Essential Spirituality
Series: Loving God by Following the Way of Jesus
The Way of Jesus: M9 (11 04 03)
Speaker: Ken Shigematsu
Title: Essential Spirituality
Text: Matthew 23:4; 23-28
BIG IDEA: An essential spirituality will involve justice, inner purity, and playfulness.
(Easter story: radio, dinner and the vision)
Joey, our two-year-old son, my wife and I had an interview for a preschool we were hoping that he would be admitted to. When we walked into the preschool, the teacher who was interviewing us pointed to a miniature plastic tea set on a tray. She said in our preschool we teach children good manners like how it's polite to pour tea for others before pouring your own tea. Sakiko and I are nodding our head and I’m saying “Yes, yes, good manners to us Japanese are really important—shared values.” At this point our two-year-old son Joey grabs the plastic tea set and throws it really high into the air and starts laughing his head off. He then runs full speed over to the sliding door on the other side of the classroom--loses one of his shoes on the way and starts to open and slam shut the sliding door over and over--laughing his head off. I was sorely tempted to say, "He's not normally like this," but I knew that would be a bold-face lie.
When Sakiko and I were driving home we said, “The interview didn’t go very well.” I said, "On our application, you should list that you were trained in traditional Japanese tea ceremony. That might give us a chance of getting admitted.” Sakiko said, "I am not going to put that on our application – I've forgotten everything that I learned." I said, "I have a BA. I've forgotten most of what I learned during undergrad. But I have no problem putting on my resume have a BA or a Masters degree.” We got into an argument. She said, "What if they ask me to teach the kids Japanese tea ceremony?" I said, “Well just close your eyes and say I don’t remember everything, but as far as you know this how to do it… then bow and start pouring really slowly…. (no one will know).
The fact that we were willing to have a fight this over this shows that it was important for me that Joey get admitted to preschool – we only applied to one school. Our fight also showed that it was important for Sakiko to act with what she considered complete integrity and to not be put in a position where she was going to be asked to do something that she couldn't deliver on. (BTW, we didn’t put that on the application. Amazingly, he was admitted. They figured we need to teach the boy some manners.).
When you see someone in an argument or fight, you get a window into something that is really important to that person. What are you willing to fight for? Whatever that something is, is something really important to you.
In our Gospel text today we see Jesus in a fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (the equivalent of lawyers of his day). You might think, "Why would you preach on a text where Jesus is in a fight?" Because as we see Jesus in a fight, we see what's really important to him. Because Jesus is God in human flesh, as we see what's important to Jesus, we see what's important to God.
If you have your Bibles please turn to Matthew, Chapter 23.
In Matthew 23 we see that Jesus rebukes the teachers of the law, the scribes, and the Pharisees, or the lawyers of Jesus’ day, who had multiplied the Law of Moses into hundreds of rules and regulations. Their traditions went well beyond what Moses actually taught so that the life of the Israelite person was burdened.
If you have your Bible, please turn to Matthew 23:4.
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.
In this passage Jesus is attacking the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, not only because they do not practice what they preach, but because they unnecessarily place heavy loads on people’s shoulders.
In Matthew 23 Jesus says over and over, “Woe to you!” Today we don't really use the term, “woe” in our language. What does it mean? When he's using it in this context against the Pharisees, he is stating that what the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are doing is appalling. If you think I'm overstating this, Jesus calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “snakes” and a “brood of vipers.” (Sounds like the cultural equivalent of swearing and telling them off.)
In Jesus’ fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, we not only see what he finds deplorable, but we also see what is deeply important to him.
In his fight, we see how important justice and inner purity are to Jesus.
Please turn to Matthew 23: 23.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
In this message we’re going to look at how important justice and inner purity are to Jesus and therefore how important justice and inner purity are for anyone who wants to develop a relationship with Jesus.
In vs. 23 we hear Jesus say:
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24
In Leviticus 27 and Deuteronomy 14 we read that God commanded tithes (tithe simply means a tenth) of herd and flocks, corn, wine, and oil. Some people in Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, wanted to do more than what God had commanded to show how serious they were. Moses’ law did not specifically command the tithing of green herbs like mint and dill, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were commanding people to tithe on these things, as well. So the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were pressing people to do what the law did not even require. But Jesus says, “But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
Jesus is saying here that tithing (giving a tenth to God) is a good practice. Don’t neglect it, but don’t let tithing or giving become a way to practice spiritual one-upmanship. It is important, but don’t let that become the centre of your spirituality. Focus on the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness…
Justice (Slide)
The best commentary on Jesus’ words may be Micah 6:8.which of course, these were spoken about seven hundred of years before:
8 He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy And to walk humbly with your God.
Then Jesus says, You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were so fastidious that they wanted to avoid impurity caused by a dead insect in their drink. And again though this was not commanded in Scripture, the Pharisees would strain out a tiny insect before it died in order to maintain the purity of their water. Jesus said, “You will strain out the smallest insect, but you will swallow a camel. You focus on the tiniest detail, but you have missed the big point of God’s law.”
That is vs. 23, “justice, mercy, faithfulness.”
In Jesus’ fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, we see that justice and mercy are profoundly important to Jesus. Therefore, justice and mercy will be profoundly important to anyone who wants to develop a relationship with Jesus.
Now justice and mercy are words that are somewhat abstract. Why are they so important to Jesus? Why they so important to God?
Well, perhaps a couple of simple, homey examples may help.
When I was 12 or 13, I was very close to one of my younger sisters, but we also had an adversarial relationship. When I was 5 and she was 3 we were in my grandmother's back yard. I persuaded her to get into a box that I had placed by edge of my grandmother’s fish pond. I told her it was a boat. I pushed the box into the pond. The pond was very shallow. Maybe that had something to do with our adversarial relationship.
When I was about 12 and my younger sister was about 10, we got into this fight. I can’t remember what we were fighting about, but I felt that she had wronged me in some way. I announced to her that I was going to pay her back by messing up her room. I ran from the living room to her bedroom and messed her room up. When I came back to the living room, I remember seeing my mother crying in the living room. She was really upset by what I had done to my sister and by our fighting in general.
God is the Father of all, and when we hurt another human being, whether we are related to that human being or not, it brings pain to God’s heart because God loves that person. That person was created by God and is a child of God. On the other hand, when we serve another human being, it brings joy to his heart.
Someone who was working at Stanford University hospital described how a little girl named Liz was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother who had amazingly survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the question, “Are you willing to give your blood to your sister?” The boy hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes--if it will save Liz.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in the bed next to his sister and weakly smiled, as we all did seeing the colour return to her cheeks. His face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked in a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?” Being just 5 years old, the boy thought he was going to give his all of his blood and then die. I wasn’t at the Stanford Hospital when this happened, but I imagine that the boy’s parents and other relatives who understood what was going on would have been deeply moved and blessed by this young boy’s willingness to not only give his blood, but in his own mind give his life to save his sister.
So it is when we are willing to make a sacrifice for one of God’s children in need--it brings joy to his heart. Even if that person is not a brother or a sister to us, that person was created by God, is a child of God and is loved by God. It brings joy to his heart when we bless one of his children. I don’t say this to try to stir you up, but when we give to people who have been affected by some great tragedy, when we sponsor a child in the developing world (as many of you did last Sunday—when I asked Jay Calder from World Vision how he felt Sunday at Tenth here in terms of child sponsorship response here. Over and over again he said, "It was off the charts. It was off the charts. Incredible.”), when we stand against the building of a casino in our city because we know it will foster addiction and end up being a tax on the poor (on those who can least afford it), when we advocate on behalf of women and children who are vulnerable to be trafficked into the sex industry, we are blessing God’s children and it brings joy to God’s heart.
In fact, when we share a cup of cold water (use prop) with someone who is truly in need, we are told in Scripture that God regards us as having given that cup of cold water to his unique Son Jesus. In harrowing passage, just two chapters later in the gospel of Matthew, we are told that when we offer a drink to someone who is thirsty, food to someone who is hungry, clothing to someone who is naked, when we serve someone who is considered the least, we really doing this for Jesus. And if we fail to do this, it's as if we haven't done this for Jesus.
There is part of Gospel of Jesus Christ that we might call “liberal” (and later we’ll see there’s a part of the Gospel that we might call “conservative.”) Social justice is a key part of Jesus’ Gospel. How we treat each other, particularly people in need, really matters. I know this can sound abstract, so let me illustrate with a couple of simple examples.
Someone who works closely with City Hall recently told me that it's not just Christians who were involved in serving the homeless in Vancouver – there are people from other faith communities that are involved in serving, and some not of the faith community at all – but then he added, “I know it is politically incorrect to say this, but the overwhelming number of people who are involved in serving the homeless in Vancouver are Christians.” That surprised me because there are relatively few Christians percentage-wise in Vancouver. But then it shouldn't have surprised me because the followers of Jesus believe that when they serve the poor, there also serving Jesus.
It should come as no surprise that the followers of Jesus have led the way in starting orphanages, schools for impoverished children, hospitals and hospices. It should come as no su surprise that the person who led the way in Canada so that people whether they are rich or poor would have access to medical care through Medicaid was a follower of Jesus Christ, a former pastor named Tommy Douglas.
Tommy Douglas
it should come as no surprise that the person who emerged as the primary leader of the civil rights movement in the United States the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (show photo).
Because followers of Christ know that when they are serving the poor and those who have been the victims of racism and other forms of injustice, they know that they are not only serving God's children but Jesus himself.
We see in Jesus is fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that justice and mercy are deeply important to him and therefore will be important to those who develop a relationship with Jesus.
There's a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is deeply concerned with social justice, there's a part of the gospel lines up with what we might call "liberal,” but there's also a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is associated with what we might call a “conservative.”
Jesus is deeply concerned about social justice (something we might associate as a liberal value), but he's also concerned about inner purity (something we might associate as conservative value).
In his fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, Jesus says in Matthew 23:25-28.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness
The Pharisees were concerned with outward purity so they washed their cups and vessels, as well as themselves in rituals baths. The Pharisaic School of Shammai (the majority school in this period) said the outside of the cup could be clean even if the inside was not. Jesus was concerned Inner purity…. Jesus also wants the inside of our cup to be clean--(use prop's).
Inner purity mattered to Jesus.
Inner Purity (Slide)
When the Canadian priest Ron Rolheiser in his reflections on spirituality, which have shaped my own life and this sermon, was a graduate student at San Francisco, he helped pay for his studies by serving as the chaplain at a hostel in an economically depressed section of San Francisco. While working there, he became friends with a guy named David, a young social worker in the area. David was Roman Catholic, but he attended church only occasionally, had no prayer life, and no longer even tried to live out the Scripture’s teaching regarding sex. He was, however, deeply committed to the Scripture’s teaching on social justice and was sacrificially generous towards the poor.
One day David asked Ron Rolheiser, “Do you really think God gives a damn whether you say your morning and evening prayers, whether you hold a grudge against someone who hurts you, whether you masturbate, or not, or whether you share your bed with someone you are not married to? Do you really believe God cares about these petty little things? As Christians we are always so hung up on these little private things that we neglect the big picture—the fact that half the world goes to bed hungry every night and no one gives a damn. Justice, not our petty little prayer lives, is what is important.”
Justice is important, as David rightly points out, but so is our inner life, our inner purity, our life with God, our integrity before God. Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that it is not just our outward actions that matter, but the state of our heart. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, quotes the Ten Commandments, saying “You have heard, it was said, ‘You shall not be murder,’ but I tell you if anyone is angry with his brother without cause he will be subject to the judgment of God. (The Greek word that is used suggests that Jesus is talking about an anger that we choose to hold on to and nurse.) I tell you, Jesus says, ‘Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery’ with her in his heart.” In the Greek the word “lust” isn’t the word for healthy attraction, but it suggests we are staring at someone to arouse our sexual desires such that we would take them if we could.
So, according to Jesus, it is not just our outward actions that matter, but it is also our inner purity, and in particular the motives of our heart.
In vs. 27 Jesus says, “You look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
Seven times in his fight he calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees hypocrites.
The 19th century British pastor Charles Spurgeon tells this story:
Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. So he took it to his king and said, "My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." The king was touched and discerned the man's heart, so as the gardener turned to go the king said, "Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all." And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king's court who overheard all this. And he said, "My! If that is what you get for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?" So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, "My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said, "Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse."
To Jesus, justice matters, but so does inner purity—doing the right thing for the right reason. And if we want to develop a relationship with Jesus, justice and inner purity will matter to us.
If we are focused on social justice and inner purity, as important as these are, one of the risks is that we can become overly intense and serious. Gustavo Gutierrez, the father of liberation theology, suggests if we have a healthy spirituality we will feed our souls in three ways: practicing justice, through prayer, and by having those things in our lives: good friendships, good food and wine, and healthy leisure that keep our soul mellow and grateful.
A call to focus on social justice and inner purity can sound overwhelming! It’s not meant to be a heavy burden. As we saw in Jesus opening words to the Pharisees – Jesus is against putting a heavy burden on us. Because God who brings justice through us and makes us pure—we can rest and play.
(Raise the glass prop)
Joyful Play (Slide)
We know that joyful play was part of Jesus’ life. As we saw last Sunday, Jesus took time to enjoy the company of children and presumably play with them.
Last week I saw the movie Of Gods and Men, (Show the poster.)
Of Gods and Men is a slow moving, but beautiful film about eight French Trappist monks who are caught in the cross fire of the Algerian civil war in the 1990s. It is based on a true story. The monks for years have run a medical clinic in a mountain village in Algeria, and the local Muslim villagers have come to rely on them and love them—like the Jesus they follow the are committed to social justice and mercy (use cup). But Islamic extremists begin to terrorize their village, murdering a group of Croatian immigrant laborers and others. The monks debate with each other and in their souls about whether they should remain at the monastery, risking their lives, or whether they should leave. They pray, they share their doubts, they sing, they agonize – they want to live, but they will also want to do the right thing for the right reason before God—like the Jesus they follow they are committed to inner purity (use cup).
At one point when they realize that their lives are in danger, they have a meal together. One of the brothers brings out two bottles of wine and instead of the customary reading of the Bible, the monk plays Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. (use cup). (Play a brief clip of Swan Lake)
These brothers are deeply committed to social justice and inner purity before God, and yet even in an intense time where their lives are at risk they take an evening to enjoy wine and beautiful music. It is an incredible scene—this scene alone is worth seeing the movie for.
Now a little closer to home. Francis Chan, a pastor in California, describes how every time he has money in the bank, he wants to give it away to people who are in greater need than he is. He was driving in his car and he was praying, really expressing the tension he was feeling in his heart, saying, “God, I want to give my money to people who are in more need than me, but I also want to take my family on vacation.” He was wrestling with it and the very next day he received a cashier’s cheque in the mail—no name on it—for $2000 and on the cheque there was a sticky note that simply said, “Use this for your family.” So he took them on vacation because he would have felt guilty about not using it for his family. That was the wish from whoever gave him the cheque.
God seemed to be saying to Francis I love the poor, but I also want you to play with your family, to enjoy them, as I enjoy you. Play, for some people can become the dominant part of our lives, an idol, but in our spiritual life I believe that Ron Rolheiser is right when he says that three essentials for healthy life with Jesus are commitment to social justice, inner purity, and to cultivating a joyful heart through play and healthy leisure.
But how do we become people who are committed to social justice, experience inner purity, and have a joyful, playful spirit?
Sounds pretty much impossible – the only person who really truly ever completely lived this out was Jesus Christ, and he was the unqiue Son of God!
As some people have observed, people who are liberal tend to not be pious. People who are pious or holy tend not to be liberal. It is rare when a person both committed to liberal and holy. In the rare cases where a person is liberal, i.e. committed to justice and holy, they tend to be serious and not playful. So how can we become liberal – committed to social justice, holy or inwardly pure, and playful, as well? As we've seen in the sermon by Lee and Dan on the Good Samaritan, as we saw last Sunday in a message on what it means to be a child before Jesus, we can become people who are committed to social justice, inner purity, and people who maintain a joyful and playful as we join our life to Jesus Christ's.
In second Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes:
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I know the word righteousness has negative connotations in our society. It can imply self-righteousness. But righteousness in the Scriptures simply means to be in right relationship with God and in a right relationship with one another.
Because God became a human being in Jesus Christ, and suffered for our sins on the cross, we too can become people who are free from sin and live in a way that's right with God and each other.
Because God became like us, we too can become like him. Because God became a Son of Man, we can become a son of God, a daughter of God. Because God became a human being we can become the hands, feet, and the heart of Jesus Christ—we can become the body of Christ on earth.
We can live with inner purity before God, we can live out social justice, and we can have a joyful, humble heart before God.
In Jesus’ fight with the Pharisees, we see what is essential to him, to God.
As I said, summarized perhaps best by the prophet Micah in Chapter 6:8:
8 He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy And to walk humbly with your God.
Walk with Jesus and become this, become like him.
The Way of Jesus: M9 (11 04 03)
Speaker: Ken Shigematsu
Title: Essential Spirituality
Text: Matthew 23:4; 23-28
BIG IDEA: An essential spirituality will involve justice, inner purity, and playfulness.
(Easter story: radio, dinner and the vision)
Joey, our two-year-old son, my wife and I had an interview for a preschool we were hoping that he would be admitted to. When we walked into the preschool, the teacher who was interviewing us pointed to a miniature plastic tea set on a tray. She said in our preschool we teach children good manners like how it's polite to pour tea for others before pouring your own tea. Sakiko and I are nodding our head and I’m saying “Yes, yes, good manners to us Japanese are really important—shared values.” At this point our two-year-old son Joey grabs the plastic tea set and throws it really high into the air and starts laughing his head off. He then runs full speed over to the sliding door on the other side of the classroom--loses one of his shoes on the way and starts to open and slam shut the sliding door over and over--laughing his head off. I was sorely tempted to say, "He's not normally like this," but I knew that would be a bold-face lie.
When Sakiko and I were driving home we said, “The interview didn’t go very well.” I said, "On our application, you should list that you were trained in traditional Japanese tea ceremony. That might give us a chance of getting admitted.” Sakiko said, "I am not going to put that on our application – I've forgotten everything that I learned." I said, "I have a BA. I've forgotten most of what I learned during undergrad. But I have no problem putting on my resume have a BA or a Masters degree.” We got into an argument. She said, "What if they ask me to teach the kids Japanese tea ceremony?" I said, “Well just close your eyes and say I don’t remember everything, but as far as you know this how to do it… then bow and start pouring really slowly…. (no one will know).
The fact that we were willing to have a fight this over this shows that it was important for me that Joey get admitted to preschool – we only applied to one school. Our fight also showed that it was important for Sakiko to act with what she considered complete integrity and to not be put in a position where she was going to be asked to do something that she couldn't deliver on. (BTW, we didn’t put that on the application. Amazingly, he was admitted. They figured we need to teach the boy some manners.).
When you see someone in an argument or fight, you get a window into something that is really important to that person. What are you willing to fight for? Whatever that something is, is something really important to you.
In our Gospel text today we see Jesus in a fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (the equivalent of lawyers of his day). You might think, "Why would you preach on a text where Jesus is in a fight?" Because as we see Jesus in a fight, we see what's really important to him. Because Jesus is God in human flesh, as we see what's important to Jesus, we see what's important to God.
If you have your Bibles please turn to Matthew, Chapter 23.
In Matthew 23 we see that Jesus rebukes the teachers of the law, the scribes, and the Pharisees, or the lawyers of Jesus’ day, who had multiplied the Law of Moses into hundreds of rules and regulations. Their traditions went well beyond what Moses actually taught so that the life of the Israelite person was burdened.
If you have your Bible, please turn to Matthew 23:4.
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.
In this passage Jesus is attacking the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, not only because they do not practice what they preach, but because they unnecessarily place heavy loads on people’s shoulders.
In Matthew 23 Jesus says over and over, “Woe to you!” Today we don't really use the term, “woe” in our language. What does it mean? When he's using it in this context against the Pharisees, he is stating that what the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are doing is appalling. If you think I'm overstating this, Jesus calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “snakes” and a “brood of vipers.” (Sounds like the cultural equivalent of swearing and telling them off.)
In Jesus’ fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, we not only see what he finds deplorable, but we also see what is deeply important to him.
In his fight, we see how important justice and inner purity are to Jesus.
Please turn to Matthew 23: 23.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
In this message we’re going to look at how important justice and inner purity are to Jesus and therefore how important justice and inner purity are for anyone who wants to develop a relationship with Jesus.
In vs. 23 we hear Jesus say:
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24
In Leviticus 27 and Deuteronomy 14 we read that God commanded tithes (tithe simply means a tenth) of herd and flocks, corn, wine, and oil. Some people in Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, wanted to do more than what God had commanded to show how serious they were. Moses’ law did not specifically command the tithing of green herbs like mint and dill, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were commanding people to tithe on these things, as well. So the teachers of the law and the Pharisees were pressing people to do what the law did not even require. But Jesus says, “But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
Jesus is saying here that tithing (giving a tenth to God) is a good practice. Don’t neglect it, but don’t let tithing or giving become a way to practice spiritual one-upmanship. It is important, but don’t let that become the centre of your spirituality. Focus on the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness…
Justice (Slide)
The best commentary on Jesus’ words may be Micah 6:8.which of course, these were spoken about seven hundred of years before:
8 He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy And to walk humbly with your God.
Then Jesus says, You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were so fastidious that they wanted to avoid impurity caused by a dead insect in their drink. And again though this was not commanded in Scripture, the Pharisees would strain out a tiny insect before it died in order to maintain the purity of their water. Jesus said, “You will strain out the smallest insect, but you will swallow a camel. You focus on the tiniest detail, but you have missed the big point of God’s law.”
That is vs. 23, “justice, mercy, faithfulness.”
In Jesus’ fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, we see that justice and mercy are profoundly important to Jesus. Therefore, justice and mercy will be profoundly important to anyone who wants to develop a relationship with Jesus.
Now justice and mercy are words that are somewhat abstract. Why are they so important to Jesus? Why they so important to God?
Well, perhaps a couple of simple, homey examples may help.
When I was 12 or 13, I was very close to one of my younger sisters, but we also had an adversarial relationship. When I was 5 and she was 3 we were in my grandmother's back yard. I persuaded her to get into a box that I had placed by edge of my grandmother’s fish pond. I told her it was a boat. I pushed the box into the pond. The pond was very shallow. Maybe that had something to do with our adversarial relationship.
When I was about 12 and my younger sister was about 10, we got into this fight. I can’t remember what we were fighting about, but I felt that she had wronged me in some way. I announced to her that I was going to pay her back by messing up her room. I ran from the living room to her bedroom and messed her room up. When I came back to the living room, I remember seeing my mother crying in the living room. She was really upset by what I had done to my sister and by our fighting in general.
God is the Father of all, and when we hurt another human being, whether we are related to that human being or not, it brings pain to God’s heart because God loves that person. That person was created by God and is a child of God. On the other hand, when we serve another human being, it brings joy to his heart.
Someone who was working at Stanford University hospital described how a little girl named Liz was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother who had amazingly survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the question, “Are you willing to give your blood to your sister?” The boy hesitated for a moment, before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes--if it will save Liz.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in the bed next to his sister and weakly smiled, as we all did seeing the colour return to her cheeks. His face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked in a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?” Being just 5 years old, the boy thought he was going to give his all of his blood and then die. I wasn’t at the Stanford Hospital when this happened, but I imagine that the boy’s parents and other relatives who understood what was going on would have been deeply moved and blessed by this young boy’s willingness to not only give his blood, but in his own mind give his life to save his sister.
So it is when we are willing to make a sacrifice for one of God’s children in need--it brings joy to his heart. Even if that person is not a brother or a sister to us, that person was created by God, is a child of God and is loved by God. It brings joy to his heart when we bless one of his children. I don’t say this to try to stir you up, but when we give to people who have been affected by some great tragedy, when we sponsor a child in the developing world (as many of you did last Sunday—when I asked Jay Calder from World Vision how he felt Sunday at Tenth here in terms of child sponsorship response here. Over and over again he said, "It was off the charts. It was off the charts. Incredible.”), when we stand against the building of a casino in our city because we know it will foster addiction and end up being a tax on the poor (on those who can least afford it), when we advocate on behalf of women and children who are vulnerable to be trafficked into the sex industry, we are blessing God’s children and it brings joy to God’s heart.
In fact, when we share a cup of cold water (use prop) with someone who is truly in need, we are told in Scripture that God regards us as having given that cup of cold water to his unique Son Jesus. In harrowing passage, just two chapters later in the gospel of Matthew, we are told that when we offer a drink to someone who is thirsty, food to someone who is hungry, clothing to someone who is naked, when we serve someone who is considered the least, we really doing this for Jesus. And if we fail to do this, it's as if we haven't done this for Jesus.
There is part of Gospel of Jesus Christ that we might call “liberal” (and later we’ll see there’s a part of the Gospel that we might call “conservative.”) Social justice is a key part of Jesus’ Gospel. How we treat each other, particularly people in need, really matters. I know this can sound abstract, so let me illustrate with a couple of simple examples.
Someone who works closely with City Hall recently told me that it's not just Christians who were involved in serving the homeless in Vancouver – there are people from other faith communities that are involved in serving, and some not of the faith community at all – but then he added, “I know it is politically incorrect to say this, but the overwhelming number of people who are involved in serving the homeless in Vancouver are Christians.” That surprised me because there are relatively few Christians percentage-wise in Vancouver. But then it shouldn't have surprised me because the followers of Jesus believe that when they serve the poor, there also serving Jesus.
It should come as no surprise that the followers of Jesus have led the way in starting orphanages, schools for impoverished children, hospitals and hospices. It should come as no su surprise that the person who led the way in Canada so that people whether they are rich or poor would have access to medical care through Medicaid was a follower of Jesus Christ, a former pastor named Tommy Douglas.
Tommy Douglas
it should come as no surprise that the person who emerged as the primary leader of the civil rights movement in the United States the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (show photo).
Because followers of Christ know that when they are serving the poor and those who have been the victims of racism and other forms of injustice, they know that they are not only serving God's children but Jesus himself.
We see in Jesus is fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that justice and mercy are deeply important to him and therefore will be important to those who develop a relationship with Jesus.
There's a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is deeply concerned with social justice, there's a part of the gospel lines up with what we might call "liberal,” but there's also a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is associated with what we might call a “conservative.”
Jesus is deeply concerned about social justice (something we might associate as a liberal value), but he's also concerned about inner purity (something we might associate as conservative value).
In his fight with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, Jesus says in Matthew 23:25-28.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness
The Pharisees were concerned with outward purity so they washed their cups and vessels, as well as themselves in rituals baths. The Pharisaic School of Shammai (the majority school in this period) said the outside of the cup could be clean even if the inside was not. Jesus was concerned Inner purity…. Jesus also wants the inside of our cup to be clean--(use prop's).
Inner purity mattered to Jesus.
Inner Purity (Slide)
When the Canadian priest Ron Rolheiser in his reflections on spirituality, which have shaped my own life and this sermon, was a graduate student at San Francisco, he helped pay for his studies by serving as the chaplain at a hostel in an economically depressed section of San Francisco. While working there, he became friends with a guy named David, a young social worker in the area. David was Roman Catholic, but he attended church only occasionally, had no prayer life, and no longer even tried to live out the Scripture’s teaching regarding sex. He was, however, deeply committed to the Scripture’s teaching on social justice and was sacrificially generous towards the poor.
One day David asked Ron Rolheiser, “Do you really think God gives a damn whether you say your morning and evening prayers, whether you hold a grudge against someone who hurts you, whether you masturbate, or not, or whether you share your bed with someone you are not married to? Do you really believe God cares about these petty little things? As Christians we are always so hung up on these little private things that we neglect the big picture—the fact that half the world goes to bed hungry every night and no one gives a damn. Justice, not our petty little prayer lives, is what is important.”
Justice is important, as David rightly points out, but so is our inner life, our inner purity, our life with God, our integrity before God. Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that it is not just our outward actions that matter, but the state of our heart. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, quotes the Ten Commandments, saying “You have heard, it was said, ‘You shall not be murder,’ but I tell you if anyone is angry with his brother without cause he will be subject to the judgment of God. (The Greek word that is used suggests that Jesus is talking about an anger that we choose to hold on to and nurse.) I tell you, Jesus says, ‘Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery’ with her in his heart.” In the Greek the word “lust” isn’t the word for healthy attraction, but it suggests we are staring at someone to arouse our sexual desires such that we would take them if we could.
So, according to Jesus, it is not just our outward actions that matter, but it is also our inner purity, and in particular the motives of our heart.
In vs. 27 Jesus says, “You look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
Seven times in his fight he calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees hypocrites.
The 19th century British pastor Charles Spurgeon tells this story:
Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. So he took it to his king and said, "My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." The king was touched and discerned the man's heart, so as the gardener turned to go the king said, "Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all." And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king's court who overheard all this. And he said, "My! If that is what you get for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?" So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, "My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said, "Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse."
To Jesus, justice matters, but so does inner purity—doing the right thing for the right reason. And if we want to develop a relationship with Jesus, justice and inner purity will matter to us.
If we are focused on social justice and inner purity, as important as these are, one of the risks is that we can become overly intense and serious. Gustavo Gutierrez, the father of liberation theology, suggests if we have a healthy spirituality we will feed our souls in three ways: practicing justice, through prayer, and by having those things in our lives: good friendships, good food and wine, and healthy leisure that keep our soul mellow and grateful.
A call to focus on social justice and inner purity can sound overwhelming! It’s not meant to be a heavy burden. As we saw in Jesus opening words to the Pharisees – Jesus is against putting a heavy burden on us. Because God who brings justice through us and makes us pure—we can rest and play.
(Raise the glass prop)
Joyful Play (Slide)
We know that joyful play was part of Jesus’ life. As we saw last Sunday, Jesus took time to enjoy the company of children and presumably play with them.
Last week I saw the movie Of Gods and Men, (Show the poster.)
Of Gods and Men is a slow moving, but beautiful film about eight French Trappist monks who are caught in the cross fire of the Algerian civil war in the 1990s. It is based on a true story. The monks for years have run a medical clinic in a mountain village in Algeria, and the local Muslim villagers have come to rely on them and love them—like the Jesus they follow the are committed to social justice and mercy (use cup). But Islamic extremists begin to terrorize their village, murdering a group of Croatian immigrant laborers and others. The monks debate with each other and in their souls about whether they should remain at the monastery, risking their lives, or whether they should leave. They pray, they share their doubts, they sing, they agonize – they want to live, but they will also want to do the right thing for the right reason before God—like the Jesus they follow they are committed to inner purity (use cup).
At one point when they realize that their lives are in danger, they have a meal together. One of the brothers brings out two bottles of wine and instead of the customary reading of the Bible, the monk plays Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. (use cup). (Play a brief clip of Swan Lake)
These brothers are deeply committed to social justice and inner purity before God, and yet even in an intense time where their lives are at risk they take an evening to enjoy wine and beautiful music. It is an incredible scene—this scene alone is worth seeing the movie for.
Now a little closer to home. Francis Chan, a pastor in California, describes how every time he has money in the bank, he wants to give it away to people who are in greater need than he is. He was driving in his car and he was praying, really expressing the tension he was feeling in his heart, saying, “God, I want to give my money to people who are in more need than me, but I also want to take my family on vacation.” He was wrestling with it and the very next day he received a cashier’s cheque in the mail—no name on it—for $2000 and on the cheque there was a sticky note that simply said, “Use this for your family.” So he took them on vacation because he would have felt guilty about not using it for his family. That was the wish from whoever gave him the cheque.
God seemed to be saying to Francis I love the poor, but I also want you to play with your family, to enjoy them, as I enjoy you. Play, for some people can become the dominant part of our lives, an idol, but in our spiritual life I believe that Ron Rolheiser is right when he says that three essentials for healthy life with Jesus are commitment to social justice, inner purity, and to cultivating a joyful heart through play and healthy leisure.
But how do we become people who are committed to social justice, experience inner purity, and have a joyful, playful spirit?
Sounds pretty much impossible – the only person who really truly ever completely lived this out was Jesus Christ, and he was the unqiue Son of God!
As some people have observed, people who are liberal tend to not be pious. People who are pious or holy tend not to be liberal. It is rare when a person both committed to liberal and holy. In the rare cases where a person is liberal, i.e. committed to justice and holy, they tend to be serious and not playful. So how can we become liberal – committed to social justice, holy or inwardly pure, and playful, as well? As we've seen in the sermon by Lee and Dan on the Good Samaritan, as we saw last Sunday in a message on what it means to be a child before Jesus, we can become people who are committed to social justice, inner purity, and people who maintain a joyful and playful as we join our life to Jesus Christ's.
In second Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes:
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I know the word righteousness has negative connotations in our society. It can imply self-righteousness. But righteousness in the Scriptures simply means to be in right relationship with God and in a right relationship with one another.
Because God became a human being in Jesus Christ, and suffered for our sins on the cross, we too can become people who are free from sin and live in a way that's right with God and each other.
Because God became like us, we too can become like him. Because God became a Son of Man, we can become a son of God, a daughter of God. Because God became a human being we can become the hands, feet, and the heart of Jesus Christ—we can become the body of Christ on earth.
We can live with inner purity before God, we can live out social justice, and we can have a joyful, humble heart before God.
In Jesus’ fight with the Pharisees, we see what is essential to him, to God.
As I said, summarized perhaps best by the prophet Micah in Chapter 6:8:
8 He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy And to walk humbly with your God.
Walk with Jesus and become this, become like him.
posted by Shigematsu at 1:45 PM
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