Sermon from 2nd November
Today our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches, based on the reading from Matthew 23:1-12
Humility vs Hypocrisy
At the beginning of this series of various teachings of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew, we were reminded that we needed to change and embrace the humility of a child. Matthew 18:3…truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus in this passage does not mince words in a passionate attack of the rottenness at the heart of official Judaism. This teaching by Jesus done towards the end of his ministry was directed to a section of his community that was already becoming committed to him. At this point in time he had already earned himself the reputation of a radical and controversial leader especially among many Pharisees. I would imagine that the people he addresses are therefore exercising a measure boldness in listening to this most subversive speech. He tells them, quite bluntly, not to emulate the lives of their double faced religious leaders because they don’t practise what they preach.
What was the problem then? Why does Jesus hit so hard?
The Pharisees were a highly regarded sect. They regarded the Torah as supreme authority to guide them in life, just as their ancestors under Moses’ leadership had been commanded hundreds of years before. Times however had changed. They recognized that for the law to have any direct application in the society they now lived in, it would need to be interpreted and explained in new ways. They were really determined to obey God and follow his commands.
So for instance how would Exodus 20:8 be explained and observed? (remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy) What should people do and not do on a Sabbath day? As a result, the Law was fenced off with many cautionary rules to warn people before they broke it.
For example tailors could not carry a needle late in the day before Sabbath lest they were caught with it in their pockets on the Sabbath day. Similarly a Sabbath day’s journey could not exceed 2000 cubits, a distance similar to the space between the people of Israel and the Ark of the Covenant when they first entered Canaan. This became the Sabbath day’s journey.
As you would expect, this made the law a huge burden to people. Psalm 119:174 …your law gives me delight. Following God’s law was supposed to be a pleasurable activity; to invite joy and gladness from God’s people. This however had been slowly extinguished. All the mini rules that had been crafted to ensure adherence to God’s law had gradually become a burden to people and a source of pride for the Pharisees. Note however that Jesus does not deny the legitimacy of their position and function in society. They sit on Moses’ seat and rightly so. It is an expression that is symbolic of the teaching authority that they have. However, the authority to sit on Moses’ seat was a huge privilege and carried an enormous responsibility and expectations, something they had failed to live up to.
And so Jesus accuses them of performing their religious duties for everybody to see. V5 Everything they do is done for people to see. And what were the religious duties that Jesus could have been referring to? Well Matthew 6, Jesus in another earlier attack on the Pharisees’ religious piety selects almsgiving, prayer and fasting as cardinal examples of religious observance. The accusation here again is the display that accompanies it.
This time Jesus goes a step further and includes their attire in his criticism. Phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with biblical verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. They serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. A noble religious practice had been turned into an opportunity to show off.
And Jesus continues in the attack:
‘…they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seat in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect at market places and to have people call them ‘rabbi’
Finally he concludes by declaring; The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
I must confess that this is a terrifying passage to preach on, not least because of an acute awareness of my own shortcoming on the standards that Jesus proposes. This passage is a no nonsense denunciation of the hypocritical double lives that our human nature so easily gravitates towards.
For me there is a question that won’t go away – John do you practice what you preach? One thing I know is that I can only stand before you because of God’s grace which is amazing and that encourages me to carry on – trusting God and crying to him as I increasingly recognize how fruitless and futile all my efforts are without him.
Everything they do is done for people to see – but such, who exalt themselves, will be humbled, Jesus says.
And Jesus asks you and I a question at this juncture - is there any religious duty that you do for people to see?
This status seeking attitude and hypocrisy is forbidden for followers of Jesus. Don’t go there, he reminds his listeners. According to CS Lewis in his classic Mere Christianity, self conceit is a vice that no person in the world is free of, even Christians. It is something that we can hardly admit to. He continues; …such people pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to God and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellow-men. And he suggests a practical way out of this; the first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
That’s pretty ruthless of Lewis, don’t you think? Oh yes, very mean but for a good reason. It is a very deceptive path. Once we depart from the path of humility, then we find ourselves on a quick downward slide in the opposite direction called hypocrisy. Friends we must recover that lost image of who we are when no one is looking. Be warned that this is uncomfortable and even alien since we learn form very early in our lives to master this double-sidedness. We are masters of the show. Let’s endeavour to recover who we are before the curtains open, the real we. This unconventional attitude of pursuing after truth in all its dimensions, is what Jesus requires of his followers. He delights in this. And after all, there is nothing we can hide form God.
David in his Psalm 145:18 reminds us that ‘the Lord is near to all who call on him…in truth’ My prayer is that we would pursue truth and humility in all that we do. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Amen.
Humility vs Hypocrisy
At the beginning of this series of various teachings of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew, we were reminded that we needed to change and embrace the humility of a child. Matthew 18:3…truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus in this passage does not mince words in a passionate attack of the rottenness at the heart of official Judaism. This teaching by Jesus done towards the end of his ministry was directed to a section of his community that was already becoming committed to him. At this point in time he had already earned himself the reputation of a radical and controversial leader especially among many Pharisees. I would imagine that the people he addresses are therefore exercising a measure boldness in listening to this most subversive speech. He tells them, quite bluntly, not to emulate the lives of their double faced religious leaders because they don’t practise what they preach.
What was the problem then? Why does Jesus hit so hard?
The Pharisees were a highly regarded sect. They regarded the Torah as supreme authority to guide them in life, just as their ancestors under Moses’ leadership had been commanded hundreds of years before. Times however had changed. They recognized that for the law to have any direct application in the society they now lived in, it would need to be interpreted and explained in new ways. They were really determined to obey God and follow his commands.
So for instance how would Exodus 20:8 be explained and observed? (remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy) What should people do and not do on a Sabbath day? As a result, the Law was fenced off with many cautionary rules to warn people before they broke it.
For example tailors could not carry a needle late in the day before Sabbath lest they were caught with it in their pockets on the Sabbath day. Similarly a Sabbath day’s journey could not exceed 2000 cubits, a distance similar to the space between the people of Israel and the Ark of the Covenant when they first entered Canaan. This became the Sabbath day’s journey.
As you would expect, this made the law a huge burden to people. Psalm 119:174 …your law gives me delight. Following God’s law was supposed to be a pleasurable activity; to invite joy and gladness from God’s people. This however had been slowly extinguished. All the mini rules that had been crafted to ensure adherence to God’s law had gradually become a burden to people and a source of pride for the Pharisees. Note however that Jesus does not deny the legitimacy of their position and function in society. They sit on Moses’ seat and rightly so. It is an expression that is symbolic of the teaching authority that they have. However, the authority to sit on Moses’ seat was a huge privilege and carried an enormous responsibility and expectations, something they had failed to live up to.
And so Jesus accuses them of performing their religious duties for everybody to see. V5 Everything they do is done for people to see. And what were the religious duties that Jesus could have been referring to? Well Matthew 6, Jesus in another earlier attack on the Pharisees’ religious piety selects almsgiving, prayer and fasting as cardinal examples of religious observance. The accusation here again is the display that accompanies it.
This time Jesus goes a step further and includes their attire in his criticism. Phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with biblical verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. They serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. A noble religious practice had been turned into an opportunity to show off.
And Jesus continues in the attack:
‘…they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seat in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect at market places and to have people call them ‘rabbi’
Finally he concludes by declaring; The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
I must confess that this is a terrifying passage to preach on, not least because of an acute awareness of my own shortcoming on the standards that Jesus proposes. This passage is a no nonsense denunciation of the hypocritical double lives that our human nature so easily gravitates towards.
For me there is a question that won’t go away – John do you practice what you preach? One thing I know is that I can only stand before you because of God’s grace which is amazing and that encourages me to carry on – trusting God and crying to him as I increasingly recognize how fruitless and futile all my efforts are without him.
Everything they do is done for people to see – but such, who exalt themselves, will be humbled, Jesus says.
And Jesus asks you and I a question at this juncture - is there any religious duty that you do for people to see?
This status seeking attitude and hypocrisy is forbidden for followers of Jesus. Don’t go there, he reminds his listeners. According to CS Lewis in his classic Mere Christianity, self conceit is a vice that no person in the world is free of, even Christians. It is something that we can hardly admit to. He continues; …such people pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to God and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellow-men. And he suggests a practical way out of this; the first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
That’s pretty ruthless of Lewis, don’t you think? Oh yes, very mean but for a good reason. It is a very deceptive path. Once we depart from the path of humility, then we find ourselves on a quick downward slide in the opposite direction called hypocrisy. Friends we must recover that lost image of who we are when no one is looking. Be warned that this is uncomfortable and even alien since we learn form very early in our lives to master this double-sidedness. We are masters of the show. Let’s endeavour to recover who we are before the curtains open, the real we. This unconventional attitude of pursuing after truth in all its dimensions, is what Jesus requires of his followers. He delights in this. And after all, there is nothing we can hide form God.
David in his Psalm 145:18 reminds us that ‘the Lord is near to all who call on him…in truth’ My prayer is that we would pursue truth and humility in all that we do. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 1:17 pm
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