WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.799 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be ever acceptable to you, 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:10.220 O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:21.300 The warning against hypocrisy. In our series, What Would Jesus Do?, we encounter Jesus' 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:28.179 teaching here on hypocrisy. It's perhaps something that every Christian recoils in 00:00:28.179 --> 00:00:37.000 fear of being called or labelled as a hypocrite, because we all know that from time to time we fail. 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:43.820 A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues or qualities that he or she does not have, 00:00:43.980 --> 00:00:50.920 or whose actions contradict their stated beliefs or feelings. So why do we recoil? 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:57.760 Why do we find it so harmful? Because many of us may have encountered that hypocrisy 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:05.739 in our own Christian journey. Sadly, the history of the Christian church, both historically and 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:13.159 recently, are littered with church leaders and members who have sadly fallen short of their calling 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:21.219 and given ammunition to those outside of the church to pick up stones and throw at us 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:30.500 and to judge our lifestyle and who we are, our words, and also as well to twist interpretation of 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:40.620 scripture that has contradicted that which is our truth and that we hold to. Hypocrisy damages 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:50.960 the very heart of our Christian and gospel life mission message. Do as I say, not do as I do. 00:01:51.219 --> 00:02:01.799 And here in verse 4, Jesus challenges that. He names it. He calls it out. He doesn't ignore it. He hits it 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:08.199 head on as Jesus does. They tie up heavy cumbersome loads and put on other people's shoulders, but they 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:15.579 themselves are not even willing to lift the finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:24.880 to see. They make their flacrises, which was a small leather box that sat on their head with Hebrew texts 00:02:24.880 --> 00:02:35.180 in vellum worn to remind them of the law. And there were a lot of them. And the tassels on their garments 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:41.560 long. They loved the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogue. 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:50.740 Jesus paints a pretty clear picture of what he was observing and what he was calling out. The 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:58.480 Pharisees had 613 rules that the people had to follow to live lives that were pleasing to God. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:13.599 Yet by focusing on these crushing rules, the Pharisees neglected the importance of the essential 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:23.399 message of living out a love, a faith of love, grace, humanity, self-sacrifice, and of justice. 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:30.340 They appointed heavy rules and regulations that they slapped on people and demanded that they 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:37.360 obeyed and then held judgment over them. So you can understand why Jesus got so upset 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:46.120 and called this out. You know, the temptation in our own context is to tell others the way, 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:56.039 yet openly and covertly live a life that is less than godly ourselves. There is no point in us living, 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:05.060 living a life, one life in here, and then another when we walk out the door. And Jesus was reminding 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:11.219 us of that. However difficult that may be, we need to seek the power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:18.899 the Spirit to ensure that right Spirit within us to live a life worthy of our calling. Fully accountable, 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:27.420 walking ever closer to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, to be fully accountable to him, in him, in all that 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:33.720 we do and that we say. And the warning Jesus issues here in our reading this morning, the teachers of the 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:40.220 Lord and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. You know, you must be careful to do everything they tell you to do, 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:48.420 but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. And we have to have wisdom and 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:54.120 discernment in that, in our own walk with God by walking closely to him. In many synagogues of Jesus' 00:04:54.320 --> 00:05:00.420 time, a stone seat at the front was like the pulpit. It was the place where the authorised successors of 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:07.380 Moses would sit and teach the gospel. And Jesus told his listeners that they should indeed heed what 00:05:07.379 --> 00:05:15.000 these teachers say about the law, but to discern and be wise when the teacher's word, lifestyle, 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:24.159 practice and behaviour doesn't match what they preach. Many of us will have known those of our 00:05:24.159 --> 00:05:29.819 brothers and sisters that have fallen and the excuses that are made. Well, they're always like that. 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:38.560 They've always been like that. That's who they are. But sadly, nobody ever challenged them. Here is Jesus 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:45.620 making that challenge. Then as today, we need to be alert when others impose their superiority on others or 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:56.899 divert the gospel to please others by failing or seeking to please the current culture, thereby steering 00:05:56.899 --> 00:06:05.539 others away from God's purpose, his plan and his teaching. We need to be wise and discerning. In our 00:06:05.539 --> 00:06:10.659 scripture this morning, Jesus holds to account those who have been tasked with leading God's people. 00:06:11.620 --> 00:06:18.479 They've been tasked with that and clearly they didn't like the challenge. The Pharisees clothed themselves 00:06:18.479 --> 00:06:26.399 and acted in a way to be the focal point for the community. But it had clearly become more about 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:34.699 the institution than the message and the mission. We need to be aware of that even today. 00:06:35.459 --> 00:06:42.560 What I love about today's raising is that Jesus doesn't snipe at the sidelines. Jesus never did. 00:06:43.539 --> 00:06:53.139 He actually confronts those that weren't walking the walk. He went to the heart of the temple courts. 00:06:53.139 --> 00:07:00.139 He didn't stay outside. He went in and spoke openly about what he observed. He brought truth. He named the 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:07.180 issues and many had probably already felt that but were afraid to say it. A bit like the king's new clothes. 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:15.539 We need to call it out. He didn't hold back. He knew that there would be a backlash and we knew where that 00:07:15.539 --> 00:07:20.259 was going. He knew where that was going. And from this point on, there would be a climatic 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:29.399 confrontation that was inevitable when truth speaks to injustice. But he went there. And he went there 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:36.959 boldly. We are all called to be witnesses. We are all called to be witnesses in the everyday. The 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:44.680 hypocrisy is when we massage the message that neither offends nor gently challenges when necessary. 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:54.600 When we present a lukewarm, diluted interpretation of scripture to please the situation, to please the 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:04.079 culture or the person, rather than in love, share the truth. Add that to status and then celebrity, 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:11.139 and we often lose any sense of humility, accountability and rooting in our own discipleship. 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:20.479 Being yourself in Jesus and Jesus in you will keep us grounded. It will keep us close. It will keep us 00:08:20.479 --> 00:08:28.339 faithful. It will keep us true and guard us from hypocrisy. Slipping into hypocrisy is a dangerous place 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:37.899 for us all and especially for leadership. I recall many, many years ago, many years ago now, 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:47.220 returning from spring harvest as a fresh, newly ordained curate. And it was on a Sunday morning 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:53.079 with the gathered 15 in our congregation at the time of the Curacy Church. Look around you people, 00:08:53.199 --> 00:09:00.019 we are so blessed to have a church that is so blessed and full. But there was 15 and I think that was a 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:07.899 pretty full church actually on that day. Anyway, on this Sunday morning, I was in full flight of preaching. 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:19.019 When there came that moment when I noticed Mandy looking at me very strangely. Men, you may know that 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:20.019 feeling when your wife looks at me very well. And I was in full flight of preaching. 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:21.019 When you are in full flight of preaching. I was in full flight of preaching. I was in full flight of preaching. 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:32.039 When your wife looks at you with a determined look. Immediately, I did the XYZ thing. Examine your zip. 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:42.379 But all was in place. So it wasn't that. But then came the sign language. 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:55.019 I knew there was something wrong. On the way home, I said, so what was all the sign and the look about it? 00:09:55.899 --> 00:10:02.639 And she said, as only a good friend and a wife can tell you, who are you trying to be today? 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:10.720 And I said, well, what do you mean? I was being me. She said, no, you weren't. No, you weren't. 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:18.620 You were doing a very effective impression of a well-known preacher who had just been at Spring Harvest. 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:25.460 She said, and I had purchased the video just to make sure. And it was on Betamax, if you remember those. 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:39.400 And she said, you were even doing the actions. And she said, and you even went into a Cockney accent as well, just to accentuate the point. 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:52.340 Praise God for people who we love and who love us, who can save us from ourselves, who can save us from our own hypocrisy. 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:59.700 Our message this morning is where I want to encourage you, is be encouraged. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.639 Be yourself in Jesus and let Jesus be himself in you. 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:12.300 Be authentic to your calling as a disciple of Christ. 00:11:12.299 --> 00:11:18.079 Don't be a copy of another person or a celebrity. 00:11:18.699 --> 00:11:22.879 Move more and more and more in the likeness of Christ. 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:28.099 Because that way we can know and we can share and people will hear us. 00:11:28.439 --> 00:11:31.599 The scribes and the Pharisees were called to be servants to their people, 00:11:31.599 --> 00:11:36.819 yet they treated the call as if to privilege rather than to vocation. 00:11:37.459 --> 00:11:41.319 To honour themselves rather than to servanthood and to honour God. 00:11:42.299 --> 00:11:46.740 And more importantly, guard your heart. 00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:48.759 Guard your character. 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:58.519 Jesus highlighted, and that word again, light, that will shine light into the dark places of our human condition. 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:05.299 As a very raw police recruit, I remember a question I was asked. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:08.579 Do you like to be liked? 00:12:10.699 --> 00:12:13.319 It's an interesting question to ask ourselves. 00:12:14.319 --> 00:12:16.500 Because don't be allusioned, my friends. 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:20.960 Being a disciple of Christ isn't a popularity contest. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.960 And it never will be. 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:26.400 It wasn't for Jesus, and it won't be for us. 00:12:26.920 --> 00:12:29.620 We will be called to stand firm for him. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:32.139 To bring others to know him. 00:12:32.379 --> 00:12:36.360 To speak the truth into situations that we may be unpopular. 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:39.980 We are called to be humble as we share that message. 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:49.919 In situations where we know the message of hope, love, justice and light probably won't be easily accepted. 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.019 Yet we still model it. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.980 Because Jesus calls us to do that. 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:59.060 To remain accountable to him in all things. 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:04.200 And to him and him alone in our care and love for one another's. 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:13.620 We are called to resist the clamour of success that hijacks and inflates our earthly ego. 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:25.139 And drowns out that still, small voice that always calls us home to the reality of who we are in him and him in us. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:43.180 And to be aware always of that temptation of a self-imposed burden of a needy ego that will sooner or later become the arrogance and self-satisfaction of the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:48.639 And diminish the light of Christ that shines in us and through us. 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:54.060 So how do we counter and guard against hypocrisy? 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:56.019 Simple. 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:58.580 Hold fast to Jesus. 00:13:59.779 --> 00:14:01.360 Hold firm to his ways. 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:04.620 Hold firm to his teaching and his character. 00:14:05.539 --> 00:14:09.320 Seek always the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:12.500 Immerse ourselves in the Bible. 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:16.919 Seeking his way to serve rather than to be served. 00:14:18.019 --> 00:14:24.620 So that when the person or persons or more significantly, as I found in probably you do, 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:30.899 the evil one comes and whispers that lie of hypocrisy into your life. 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:39.699 We can stand firm with clean hands and a pure heart, knowing the truth that he has placed in us. 00:14:40.819 --> 00:14:42.079 So be encouraged. 00:14:42.699 --> 00:14:43.759 Be empowered. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:52.860 Be excited for this message that we have this morning that is given to us so that we can stand. 00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:56.659 And we can bring that hope to a waiting world. 00:14:57.860 --> 00:15:01.720 And I was reminded of that prayer that we often walk out the door to. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:04.019 Let's share that. 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:09.240 I'll just share those words with you as we move into our next hymn. 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:13.200 Go forth into the world in peace. 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:16.060 Be of good courage. 00:15:17.419 --> 00:15:22.539 Hold fast to that which is good and render no one evil for evil. 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:25.340 Strengthen the faint-hearted. 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:27.180 Support the weak. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:28.960 Help the afflicted. 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.840 And show love to everyone. 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.340 Love and serve the Lord. 00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:39.660 Rejoicing always in the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:41.639 Amen. 00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:43.240 Amen.