"Best Practices"
Luke 11:37-54
A sermon for 7/24/22 – Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Pastor John Bright
Luke 11 “44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”
46 And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
Pause right there. Those words I just read; they were “Breathed by God”! God wants you to hear His Word right now! So, what is your response? Do you want to transformed by that Word or do you want to be informed about the words? You have to choose.
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If I had a dollar for every time somebody talked to me about hypocrites in the church, I would be a rich man. Some thoughts –
Not going to church because you say there are hypocrites there is like not going to the gym because there are out of shape people there😊
A church sign – “This church is not full of hypocrites. There’s always room for more” 😊
The next time someone tells you, "The Church is full of a bunch of hypocrites." You can respond, "You don't even know the half of it." 😊 (quote from Kevin DeYoung)
In Luke 11, we find Jesus confronting the “Religious Folks” in His day – Pharisees, scribes, experts on the law – and Jesus has harsh words for them. Can you accept a Jesus that is confrontational? In our modern-day terminology – Jesus got in their faces!
The Pharisees were a minority of the religious leadership. At that time, the Sadducees were the majority. What set the Pharisees apart was their adherence to the laws developed over time – the oral tradition – that interpreted how to keep the commandments of God. In that day, it was accepted that there were 613 commandments in the Five Books of Moses (Torah) – Genesis through Deuteronomy. Thousands of rules and regulations were developed to keep these commandments.
When Jesus rebukes these men, He sounds very much like the Prophets of the Old Testament – Isaiah, Micah and Amos. Those were the ones who brought the Word of God to the Israelites and they were ignored. Now, the actual Word of God stands in their midst to give a rebuke – right in their faces!
They care more about the outside, v. 37-41
“37 And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. 40 Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.”
Jesus, a guest in the home of a Pharisee, does not wash His hands before coming to the table. This is familiar to me from when I was a kid, from my own kids, and now with my grandson who is seven and a half. Getting kids to wash their hands is an ongoing battle – it always has been and it always will be 😊
While the washing of hands was only prescribed for the priests in the temple, Exodus 30:17-21, it was the Pharisees who added this to be practiced by all Jews. In the Gospel of Mark, there is even more detail about their practices of washing – Mark 7 “3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.”
Jesus insists that the condition of the inside of the person/cup is just as important as the outside of the person/cup. Why are we called hypocrites? Because we act one way on Sunday when we are at church and are the exact opposite at work, at home, at school, and in our community.
When I was serving on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, a lady in the church offered to take me around to visit members who did not attend worship. One man, I was warned, “cussed like a sailor.” (My apologies to any Navy veterans!) We got there, visited for half an hour or so, and then walked outside to go. The whole time, there was no profanity. I told him it would be good to see him at worship. He replied, “I don’t come because I never when I might let out a cuss word.” To which I replied, “Oh, I think you can control it if the whole time we were here you had very clean speech. It sounds like an excuse to me.” Out of three people standing there, I was the only one without a look of shock.
We all represent Jesus Christ in the world. Why would there be any difference from the me on Sunday and the me on Monday? This is a best practice for us as Believers.
Don’t miss the big picture, v. 42-44
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
There are lots of ways to say it – “major in the minors” or “missing the forest for the trees”. Jesus is NOT condemning the practice of tithing, but the Pharisees had become obsessive with tithing of everything – even the smallest amount of a herb. They also needed to be the center of attention – how childish!
The best practice lifted up by Jesus is to be attentive to “justice and the love of God.” To which this preacher says, “AMEN!” What would that justice look like? This comes from GotQuestions.org:
“Because God is just, He demands that mankind, created in His image, also display justice (Micah 6:8). Scripture is full of commands that humans act justly. This includes acting on behalf of those whose rights are being denied and those who are powerless to defend themselves:
• “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause” (Isaiah 1:17, ESV).
God’s desire for justice extends to crime prevention and the punishment of evildoers:
• “Whoever says to the wicked, ‘You are in the right,’ will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them” (Proverbs 24:24–25, ESV).
Justice is linked to a right relationship with God, and those who know God will act justly:
• “Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” (Psalm 106:3, ESV).
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-justice.html
In that day, like in our day, attending to those who are oppressed rather than seeking to lifted up for external holiness is exactly what is needed. The problem is our pride. The Apostle Paul clearly taught the opposite is humility and that is what God wants from us – Philippians 2 “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Jesus describes these men as unmarked graves because they neglect others and focus only on themselves – does this sound like folks in our world today? Does it sound like us? If so, the condemnation Jesus gives to them also applies to each one here.
If you want a different result…, v.45-52
“45 Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”
46 And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
The experts on the Oral Tradition are called scribes or lawyers. Jesus explains that their brand of hypocrisy is telling others what to do and not doing it themselves. Sounds like what I used to tell the kids – “Do as I say, not as I do.” 😊
They also say they honor the Old Testament prophets but seem to forget that their ancestors were the ones who rejected them and even killed them. What about in that day? The religious leaders had already rejected John the Baptizer. Now, they are rejecting the very Son of God – greater than any prophet!
Jesus is telling them that they are doing the same… and worse. They believe they have the key to enter into a relationship with God and tell others that they do not. They are standing before the One who came to unlock the door that we and all humanity may enter into a relationship with the Living God. They can’t even see it.
In the Recovery Community we repeat this proverb – “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” From this, some say “The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.” That’s what these religious folks in Jesus’ day had been doing for generation after generation. They keep adding more and more rules and regulations – never stopping to think of the burden it placed on the people.
If you ever go to an AA or NA meeting, you close with this –
“God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”
It’s the beginning of a longer prayer known as “The Serenity Prayer.” In the church, we do not fight addiction to drugs and alcohol, but rather our tendency toward become little pharisees. We get wrapped up in “we always did it that way” and never stop to see the harm that was done in the past as we trampled those suggesting a new way. We never slow down enough to see our own blindness as we “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:24) Are we still focusing on the littlest things and missing the big picture? We better not be – why? Back in Matthew 10:2 we read these words that are still true today – “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” The world today needs us to Christ-like Believers who offer a lifeline to true hope, Jesus. Amen
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Teaching Sheet
"Best Practices"
Luke 11:37-54
7/24/22
If I had a dollar for every time somebody talked to me about hypocrites in the church, I would be a rich man. Jesus calls the “Religious Folks” in His day – Pharisees, scribes, experts on the law – that nasty word… hypocrite. Can you accept a Jesus that is confrontational?
The Pharisees cared most about to the laws developed over time – the oral tradition – that interpreted how to keep the commandments of God. In that day, it was accepted that there were 613 commandments in the Five Books of Moses (Torah) – Genesis through Deuteronomy. Thousands of rules and regulations were developed to keep these commandments.
They care more about the outside, v. 37-41
While the washing of hands was only prescribed for the priests in the temple, Exodus 30:17-21, it was the Pharisees who added this to be practiced by all Jews. Mark 7:3-4
Why are we called hypocrites? Because we act one way on Sunday when we are at church and are the exact opposite at work, at home, at school, and in our community.
Don’t miss the big picture, v. 42-44
What would that justice look like? This comes from GotQuestions.org:
“Because God is just, He demands that mankind, created in His image, also display justice (Micah 6:8). Scripture is full of commands that humans act justly. This includes acting on behalf of those whose rights are being denied and those who are powerless to defend themselves: Isaiah 1:17
God’s desire for justice extends to crime prevention and the punishment of evildoers: Proverbs 24:24–25
Justice is linked to a right relationship with God, and those who know God will act justly: Psalm 106:3
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-justice.html
The Apostle Paul clearly taught the opposite is humility and that is what God wants from us – Philippians 2:5-8
They neglect others and focus only on themselves – does this sound like folks in our world today? Does it sound like us?
If you want a different result…, v.45-52
Jesus is telling them that they are doing the same… and worse. They believe they have the key to enter into a relationship with God and tell others that they do not. They are standing before the One who came to unlock the door that we and all humanity may enter into a relationship with the Living God
In the Recovery Community we repeat this proverb – “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” From this, some say “The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.”
“God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”
We get wrapped up in “we always did it that way” and never stop to see the harm that was done in the past as we trampled those suggesting a new way. We never slow down enough to see our own blindness as we “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23:24) - are these our best practice?
