4. Impious Piety Series

-By making the corban vow, people were locking up their resources in a way that prevented them from helping their parents. And Jesus called them on it.

-He said, you’re doing something that seems very religious, but canceling the 5th commandment in the process. *upside down kingdom pg 148

-There were literally dozens of examples like this that Jesus could have pointed out. And if you read the gospels you’ll find many.

-But there is something being said here that is super hard.

-You can be doing something sincerely, but it doesn’t mean it’s right. I think the Pharisees were sincere in many of the things they said and did. But you can be sincerely wrong.

-A lot of their traditions had biblical principles behind them.

-But there was something a bit off about them.

-And Jesus saw right to the heart of it.

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”

-At the end of the day, they were hypocrites. They presented themselves and the spiritual elite.

-But a quick peek at their hearts revealed the truth.

-They did many things in the name of God, but many of those things had nothing to do with God.

-I was on vacation with my family one summer and we stopped into a church on Sunday morning.

-The church we were at was different than I’m used to but we thought we’d give it a try.

-When it was time for communion, some people wearing white robes paraded down the center aisle, with someone carrying a golden cross on a pole.

-And then we took communion with real wine…if I remember right I think it was a rather full-bodied cabernet with notes of black currant and cherry.

-The pastor came out for the message wearing a white gown with a rope around his waist & his title was Most Right Reverend.

-And I remember thinking, “But what does any of this have to do with Jesus?”

-Now, I don’t know their hearts and I’m sure they’re great people.

-But I found myself wondering how a religion started by a peasant carpenter and his fishermen friends could possibly evolve into golden objects, fancy outfits and formal rituals.

-The people who did those things in Jesus’ day were the bad guys

-But here’s the problem with judging people.

-Someone else could come in and probably say criticize some things about our church.

-So how do we know if we’re on the right track or if we’re just

full of it like the Pharisees?

-And if that sounds too strong, remember: Jesus said they honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.

-Their worship a farce.

-There are a lot of things done in the name of Jesus that aren't necessarily about Jesus.

-And that doesn’t make it bad, but it’s not necessarily good either

-Again, let me give you some examples…again not picking on anyone just thinking stuff through.

*For three years my former church did a massive project for the city parks. We called it “bark in the park”

*We would bark dust a trail that is almost a mile long.