"Being REAL -- or Religious?"

Oct.20/02 Mt.23:1-12,25-28

All Talk and No Action (Mt.23:2-4)

In a society where image is important, we're used to things that are false for the sake of looks. False teeth have been around for a long time. Buildings have been constructed with "false fronts" for decades. Artificial hair colouring and false nails scarcely cause us to batt a false eyelash. Yet there's one area in which falsehood is not tolerated: personal integrity. People have low tolerance for "fakes", those who say one thing and do another. Love songs beg for someone who will be "true" to us, not pretend or take us for a ride.

             Jesus Christ came and taught so we might not be trapped in falsehood, smothered in concern for image, but so we could be "real". He is God's Truth, the perfect Person, who taught and sacrificed Himself and gives us His Holy Spirit so we can be people of substance, not fakes or phonies. Because this Great One loved us so intensely as to teach us His Way and die so we can receive Him, we are freed from forever trying to pretend we're the greatest of "great ones" ourselves, freed from falsehood and pretending. We can know God accepts and loves us just as we are, despite all our flaws and inadequacies we try to hide from others. In His reality, we discover our own true selves, and what God's up to in our lives by way of transforming us into a beautiful reflection of His Son.

             In Matthew 23, Jesus spoke out about the greatest phonies of His day. This was Tuesday of Passover week; he would be dead by Friday night. With the time of His earthly life coming to an end, Jesus let go a volley of criticism against the religious leaders of His day that must have made the hair on people's necks stand up! The teachers of the law (or "scribes") and Pharisees were the gatekeepers of the Jewish religion, interpreting the law of Moses, codifying it in hundreds of laws as a code, and adding many more sub-rules that governed all aspects of the Jewish person's existence, from what you were allowed to carry to how you washed your hands. Jesus admitted they had a necessary teaching role in educating people about the Law, but warned His listeners that they were all talk and no action. He said in v.3, "You must obey them and do everything they tell you.But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." There was what's called "a gap between life and lip". They clashed with the guideline that says, "If you can't walk the walk, don't talk the talk."

             The first-century scribes and Pharisees weren't the last religious folk who didn't practice what they preached. Contemporary Christianity has a big problem with false fronts, too. In Tim LaHaye's book Mind Siege George Gallup the pollster is quoted as saying, "Americans are as God-loving, churchgoing and Bible believing as ever.But - and it's a big one - their brand of faithfulness is a mile long and an inch deep." George Barna notes, "Although most Americans believe they already know the fundamental truths of the Scriptures, our research has discovered that fewer than 10% of American Christians actually possess a biblical worldview...In essence, while millions of Americans possess beliefs that qualify them as Christians, assert that the Bible contains practical lessons and principles for life, and claim that they believe God wants to bless their efforts, they ignore their spiritual resources when the rubber meets the road. In short, the spirituality of Americans is Christian in name only. We desire experience more than knowledge. We seek comfort rather than growth...We are [get this] the Pharisees of the new millennium."

             According to Barna, Christians can hardly be distinguished from nonbelievers by the way they live. He says the evidence suggests "that most American Christians today do not live in a way that is quantifiably different from their non-Christian peers, in spite of the fact that they profess to believe in a set of principles that should clearly set them apart." For example, the average Christian spends more time watching TV in one evening than he or she spends reading the Bible during the entire week. Only 4 out of 10 people who claim to be Christian also claim they are "absolutely committed" to the Christian faith. 2 out of 3 born-again believers assert that there is no such thing as absolute moral truth. How shocking!

             Where did people learn to be Pharisees, to be phoneys, who say one thing and do another? How do they become such experts at "faking it" when it comes to church life? Unfortunately, for many, they watched their parents pretending to be religious in the home. What happened in church on Sunday didn't match what went on the rest of the week. Religious meaning became short-circuited. A certain man was telling me recently that growing up as a Roman Catholic his parents knelt with the children on the floor every evening and spent 15-20 minutes going through the rosary. The kids would finger the beads and mumble along imitating the father who mumbled indiscernably his way through the sequence of set prayers. He said the kids always hoped someone would come to the door because then they could get up to go answer it!

             If only in our own homes we made a regular habit of reviewing scriptural truth with our children, talking about how it applies in everyday life, and welcoming the Lord into our home life through honest prayer! What a difference even 10 minutes a day after supper would make. We need to help the next generation learn to "think Christianly". George Barna surmises the cause of our Pharisaical lack of practising what we preach: "The vast majority of Christians do not behave differently because they do not think differently, and they do not think differently because we have never trained them, equipped them, or held them accountable to do so."

             When you talk about integrity, and practising what you preach, there is one American Christian who is a household word that comes to mind for many. Billy Graham has preached the gospel to more people than any other in history. He's different from some other evangelists who have slipped up morally, partly because he's gathered a group of men around him who'll help keep him accountable. No one accuses Billy Graham of being a Pharisee: he's the genuine article, his lifetime record backs up what he says.

             One thing that kept Billy from becoming a fake was seeing Christianity lived out by his parents. Before her death, his mother Morrow Coffey Graham wrote: "My husband and I established a family altar the day we were married and we carried that through. In the breakfast room I always kept a Scripture calendar with a verse for the day. Each morning we read that, too, and prayed to the Lord. As we gathered at the breakfast table, everyone would bow his head and fold his hands as my husband asked the blessing. Often as I packed the children's school lunches, I could hear my husband talking to the children. He helped them memorize literally hundreds of Bible verses.

             "I looked forward to our evenings together as a family. Everyone gathered in the family room. We did this right after the dinner dishes were put away. It was the most important thing in our life, this time of Bible reading and prayer. I know that today Billy recalls those instructional periods as among the most important in his life, helping him to become saturated with the Bible.

             "Since my children have married and gone their separate ways, and since my husband's death, I have found myself with more time to devote to prayer. I pray without ceasing for Billy Frank."

             So Billy Graham's parents prayed with and for him, and showed him how to value scripture. Interesting phrase she used -- those times helped him "to become saturated with the Bible". Soaking in it will make God's word part of us, help us practice what we preach, so we're not all talk and no action.

             In verse 4 Jesus said the Pharisees put heavy loads on men's shoulders but weren't willing to lift a finger to move them; they lacked mercy. Interesting that Billy's son Franklin Graham heads Samaritan's Purse, one of the larger compassionate agencies. Being real instead of fake will involve our heart responding to others' needs just as God's heart responds.

Ed Sullivan Religion: "A Really Big Show" (23:5-7)

Way back in the days of black & white television when I was growing up, each week the family enjoyed a variety of talented entertainment on the Ed Sullivan show. Ed's trademark phrase was that "Tonight we've got for you a really big show" (or "shoe"!). But that's not what we want the Christian life to be! Some Pharisees did put their beliefs into action, but with the wrong motive, that of being noticed by others. Jesus poked fun at them putting on a "really big show". Verses 5-7: "Everything they do is done for men to see: they make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’"

             Phylacteries were little scripture-verse-boxes that Pharisees wore tied on their foreheads and left arm (next to the heart) when praying. They were based on passages in Exodus 3(1-10,11-16) and Deuteronomy 6(4-11) and 11(13-21) that emphasized keeping God's words on one's mind and heart. The box on the forehead had 4 compartments, each with a slip of parchment from the 4 passages; each strip was tied up with a well-washed hair from a calf's tail lest (if it were wool or thread) any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The box on the arm had a single slip of parchment with the same 4 passages, written in 4 columns of 7 lines each. (Are we being particular here?!) The black leather straps that held it on were to be wound 7 times around the arm and 3 times around the hand. Apparently some Pharisees felt bigger boxes implied they were more zealous for God; others superstitiously treated the boxes as good-luck charms to ward off evil.

             As for tassels on garments, all Jews wore tassels or fringes to help remind them of the Torah, as directed in Numbers 15(8). But here too they started majoring in the minors. Through the centuries they developed minute rules about the number of fringes and knots; a commentary notes that even the length of the tassels "was a matter of dispute among the various schools." (I can imagine over here you have the school of "knotty" Pharisees and over here the "not-so-knotty"!)

             Then there were the places of honour and important seats. In the synagogue the elders sat facing the congregation, and of course, if you got to sit up front you were really a "somebody". Is it much different today? Sometimes in churches with choir lofts prominent at the front I suspect some people enjoy being in the choir for the privilege of the exposure as much as for the singing. Even at Queensway Cathedral in Toronto at a recent conference I couldn't help but notice how "high and lifted up" the choir's seats were in the huge auditorium! In other churches, it's the back pews that are most hotly contested, because you can see everybody else, and people become quite "put out" if they don't get there in time to claim their regular spot. How fragile our egos, how tender our sense of "turf"!

             The Christian experience is not supposed to be a "really big show", but a focus on the Audience of One who created and redeemed us. Fake religion says "look at me!" because it's forgotten to focus on our Great God. Real Christianity, on the other hand, doesn't care about who gets the credit, only that God's will is done, His plan accomplished, His goodness seen and broadcast. The authentic worshipper points away from themselves, saying, "Did you see that? Isn't He wonderful?"

Only One "Great One" in the Kingdom (23:8-12)

Jesus went on to deflate the stuffed shirts that pop up all too easily in any religious organization. In verses 8-12 he warns against seeking to be called Rabbi, or father, or teacher, for we have only one Master, one Father in heaven (God), one Teacher - Christ. Here's a pop quiz: What do Wayne Gretzky and a Jewish Rabbi have in common? No, it's not that "bb" in Rabbi upside down looks like 99. What was Gretzky's nickname? "The Great One". In Judaism there were 3 degrees of title for religious teachers: rab, rabbi, and rabboni, all based on a root meaning "great one". Rabbi thus would translate "great one" and be roughly equivalent to our "Doctor of Divinity". Jesus is implying that pastors should not seek to be called "reverend" (kind of makes me shake in my boots when someone calls me that). Scribes delighted in being called Abba or "father"; by contrast, Jesus wanted His followers to enjoy a new kind of equality as all brothers/sisters by the new birth of faith in Him, God's gift. Instead of seeking titles and nameplates, we're to be looking out for opportunities to serve, for that's what really makes one "great" in Jesus' books. In terms of hockey, Gretzky was a "Great One" with a record to prove it; but the interesting thing is the number of points he racked up through "assists" rather than direct goals himself. Jesus is saying if you want to be great, watch for opportunities to assist, to serve others.

Clean Up Your (Inner) Act (23:25-28)

Much of the remainder of the chapter is a scathing indictment of the phoney religious folk by Jesus with words such as, "Woe to you, you hypocrites!" A hypocrite is a pretender, someone hiding behind a mask; their inner reality is different from the external image, they're faking it. Christ saw through the facade. In verse 25 he criticizes them for washing pots and pans meticulously, but being unclean on the inside, "full of greed and self-indulgence". Today, too, we can call ourselves Christians but inside be driven by greed and selfishness. I was talking recently with someone studying philosophy at UWO and in class they were discussing what's termed "ethical egoism" - the proposition that what's good for me will also be good for everybody else. In the corporate world, some are advancing the theory that "greed is good": after all, it's what makes the economy go 'round. Thus we dress-up, excuse, and rationalize what the Bible calls "covetousness", man's fallen sinful drive to always get more, never being content with what God's provided. "Self-indulgence" as Jesus calls it is self-explanatory to anyone with a car like mine the steering wheel of which always seems to mysteriously tug off the road when passing a Tim Horton's! Or whose feet somehow cause you to wind up at the cupboard facing that bag of high-calorie peanuts. Or...(you finish the sentence with your favourite almost-non-destructive self-indulgence)

             Pulling out all the stops, Jesus compared the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs "which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean" (27). Every year, a month before Passover, sepulchres of the poor in the fields and roadsides were whitewashed (painted with a lime mixture) so travellers might see them and avoid being defiled by touching them. So as Jesus delivered this address on the Temple mount a few days before Passover, people could plainly see whitened tombs across the valley dotting the western slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus was using a visual aid to say the Pharisees stood out like those graves, freshly white on the surface but rotten and decaying inside. And to a pure and holy God, that's how all humans must seem apart from Christ's cleansing and sanctification. Morally, without God, we stink like compost - or worse. Some religions or cults claim we're born with a divine "spark": Biblical theology acknowledges our original God-given image but exposes our awful lostness apart from divine intervention.

             Our Saviour came to help us be rid of that moral yuck and uncleanness. True clean-up begins when we admit our sin, repent and turn to Jesus, claim God's forgiveness through the cross, and invite the Holy Spirit to begin the renovation project. It's an ongoing process the rest of our life, gradually uprooting all the resistant specks of moral uncleanness. Allow God to sanctify you thoroughly, every nook & cranny, because "unless Jesus is lord of all, He's not Lord at all." Don't be a Pharisee, faking it, hiding some secret sin. Give it all over to God to clean up and restore.

             A pastor in Haiti was telling his congregation about the need for total commitment to Christ. He told of a certain man who wanted to sell his house for $2000. Another man badly wanted it, but couldn't afford the full price. After much haggling, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the asking price on one condition: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

             After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became uninhabitable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail. The Haitian pastor concluded, "If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation."

             It's no fun to be compared to whitewashed tombs, appearing righteous on the outside but full of rottenness - "hypocrisy and wickedness" on the inside (28). Quit being all talk and no action. Quit pretending, stop putting on the "really big show" that God sees right through anyway. Allow Jesus to be the "Great One" in your life - all your purposes, all your desires yielded to Him. The Father will take your fake-ness and instead give you the real-ness of His Son - an integrity that has God's purposes in mind and His mercy for others at heart.

"I Want my Breakfast Served at 8"

             Jesus warned against the hidden self-indulgence of the Pharisees. George Barna writes, "When evaluating their life, instead of measuring their performance against God's standards, the standard for comparison [of many believers] is 'Did I do better than the next guy?...Many Christians have developed a distorted understanding of what constitutes purposeful or successful living. When asked to describe the ends they live for, the top items most American Christians reported were good health, a successful career, a comfortable lifestyle, and a functional family. The average Christian assumes that when we are happy, God is happy."

             History is dotted with examples of believers who remind us that there is more to life than just saying we live for Jesus while we stay glued to the couch and reach for the remote. William McChesney was missionary in Congo in the 1960s with Worldwide Evangelization Crusade. Though scarcely 5 feet tall, Bill had an outsized personality that radiated cheer wherever he went; his co-workers dubbed him "Smiling Bill". But civil war erupted, and in Nov.1964, suffering from malaria at age 28, Bill was captured by rebels. Soon after, he was beaten mercilessly and killed. Before leaving for Africa, Bill had written a poem explaining his desire for overseas missions, and sense of calling to risk his whole being for Christ's enterprise. It said in part:

'I want my breakfast served at eight,

With ham and eggs upon the plate;

A well-broiled steak I'll eat at one,

And dine again when day is done.

I want an ultramodern home

And in each room a telephone;

Soft carpets, too, upon the floors,

And pretty drapes to grace the doors.

A cozy place of lovely things,

Like easy chairs with inner springs,

And then I'll get a small TV --

Of course, "I'm careful what I see."

I want my wardrobe, too, to be

Of neatest, finest quality,

With latest style in suit and vest:

Why should not Christians have the best?

But then the Master I can hear

In no uncertain voice, so clear:

"I bid you come and follow Me,

The lowly Man of Galilee."

If He be God, and died for me,

No sacrifice too great can be

For me, a mortal man, to make;

I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.

Yes, I will tread the path He trod,

No other way to please my God;

So, henceforth, this my choice shall be,

My choice for all eternity.'

Let's pray.