Welcome to this week's sermon. I want to thank all of you who read the blog on a regular basis. After my two sermons about music, several people stopped reading the blog. For those who are still reading the sermons, thanks for continuing to read them. I put a lot of thought into the sermons and into the other posts. I try to post sermons that will help people draw closer to the Lord. I also try to post what I feel the Lord is wanting me to communicate. I also like to post about books that I like especially dog books as dogs mean a lot to me.
Over the course of the last few weeks, we've been in a series of messages on the way of Jesus. We have seen that the way of Jesus is the way of love and the way of radical forgiveness. In our message for today, I want us to focus on the fact that following the way of Jesus means not being hypocritical.
If you read the Gospels, you will soon find out that the religious leaders of the day were the ones who gave Jesus the most problems. They were constantly trying to find fault with Him, and they were always out trying to trap Him into saying something that would cause Him to lose His reputation with the people who were following Him. Of course, they were never able to entrap Jesus nor accuse Him of any sin.
Jesus had plenty to say about these religious leaders. One of the Lord's most extended critiques of them is found in Matthew 23. One of the major problems that Jesus had with the religious leaders is that they did not practice what they preached. Here is what Jesus said, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." Jesus will go on in this chapter to explain that the Pharisees and religious leaders practiced an outward religion in order to show the people how wonderful and holy they were. However, inwardly, they were filled with sin. Jesus said that they were like whitewashed tombs. They looked good on the outside, but on the inside, they were filled with dead men's bones. According to Jesus, when it came down to doing what God really commanded, the religious leaders found some way of getting out of it.
Hypocrisy was one of the sins that Jesus condemned the most while He was here on this earth. So, following the way of Jesus means that we must not be hypocritical. We have to be those who practice what we preach.
I believe that Jesus was so adamant in regard to hypocrisy because He knew that it was a big turn off. When people see those who say that they believe in Jesus acting in the exact opposite way of what Jesus taught, it causes them to want to reject the Lord and not come to Him.
One of the ways that I've experienced hypocrisy among Christians is in the matter of business. I've had the misfortune of dealing with some contractors who were big church goers and who made a lot out of their faith in Jesus in their advertising. These people turned out to be less than reputable. They did poor work, and they tried to get a lot more money out of my Dad than what they originally said the jobs would cost. My Dad was a really upright man. He always tried to give his business to fellow Christians. However, after having so many bad experiences with Christian business owners, my Dad made it a practice in his later life to never call a plumber, electrician or have anyone work on the car or our house who said in their advertising that the business was Christian owned and operated. Now if hypocrisy caused my Dad who was a believer in Jesus to do this, think about how hypocrisy among Christians causes others who don't know Jesus to react. It is a big turn off.
Over the course of history, hypocrisy has caused the Christian faith to get a bad reputation among many. For instance, Jesus taught the way of peace. However, His supposed followers have fought wars with each other over the hundreds of years of history. This shouldn't be, and it is one of the reasons that many don't want to have anything to do with the Lord.
Recently, there have been many who have been abused by members of the clergy. What terrible hypocrisy. Some of those who have been abused have been damaged for life. Why would they ever want to have anything to do with the church when they've been treated so horribly?
If we are going to follow the way of Jesus, we have to resist hypocrisy and practice what we preach. We aren't always perfect. I certainly am not, but we have to strive to really be those who do what we say and if we say that we are followers of the Jesus we need to act like it and do what He did and what He taught us to do.
One of the best ways that I know to combat hypocrisy in our lives is to study the Word of the Lord thoroughly. If we know the Word, then we know what to do. But, as James tells us, we have to be a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. We have to implement in our lives what the Word of the Lord tells us to do.
As always, Jesus is our ultimate example. He always lived out what He taught. He taught the way of love, and His love led Him to a cross. He preached forgiveness, and He forgave those who crucified Him. He taught non-violence, and when He was mocked and abused, He did not retaliate and He turned the other cheek.
Let us always follow Jesus as our example. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will not act in a hypocritical manner that drives people away from the faith.
Now, just a word to those who have been hurt by hypocritical people. I know that it is hard not to allow the behavior of those who say they follow Jesus to cloud what you think about Jesus Himself. All I can say is Jesus is not like those who have hurt you. People make a lot of mistakes and do stupid and evil things. Jesus does not. He loves you. Read the Gospels and look at what Jesus did and what He taught. You will know that you can trust in Him. He will never lead you astray. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Thank you to those who prayed about the storms in my area. We had a lot of rain, but there was no flooding. Thanks be to God. Unfortunately, there were many tornados in the southern US. Please pray that the people will be able to get the aid and the help that they need.
We need to continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. Pray for the refugees. I am glad that Poland, Slovakia, Romania and others have been so willing to help.
Continue to pray for peace in the other war torn areas of the world. Syria, Ethiopia, Yemen and Libya are just a few of the places that need our prayers.
Pray for Tonga, Madagascar, Japan and Mozambique as these places are recovering from natural disasters.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in Suriname and Somalia. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current sermon series. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will have a dog book review midweek. May God bless you all.
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