Episode 6: 10/29/08

Readings:

Psalm 49
Ezra 6:1-22
Revelation 11:14-12:6
Luke 11:37-52

Sermon:

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.

Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
Luke 11:37-40

You could almost imagine...

You could almost imagine the unimpressed look that the Pharisee gave him as he sat for dinner. On the road much of the time he probably never had many opportunities to wash his clothes, he perhaps looked a bit dusty, maybe even a little bit dirty, and then, as he took his seat at the table, the washtub was left untouched.

But then for that Pharisee, it wasn't just a matter of hygiene, it was matter of the law. The Levitical Code that governed his life, that governed his every step, his ever move, it had rules about every aspect of dining, it had rules about every aspect of the cleanliness. To see this man, this supposed teacher, this one that so many called Rabbi sit at his table without taking the necessary steps or abiding in the necessary customs, it was perplexing to him and perhaps even a little bit offensive.

Knowing the Pharisees, one could only image the condescension in his voice as he mentioned it to Jesus. After all these were the same men who would stand in the temple and pray amidst their arrogance and pride, "God, I thank You, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." (Luke 18:11). They were same who would look to Christ dining with the publicans and sinners, asking in their self righteous tones "How is it that he eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?" (Mark 2:16) With every opportunity they had, they looked to try and shame Jesus, to chip away at his credibility, to make him look unworthy in the eyes of all around in the hopes of destroying him.

As small of a chance as it was, an opportunity to shame him had come upon this Pharisee and he wasn't going to let it pass him by.

There, though Christ's words may have seemed hard, they may have seemed harsh, they were given in the knowledge of who this man was and an understanding of what he was trying to do.

“Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”

So worried about the outward appearances, so worried about the outward show, so worried about how they looked to others, the Pharisees placed their importance not the inner being, but on their outward appearances. There, if they looked righteous to their fellow man, if they looked more righteous than their fellow man, if they abided in every aspect of rigid adherence to the law, they believed that they would be seen as righteous in the eyes of the Lord.

Yet there, placing so much importance on that appearance, where they would be seen as clean on the outside, on the inside they would be unclean.

Compassion, dear brothers and sisters... compassion, love, generosity, these Pharisees, in their quest to be more righteous would forget these things, chasing them far from their minds. Humbleness, meekness, submissiveness, these Pharisees, in their rigid adherence, would cast these things aside, elevating their status, believing that they deserved, they earned, their salvation because of their own works and the selfrighteousness they placed upon their deeds. To them the blessings of God weren't a gift, they were essentially a payment for the show that these men put on for the world to see, like so much theater.

And in that.... Christ, even with his harsh words, would call them to repentance, not in anger or hatred, but in love, understanding that this was the only language they would understand, finding a lesson for them in even the smallest of things.

How often though do we find ourselves like those Pharisees, our concerns the outward appearances, rather than the inner needs? Perhaps we don't speak the words, perhaps we don't say the same things aloud that they said, but how often do we treat our salvation as if it was something that we ourselves have earned, that we ourselves are deserving of because of who we are, not because of who God is, what Christ did and what the Spirit has called us to? How often do we find ourselves more concerned about the small things others are doing, rather than the larger problems we have in our own lives? Are we to be those who Christ asks of when he says "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3 and 4)

There, though we must, in love, as Christ has done, call our brothers and sisters to accountability, it can only be according to the same standards by which we live our own lives. There, though we must worry about the spiritual walks of our beloved brethren, it can only be in so much as seeking a way to edify them in the Gospel message of Christ, yes, showing they are convicted by the law, but also that they are free by the power of the gospel.

Ours must be to worry more about who we are on the inside rather than what we look like on the outside, to magnify that love of Christ in our lives and the lives of others, to show the grace, compassion and mercy of our God for this world, to live our lives as examples of a heavenly walk and yet never believing that somehow we are more righteous, we are more worthy, we are more deserving than our fellow man for it.

There, amidst these things we find then that we are not just washed clean on the outside but, by the blood of the lamb, washed clean on the inside, with a soul that is justified in the eyes of the Lord, realizing that though we may not be perfect, that we are made perfect in His love and there we will not live our lives as the hypocrite does.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.