “If it doesn’t fit within our current ministry structure, too bad” As much as I can help it, I don’t ever want to let the way we’ve always done it, prevent us from always doing what’s right 3. Because we love our sin (Ananias and Saphira) They loved money, and wanted to keep it But wanted others to think they were generous The love of money leads to an inconsistent life of H 4. Because we want people to think well of us (look no further than yourself) Do you come to church on Sunday, but care less about the things of God on Monday? Do you come just to make sure people will think well of you? This is one very bad reason for coming to church • We have so much to gain these days by avoiding H; And so much to lose if we don’t Your personal reputation is at stake Our reputation as a church is at stake People’s souls may be at stake They may reject Christ because of the H of your life Most importantly, God’s reputation is at stake Yours, ours, theirs, his – there’s just no room for H Not saying we have to be perfect – if so, just close the doors God knows none of us are that There’s much room for grace – need to show it to one another in abundance

I’m saying that if hypocrisy is the pattern of your life, you bring great shame to Jesus and our church But the cure is not staying away – the cure is changing Being who you are, all the time, in conformity to God’s Word Being honest with yourself, each other, and the Lord Prayer and Fasting One of the ways to do that on a consistent basis is to pray and fast Get face down with God This month is as good a time as any as we prepare to move into a home of our own When we first started this process of looking for a building or land, we ask you to fast and pray for 3 months To seek God’s face and presence just for the sake of drawing near to him as a church To seek his guidance and blessing on what we were doing To prepare our hearts for the sacrifice and ministry that was ahead And 3 months to the week, we stepped out on faith, put 150k down in earnest money, and signed a contract to purchase the UE building We believe that prayer and fasting was so pivotal and crucial in our growth and unity as a church, that we want to finish the way we started You don’t fast to punish your body You fast to remind yourself in a very vivid way, that you need God as much or more than you need food (message 11/20/05 – What’s Up with Fasting?) You fast to focus Card in your bulletin – encouraging you to . . . Fast at least once each week on Wednesday’s between now and March 18th Maybe you’ll fast the whole day; Maybe just one meal M aybe you can’t for physical reasons Spend some portion of that day/meal praying, wherever you are Praise God for how far we’ve come Ask him to rid your life of any H Pray for (see card) . . .

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