INTRO.- Who’s hot and who’s not? It all depends on your viewpoint and what kind of TV news you watch. But if you have been watching the TV news at all you will get a glimpse of who’s hot and who’s not in the world of entertainment.
Emmitt Smith of “Dancing with the Stars” fame is hot and Michael Jackson is not so hot at this time.
Emmitt Smith, ex-running back of the famous Dallas Cowboys, won the Dancing with the Stars competition on Wednesday, Nov. 15th and when it started probably no one thought he could do it.
An ex-football player becoming a dancing star? No way. Now he’s a hot commodity. One major studio is considering the possibility of Emmitt Smith hosting his own talk show.
Now on the other side of the coin is Michael Jackson. He finally came out from hiding, so to speak, to perform recently at the World Music Awards in London, and first one since his child molestation trial, and it didn’t live up to audience’s expectancies. In fact, some are saying his performance was a flop.
One writer put it this way, “Michael Jackson’s long-awaited comeback - which ended up with him being booed off just four lines into We Are The World.”
What’s the deal? Has Michael Jackson lost his edge? What’s going on? One thing that is still shadowing him is the child molestation accusations. Otherwise, he may just not be practicing his singing. USE IT OR LOSE IT can apply to Jackson as well as to anybody else.
Brothers and sisters, on any given day we, too, can be hot or we can be not so hot. We can be hot at work, meaning we could have a good day at work and get a lot of accomplished. Or we can have a lousy day and clash with people and get little accomplished.
We all can have good days and we can have bad days in whatever we do. And the same is true of our relationship to Christ.
I John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” If we get too hot for the world then we will lose our fire for the Lord.
Romans 12:11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
I think it’s fine to enjoy life and the good things that God has given us, BUT THEY MUST NEVER BECOME THE FOCUS OF OUR LIVES! Our focus must be on the GIVER, not the gifts! And if we can’t get fired up for Him or about Him, then something is wrong. What could be wrong?
Our text reveals what could be wrong if we are not “hot” or on fire for the Lord, His church and His work.
PROP.- Let’s consider what was wrong with the Pharisees in order to find out what is sometimes wrong with us or what is lacking in our devotion to the Lord. I have three thoughts to share.
1- the accusation of the critics
2- the comeback of the savior
3- the frankness of the living God
I. THE ACCUSATION OF THE CRITICS
Matthew 15:1-2 “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!"
The Pharisees accused Jesus and His disciples of breaking their traditions. Somebody is always accusing someone of something! “Why did you do that? Why don’t you do such and such?”
ILL.- One time the great English preacher, Joseph Parker, was approached after his sermon at the City Temple in London. The man said, “Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical error in your sermon.” He then proceeded to point out the error. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, “And what else did you get out of my sermon?” Some people look only for errors.
ILL.- It started off with a letter printed in the British Weekly, which went like this— “Dear Sir: I have been attending a church quite regularly for the past 30 years. To my consternation, I discovered that I couldn’t remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister’s time might be more profitably spent on something else? Sincerely...” For weeks, a huge storm of editorial responses ensued. The uproar finally was ended by another letter.
“Dear Sir: I have been married for 30 years. During that time, I have eaten 32,580 meals—mostly of my wife’s cooking. And suddenly, I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I have received nourishment from every single one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago. Sincerely...”
ILL.- Judge Harold Medina said, “Criticizing others is a dangerous thing, not so much because you may make mistakes about them, but because you may be revealing the truth about yourself.”
Rom. 14:1 “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”
There are many disputable matters that we are quick to judge people about or accuse them of error. And we all need to be cautious about this or hesitant to do it. Here’s why.
Rom. 14:12-13 “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.”
Brothers and sisters, please don’t be too quick to accuse others of wrongdoing. Why? Because we all will be judged. We all are in the same boat. We all are guilty. And many we may be completely wrong about someone.
ILL.- Back in the early 70’s before I was 30 years old I met a Methodist preacher in our small town in Iowa. He was not friendly and seemed to me to be very liberal in his theology. Consequently, I guess I concluded that all Methodists were liberal and unfriendly. Boy, was I wrong! I have since met a number of Methodist ministers and church members who are very friendly and very strong in their faith. One of my good friends I met through sermon central online is a Methodist minister. And he has some of the best, most inspirational, well-illustrated, and scriptural sermons I have read!
God help us not to be quick to accuse others of wrongdoing or of not being spiritual!
The Pharisees were more concerned about their traditions than anything else. Sometimes we are guilty of this in our churches.
ILL.- For example, no one better change the order of the worship service, because this is the way we’ve always done it. This is our tradition and it’s almost like it’s the gospel. Or I’ve heard of churches that changed their Sunday School hour to after the worship service, thinking this would be better and all it did was upset people. Traditions may be fine, but they are not the gospel or the law of God.
II. THE COMEBACK OF THE SAVIOR
Matthew 15:3 “Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” Jesus had a good comeback and He was exactly right. The commands of God were far more important than tradition.
ILL.- When Dr./preacher Lyman Beecher was asked why he didn’t reply to some anonymous letter writer who attacked him, he said that when he was a young man, he was crossing a field one evening with a pile of books in his arms. He suddenly met a small animal and hurled at it several books, resulting in so bad a smell that he had decided after that to let such animals alone.
That small animal was a skunk and it pays to leave skunks alone.
Often in life when we try to answer our critics we just raise even more of a stink out of them. So it doesn’t pay.
Prov. 15:1 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Prov. 30:33 “For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."
If we try to fight fire with fire, often all we do is produce more fire. We don’t put out the fire, we just make it worse.
Prov. 29:11 “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” Sometimes silence may be our best comeback. Having a great comeback is not always possible, unless we rely completely on the Lord for our wisdom and our words.
ILL.- Not all speakers can introduce humor at the beginning of an address as spontaneously as George Bernard Shaw did when he appeared before a London audience which had applauded him loudly. He stepped to the front of the platform ready to give his speech. The crowd was calling wildly for him. As the roar subsided, and in that tense moment of silence, just before he began, a voice from the balcony cried “Blah!”
That would have finished many speakers, but not Shaw. He looked up and said calmly, “Brother, I agree with you fully, but what can two of us do against so many?” Great comeback.
ILL.- While contending with the many problems of geography and climate in the building of the Panama Canal, Colonel George Washington Goethals had to endure the criticism of countless busybodies back home who freely predicted that he would never complete his great task. But the builder pressed steadily forward in his work and said nothing.
“Aren’t you going to answer your critics?” someone asked. “In time,” Goethals replied. “How?” The great engineer smiled. “With the canal,” he replied.
That sounds like something Jesus would have said. Jesus always had a great comeback in some form or another. And Jesus backed up His words with action. Jesus’ comeback to the Pharisees was: “Why do you break the command of God for your traditions?” GREAT COMEBACK.
III. THE FRANKNESS OF THE LIVING GOD
Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: " ’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’"
The frankness of the living God deals with the plain words of Jesus to the Pharisees. Jesus did not pull any punches.
ILL.- Many years ago Elaine said to me, “I’d like to go to the flea market in Nashville, TN.” I said, “What do they have there?” She said, “Everything.” I said, “What do you mean ‘everything?’” She said, “Everything.” And she was correct. You name it and they’ve got it somewhere at that flea. Elaine minced no words. She made it as plain as she could when she said, “Everything.”
Of course, I was even more frank to her when she was in New York last week in front of Tiffany’s and called me and asked for my credit card number! And I said, “No!”
Jesus minced no words when it came to the living word of God. He was very plain, very clear, very frank. Jesus said that some honored Him with their lips but their hearts were far from Him.
That’s like Judas Iscariot who kissed Jesus on the cheek but then betrayed Him. His affection was all outward. His heart was not with Jesus. He thought more about the world and money.
ILL.- I heard about a lady one time who was always quick to say to people and family members, “I love you,” but she had been married like 8 or 9 times. Hmmm, sounds like she wasn’t all that sincere or perhaps she just said those words but her heart was not in them.
What about us? What about our relationship to God and Christ? Are we genuine in our worship? Do we mean what we say, what we pray, what we sing? Do we sing and pray at church but not at home or anywhere else? Do we talk about God and Christ at church but at no other time? Is our worship just an act or do we really want to praise God and serve Him?
Jesus was also very frank about the corrupt heart. He said that corruption comes from within.
ILL.- A big news items last week was entitled, “Seinfeld star apologizes for racist tirade.” Perhaps you heard about the incident. Fifty-seven year old Michael Richards who played Kramer on Seinfield was doing a comedy act at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory comedy club on Friday night, Nov. 17th. Apparently, two black audience members started heckling him and he talked back! DID HE EVER! He started ranting and raving, cussing and cursing and calling them the “N” word and some other very bad words.
Later, Richards said, “I lost my temper onstage. I said some pretty nasty things to some Afro Americans. . . . You know, I’m really busted up over this and I’m very, very sorry. For me to be at a comedy club and flip out and say this [stuff], I’m deeply, deeply sorry. I’m not a racist. That’s what’s so insane about this.”
Brothers and sisters, do you know what I think about this incident and this man? Jesus said frankly….
Matt. 15:19-20 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ’unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ’unclean.’ "
According to Jesus, if it’s on the inside it will come out. And that worries me about people and sometimes it worries me about ME! I’m just saying that perhaps we all say things that later we regret and should make us wonder about ourselves, about our own corruption or about our own lack of faith.
CONCLUSION-----------------------
ILL.- A carpenter was hired to put a bolt on a door. Somehow he put the bolt on the outside instead of the inside. “The blind fool!” the owner scolded him. “You’re a blind fool yourself!” the carpenter retorted.
The owner asked, “How come I’m a blind fool?” “If you had eyes,” he answered, “would you hire a carpenter like me?”
When you’re not and when you’re not. We all have our days when we are not so hot when it comes to Christ. In fact, we may be rather blind and perhaps even do some dumb things. And we may think, “Why would God want me? Or want to use me?”
Today, let us all realize that we all fail at times, but also et us learn to trust in God’s grace to change us, to improve us, and put up with us. THANK YOU LORD!
