:what If I Am The Hypocrite?" Series

GOING PUBLIC WITH OUR FAITH

“What if I am the Hypocrite?”

Luke 12:1-9

So the excitement is building and is all centered round Jesus—so much so that right out of the gate we read that there are literally thousands of people “milling about and stepping on each other.” ? That’s a pretty clear picture, right? Luke gives us that introduction to set the framework for the passage that follows. Everything we read after this is in red letters; in other words the words that follow are the words of Jesus. And this is the topic of his sermon: hypocrisy; hypocrites. Sounds exciting, right? I mean we don’t mind talking about hypocrisy because it’s always someone else who is the hypocrite, not us. Our favorite prayer is faults in others I can see, but praise the Lord there’s none in me.

But think about it… what if you … what if I am the hypocrite? Not everybody else. Me. I mean, it’s possible, right? Jesus begins with these words, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. Would you write this down? The yeast of the Pharisees is their hypocrisy. We all know what yeast is and what it does but let me remind you.

1. Yeast is used in baking; to make bread.

2. Yeast adds flavor.

3. Yeast cells are tiny. One package of yeast contains 200 billion yeast cells. It is a leaving agent causing bread to rise.

So this is how this works. The people in that day had a choice of pleasing the authorities, OR they could please God. One or the other. Same for us today. It’s helpful here, I think to define the word hypocrite.

A hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance. A hypocrite acts in a way that is inconsistent with their beliefs. A hypocrite pretends to be something he is not.

Simply put--- a hypocrite talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk. Ask someone why they don’t attend church and they are likely to say: too many hypocrites. I always want to say, you’re right, come on in one more won’t hurt a thing. ? This is what Jesus says: the yeast of the Pharisees is their hypocrisy. Your hypocrisy may seem small but it’s growing and it is the most noticeable thing about us. Nonbelievers can spot it a mile away. And here is why.

1. Hypocrisy will always be exposed. Verses 1b-3. It simply cannot be hidden. Jesus put it this way. There is nothing covered up which will not be unveiled and there is nothing secret which shall not be known. What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light and what you have whispered to someone behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops. The word hypocrite came into the English language from the Greek and it means to be an actor. In the first century one actor played more than one character by simply changing his mask again and again. It describes someone who pretends to be something they are not. It may work for a while but here is the problem: you will always be exposed. You will always be found out. The 2nd things Jesus tells us here is this.

2. Fear has a place/purpose in life. But we must put it into perspective. At this point Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He has been pushed in that direction ever since He went public. And Jesus knew all of this time where this was heading. It was headed in the direction of Judas betraying him---it was headed to his crucifixion. He knew it yet there was no turning back for Jesus. This was like an illustration of what Jesus was teaching here. “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body.” This his words are very blunt: “I’ll tell you who to fear. Fear God who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes he is the one to fear.”

So here it is. Fear has a place in God’s plan. All of us have some kind of fear… if I were to ask you might say you have a fear of spiders, snakes, flying; closed in spaces but this is not referring to those kinds of fears. All of those are really unhealthy. They’re real; just unhealthy. This is referring to a fear of God. So the Bible tells us here to fear God; the OT tells us to fear God---NT says fear not; in fact hundreds of times in scripture we are told to fear not so what we do with that? Fear is also translated as respect; that makes sense---God certainly doesn’t want us walking around in fear. Here is the key to this, I believe… the book of James tells us that Abraham believed God and because of his faith, God accepted him as righteous. And so Abraham was called God’s friend. And if you have received him as your Lord and savior, you are his friend. But until we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and we are forgiven we are actually at odds with God. James also says “whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” In other words, you can’t be both. So until we come into this relationship with God, we are at odds with God. In a sense, we are enemies. But all of that changes when we come to Christ. We become best friends.