Smack Down [part 2]: The Price of Hypocrisy ...

In the wrestling ring it is understood that no-one is actually supposed to get hurt.  It looks like they would.  But it is supposed to be only how it looks, not how it really is.  When delivering a spiritual smack down, the intent was not to seriously hurt the people targeted.  Only their prides would actually be wounded.  The intent was to “get in their faces” enough to cause them to re-think what they were saying, and in opposition, what they were doing.  A professional wrestler is truly professional about how they make what is otherwise a pretend fight - look so real.  If you let yourself, you can easily get lost in the spectacle and allow your imagination to make it real.  When you do this, you blur the line between intent and reality until that line gets harder and harder to see.  It is no different in the spiritual realm.  Those who “talk a good game” sometimes believe what they say to be the truth.  And for as much as their minds believe it, their feet and hands still tell a different story.  The words sound right.  But the body does not follow, or at least it does not follow the words, it still follows the desires of the heart.

This is the basic problem with any religion that embraces “legalism”.  Legalism declares that you can earn your way into paradise based on what you do.  Feed the poor, visit those in prison, shelter the homeless and you are in fact “doing” what Christ asked you to do.  So do it, and you should be saved right?  The problem for the legalist becomes … exactly how much of this do we have to do, to get into heaven?  Can I feed the poor 3-4 times and tick that checkmark off of Jesus’ list?  Or do I have to do it 3-4 times a year in order to stay current with the Lord.  When I was a child, I once visited my uncle in prison for bank robbery in Massachusetts.  Does that count?  He was family, and it was my mom who actually took me, so does that go under her list or can I count it as one of my own.  Outside of that, I don’t believe I have ever been inside of any prison myself for any reason.  Not so much a scared straight situation as just one of those places you don’t pick over Disneyland.  The legalist must ponder the question how much is enough.  I figured out a loophole for myself; I just support prison ministries financially, and call it a day. 😊

But this is the basic flaw in any kind of religion that asks you to “do” things to “earn” favor.  And every false religion on planet earth has this tenant at its core.  To do, without the motive to do, may still provide benefit to the audience, but not so much a change inside of who you remain.  Jesus is the only deity offering to change what you want, how you love, and therefore why you do what you do.  Which essentially means, Jesus offers the only form of religion that has a shot at working.  The others offer a life of self-sacrifice, but not much of a life of real change.  When Jesus changes how you think, and how you love.  Your passion for others drives you to do what you do.  And the question “how much is enough” just does not come up.  Because the answer is, there is no limit to it, no upper end, no amount of tick marks on any contrived list that would ever be enough.  After that kind of transformation, you begin to love like He loves, and find that you cannot rest while need exists within your reach.  That kind of walking the walk is not a natural state for most of us.  It is only one that happens AFTER He transforms who you are, NOT before it.  It is the painful difference between the words, and the deeds.

My Pharisee forefathers did not understand this.  They believed in balance.  They believed there must be a balance between what is good for “me”, and what is good for “others”.  They believed love should not be lopsided, with all of ours poured out on someone else, and never any of it reserved for ourselves.  And nearly ALL of modern Christianity would seem to agree with them.  This is why when Jesus appears, and lives a life that reveals an entirely different way to love.  It is a silent rebuke to what they believe.  And for Jesus, it is not just about words, but about constant unyielding demonstrations of God’s love, that has no limit for you or me.  Loving like God loves, is not a trivial thing, or a natural one.  It defies human limits of exhaustion, and keeps going anyway, even for only the littlest opportunity.  My Pharisee forefathers thought this impossible to do.  As again, nearly all of modern Christianity would agree.  And they are both right.  If you look for the strength to love this way within yourself.  That kind of love can ONLY happen through His transformation of “who” you are – effectively saving you from you.

Hypocrisy then, is an expression of lost hope.  It is the human recognition that we just have no more within us, to pretend to love the way God loves.  And if His tick mark list is truly infinite, there is no way we will ever fill it.  Backwards thinking about how a change in motives works.  And if shock-and-awe was needed to wake us up to the reality of how salvation should work, then so be it.  Jesus would call out the hypocrisy we have all become numb to.  Jesus would offer a series of “woes” to those who claim to represent “His” church, but still depend on human strength to get anything done.  You will note these stinging rebukes did not go out to “sinners”.  They went out to “saints”.  Leaders in the faith had adopted this false thinking, and the practice, and the teachings needed to stop.  If it took a spiritual smack-down to see it done, the get ready for one that happens to accomplish that feat.

Matthew picks the story back up in chapter twenty-three of his gospel to the Hebrews, beginning in verse 13 Jesus says … “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”  Ouch!  Here Jesus offers a frank assessment of the effect of this self-reliance within His church.  It prevents both the teacher, and the parishioner from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.  Let that sink in for a minute.  It is your self-reliance that keeps you OUT of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is these doctrines you spread to others that is keeping them out as well.  Christians worry about being a stumbling block to others.  They cite this premise when considering what to eat, or what entertainment venue they frequent.  But in truth, the stumbling block is far more meaty and more relevant.  Self-reliance is what keeps us away from transformation.  When you teach others that “they” have the power over sin, you block up the doors, and cause them to stumble into a life that leads only to hypocrisy and lost hope.

Jesus continues in verse 14 saying … “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”  Here is where evidence of the hypocrisy presents itself.  How someone professing the religion of Jesus would have no problem making financial gains on top of the backs of others, even when those others are already disadvantaged.  The strong prey on the weak.  No different within the church than outside of it.  Industries spring up designed to take money from people who can scarcely afford to lose it.  Yet countless “Christian” employees fill their ranks and perform whatever duties are asked without question.  Even when it is the people in need who must suffer to see these industries succeed.  My Pharisee forefathers were willing to “devour” the widow’s house.  That is not just a casual lack of empathy.  It is a purposeful state of intent, emulating the lion in his hunt.  Have we come round to this behavior again?  Do I fund prison ministries and then vote to make sentences 3 times longer without the possibility of mercy by a judge, instead forcing them to impose a sentence that is stern, and lacking mercy of any kind.  Myself, all the gleeful, feeling vindicated when the amendments are approved in the state legislatures.

Or has the modern version of hypocrisy descended into creating a cottage industry out of Christianity itself.  Asking for donations to earn favor from God, to fund the leaders of a church to levels of excess that would make Donald Trump blush.  Despite the need of the membership, donations are solicited without regard for the church family; giving back to those in need within its ranks.  Our religious systems seem very adept at funneling money up; but only reach down in times of natural disasters of an epic scale.  Sometimes the disaster is very personal, and it is epic to the fathers, mothers, and children who bare its weight in silence – all while being solicited for donations under the guise of earning favor of God, the implication being that to withhold would be to incite His wrath.  Christian leaders in our modern age should know by now, giving is not done to curry favor.  Giving is done as a blessing to the giver, an opportunity, a privilege to extend love.  If we present it any other way, or imply demand, we dishonor Christ and ingrain hypocrisy in yet another generation of believers.

Jesus continues in verse 15 saying … “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”  Aarrg!  We pride ourselves on our church missionary endeavors.  We cross sea and land, bringing translated copies of our Bibles.  But then only to teach doctrines of “choice” as it relates to the cessation of sin, and self-reliance as it relates to salvation.  We teach a stern doctrine that judges others who like the new convert need our love, and the witness of our lives, to have the motivation to even seek a change.  We make the new convert as hard as we are to sin, and more specifically to the sinners who are still enslaved to it.  We neither free them from the evil of their sin, nor see them reform others in any way.  We give them the doctrine of “forgiveness” and call that enough.  Two times the child of hell than we are, and turn them loose on their communities, spreading a message of judgement, not of redemptive love that has the power to really bring change.

Jesus continues in verse 16 saying … “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! [verse 17] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? [verse 18] And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. [verse 19] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? [verse 20] Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. [verse 21] And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. [verse 22] And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.”  Technicalities.  The weapon of the legalist is to find obscure technicalities upon which the values of the law can be circumvented. 

It is better for men not to swear by anything.  To make solemn vows, is to presume we are capable of keeping those vows.  It implies we have the strength within us to do what we say.  When in truth, none of us know the future, or have the least influence on controlling it.  What we say in health, we may fully regret when sitting in cancer.  What we value in greed, may cause us absolute pain when we see what it truly costs.  Swearing, or vowing, or making promises and commitments we think are absolute – imply a self-reliance that is no different from the self-reliance that keeps us out of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus came to show us what absolute dependence upon God looks like.  He prayed every day bending His own will to the will of His Father, every single day, every single moment.  When the mother of His disciples asked for position for her sons, Jesus did not commit to it.  Instead He deferred to the will of His Father.  He made no vow.  His only promises to us are based in the same promises His Father has made to us.  He needed no technicalities to keep up His end.

Does the scribe technically obey the law, if they observe all the technicalities and adhere strictly to the letter of the law?  Do you?  The Commandments state not to commit adultery.  But what about Pre-Marital sex?  What about Marital Rape?  Incest?  Cultural forced abstinence and/or genital mutilation upon children.  Masturbation.  One can avoid having sex with a married partner and technically keep the letter of the law, but what about the values of the law?  When you truly love another, you do not think to hurt them, in any way, ever.  When you value others, you do not think to violate them even if only in your mind in order to bring you self-gratification.  For when you truly love others, your own gratification comes from how you love them, not in what you do, to stimulate the baser instincts of your own selfish passions.  When you treasure another, you would not humiliate or devalue them, by not offering them the protective commitment of marriage before attempting an intimacy with them that is best when done as God originally outlined.  Finding technicalities, or omissions, within the law, dishonors the law, and dishonors the Author of the law.  But worse, it reveals how far from harmony you are from the law, and how little you understand about truly loving others more than yourself.  Hypocrisy branded in yet another way.

A “woe” is no small thing.  It is a term decrying great sadness.  It is a term that when employed allows the person saying it to understand how bad their condition has become.  And Jesus is making a series of “woes” to us, His saints, because of our hypocrisy, our lost hope, our failed self-reliance that keeps us out of the Kingdom of Heaven.  But the list of woes in this smack down was not to be ended just yet …

 

Fanfare that precedes Disappointment ...

Anticipation will rot your brain.  Anticipating something is rarely ever a reflection of the reality of something.  Perhaps this is because our imaginations are greater than our capabilities.  Think back to your wedding day as an example.  How much time goes into making preparations for that day?  The food, the music, the paper invitations, the clothing, the guests, the reception … this list is as long as your arm.  It often takes more than 2 people to get it done.  There is an entire cottage industry of wedding planning, justifiably so, to deal the immensity of having a single spectacular day.  And the expense that goes with having “the” perfect day is sizeable as well.  You can worry yourself sick about your wedding day, right up until it happens, and then in hindsight remember it only as perfect.  Or perhaps ever watch a child anticipate going to Disney World?  It is nearly the same thing reduced into an age-appropriate comparison.  The anticipation of Disney World, or Christmas, can make your kid nearly nuts.  Rare that anything can ever live up to the hype we can assign to it while in anticipation mode.  And vacations; don’t even get me started.

So you would think that kind of thing doesn’t happen in scripture right?  At least not in the time of Christ.  But, … wait for it 😊, … it does happen.  And like most things, the reason why the anticipation does not match the reality, is because what we “believe” about what will or should happen, is mistaken.  Sometimes horribly mistaken.  Other gospel authors address the “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem from a number of different perspectives.  The central theme in all of them, is great excitement about Jesus coming “home” to the capital city of the nation.  There is just a huge feeling in the air itself, that Jesus is finally going home to become King of Israel, and begin the work of pushing the Romans out of Dodge.  Honestly this idea terrified the Pharisees and Sadducees.  If Jesus did this, they lose all leverage in opposing Him.  Jesus would be King of the land, and He had already shown Himself to be king of the church, or the faith.  Arguing with Jesus about anything after that would be pointless, and likely wind you up on the point of an Israelite spear, or under a ton of nearby Israelite stones.  This lack of pushing out the Romans, was “the” only thing the Sanhedrin had to cling to, to verify that Jesus was a false Messiah.  Ironic, how a leadership united by hatred of Rome, still preferred Rome to The Truth.  Are our modern denominations too far from this today?  Are we?

But enough Debbie-downer, this story is about anticipation, and it is going to begin with a bang!  Matthew writes his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries.  In doing so, Matthew wants to correlate the Old and New Testaments where Jesus is concerned.  Matthew wants to show the fulfillment of prophecy of Isaiah and OT prophets through what Jesus actually did.  And frankly what no other human before or since has ever even come close to.  In addition to the mistaken point of view of what the mission of the Messiah was, there were also a number of other prophecies that were fulfilled exactly as specified.  One need not throw out the Word, because something they believed in, was in error.  No, a great many other things happen exactly as outlined.  And the things we were wrong about, with perhaps a second look, and through the lens of Jesus, can find a better interpretation of, than first imagined.  Matthew is attempting to encourage his contemporaries, not to discard the Old Testament, or discard Christ, but to find the true harmony in both.

He picks up in chapter twenty-one in verse 1 saying … “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, [verse 2] Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. [verse 3] And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.”  Here Jesus begins with direction, with purpose, and with prophecy.  The great multitude is still in tow.  And the direction leads towards Jerusalem.  Nearly everybody is just seething with anticipation.  They all know where this trip will end, and they are all eager to get there.  But Jesus takes a pause.  Near one of His favorite places of prayer (the mount of Olives), Jesus pauses and asks His 2 disciples (in order that there may be 2 witnesses to what will occur), to go and fetch a colt in a particular place.  If they are questioned about it, by the owner, they are to say a particular thing.  And all will be well.  This is straight up prophecy.  And as you might imagine, it happens exactly as He has just specified, including the challenge, and response by the owner.

Matthew continues in verse 4 saying … “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, [verse 5] Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”  Keep in mind Jesus did not own an ass, or a colt.  He owned nothing.  And He did not purchase one for this occasion.  For those that would argue (as the Pharisees were quick to point out), that Jesus was “making” the prophecy of Isaiah come true – they have a point.  But to extend that argument, you would have to say that Jesus also “made” an owner of an ass, who happened to have a colt recently; appear at a particular place and time, and then respond in a particular way to these events.  It would have been easier to simply buy the needed animals in advance.  But this is not what took place.  And anticipation continued to rise.  The people were not completely ignorant of the prophecies of Isaiah and the other prophets, and they began to sense their fulfillment.

Matthew continues in verse 6 saying …” And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, [verse 7] And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. [verse 8] And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. [verse 9] And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”  At this point, the crowd begins to take action as well.  Common people begin to lay down palm frawns, and spread out their over coats, and tunics, across the dirt road.  In effect the worlds’ first protracted red carpet.  The idea was to make the road smooth, and give it a royal feel.  They did this without the slightest hesitation, and with no prompting, and with no concern with whether or not the donkey, or colt, might leave behind a few “treasures” on their particular coat which might require extensive cleaning afterwards.  No one cared about that.  Everyone just wanted in on making this road look more elegant for the King of Kings to travel upon.

Then came the music.  You cannot have a processional without awesome music, well you cannot have a “good” processional without awesome music.  And so began spontaneous praise singing from the entire crowd.  Old men, women, little children, of one accord singing in one voice, in multiple part harmony saying HOSANNA.  “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord”.  HOSANNA in the Highest.  HOSANNA to the Son of David.  The entire crowd recognizes the lineage of Joseph, and Mary, and Jesus as direct descendants of the house of David himself.  They then sing praises to the Father God in the highest.  And then sing praises to Jesus their soon to be crowned King.  And with these anthems began to shake the entire Roman empire.  But beyond that, with these anthems began to shake the entire Satanic empire, and evil itself.  These musical anthems foretell the end of evil, the end of death itself.  They foretell a time beyond all of this when life is restored to what it should have been all along.  No one coerced the praise and worship, it was natural, spontaneous, and could not be contained.

Matthew omits the naysayers who attempted to stop it along the way.  The Pharisees who came and demanded that Isaiah’s prophecy dare not be fulfilled in this way.  But Jesus instructed these Pharisees, that if the people were made to be silent, the very stones would cry out in praise.  The appointed time was at hand.  The appointed activity was in full swing.  And no matter what Satan wanted, this was happening, which made all of demon empire tremble even more at the echoes of the refrains blasting above them.  I am sure the courts of heaven echoed these anthem refrains with a more elegant, and boisterous noise than what was taking place on earth.  The angels sing their praises for the same reasons we do.  Because they want to.  Because they love it.  And because they mean every word of it.  This day, the music, the self-sacrifice, and the naked anticipation of what was coming was at its zenith.  It would never get any higher than it was now.  The worship service was in full swing.

But something goes sideways.  Matthew continues in verse 10 saying … “And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? [verse 11] And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”  His entry into Jerusalem moves the entire population to take notice.  Excitement bursts from everyone.  And then … we get it wrong.  Like all good modern worship services it only takes one false idea to burst an emotional bubble and leave you with nothing more than a memory of something you no longer understand.  The people ask who this is?  Instead of saying this is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  They answer, this is Jesus, the prophet, of Nazareth, of Galilee.  Not God on earth.  Not part of three in One.  Not the savior of our sins, but instead, just Jesus.  A normal guy like you and me, who happens to have some supernatural abilities.  Let’s force Him to be our King over the Romans.  Good idea.  But wait, where is He?  Where did He go?

The good-guy-prophet, just vanished in front of them.  The crowd once again was unable to force Jesus to become the earthly King they wanted Him to be.  The crowd was unable to force a false interpretation of the prophets no matter how much they wanted it.  No matter how high their emotions were.  No matter how strongly they held their belief, it was wrong, and it was not to come to pass, and they could not make it happen.  Huge disappointment.  And just like that, the entire thing fell apart.  And we think this is merely history?  How many of us crave the emotional high that comes from inspiring music, massive production value, lights, instrumentation, talent, comfort.  Our churches are designed for the ease of attending a show once a week, that lasts a few hours.  It is like going to a movie, only with live players in 3D in front of us.  And we get to join the festivities.  In offering calls, in study, in prayer, in song.  Our worship of God, that begins to swell in us an emotional high of this event.  Follow this with a sermon, that too might be inspiring, elevating, thought provoking.  And how could it get any better?  But just wait, next week is coming and we can do it all over again.  A new Sabbath to anticipate coming once again.

But there in is the rub.  Church is not something you attend.  Church is not something you participate in.  Church is a not a place where you go.  The church of Christ, is something that becomes – who you are.  The Kingdom of Heaven is something that “lives” inside of your heart and mind.  How you love.  Who you love.  Why you love.  Questions that have different answers when you are truly transformed by your surrender to Jesus who can re-create you into what He intended you to be.  “That” is church.  Things I hear.  Things I do.  That do not change me, that do not reach the part of me that would cast aside the old, and embrace the new – are nothing more than entertainment.  I could be watching Pureflix, and get as much out of it. 

When I place the concept of His church as something outside of myself, I am left empty.  When I look at the poor, and the needy, and the ones in open sin; and believe the “church”, that is the organization of the church, should do something about that.  I am left empty.  When I make excuse, by making donation, instead of making surrender – I am left empty.  Something has gone sideways in modern Christianity.  We have trained ourselves to treat church as something we are barely a part of.  We refer to church like we refer to any corporate entity.  It could just as easily be called Exxon.  Sure we identify with the church corporate body, but we miss the entirety of the personal power of change – because we refuse to accept the method from where change springs.  We make Jesus, that good-guy God who died for our sins and will one day take us to heaven.  But we refuse to acknowledge Him as our personal Creator, capable of remaking us, if we would only but personally allow Him to do so.  No corporate body can make that happen, but it sure can distract from it. 

Corporate church tells you not to worry about your sins, because there is always forgiveness for them.  In so doing they make grace cheap, of little worth.  Or they take the other extreme where they tell you to do nothing but focus on your sins, and make a “choice” to simply stop sinning, leaving the power of perfection in your hands, and tacitly telling you, it is your fault you continue to sin – and you will never make it to heaven until you stop doing it.  But I say, your sin is an addiction to self-love, that is more powerful than any cocaine habit ever dreamed of being.  You do not control it.  You were not meant to.  You were also not meant to keep living in the pain your sin causes, both you and everyone else.  You were meant to give it to Jesus, and let Him take them from you.  Not just forgive, but reform.  To truly change how you live, because you surrender any notions of control over to Jesus, giving Him full control of how you think, of what you want, of who you love, and of how you love.  That kind of full surrender changes you, and YOU become church.  Not a church of self-worship.  But a church fully surrendered to Christ, who then becomes in harmony with His laws, because His laws of love are etched into your heart.

All that anticipation wasted, because the doctrines of man, cause you to look at Jesus for what He could do for you in this world.  Instead of looking at our God for what He could work within you, and transform you to be.  Trusting in Jesus to save you.  To do what He promised.  If you will but get out of the way.  Only after you do this, will doctrine begin to make sense to you.  Only after you do this, can obedience become something not just possible within you, but natural within you.  That is change.  That is church.  Not something outside, but something deeply personal.  No one else has a say about that.  But once it infects you, you will hardly be able to stop talking about it.  You will not understand how it happens, but you will see with your own eyes, what it does to you.  And how you begin to truly love others, and love yourself less.  This is His love you were meant to reflect.  This is living where anticipation meets reality, instead of being a shallow shadow of what was possible.  Let us not be a repeat of the history of these events, but rather let them guide us to a surrender to God we trust completely to make us His church, how He wants it to be.  His reality will always outshine our anticipation.

 

Rebukes to Leadership ...

In a contest, there is usually only one winner.  Where it comes to sports, we are fine with that.  Where it happens inside the church doors, we are divided by it.  On the playing field it is a contest of wills, who wants to win, how far can they push themselves to achieve it.  Inside the church doors, it is also a contest of wills, usually founded in the cement of ego, and rarely in consideration of “who” wins, and how many lose because of it.  Questions over doctrine, or rather over the interpretation of doctrines have divided bodies of Christ for centuries.  This has always been a sad thing, where the enemies of Christ appear the only “winners”.  But when disagreements over style and preference are elevated to questions of faith, because the ego of those in hardened positions will see no other reason; the enemies of Christ not only have the “win”, they have all the trimmings of the parades that go with it.  In these cases, division becomes the doctrine we exemplify, and tolerance and patience are put on the shelf like species of birds long since extinct.

While the membership joins in this phenomenon, and sometimes even form the catalyst for starting it, it is the leadership who bears the responsibility for quelling it and restoring order to the body.  It is our leaders who carry the burden of so patient a love, they are able to reason with members who may have long since abandoned it.  This is no easy feat.  It requires a close connection with our God, a complete trust and reliance upon Him.  And it requires a willingness to let the words of the Holy Spirit proceed from your mouth, even when you had other thoughts and feelings on the matter.  Make no mistake, there is only one entity that sows division, and would prefer a church “split” than come to resolution or tolerance to maintain the body united.  That entity is supernatural but not aligned to God, or His Kingdom, it is Satan.  The devil’s hoard may appear as angels of light, trying to persuade the believer that a certain level of fanaticism is required over some text in order to keep the “world” away from the saints.  These demons-under-mask then proceed to convince the believer that other members of the body, are in fact the “world” and must be cast out.  And before long the body of Christ is at war with itself.  While laughter in Satanic places thunders under our feet.

Division leads to isolation, and isolation of the believer like Eve who wandered from the side of her husband so long ago, leads to a vulnerability against demonic forces who themselves are aligned with a singular purpose – to inflict pain upon the heart of God, by the torture and death of His children on planet earth.  The kingdom of Satan has but one mantra, to cause man to self-destruct, to cause man to reject the love of God, and embrace the ideas of self-reliance, and power, even if the power is only self-control.  While our focus and vision remain inward, or upon ourselves, we look away from Jesus, and in so doing, sink into the sea as Peter did when asked to exit the boat and walk on water like His Lord.  Peter did the impossible while his gaze was fixed on Jesus, the minute he turned to look back at his friends, he sunk like a brick.  So when we look inward to fix ourselves, and improve ourselves, and save ourselves – we look away from Jesus to do it, and follow a plan long conceived in the dark places where only hatred of God exists as the binding agent.

In our previous study, there was a war brewing over “how” the Sabbath must be kept.  Ironically, and perhaps to the greatest Satanic glee, the war would place the leadership of the church of God, against the God they purported to serve.  It would be the grandest of all divisions.  It had already reached the point where the leadership of God’s church met formally to plan how they might destroy, that is kill, Jesus.  They were furious over Jesus choosing to heal a single man’s deformed hand on the Sabbath day, in their mind choosing to work on Sabbath, and declaring it was ok to do good on Sabbath (that is good for others).  The Pharisees, and Sadducees, and Sanhedrin were having no part in this.  This new way to interpret the law was not going to happen on their watch.  The heretic named Jesus must die, before too many of the people adopted His position of love and mercy being the most important thing.  The law was to be the most important thing, not love or mercy, or any kind of squishy stuff like that.

But unbeknownst to them, Jesus read their thoughts and intentions after their last failure to find fault with Him.  Matthew in his gospel to the Hebrews, continues the story in chapter twelve picking up in verse 15 saying … “But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; [verse 16] And charged them that they should not make him known:”  Jesus leaves their grasp, but He does not run and hide.  Nor does Jesus change His behavior to accommodate the feelings of the leadership.  For Jesus cannot change who He is, nor will He reveal anything other than the TRUE will of God to us.  And what is that will?  As the great crowds follow Him out of the synagogue, they bring to Him their sick and ill, and “HE HEALED THEM ALL”.  Not only has Jesus healed one man on Sabbath, He has healed hundreds or thousands on this day.  This is not meant to be a poke-in-the-eye of the Pharisees, in fact He tells all those He healed to keep it on the down low.   To have hundreds or thousands of people declaring Jesus to be the Son of God would in fact be a poke-in-the-eye of the Pharisees, and that is not what He wants.

But Jesus heals these people because Jesus MUST heal these people as that kind of love and mercy IS THE WILL of God.  Not just for one man with a withered hand who happened to meet His gaze in the back of a synagogue, but for every single man, woman, or child, who came to Him, turning their eyes upon His, and finding a love of God, that does not ever will us to live like we live.  Jesus is not just interested in healing the physical infirmities that we have, but in taking from us the desire to sin that causes us infinitely more pain.  The reconstruction of who we are from the inside, is equally upon the mind and will of our God.  And our God is bent on performing this action on any who would come to Him to find it.  He does not discriminate in any way.  While the Jews believed this might only happen to them, because of their birthright, and because Jesus was one of them.  Jesus does this for literally everyone.

Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, [verse 18] Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.  [verse 19] He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.  [verse 20] A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.  [verse 21] And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”  Consider what Matthew and Isaiah before him say of the judgment of God, of what judgment looks like to God.  Jesus heals and restores, and offers salvation to all.  That is what judgment of Gentiles looks like in real life.  Judgment that leads unto victory is the “judgment” that God reveals even to people who are outside of the deserving Jewish bloodline.  Gentiles, meaning us, will trust in His name, in the name of Jesus.

Notice what Judgment does not look like from Jesus and His Father God, there is not a single reference to “or else”.  There is not a single reference to “fire”, let alone “eternal fire”.  There is not a single reference to the keeping of the law.  This is not because the law is moot.  This is because you can ONLY keep the law through the recreation of how your heart thinks and feels, in essence how you love.  When you love others like Jesus loves others, you become in harmony with the law, such that debating how you keep it is unnecessary.  You keep it, because it is part of who you are.  And the clear will of our God is revealed.  He is not interested in dealing out punishment we deserve, He is interested in dealing out healing from the disease we embrace.  The clear will of God is the redemption of mankind, of all of mankind, to the worst of us.  That is what the judgment of God looks like to the prophet, and through the eyes of Matthew as he bears witness to it in real life.

But where the healing of one inflamed the passion of the Pharisees, the healing of so many, and of Gentiles, is more than their vanity can bear.  Any reason that might have led to tolerance, or unity with Jesus is gone.  They must destroy Him on every level.  So they begin with His credibility.  They introduce the idea that Jesus (who must be evil), is able to heal through the power of Satan rather than through God.  It only takes a quick look to compare the reaction of those who find joy in the relief of suffering, and those who accuse God of being Satan for having relieved that suffering.  Matthew continues in verse 22 saying … “Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. [verse 23] And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?”  The people see the miraculous reformation of one gone so far he was possessed of Satan, who has now been freed of Satan.  The people declare Jesus to be “the son of David” which is to say the long-awaited Messiah.

Matthew continues in verse 24 saying … “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.”  This is an attempt by the leadership to destroy the credibility of any who would dare to oppose them.  And the technique follows us down through the ages right into the churches of Jesus today.  When Luther dares to oppose Rome, dares to ask the leadership of the church in his day, to reform its practices and realign closer to the ideals of Jesus.  The first attack is to label him a heretic.  When the youth of our day, examine our hypocrisy and rigid expectations, and attempt to call us to realign how we treat those in need, and how we attempt to reach those who today do not hear – what is the first response, to label them as under the influence of Satan, attempting to bring the world into the church.  Division reigns today.  Division that would lead to isolation, and isolation to excommunication of those with different ideas.  What they do to Christ, we do to each other under the same motive and banner as the true leader of darker origins.

Jesus responds with the truth of it, for He can offer nothing else picking up in verse 25 saying … “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:”  The destination of division is destruction.  The destination of isolation is destruction.  Our churches cannot withstand the tearing of each other, and call that any kind of success, it is failure nothing more.  Those members who would engage in it, engage in the destroying the very fabric of the body of Christ.  Those leaders who would promote it, no matter what line of reasoning, or perceived fanaticism that is required, do nothing more than the devils bidding.  Division can lead ultimately only to destruction.

Jesus continues in verse 26 saying … “And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? [verse 27] And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. [verse 28] But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. [verse 29] Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. [verse 30] He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”  Jesus points out that if Satan loses his unity, his kingdom would fall just like any other.  The leading of people to Jesus therefore cannot be of Satan, and so must be of God.  Otherwise Satan’s kingdom loses the very thing it wants.  The goal of Satan’s kingdom is to lead people away from Jesus not towards Him.

Then comes the most stinging rebuke to church leadership offered down through the ages.  He that is not with Me, is against Me.  The leadership of the church in the days of Christ was not with Him, and therefore decidedly against Him.  Those who value the law over love and mercy that underlie the law have found a way to be against Christ.  The rebuke continues; and he that gathers not with me, scatters abroad.  Those leaders who do not war to maintain unity, war to sow division.  Sabbath observance was never meant to be confined to a list of do’s and don’ts – it was meant to be about a relationship with Jesus, that values our time with Jesus, and puts away anything else we can avoid so as not to be distracted from that time and association for a day.  Every seventh day we are afforded the presence of our God in a special way like no other.  Are we so bent on squandering that because we have “important” things to do like work, or shop, or entertain ourselves with themes the world enjoys?  Are we ready to be so selfish with our time with God, that we would cause others to serve us during this day, and therefore miss what God may have to offer them?

Or for a change, can we rethink about how we spend our time.  Can we enjoy music that calls the mind to Jesus, no matter what that music sounds like.  Can we observe visual stimuli that is rooted in the stories of the Bible or of modern Christianity, that calls the mind to Christ and inspires us to share with others.  Can we relook and open our eyes to those in need, be they in pews next door, or in street corners of need, or in families and missions we have heard need our time as much as our money – and in so doing, go attempt to meet that need.  Can we redirect our conversations to the testimonies of what God does for us, and how, and how often.  And finally, can we change the perception of what the clear will of God is, and begin NOT to accept the condition of how we live; asking God to heal what medicine has long been unable to do, or asking God to heal within us what sins we have long been bound up in a cycle of commit and forgive.  To do well upon the Sabbath, to keep it holy, is not just the absence of work, of the following of lists, it is to reflect such love and such mercy that we become the conduits of our Lord Jesus Christ and reflect His light instead of our own blighted perceptions of a God more interested in punishment than redemption – particularly on the day He set aside for us to demonstrate what being close to God might really look like.

 

The Death of Kindness ...

When the heart hardens, it is immune to the needs of others.  When it persists in this condition long enough, kindness dies, and only self-interest remains.  To challenge it then, is to invite a wrath that is content to kill to avoid having to listen.  A simple test for you, when the advertisements for St. Jude’s, Shriners, or the one with abused animals comes on the TV, do you watch?  Those ads are relentless.  They do not just appear once, they are recast over and over and over again.  They nag at the part of you that still has conscience.  Maybe you already donate.  Maybe you have donated for a long time.  But even then, are you able to watch?  Can you stomach watching them every time they come on TV?  Or, perhaps, have they become “white noise” to you now, just another advertisement you are fully able to ignore, like the one for milk before it, and the one for Toyota’s after it?  Do you find the ones with healthy puppies and kittens more “entertaining”?  Sure beats watching one with trembling kitties, or broken spirited puppies, or children missing limbs.  There is only so much the heart can take right?

So lucky for us the heart is not complete stone yet.  But is it on its way there?  One small change the introduction of Jesus into the heart has, is a resetting of the need to arrive.  It is a small thing, but I find a more common thing.  Changed hearts (those that surrender to Jesus and are in the process of transformation from Him), often lose the desire to rush everywhere.  They are able to slow down, because they worry less, and trust more, and realize that unplanned delays may actually be part of a bigger plan that is more important than to-the-second arrival accuracy.  It’s not about being late, or being irresponsible to the needs of others, but it is about trust in the journey itself.  Someone about the relinquishing of control, comes with it a relinquishing of worry and stress, and in its place, the noticing of others who we had become blind by choice to before.

You sit in a food court having lunch.  But because of Jesus’ work in your heart, your food is not the most important thing in front of you.  Now, the teenager on the verge of tears a few tables away, staring blankly into her cell phone that appears intent on publishing only news that brings her dismay, becomes more important to you than the food you went there to eat.  Grabbing a “quick lunch” is now lost, in trying to figure out, “how do I help a stranger, a teenager?”  How do I tell her, that whatever this is, it will pass, and that life is so much bigger than this, and over time will become so much better than whatever thing her phone has just informed her of?  The mystery of now wanting to help, completely overrides, the previous intent to eat.  You do not even miss the food.  And you cannot keep eating, only wondering, how could I help?

The person who stands in the street at a red light, trolling from window to window.  Do you see him as a panhandler, a sophisticated beggar who probably makes more money doing this job than you do?  Or is he one of the less fortunate, that “there by the grace of God” would be you, instead of him?  Or worse, do you not see him at all, choosing to focus on the light turning green, and your need to speed away to get wherever you are going obsessed with not being late?  All three perspectives have merit, and are true.  But in two of them, kindness dies.  You will surely be late to wherever you are going if you stop for every beggar in the street.  If you really make time to help one of them, or more of them, you might miss your appointment altogether.  And what will happen then?  What will you lose, or those who requested your presence lose?  Would they understand if they knew you were really trying to change the path of a person’s life?  Would they want to help you, to join your cause, or not?  If not, I hope you were not heading to church.

Panhandlers are real.  They are sophisticated.  They know how to play the game of sympathy for dolts who give money every time they see them.  That perspective is true and real and cannot be argued for facts.  Though the math is a little shaky.  Average 5 cars at a stop light, one gives a dollar.  Average stoplights per hour is 15, average hourly income $15 per hour, average annual income $30k cash.  Except, in-climate weather slows down both the willingness to roll down the window, as well as the stamina to stand there in either scorching heat, freezing cold, or pouring rain, or high winds, or thunderstorm.  $30k now gets reduced by the number of bad days due to weather, perhaps 30% average, taking the annual pay down to ~$20K.  The point is simply that working at McDonalds would likely offer a higher and more steady income than standing at a street corner.  If this is about easy money, the panhandler has picked one of the hardest physical professions to achieve it.

But whether you see the one who asks - as a panhandler, or as an unfortunate (that could have easily been you, without the mercy of God), is about perspective of how your heart reacts to the pain of others.  And church folk, are no different than regular folk.  Not in any time, not in any age.  Matthew writes of a man who had a withered hand.  This kind of debility made it especially hard to work in the days of Christ.  There were no ADA laws at that time.  There was no ADA equipment unless perhaps you were friends with a blacksmith, or artisan, who took pity upon your cause.  In a time, when your income depended upon your health, and even that was no guarantee; having a disability and more specifically a withered hand made you a liability to your family and a pariah to the society of which you were a member.  But this man, went to church, or rather to synagogue, every Sabbath. 

The membership knew who he was.  They felt sorry for him, but outside of perhaps throwing a few coins his way every so often there was “nothing” they could do for him … right?  I mean, what can a group of believers do for someone who has a deformity?  God allowed it right?  God must have some purpose for it, there is nothing we can do.  And with that, white noise begins to develop around the eyes and ears.  The man with the withered hand does not even have a name in scripture, he is only known by his deformity.  The membership have come to know him that way, and the most they can muster, is pity, at least from time to time.  And where the membership has become content to fail this man, the leadership has set an even worse example.  The leadership does not know his name either.  The leadership has not taken up his cause to God, rallying the entire church, perhaps the entire region to fast and pray for the healing of this man.  Because after all, God allowed it.  It must be part of some bigger plan God has in mind, what can we do, but accept it, and move on.  And this situation were it not written about by Matthew in the days of Christ, could be written about by any Christian church in modern America today, down to the motives of those involved.

But things were in motion.  Christ was in motion.  He had just exited a corn field where He rebuked the Pharisees over their notions of Sabbath keeping.  And He went straight into their local synagogue where it was only going to get more interesting.  Matthew picks up in his twelfth chapter in verse 9 saying … “And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: [verse 10] And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.”  So as Jesus enters the Synagogue, He first encounters the man with the withered hand sitting in the back, hoping to remain in obscurity.  The seats of honor in the front of the gathering were not reserved for one such as himself.  The eyes of Jesus meet his, and he is captivated by the love he sees in them for one like him.  Never a man loved such as this Man loved.  Something was about to be different.  His picture of who God is was about to be different.  His understanding of what God allows, and what God wills are about to be different.

But not the heart of the Pharisees, for vain obedience to the law, has driven kindness out completely.  Instead of forming a cheering section to applaud when Jesus is done healing this man, instead of at least being silently happy the man will be healed.  They are not.  They are actually planning to use this man’s pain as a way to accuse the Son of God of loving too much.  They know Jesus heals.  There is too much evidence not to believe that.  And they know the healings come from a heart that loves, arguably too much love.  So they intend to trap Jesus in one of His usual healings, because it is the Sabbath day, where “work” is not allowed to be performed.  In their mind, in their version of obedience, even if this man could be healed on Sabbath, he must wait until sundown in order for it to be lawful.  That is the God they serve, or rather the extent to which vanity drives their version of obedience.  That is the picture of God they share in their minds, that God would prefer we suffer from pain and disease during Sabbath, so that the law can be maintained.  They value the law over the people, over the love, over the pain of this man, and kindness is dead and gone within them, only a reflection of who they are remains.

Oh if it were only different today.  While there are no official Pharisees anymore in our churches, there are spiritual Pharisees among us all.  We value arriving at church on time now, and have no time therefore to help the homeless that clutter our roads along the way.  We value our clothing we don on Sabbaths to go to church and therefore do not wish to risk getting them dirty with the dirt of those we find in need.  If perchance a homeless person makes it through the doors of our services, we reserve for them seats in the back, as far from the rest of us with seats of honor as we can get.  The smell of those who have not bathed, is too offensive in the nostrils of those with soap, deodorant, make-up, and the pretentions of knowing Jesus.  Should those homeless be diseased in either body or mind, we offer them sympathy, not the power of God to heal what Jesus ALWAYS longs to heal.  We accept their debilitations as we accept our own, failing to see or to employ the power of a God who wishes for none of us to live the way we do.  But it is Sabbath after all, we have a schedule to meet, and a sequence of activities to observe; there can be no time for the disruptions of those in greater need.  And we read the scriptures with disdain for those in them, while never examining the mirrors into our own hearts.

Matthew records the answer of Jesus to His accusers in verse 11 saying … “And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? [verse 12] How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.”  Jesus calls out to them, their hypocrisy once again.  If they owned but one sheep and it fell in a pit, they would lift it out and save it.  Why?  Not just because they felt sympathy for an animal in pain, but because it is the “one” sheep they owned.  Without it, there will be no more wool, or wool to trade.  Without what the sheep can do for them, they themselves will suffer.  So the sheep must be saved.  Jesus however, sees the man with the withered hand as the “one” sheep of His, who is suffering in the pit of this synagogue.  The man suffers because the other sheep do not pray for his healing, they accept his infirmities as some sort of twisted plan of God’s.  They accept this man’s pain as they accept their own.  When Jesus is publicly stating this is NOT THE WILL OF GOD.  God wants to end the pain of each of us, and of all of us.  That is what redemption and salvation are all about.

Doing well on Sabbath days, is not just about applying the medical remedies our science has come to create or discover.  It is about employing the power of our God to undo the damage of sin, whether that is secret sin, or public.  It is about employing the power of our God to undo the infirmities for which there is no scientific remedy, to demonstrate to all around that only God can do what God has done.  And it is God’s will to do it, not our blighted perception of God that would allow us to accept it.  Doing well on Sabbath days is showing mercy, and showing love to those who need it, to the dirty ones, to the ones trapped in the sins we would like to forget we ever shared.  Sin is a dirty business.  The salvation of mankind will not be done in pristine places where filth no longer exists.  It will be love extended to those like the man with the withered hand to offer hope and healing to those who long abandoned the idea of seeing either.

Matthew continues in verse 13 saying … “Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.”  Jesus employs the power of God to heal what otherwise cannot be healed.  Jesus demonstrates for that man, for that membership, and for us, what the will of God truly is.  Not to accept the pain we have become complacent with, but to know there is something much much better.  To have mercy, to show love, to do well unto others is lawful, is within the spirit of the law and even within the day of Sabbath observance. 

And what do we do with these texts?  We translate them into medical careers to avoid the “conflict” of working on Sabbath.  We become doctors, and medical practitioners of all varieties, so that we “can” work on Sabbath without violating the law.  We treat the day as no different than any other.  Our time is spent how it always is.  Until we request weekend shifts because the pay differentials are better than working “regular” days.  Sabbath becomes something of no special regard, and the only good we do for others is in the application of what medicine can provide.  Thus we lose all faith in something more than medicine can provide, again trusting to the wisdom of our sciences, and not in the power of the God we might otherwise employ.  Treating the sick is not about ignoring medicine, it is about offering help beyond what medicine can do, and hope that it is the clear will of God to do so.

What we offer the homeless is a statement about us, not about them.  The changed heart burns so intensely with love for others, it just cannot sit down and stay still, while need exists in the pews next to us, or in the streets on the ways to the churches we are supposed to worship in.  Worship itself becomes the act of bringing people to Jesus, of introducing them to the source of power that changes hearts and makes lives worth living in the here and the now.  Who cares what songs we sing, and what genre’s they come from, while only the “saved” can hear the melodies?  If you want to re-charge your spiritual batteries, introduce someone new to Jesus, and watch the meter on your heart go bing, bing, bing.  No sermon will ever equal that, no praise and worship session will ever even get close to it.  We praise and sing because of actions like the introduction of a new soul to Jesus, not for routine, or empty emotional highs.

But to challenge the unchanged heart with a comparison of what it might be, results in only two responses.  The heart who will surrender to Jesus will find what that experience is like.  The heart who has decided to reject Jesus does not want to ever see that comparison.  It wants to be left alone.  It wants silence.  It wants to be able to do what it sees fit, how it sees fit.  No Jesus, should ever offer any alternative to how “I” want to do something.  The Pharisees did not want these words.  They did not want the council of God, to be told they were incorrect, to be shown what love really looks like.  They did not rejoice at the healing of this man.  It did not inspire faith in them.  It inspired anger.  It was a clear demonstration of what the heart of God looks like, and what was in their own, an in ours perhaps.  They did, what all sin will someday lead us to do, if we are not saved from ourselves by Jesus.

Matthew records in verse 14 saying … “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.”  The Pharisees began formal planning on how they might kill Jesus.  We read this, and think it is only them, never us.  We would never do such a thing.  But really?  What happens to our hearts as we continually shut them off from the transformation Jesus offers.  We become cold, and calloused.  We begin to present an image of our God, as being the same as we are, cold and apathetic.  We kill our God, by showing Him to the world, as blank reflections of who we are.  Unchanged.  Unreformed.  Not in harmony with His law, because there is little mercy or love in us.  What is there is focused only on our families and ourselves.  This is NOT the picture of Jesus, that the world so longs to see.  It is our enemies who need to see Jesus the most in who we are.  It is the destitute who need Jesus, the ones trapped in sins they cannot ever break free from (just like you and I).  It is the people dealing with deformity who have no hope to ever see it gone, that in fact could see it gone, if “we” but had the faith to employ the power of our God.

Where kindness may have died in past and prologue, it did NOT die in Jesus.  There would be more to come on His ideas of Sabbath observance …