Fan or Follower- Woe!

Transcription

1 Fan or Follower- Woe! Matthew 23: 1-12 March 26, 2017 # 5 of series (Credit to Kyle Idelman, not a fan, chapter 5) Have you ever belonged to a club? One of the first clubs I belonged to was our neighborhood, underground fort club. You couldn't become a member just because you lived in the neighborhood. You had to take the hill. The underground fort was at the top of the hill. Taking the hill didn't mean simply walking up this slight 100 yard incline. No! It meant you had to start at the bottom and get to the top of the hill while the other members hurled grapefruit bombs at you. If you made it you were in! Another club I joined was the FFA...Future Farmers of America. You went through a formal initiation and were a member. There was also the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity I became a member of in my college days at U.F. My high school FFA advisor got me in as a freshman. It was a semester of doing any and everything for the brothers. I was a pledge! That was the nice word they used. Then there was the weekend of initiation. I can't really tell all! It was tough! Enough of my clubs! How about you? Name some clubs you were a part of or still have membership in? Today we sit in on the conversation Jesus had with a club called the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was made up of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. It was a men's only club of 72 men. page 1

2 The two different groups didn't get along! When interpreting scriptures, the Sadducees were very liberal and the Pharisees were quite conservative. The Sadducees served as Chief Priests and Elders. If you were a Sadducee, there was only one way to get into the club...you had to be born into it. If your father was not a Sadducee, you had no chance of getting in the club. The Pharisees didn't have to depend on being born into the club. You became a member of the Pharisee club through your hard work. It required a lot of book time and studying and theological training. Do you think you belong to one of these clubs? Some fans think they are good to go because they grew up in the church. Mom and dad took you to church since you were a child. You're in Sadducee Saint! Some fans think if they study enough, are in Sunday school, small bible studies, read a lot of Christian literature...they're in! Either way your faith has always been more about honoring the heritage of the club than Jesus. Jesus spoke to the crowds and his followers his word for the Sanhedrin club members. No, he was not a member of this club. He was an outsider that spoke the truth about the DTR with them. He Defined The Relationship they had with Jesus with one word, "WOE!" This word "woe" was like a warning, a curse or a "don't even go there!" In his sharing about the club Jesus gave some harsh "woes" regarding the club. In his "woes" we can see that they help us to DTR: define the relationship between a fan or follower. This is not easy. We will be hitting the hill with huge "woe" grapefruits being launched at us. Hopefully, we can dodge them and make it to the Follower Fort! page 2

3 Woe to you when you follow:(grapefruit bomb WOE warning) SACRED HERITAGE over SURRENDERED HEART! Jesus started out his talk with building up the club when it came to following the teachings of Moses. But then comes the "woe!" "But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior." Vs. 3 MSG. They knew the right words to say and the right way to do the rituals. However, it wasn't being lived out in their daily lives. They were more devoted to their sacred heritage than they were to surrendering their hearts to Jesus. They were more concerned with maintaining their museum of faith than they were in following the Messiah...Jesus. They enjoyed staying in their holy huddle of heritage than reaching out to the outsiders and welcome them into the club. It was religion over relationship. Woe when you follow your sacred heritage over a surrendered heart to Jesus. Woe to you when you follow: APPEARANCE over AUTHENTIC! The one word to describe this "woe" is "hypocrite." The word comes to us from the Ancient Greek theatre. The Greek actors were called, "hypocrites" because a single actor would play several characters by simply changing the mask they were wearing. Jesus called the Sanhedrin club "hypocrites" because they were more concerned with their appearance than they were being authentic. He said, "Everything they do is for others to see." Vs. 5 NIV What you see on the outside is not a true reflection of what is on the inside. They are not being authentic in their relationship with Jesus. They wore their mask to temple but changed when they lived out the daily. page 3

4 The problem Jesus had with this "fan" club is that they were not living out, reflecting the truths they studied or taught. It was a "do as I say, not as I do!" How many of us heard that line from a parent? How many of us as a parent have made that statement to a child of ours? One of the amazing things that I still haven't figured out is reflection. I would imagine most of us have looked into a lake or puddle and seen our reflection. It is a true reflection. You look and you see you! What would your reaction be if one time you looked into the water and saw some strange face looking back at you! I don't know about you but I would be looking over my shoulder to see if someone was playing a trick on me. When I discovered I was alone I would freak! Woe to us when what we reflect on the outside is not authentic. Why do we try to live by appearance and not authentic? Jesus says, "Woe to you who follow a false reflection to appear to be someone you are not." Later on in his talk, Jesus put the authentic this way: "But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty." Vs 12 MSG. Simply put for us who desire to be a follower of Jesus is: "You be you!" Be authentic in your relationship with Jesus. Look for Jesus in others and may others see Jesus reflected in you! Woe to you who follow: RULES over RELATIONSHIP! This next "woe" is straight up and has a powerful consequence. Listen to Jesus tell it like it is: "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter and won't let anyone else in either." Vss MSG page 4

5 Woe! How would you feel if Jesus spoke these words to you? Hopeless fraud of the faith! How does this happen? You follow rules over having an intimate relationship with Jesus. You equate following Jesus with coming to Sunday School, church and or helping with outreach. When we truly learn to follow Jesus we discover that obedience to God comes from the inside out. Rules repel people. The problem comes when the people equate rules with Jesus and so when they repel the rules they repel a relationship with Jesus. The faith of a follower is not going through some initiation into a club. It is a surrendered heart to a personal relationship with Jesus, who went through the initiation for you. Woe to you who follow: LAWS over LOVE! In verses 16 and 17 Jesus reprimanded the club for hairsplitting laws over love for the people. This was the group that got on Jesus for healing someone on the Sabbath. This is like the phrase, "But we have always done it this way!" For a fan there is no room for any fresh expression of one's faith in Jesus. It is a ridiculous love for all the laws over a love for a person. We all struggle with change. But we all must follow in a way that puts love over some ancient law. True the moral truths Jesus taught we still uphold and live out. Why? Because of our love for Him who first loved us and gave his life for us! Woe to you who follow: GUILT over GRACE! Oh church we need to wake up and pay attention here! When rules and laws are followed over a relationship of love you can expect guilt to show up! page 5

6 Guilt comes in the form of the word, "DO!" Do this and don't do that! Fans will eventually grow tired of trying to keep up with the "do this don't do thats" of a religion. Trying to maintain an outer appearance that doesn't match an inner passion soon becomes a heavy weight of guilt! I have brought one of my backpacks to illustrate how this can weigh a fan down. (Put in bags of rice that reflect do's and don'ts, ask for do's and dont's) All this outward appearance begins to weigh you down. To just get through daily life becomes a struggle. We can get weighed down with such fear and guilt of a religion. Jesus has some words for any of us whenever we find ourselves tired and burdened by guilt over grace: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me---watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG) A follower leaves all the guilt at the feet of Jesus. He offers grace! Guilt and grace will always compete for the same space in your life. Give your space to grace! Grace will win every time when you seek Jesus. We saw that in our recent conversations with Nicodemus and with the prostitute. Grace won in their lives! That same grace wins out in any follower of Jesus. page 6

7 Woe to you who follow: MINORS over MAJOR! Why do we worry so much over the minors in life to the expense of spending time on the major? When we do that we miss out on what really matters. One of the greatest tools of Satan is distraction. He seeks to distract us away from following Jesus by getting us all worked up over some minor issue. I remember one time my wife and I getting concerned about our kids not dressing up for church in their "Sunday best!" We finally realized that we were missing the major fact that at least they were in church. Easter Sunday is coming and stores are advertising for us to make sure we buy that Easter Sunday look! I want to give you a reminder not to fret over the minors! Come as you are...simply be you in your relationship with Jesus. Focus on the major of that day...jesus is resurrected from the dead!!! Fans feud and fight over the minors and end up missing the major of showing the love of the resurrected Jesus to a hurting and dying culture. Followers will major on the major truth of Jesus love that is to be shown and shared with others outside the club. Fan or Follower? Woe to you club members, you fans, who follow a sacred heritage of appearance, rules, laws, guilt and minor issues. A follower of Jesus is one who surrenders their heart to an authentic relationship of love and grace. Whoa what a woe! What club do you find yourself a part of: Fan or follower? page 7