Properly Approaching (American)privilege-8 Series

PROPERLY APPROACHING PRIVILEGE-VIII—Matthew 21:33-46

OR:

A CHRISTIAN APPROACH To (American)PRIVILEGE

Attention:

Out of Gas:

The young woman sat in her stalled car, waiting for help. Finally three strapping young men walked up to her. "I'm out of gas," she purred. "Could you please push me to the gas station?"

The men readily put their muscles to the car & rolled it several blocks. After a while, one looked up, exhausted, to see that they had just passed a filling station.

"How come you didn't turn in?" he yelled.

“Oh, I never go there," the girl shouted back. "They don't have full service.”

What do you do with your privilege?

Need:

Christians, like many Americans, can center their Privilege & Pride upon illegitimate sources.

Thru this parable, Jesus highlighted/clarified a proper approach to a God-ordained privilege.

There is a Proper(Christian) Approach to Privilege.

What is a Proper/Christian Approach to Privilege?

Or

How should Christians approach their God-ordained privilege?

9 approaches to Christian privilege.

We have previously discovered that we must

Approach our privilege with...

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT(:33a)

2. RELIABILITY/Trustworthiness(:33b)

3. AVAILABILITY(:34)

4. HUMILITY(:35-39)

5. SENSIBILITY(:40-41)Logic/Reasonableness

6. BUILDING(:42)Edification

7. A PARTICULAR & PERTINENT PRODUCT(:43)

8. STABILITY(:44)

9—Approach your privilege with...

BOLDNESS(:45-46)

Explanation:(:45-46)Fearlessness

:45—“Now when the chief priests & Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.”

The chief priests were there with the “Pharisees.” The “Pharisees” are a part of the elders of the people(:23) who held specific conservative beliefs(& invented their own--legalists), as opposed to others such as the Sadducees, who were very liberal in their approach to Scripture.

Acts 23:6-9—“But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees & the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men & brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope & resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees & the Sadducees; & the assembly was divided. For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection--& no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose & protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”--The Sadducees were more politically compatible with worldly thinking because their biblical restraints were lax.

Mat. 23:1-12—“Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes & to His disciples, saying: “The scribes & the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe & do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, & do not do. “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, & lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad & enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, & to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, & you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, & he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

“Insofar as the scribes & Pharisees accurately taught the law & the prophets, their teaching was to be heeded.” Flesh “can develop impressive & sophisticated systems of external morality & ethical codes of conduct, but it cannot empower men to live up to them.”—MNTC

When the chief priests & Pharisees heard the parables, they rightly understood that Jesus’ parables(of the two sons(:28-30) & of the vinedressers(:33-39)) pertained to their belief system personally & as a group.

Mat. 5:20—“For I[Jesus] say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes & Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“Formal piety lacks the force of genuine internal righteousness.”—LBD

“Chief priests”—arciereuv—1) Chief priest, high priest. Strong—The high-priest(literally, of the Jews, typically, Christ); by extension--A chief priest.

From—arch—Noun Fem.—1) Beginning, origin; 2) The person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader; 3) That by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause; 4) The extremity of a thing; 5) The first place, principality, rule, magistracy. Strong—(properly abstract)--Commencement, or concretely--Chief(in various applications of order, time, place, or rank).—&—iereuv—A priest(literally or figuratively).

The arciereuv above all others was honored with the title of priest, the chief of priests. It was lawful for him to perform the common duties of the priesthood; but his chief duty was, once a year on the day of atonement, to enter into the Holy of Holies(from which the other priests were excluded) & offer sacrifices for his own sins & the sins of the people, & to preside over the Sanhedrin, or Supreme Council, when convened for judicial deliberations. According to Mosaic law, no one could aspire to the high priesthood unless he were of the tribe of Aaron & descended from a high priestly family; & he on whom the office was conferred held it till death. But from the time of Antiochus[IV] Epiphanes, when the kings of Seleucideae & afterwards the Herodian princes & the Romans arrogated to themselves the power of appointing the high priests, the office neither remained vested in the pontifical family nor was conferred on any for life; but it became venal[able to be bought], & could be transferred from one to another according to the will of civic or military rulers. Hence it came to pass, that during the one hundred & seven years intervening between Herod the Great & the destruction of the holy city, twenty eight persons held the pontifical dignity. 2) The high priests, these comprise in addition to one holding the high priestly office, both those who had previously discharged it & although disposed, continued to have great power in the State, as well as the members of the families from which high priest were created, provided that they had much influence in public affairs. 3) Used of Christ because by undergoing a bloody death he offered himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God, & has entered into the heavenly sanctuary where he continually intercedes on our behalf.’