Check out the book "The Upside Down Kingdom" by Donald Kraybill
https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Down-Distinguished-Professor-Emeritus-Kraybill/dp/1513802496/ref=sr_1_2?crid=226Z0R7BQKLQ3&keywords=donald+kraybill&qid=1669518981&s=instant-video&sprefix=donald+kraybill%2Cinstant-video%2C182&sr=1-2-catcorr
Impious Piety
-We’re in week number 6 of our series called the Upside Down Kingdom and I’ve got to tell you something.
-This has been one of the most challenging series that I’ve ever preached through.
-We’ve been looking at some of the toughest teachings of Jesus and we’ve seen over and over how upside down they are.
-The people in the days of Jesus didn’t like what he said.
-They didn’t like what he claimed.
*They had nationalist ideas about Israel and he wasn’t interested.
*They had notions about how the Messiah would be and he didn’t fit them.
*They had certain things they wanted to hear and he never said them.
*He was exactly opposite and upside down from anything they’d ever heard or seen.
*And, he would not be how they wanted him to be because he’s not some preacher for hire, he’s the Lord of All.
-A 2000 years later we have the same struggles with Jesus.
-We’ve got these ideas about Jesus and in these upside down kingdom teachings Jesus rocks our world.
-Years ago a pastor took on a new ministry in a midwest church.
-He was surprised on his first Sunday at the rather elaborate communion ceremony.
-There was a table in the front that had communion trays on it.
-And there was a lacey cloth that was draped over the communion.
-At just the right moment in the service two men would come forward and lift off this cloth and fold it.
-And then the ushers would come and pass those communion trays around. He was thinking, what’s with the lacey cloth?
-But he didn’t want to make waves so he just asked around.
-No one knew why they did that. It’s what they’d always done.
-He kept asking and no one could explain.
-They finally found the oldest person in the church, a 90 year old lady in a nursing home.
-She said, back in the old days we didn’t have air conditioning.
-So in the summer we’d leave the windows and doors open.
-But then the flies would come in.
-And so we put that table cloth on the communion to keep the flies off. And it somehow morphed into a ceremonial tradition.
-Today we’re going to be in Matthew 15:1-20.
-And we’re looking at an instance where Jesus got sideways with the religious leaders about their traditions.
-I’m going to read the text to you and then we’ll work through it
Matthew 15:1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him,
2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?
4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’
6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 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.’”
10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.
18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
-Now, there are some dynamics that are playing out here that you might not immediately catch.
-So let me give you a bit of historical background.
-The Jews lived by what they called the Torah.
-Those are the first five books in the Bible and they were written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number, Deuteronomy)
-So when you hear Torah or Law of Moses, same thing.
-Jesus wasn’t against the Law of Moses. That’s Scripture.
-The trouble was they Jews also had something called Oral Law.
-It started with something they called the Midrash which was like a verse by verse commentary on the Law. Now catch this part.
-None of it was written down in the days of Jesus.
-The entire thing was memorized and passed on verbally from rabbis to their disciples. That’s why it’s called the Oral Law.
-In addition to the Midrash there was the Mishnah.
-This was a second set of interpretations that focused on practical matters that the Law of Moses didn’t cover.
-Author Donald Kraybill says, “The Mishnah is organized into six major divisions, called orders. Each order holds seven to twelve subdivisions, called tractates. These are further broken down into some 523 chapters. Finally, each chapter contains about five to ten legal paragraphs.” The Upside Down Kingdom
-When it was eventually written down, the Mishnah was 700 pages of small print.
-And that’s what these religious leaders focused on.
-They read it, reread it, memorized the whole thing and tried to live all of that stuff out.
-It wasn’t the Bible, it was a lot of extra stuff.
-It was primarily rules that people had to follow.
-And you’ll never guess who did not follow the religious rules!
-Our guy Jesus.
-Now, with all that stuff in mind, let’s walk back through the text.
Matthew 15:1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him,
2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”
-The issue they wanted to bring up was hand washing.
-Why don’t your disciples wash their hands before they eat?
-I’m not a germ freak but I usually wash my hands before I eat.
-I might be with the Pharisees on this one!
-You know when you’re in a restaurant bathroom and you see someone leave without washing their hands?
-And they’re heading back to their table, and eating from the community chip basket!
-You know you want to judge them but the Bible say don’t…
-That’s what the Pharisees were saying about the disciples.
-They were so uptight about being super duper holy.
-They thought, if you touched something unholy and didn’t know about it. Then you used those unholy hands to eat your nachos.
-And then, you put some unholiness into your body.
-And now, you’re an abomination to God. (BOOM)
-I’m not exaggerating this. So they had this big ceremony they’d go through before they ate. And the disciples…didn’t.
-So they came to pick a bone with Jesus.
-They didn’t even try to hide the truth. They weren’t upset with Jesus for violating the commands of Scripture.
-They were mad that Jesus and his disciples violated their traditions. And that’s exactly what they said.
-It almost seems like the answer is in their question.
-Why don’t you follow our traditions. Because Scripture is binding, traditions are not.
-Now, that doesn’t mean all traditions are bad. In fact, there are a lot of traditions that are deeply meaningful to people.
-But we can’t get them confused with the commands of Scripture.
-They don’t belong in the same discussion. But people then, and people now have a way of confusing these things.
-And sometimes we care more about our traditions than we do the commands of Scripture.
-Let me give you some examples of traditions that have crept into the American church…these are just observations, not meant to offend anyone. Just examples:
Hanging the American flag inside the church building. Many churches do that. Some don’t. You may have never thought about it. In American churches, it’s traditional.
What about suits and ties? In many churches it’s tradition for pastors to wear a suit and tie on Sunday. But why? I don’t know. I own a suit. I call it my marry and bury suit. It’s for weddings and funerals. But putting on your Sunday best isn’t something in the Bible, just a tradition.
What about Sunday school? Not in the Bible.
What about potlucks? Christmas pageants?
Or what about worship teams, choirs?
No mention of those things in the New Testament.
What about using the King James Bible? What about hymnals? What about one cup communion or many cups?
What about pulpits, pews and podiums?
Is there anything wrong with those things? No, but they aren’t commands to be followed. They are just traditions.
What about Pizza after church? Biblical. Next Sunday!
-It’s a fight to make sure that the things we really care about are the things that Jesus really cares about.
-So, they asked Jesus, why don’t you care about our traditions?
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?
-They asked Jesus, why don’t you care about our traditions and he asked, “Why don’t you care about the Scripture?”
-Checkmate Pharisees! You can imagine they didn’t like hearing this, and probably wondered what he was talking about.
-So he gave them an example.
4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’
5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’
6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
-This requires a bit of unpacking. In the days of Jesus there was a tradition called the corban vow.
-It was rooted in a nationalist and religious fervor for the temple.
-That’s good, right? The temple. Israel. Worship. Great stuff!
-The way the vow went is that people dedicated their property and the revenue from their property to temple support.
-But in the ancient world there was no retirement or Social Security. So kids provided for their parents when they got old.
-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.
*The idea is that we wanted to serve our community in the name of Jesus.
*And three people at parks department loved us.
*But on the third year, I remember shoveling barkdust and thinking…this has nothing to do with Jesus but it’s not bad
*There is nothing wrong with bake sales, church barbecues, and coffee and cookies on Sundays.
*There is nothing wrong with youth group movie night or a church family float trip.
*Nothing wrong with wearing a cross necklace or not.
*Nothing wrong with witness wear, or regular clothes.
-The problem comes when we elevate these traditions to the same importance as Scripture.
-That’s where the trouble begins and that’s what the Pharisees were doing. So after that little confrontation was over.
10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear.
(Remember, that the issue was eating with unclean hands and potentially becoming defiled.)
“Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
-Do you see what he’s driving at? It’s subtle.
-It’s not food that defiles you.
-It’s not eating with dirty hands that defiles you.
-A better indication of being defiled…is what comes out of your mouth. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said, “What you say flows from what is in your heart.”
-That’s what he’s driving at here with the Pharisees.
-The best indication of your faith in God…is not all the religious traditions you maintain.
-It’s not how good you are at following all the man made rules.
-What God has always cared most about…is our hearts.
-He said that to the crowds, and then his disciples had a question.
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
-If Jesus ever eye-rolled it was right here.
-I can just imagine Jesus saying, nobody cares if those religious hypocrites were offended.
-But here’s what he actually said.
13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
-There is a powerful lesson here from Jesus.
-He told the disciples (that’s us) to ignore the religious zealots.
-He said they’re blind, and if you follow them you’ll both fall into a roadside ditch.
-Religious people can have this powerful sway over people.
-They say these things sincerely that make us worry and doubt ourselves and wonder if we’re on the wrong track.
*If you haven’t spoke in tongues you don’t have the H.S.
*If your prayers aren’t answered it’s because you don’t have enough faith.
*If your church doesn’t use the King James Bible, your pastor is a false teacher. (You got me)
*If you don’t observe the Sabbath you’re a bad Christian.
*If you don’t call God…Yahweh in your prayers he won’t answer.
-Jesus said…ignore them.
-Isn’t it interesting that the disciples were concerned about offending the Pharisees?
-They had Jesus! He was right there with them!
-But they were still insecure around the religious elite.
-And so are we. Every once in a while we meet a Pharisee that is passionately trying to put some new thing on us.
-And we get insecure. We wonder if they’re right.
-And here’s the thing. Ignore those people…we have Jesus.
-They’re walking the wrong way so don’t go with them.
-Their man-made traditions are causing them to miss the heart of God.
15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”
-The disciples were all over the map that day.
-They didn’t wash their hands.
-They were worried about offending Pharisees.
-And now they want an explanation of the world’s easiest parable. And Jesus may have been frustrated.
16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.
-Yes, Jesus just explained where our food goes.
-I am convinced he was smiling as he spelled this out for them.
-Stop worrying about eating with unclean hands.
-Stop being superstitious about touching unclean things.
-Stop freaking out about the possibility of making God mad by being accidentally contaminated.
-That’s not our primary concern. That’s the outward and God cares about what’s inside. Here’s where things get tough.
18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.
19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
-The words that come out of our mouth give are a great indication of what’s going on in our hearts.
-If you listen closely to what people talk you’ll probably have an insight to what’s going on inside of them.
-And Jesus listed several examples.
-Evil thoughts…means…evil thoughts. Thinking about bad, dark, evil things.
-Murder isn’t a violence problem to start…it’s a heart problem.
-You’re entertaining murderous thoughts and violence eventually is the results.
-Adultery. I don’t think adultery just happens one day.
-I think lustful thoughts are harbored in your heart.
-Fantasies are played out in your thought life, and one day you cross a line.
-Jesus said sexual immorality isn’t a sex problem per se. It’s a heart problem.
-Sex is for a man and a woman in marriage. Period. End of story.
-That is God’s plan for our sexuality. Anything with anyone, outside that arrangement is sinning.
-And Jesus said, it’s a heart problem. What’s he mean?
-Your heart isn’t beating for the things of God.
-It’s beating for yourself. What you want, what you desire.
-The same is true for greed. For lying. For slandering others.
-And that takes us all the way back to the beginning.
-Why don’t your disciples do things our way?
-Why don’t you obey the Word of God?
-The categories and subjects change but the issue is always the same. We want to do what we want to do.
-And that’s not what it means to be a disciple.
-A disciple follows Jesus, wherever it leads, whatever the cost, no excuses.
-We go where Jesus goes. We do what Jesus did.
-We say what Jesus says. We love what Jesus loves.
-And oftentimes…that will put us at odds with the values of our world. Because everything that Jesus taught…was upside down.
-It was the opposite of what people said, did, thought, and wanted.
-He didn’t come to sign us up for some new religion.
-He came to set us free from religion, and show us a new way.
-A way of life that doesn’t start with man-made traditions, but with a change of heart. A heart that beats for the things of God
