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Let us
pray: Take my lips and speak through them. Take our thoughts
and think through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire
with love for you. Unless you speak, nothing of significance
will be spoken. Bring us your word, Lord Jesus. Amen.
In every
organization, including the church, there are people who would
rather act the part than do their part. Jesus pointed to those
men in the position of scribe and Pharisee, and charged them
with scathing words. He denounced them, pointed out their
faults, and told his followers to watch out for them. He also
called them hypocrites. "Hypocrite" is an ancient
word for a theatrical actor, a person pretending to be someone
else. Jesus is pointing out the difference between a player
and a pretender. Pretenders look the part, talk the part,
claim the part, but fall short of doing their part. In the
book of Jude, Jude calls these men "clouds without water,
autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead." Jesus challenged
these men's very lives, which they had devoted years to developing.
As much
as I like to think these men were wicked and evil, these guys
didn't eat their young. They weren't monsters. They had no
bug-eyes. They were respectable, and probably looked very
much like we look today. If Jesus challenged me like he challenged
them (and I believe Jesus is challenging me today), I'd probably
get pretty defensive, too. They thought they were doing the
right things, following God's Law. But Jesus exposes them
as primarily self-centered, with God and everyone else further
down on their list of priorities. How much does that hit home
to me today?
I believe
God wants to work through our church to reach our communities
for him, help people know him, help people know his purposes,
help people know his ways; to promote peace, justice, and
truth. What God could do with one life fully devoted to him,
let alone an entire church! As we are in the midst of looking
at what we stand for, let us take a look at these tough words
of Jesus.
Jesus
says, "The scribes and Pharisees sit on the Moses' seat;
therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do
not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach."
Do what
they teach you...even though they are hypocrites. It would
be like me telling you the importance of eating healthy between
bites of my cheeseburger. The fact that I'm eating junk food
does not negate the truth about healthy eating.
Players
deliver the goods. Pretenders promise the goods. How often
do we make empty promises? How often do we not come through
for the people who need us? Emotionally, we are distant. Spiritually,
we are lame. Men, God has called us to be spiritual leaders
for our families. Are we coming through for them? Physically
being there counts, too. Are we making deliveries, or are
we just making promises?
Nothing
is more fun than delivering the goods for God. To be the one
God has picked to share with someone. To be there for someone.
Talk about significant! So much of the time, delivering God's
goods is low on our priorities. If you want to feel significant,
deliver the goods for Jesus Christ. Decide how much you need
- for yourself, your children, your home and your future,
and then give the rest to God's work on earth. Nothing in
this life will match the satisfaction and significance of
delivering the goods for God.
Jesus
says, "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay
them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling
to lift a finger to move them." In other words, they
demand high expectations from people, but don't help them
when they fall under the weight of those burdens. Players
love to see others succeed. Pretenders are only interested
in their own success. Which dominates your thoughts?
Jesus
says, "They do all their deeds to be seen by others;
for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long."
Phylacteries are the armbands they wore, with scripture verses
down them. The Pharisees acted only to be seen and admired
by others.
Players
value integrity. Pretenders value image. Thomas Jefferson
once said, "God grant that men of principle shall be
our principal men." And women. We are so surface driven
today, that we judge others instantly, just by the image they
project.
Jesus
says, "They love to have the place of honor at banquets
and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with
respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them
rabbi." They were proud. They gloried in themselves and
what they had done, not in God and what God has done.
Players
are mission-conscious. Pretenders are position-conscious.
Players will give up a position to achieve a mission. Pretenders
will give up a mission to achieve a position.
Our mission
on earth is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. John Maxwell
writes, "We live in an age disturbed, confused, bewildered,
afraid of its own forces, in search not merely of its road
but even its direction. There are many voices of counsel,
but few voices of vision; there is much excitement and feverish
activity, but little concert of thoughtful purpose. We are
distressed by our ungoverned, undirected energies and do many
things, but nothing long. It is our duty to find ourselves."
Jesus
says, "But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have
one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your
father on earth, for you have one Father - the one in heaven.
Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor,
the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant.
All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble
themselves will be exalted." Because they rejected servanthood
and humility, they were themselves rejected by God.
Players
have a servant's mindset. Pretenders have a selfish mindset.
Einstein said, "Strange is our situation here upon earth.
Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes
seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily
life, however, one thing we do know: that a person is here
for the sake of others - above all for those upon whose smile
and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the
countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by
a bond of sympathy."
So, when
was the last time you allowed yourself to be a servant? The
good news is that Jesus Christ came to give himself for players
and pretenders alike. Are you and I players on God's field,
or are we pretenders? To put a positive spin on it: Players
deliver the goods. Players love to see others succeed. Players
value integrity. Players are mission conscious. Players have
a servant's mindset.
All that's
left to say is, "For God's sake, for the sake of our
world, and for your own sake: make God's priorities your priorities,
take a stand, and LET'S GO!" Amen!
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