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Andy Stanley - Youre Not Far Part 4 How to Avoid Being A Hypocritical Christian · Andy Stanley Sermons

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  Speaker 1: One of the things that nobody had to teach us.
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  Speaker 1: And you can probably remember this from childhood, and if
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  Speaker 1: you've raised kids or grandkids, you certainly get this. Nobody
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  Speaker 1: has to teach us how to look for or exploit loopholes, right,
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  Speaker 1: And a loophole, as you know, is basically a way
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  Speaker 1: or ways around the rules that technically don't break the rules.
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  Speaker 1: It's way away around or ways around the rules that
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  Speaker 1: don't technically break the rules. And again, long before we'd
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  Speaker 1: heard the term loophole, and long before anybody explained to
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  Speaker 1: us what it was, we were already looking for them
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  Speaker 1: and exploiting them, right. I mean, your mom said clean
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  Speaker 1: your plate, and you said, I did clean my plate.
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  Speaker 1: I walked over to the trash can and I dumped
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  Speaker 1: the whole meal into the trash and I cleaned my plate.
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  Speaker 1: Or you know, you said to be home by nine,
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  Speaker 1: but you didn't say nine pm, and so technically you know,
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  Speaker 1: I'm like six hours early. Right, So early on in
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  Speaker 1: life we figure out there are ways around the rules.
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  Speaker 1: Or how about this one, I know it says no
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  Speaker 1: free refills, but I didn't fill it the second and
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  Speaker 1: the third time I went back. Right, Now, we all
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  Speaker 1: know what a loophole is, and we've all gotten pretty
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  Speaker 1: good exploiting them, and nobody had to teach us how
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  Speaker 1: to do this. But when religious people, when religious people
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  Speaker 1: exploit a loophole in their own religion, we have a
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  Speaker 1: term for that. We call those people what we call
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  Speaker 1: them hypocrites. That's right. But when religious leaders exploited religious
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  Speaker 1: rules for their own benefit, Jesus had a very specific
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  Speaker 1: term for those people. He called them white washed tombs.
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  Speaker 1: A white washed tomb was a tomb that looked really
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  Speaker 1: good on the outside. I mean he got cleaned anytime
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  Speaker 1: it got dirty. You know, there are always pressure washing
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  Speaker 1: in this thing making it look good on the outside.
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  Speaker 1: But on the inside it was rotten and it was
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  Speaker 1: dead and it was nauseating on the inside. And Jesus
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  Speaker 1: also said, anybody who's a religious hypocrite, especially a religious leader,
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  Speaker 1: they're also fools because they think somehow God is so
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  Speaker 1: small that they're going to get by with this. So
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  Speaker 1: here's the good news. If you don't like religious hypocrites,
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  Speaker 1: if you don't like religious hypocrites, you have something in
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  Speaker 1: common with Jesus, as we're about to discover today. So today,
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  Speaker 1: if you've been following the line we are in part
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  Speaker 1: four of our series, You're not far. This is a story,
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  Speaker 1: as we've said every week, that should have died in
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  Speaker 1: Nero's Rome, but it didn't. It's the story of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: of Nazareth as told by Simon Peter and dictated to
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  Speaker 1: and edited by John Mark. So for thirty years, Simon
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  Speaker 1: Peter Peter's Jesus most popular or a famous disciple. For
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  Speaker 1: about thirty years after the Resurrection, Peter spends his life
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  Speaker 1: traveling around telling his story. And you can imagine if
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  Speaker 1: you were a Jesus follower in the first century and
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  Speaker 1: Peter shows up in your town or your village. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: what an opportunity to be able to sit at the
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  Speaker 1: feet of a teacher who had spent his time, spent
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  Speaker 1: life with Jesus. Now Peter's in his fifties when he
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  Speaker 1: is dictating his story to John Mark. He's in Rome.
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  Speaker 1: He's in Nero's Rome, and he didn't know it at
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  Speaker 1: the time, but he's not going to leave that city alive.
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  Speaker 1: And so Mark, who has traveled with Peter and has
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  Speaker 1: heard many of these stories many many times, coaxes it
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  Speaker 1: out of him one last time and Peter's story his
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  Speaker 1: time with Jesus of Nathesaith comes to us as the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel of and this first century document, as we've said
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  Speaker 1: every week, was eventually copied and spread around that especially Judea,
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  Speaker 1: and around Alexandria Egypt, and was eventually collected with the
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  Speaker 1: other three Gospels, the Apostle, Paul's writings, the writings of
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  Speaker 1: other first century Christians gathered together, and in the fourth
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  Speaker 1: century it was given a title that we know as
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  Speaker 1: the Bible. But as we look at this passage today,
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  Speaker 1: and as we listen to these stories, and as we
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  Speaker 1: track with Jesus and Peter through this specific narrative, please
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  Speaker 1: don't hear me reading the Bible, because when Mark was
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  Speaker 1: writing this down, he was not writing the Bible. Mark
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  Speaker 1: was actually documenting the experience of Peter with Jesus. And
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  Speaker 1: he said, at the very beginning of his gospel, he said,
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  Speaker 1: everywhere we went, every time Jesus preached, every time he taught,
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  Speaker 1: his message was kind of the same. And here's what
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  Speaker 1: he taught. He said, the time has come. The time
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  Speaker 1: has come. The weight is over everything that the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament of the Law and the prophets pointed towards the
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  Speaker 1: time has come, the Kingdom of God has come near,
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  Speaker 1: because the king's son is in town. And the appropriate
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  Speaker 1: response is to repent and believe this good news. Now,
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  Speaker 1: when we hear the word repent, especially in a religious context,
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  Speaker 1: we generally think it's negative, but in this context it
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  Speaker 1: was positive. Peter was saying, Look, something amazing has happened.
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  Speaker 1: God has done something amazing, and you don't want to
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  Speaker 1: miss it. You need to face it and embrace it
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  Speaker 1: and wrap your life around it. Now. Previously on You're
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  Speaker 1: not far, we discovered something very interesting about Jesus that
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  Speaker 1: sets us up for where we're going today. We discovered
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  Speaker 1: that Jesus did not get angry when Jesus didn't get
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  Speaker 1: his way. Jesus got angry when religion got in the way.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus got angry when people used his father's words to
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  Speaker 1: hurt those that his father loved. And in the middle
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  Speaker 1: of one of these controversies with religious leaders, he dropped
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  Speaker 1: this bomb. And this is where we left off. Last
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  Speaker 1: time he said this, he said the Sabbath was made
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  Speaker 1: for man, not man for the Sabbath. Now we read
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  Speaker 1: this and this is kind of like a whatever I'm
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  Speaker 1: telling you in the first century. This was a bomb
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  Speaker 1: because the implications were staggering. The implications were this, that
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  Speaker 1: God loved people more than he loved his own commandments,
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  Speaker 1: that God created his commandments, he created his laws, He
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  Speaker 1: created his instructions not for the sake of controlling mankind,
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  Speaker 1: but he gave them to us as a gift because
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  Speaker 1: he loves us. And to illustrate this, Jesus broke one
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  Speaker 1: of the traditions of the elders that we'll talk about
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  Speaker 1: in just a moment, and he actually healed on the Sabbath,
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  Speaker 1: which was a violation of the first century application of
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  Speaker 1: one of the Ten Commandments about keeping the Sabbath holy.
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  Speaker 1: And as a result of healing on the Sabbath, the
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  Speaker 1: religious leaders are so angry, and this just stirs up
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  Speaker 1: more and more trouble. And then the most unusual thing happens.
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  Speaker 1: And this is where we left off last week, in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of all this controversy, where Jesus is working
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  Speaker 1: so hard healing so many people. In fact, Mark tells
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  Speaker 1: Us and Peter told Mark that we were so busy
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  Speaker 1: we hardly had time to even stop and eat. And
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  Speaker 1: in the middle of all this activity, his mom and
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  Speaker 1: his brothers show up and his mother says about her
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  Speaker 1: own son, this is amazing. She says, he talking about
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is out of his mind, that this is amazing.
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  Speaker 1: And again, as I said last week, I think when
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  Speaker 1: Peter was dictating this to Mark, Mark's like you sure
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  Speaker 1: you want to include. Peter's like, yeah, that's what happened.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, there was so much going on, but jesus
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  Speaker 1: teaching was so disruptive and so dangerous. Religious leaders had
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  Speaker 1: a different take on Jesus. They didn't say he was
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  Speaker 1: out of his mind. They said something more extreme. They said,
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  Speaker 1: this man is actually possessed. He is possessed by the devil.
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  Speaker 1: But in spite of all that, because Jesus was healing
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  Speaker 1: so many people, the crowds continued to grow and continue
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  Speaker 1: to grow. In fact, Peter goes on to say, at
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  Speaker 1: one point, the crowds there were so many people. We
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  Speaker 1: had to have a break, We had to get away.
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  Speaker 1: They jump in a boat, they cross a part of
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  Speaker 1: the Sea of Galilee, and he said, even though we
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  Speaker 1: had spent time trying to plan our escape, as soon
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  Speaker 1: as we got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus
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  Speaker 1: and check this out. And he said, they ran throughout
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  Speaker 1: the whole region, and they carried the sick on mats
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  Speaker 1: to wherever they heard he was. So wherever people heard
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was going, there was so much activity, There was
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  Speaker 1: so much energy. They took people to wherever they could
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  Speaker 1: they thought Jesus was going in and this is even
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  Speaker 1: more amazing. And wherever this is amazing, And wherever he
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  Speaker 1: went into villages, towns or countryside, they placed the sick
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  Speaker 1: in the market places. Now before we just read right
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  Speaker 1: by that this is amazing. They would anticipate where Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was headed. People would get ahead of him, and they
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  Speaker 1: would bring all the sick in their community, and the
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  Speaker 1: sick from their families, and they would lay them out
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  Speaker 1: on the side of the roads, just hoping that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: would stop and pause long enough to heal the people
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  Speaker 1: they loved. There was so much energy. In fact, as
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  Speaker 1: I've mentioned before, in the Book of Mark. In the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel of Mark, the word crowd shows up in just
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  Speaker 1: about every chapter, I think, every chapter but two. And
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  Speaker 1: it's Peter again downloading this story to Mark. As he
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  Speaker 1: thinks about these times, he must have smiled at the memory,
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  Speaker 1: the energy, the activity, how they were exhausted but it
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  Speaker 1: was a good exhaustion because they were doing so much good.
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  Speaker 1: But then he remembered this, He remembered what happened next,
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  Speaker 1: because before long there were new faces in the crowd,
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  Speaker 1: hostile faces in the crowd. Here's what he said happened.
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  Speaker 1: He said, the Pharisees and some teachers of the law
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  Speaker 1: who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. Now, this
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  Speaker 1: is a big deal in Jerusalem, where the temple is,
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  Speaker 1: This is where the primary leaders of what we would
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  Speaker 1: call Judaism lived, And they hear about all this trouble
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  Speaker 1: going on up here around Capernaum and around in the
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  Speaker 1: region of Galilee, that there's a new rabbi with a
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  Speaker 1: new teaching who's stirring up all kinds of trouble. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: they're concerned there might even be political trouble. So they
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  Speaker 1: send a delegation from Jerusalem. It's about a six or
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  Speaker 1: seven day journey to find where this new rabbi is,
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  Speaker 1: and they mingle into the crowd and then they do
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  Speaker 1: the best they can to get close to Jesus to
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  Speaker 1: find out what is up with this man. Is he
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  Speaker 1: claiming to be Messiah? Is this movement of God or
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  Speaker 1: is this something they should be concerned about? Back in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: they sent this delegation, and as soon as they get there,
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  Speaker 1: they notice something that's disturbing to them about the people
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  Speaker 1: following Jesus. They saw that some of his disciples were
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  Speaker 1: eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. Now, Mark,
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  Speaker 1: who's writing this down, knows that there's going to be
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  Speaker 1: some gentiles who read this gospel. So he fills us
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  Speaker 1: in on what the big deal was. He says, basically,
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  Speaker 1: so you know, so you know, the Pharisees and all
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  Speaker 1: the Jews do not eat unless they give because Mark
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  Speaker 1: was not Jewish, so he's helping us gentiles understand what
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  Speaker 1: he had to learn. The Pharisees and all the Jews
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  Speaker 1: do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial
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  Speaker 1: or this special kind of washing, holding to the tradition
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  Speaker 1: of the elders. Now I've got to pause in the
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  Speaker 1: storyline and explain this line right here, because it's so important.
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  Speaker 1: When you're reading the Gospels, there was a thought, or
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  Speaker 1: it was really a myth, that when God gave Moses
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  Speaker 1: the ten Commandments, and when God gave Moses the Law,
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  Speaker 1: the written Law, that God also gave Moses what would
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  Speaker 1: become what would eventually be called the oral Torah or
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  Speaker 1: the oral Law. And this was hundreds and hundreds of
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  Speaker 1: extra laws to keep people from breaking the primary laws,
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  Speaker 1: and they were never written down, so it was called
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  Speaker 1: the oral Torah. Hundreds of extra laws that were passed
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  Speaker 1: down from Moses to Joshua all the way down. And
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  Speaker 1: so in the first century, the lead of the temple
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  Speaker 1: leaders felt like they were the you know, they were
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  Speaker 1: the overseers not only of the written law, the Torah,
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  Speaker 1: but all these unwritten laws, this the oral Torah. Now,
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  Speaker 1: historically there is no evidence that this actually existed. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: by the first century it had gotten so big and
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  Speaker 1: there were so many it was difficult for even the
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  Speaker 1: Pharisees to agree with each other what the oral Torah was.
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  Speaker 1: So consequently, Jesus didn't buy it. In fact, his primary
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  Speaker 1: argument with the Pharisees throughout his ministry is really not
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  Speaker 1: around the rit law as much around this oral Torah.
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  Speaker 1: He just didn't believe it existed. He just didn't buy it. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: many of these traditions made God small and made God
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  Speaker 1: look very petty, So the Pharisees and teachers of the law,
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  Speaker 1: asked Jesus, why don't your disciples live according to the
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  Speaker 1: tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with
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  Speaker 1: defiled hands. So they had taken one of these laws
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  Speaker 1: that was never written down, that they had equated with
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  Speaker 1: the written law, and they're accusing Jesus disciples of breaking
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  Speaker 1: the law. So all of a sudden, there's this tension.
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  Speaker 1: They show up there in the crowd. They noticed this,
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  Speaker 1: and before they even begin having a conversation with Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: they begin to accuse Jesus disciples of breaking the law. Well, again,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus just isn't going to have any of this because
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  Speaker 1: he knows their heart. And here's how he answered their question.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't really even answer their question. He just kind
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  Speaker 1: of let into him. He said this, He replied, Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: was right. Now, remember what's happening. They're quoting an oral torah,
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  Speaker 1: something that was just made up. He goes right to
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  Speaker 1: something that had been written in the Book of Isaiah,
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  Speaker 1: which of course they held in high esteem. Isaiah was
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  Speaker 1: right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. Now I'm just
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  Speaker 1: making this part up. I think when Jesus said this,
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  Speaker 1: Remember where they are. They're way up here by the
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  Speaker 1: Sea of Galilee. These men have made a long journey,
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  Speaker 1: I mean, and perhaps when Peter and his followers and
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the disciples saw that there had been
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  Speaker 1: a delegation sent from Jerusalem, they're thinking, Okay, we're gonna
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  Speaker 1: get some credibility. And as soon as Jesus opens his mouth,
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  Speaker 1: he just lights into it. And I think Peter just cringed, like, hey, hey,
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  Speaker 1: we need to back off a little bit, Jesus. We
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  Speaker 1: need friends in Jerusalem. Because the assumption was that eventually
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  Speaker 1: Jesus and everybody following Jesus would make their way from
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  Speaker 1: Galilee into Judea and ultimately end up in Jerusalem, where
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  Speaker 1: he would proclaim himself Messiah. So the last thing you
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  Speaker 1: want to do is make the folks in Jerusalem angry
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  Speaker 1: before you even get to Jerusalem. But Jesus doesn't back off.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what he says. He says, Isaiah was right when
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  Speaker 1: he prophesied about you hypocrites as it is written. And
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  Speaker 1: this was such an insult because now Jesus is going
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  Speaker 1: to quote their Bibles to them as it is written.
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  Speaker 1: These people honor me with their lips. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: these people have learned to say all the right things,
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  Speaker 1: because religious people, let's be honest, we learn to say
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  Speaker 1: all the right things. He says, But but their hearts
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  Speaker 1: are far from me. The Kingdom of God has come near,
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  Speaker 1: but their hearts are so far from me, he would say.
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  Speaker 1: Your hearts are so far from me. You will not
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  Speaker 1: recognize what God is doing because your heart has not
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  Speaker 1: been prepared for what God is about to do in
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  Speaker 1: your midst you. Your hearts are so far from God,
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  Speaker 1: you're not going to recognize your king, even though the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of God is near. And he says this. He says,
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  Speaker 1: they worship me. This was such a dig. They worship
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  Speaker 1: me in vain, and their teachings are merely human rules.
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  Speaker 1: This is how we know that Jesus did not buy
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  Speaker 1: into the oral torah myth. He said, you guys have
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  Speaker 1: just made this stuff up, and you've passed it along
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  Speaker 1: generation if their generation, if their generation. But you've made
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  Speaker 1: it up. You're making stuff up. You're turning religion into
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  Speaker 1: a game that only you can win. And let's be honest,
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  Speaker 1: religious leaders are really good at that, aren't we That
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  Speaker 1: we have the ability because we know the text to
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  Speaker 1: create rules and to make religion if we're not careful,
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  Speaker 1: a game that only we can win. And then he
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  Speaker 1: said this, and this is where it's going to settle
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  Speaker 1: down on us. He said, you have let go, or
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  Speaker 1: you've let go of the commands of God, the actual
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  Speaker 1: commands of God, and you're clinging to or you're holding
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  Speaker 1: on to human traditions that you have actually let go
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  Speaker 1: of what God actually said, and you're clinging to these
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  Speaker 1: human traditions that you made up. He continues, he said this,
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  Speaker 1: and you have such a fine way of setting aside
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  Speaker 1: the actual commands of God in order to observe your
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  Speaker 1: own traditions. In other words, you have created religious loopholes
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  Speaker 1: that serve you and that are for your benefit. And
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  Speaker 1: then again, I just think Peter and the disciples just cringed,
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  Speaker 1: because at this point then Jesus gets really specific and
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  Speaker 1: he humiliates this whole group by citing an example of
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  Speaker 1: their hypocrisy. This is an example of where they made
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  Speaker 1: up a tradition that allowed them to actually bypass the
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  Speaker 1: actual law. So now he quotes the written Torah to them.
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  Speaker 1: He says, for Moses, and understand, Moses is their guy.
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  Speaker 1: For Moses actually said in other words, this was an
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  Speaker 1: oral This was actually written down. For Moses actually said
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  Speaker 1: honor your father and your mother. We call this the
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  Speaker 1: fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments. Right. And what I
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  Speaker 1: want you to notice next, because it's easy to miss,
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  Speaker 1: is this Jesus includes the punishment associated with breaking this
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  Speaker 1: commandment in Exodus twenty one seventeen that when Jesus doesn't
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  Speaker 1: just quote this commandment, Jesus attaches it to the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament or the Old Covenant punishment for violating this commandment.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to what he says, and he says anyone, For
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  Speaker 1: Moses actually said honor your father or mother. And Moses
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  Speaker 1: also said anyone who curses their father or mother is
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  Speaker 1: to be put to death, in other words, ignoring one's
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  Speaker 1: responsibility to their parents. This was not a minor infraction. Now,
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  Speaker 1: it's so easy, it's so important for us to understand this,
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  Speaker 1: especially as twenty first century Christians, that Jesus when he
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  Speaker 1: talked about the law the Old Testament, what we call
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament or the Torah, he never ever detaches
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament law from the punishments associated with those laws.
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  Speaker 1: Let me see that again. Jesus never divorces the Old
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  Speaker 1: Testament law from the punishments associated with those laws. Modern
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  Speaker 1: Christians do this all the time. We are really quick
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: to reach back into the Old Testament for something we like,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: one of the laws or rules and bring it into
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: our New Testament, our New Covenant contexts. But what do
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: we never bring with it? We never bring the punished.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: It's right, Jesus says, it doesn't work that way. This
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: is essentially what Jesus was implying. In fact, he's going
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: to state it later on in this book. He's saying, Hey,
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: you want the Ten Commandments, you want the Torah, that's fine,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: but you have to include the punishment and the consequences
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: as well. From Jesus' perspective, this was an all inclusive deal.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: It's an all inclusive meal. Now, by the way, this
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: is super important. It's important to know Christians. Christians, we
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: do not honor our father and our mothers because Moses
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: told us to do so. Moses is not our guy.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: In fact, as we roll through this Gospel together, this
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: is what Peter wants us to understand because as he's
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: telling his story to Mark, he knows the end of
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the story. He knows about that final passover. He knows
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: about the crucifixion, he knows about the resurrection, and suddenly,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: as he tells this story, so much of what Jesus
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: said that made no sense to him makes perfect sense
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in hindsight. He wants us to know that there's a
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: new king, that there's a new kingdom, and along with
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: this new king and this new kingdom, there's a brand
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: new value system that came with him. And Peter was
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: actually there, if you can imagine this. Peter was there
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: in the end after the resurrection, when Jesus said something
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: that they should have all just walked away from, except
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: they had seen him crucified and now he's living again.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: He said this, He said, all authority, this is amazing.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to me.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: That all authority and heaven and on earth has been
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: given to me. This was Jesus' way of saying to
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: his first century followers and to us, I'm your guy.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Moses was your guy. I'm your guy. That's why we
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: don't honor our fathers and our mothers because of the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Ten Commandments. We don't honor our fathers and our mothers.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Because Moses told us to we honor our fathers and
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: our mothers. For a different reason. Christians honor their fathers
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: and mothers because Jesus instructed us to love one another
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: the way he loved us, and your mother and your
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: father are part of those one anothers Okay, back to
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: the story. Back to Jesus talking to the Pharisees, for
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Moses actually said, honor your father and your mother, and
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: anyone who curses their father and the mother must be
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: put to death. But you say, in other words, that's
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: what was written, that's what's clear, that's what's been handed down.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: But you say that if anyone declares what might have
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: been used to help their father or mother is corbin
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: that is devoted to God, then he says you no
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: longer let them do anything for their father or their mother.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Now again we read that, and it's like, what in
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the world's he talking about. And the interesting thing is
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: this Mark doesn't tell us what he's talking about. Because
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Mark was writing so early, Mark assumed his first century
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: audience knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, which means
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: again it's evidence to the fact that Mark was written
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: during the time of the Eye witnesses. But here's what
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: he was talking about. In case you don't know, taking
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: care of aging parents, just like it is today, was
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: expensive and it was time consuming. So these religious leaders
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: came up with a loophole. They came up with a fix,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: They came up with a workaround, and this is how
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: it worked. And this sounds disgusting to us. They said,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: here's what you do. You dedicate all of your wealth,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: all of your current income, and all of your future
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: income to God, which means you go ahead and you
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: give it to the Temple. So now everything you own
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: and everything that comes your way, and everything you inherit
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: ultimately belongs to the Temple. And then but while you're alive,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: you have access to it, so it's yours to enjoy
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: while you're alive. And then when you die, it all
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: goes to the Temple. But that means when your mom
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: or your dad, or your friend, or your brother or
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: your sister or your neighbor comes to you and is
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: in need and needs your help financially, you say, you know,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: I really wish I could help, but I can't because
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: it's not mine to give. It all belongs to God.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: And this cated Jesus because they had come up with
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: a loophole. They were taking their traditions and elevating them
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: over the clear teaching of the law and the prophets.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: They were using the words that supposedly came from God
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: to hurt the people that God loved. But before we
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: judge them too harshly, I have to ask you a question,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: and I have to ask myself this question. Have you
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: ever sinned against another person? Or if you don't like
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: the word sin, have you ever hurt or harmed another person,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: either intentionally or unintentionally, And then, through some tradition or
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: something that you've been taught by your pastor priest or parents,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: you made things right with God, maybe through a prayer
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: or maybe through giving or church attendants or whatever you did.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: So you've hurt another person, you do your best to
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: make things right with God, but you never make it
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: right with the person that you heard or sinned against,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: because after all, I mean, God forgives and God forgets right.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: If you have ever hurt a person and you made
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: things right with God, but you never went back and
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: made it right with that person, here's what Jesus would
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: say to you. And here's what Jesus would say to me.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: In doing so, you nullify the word of God by
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: your tradition that you twenty first century Jesus followers have created,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: or you've adopted a tradition that actually conflicts with the
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: clear teaching of Jesus, because Jesus taught so many times
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: if you aren't right with your brother and your sister,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: and jesus disciples would come along after him and tease
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: this out, especially John, if things aren't right between you
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: and your brother and your sister, if you've sinned against
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: somebody that you can see, don't pretend that things are
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: right with the one that you can't see. That you
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: can't be right with God if you're not right with
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the people around you. The way I've said this to
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: you before is, hey, if you hurt my kids, if
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: you offend my children, don't invite me to lunch. Right,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: don't invite me to lunch, and don't call me, and
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: don't expect me to be your friend until you make
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: things right with my kids and your heavenly father and
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: my heavenly Father. Is the same way. But isn't it
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: true that depending on how you were raised, if you
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: were raised in any kind of religious context, you have
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: some sort of mental gymnastics that you think make you
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: right with God, And I think make me right with
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: God because of what I've been taught. And Jesus was
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: they there you go again. You're doing what the teachers
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: of the Law did. You are leveraging a man made tradition,
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: and you were taking it up further. You are giving
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: it priority over the clear teaching of Jesus, which is
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: your love for the people around you, and the way
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: you treat people around you as a reflection of your
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: love for the God. You cannot see. So back to
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the story, Jesus says, thus, you nullify the word of
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: God by your tradition that you have handed down. And
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: he said, in you teachers of the Law, you do
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: many things like this. I could stand out here all
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: day long and give you examples of where you've taken
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: your man made traditions and elevated them over the teaching
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: of God. And you think you're good with God, and
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: you're not. And Peter and the men with Peter, Peter, Andrew,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: James and John specifically, they can't believe this. I mean,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: this is so offensive. And these men have come such
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: a long way to finally meet with Jesus, and they've
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: not even gotten to their first agenda item. But Jesus
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: is done that. Peter says, we were shocked. He just
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: turned around and he walked away. And of course this
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: was so disturbing to Peter and so disturbing to the
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: people who were watching. But I think Peter probably smiled
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: when he told this story. He's thirty years after this
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: story because it was liberating as well. And then as
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: they're walking along, Peter said, Jesus gathered just the few
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: of us together and he began to tell us something
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: that well, if he had told us earlier, we might
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: have found it hard to believe, but we were beginning
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: to understand where this was going. Then he began to
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: teach them that the son of Man must suffer many
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: things and be rejected by the elders and the chief
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: priest in Jerusalem and the teachers of the law. And
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Peter probably thought, and no, wonder, every time they come
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to see you, you humiliate them. And not only do
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: you humiliate them, you call them out and humiliate them
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: in public. So, Jesus, if you would dial it back
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: just a bit, we need friends, and we need friends,
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: specifically in Jerusalem. But Jesus wouldn't dial it back. And
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: here's why, because the entire law, the entire temple system,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the things that went on day after day after day
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: in the city of Jerusalem were all designed to point
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: to him. It was all designed to prepare people for
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: a coming kingdom. Not a kingdom like they expected, but
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: a Kingdom of God like they weren't expecting. But they
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: would they would be expected to embrace. This whole system
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: was designed to prepare people for the coming of Jesus,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: and they had corrupted the entire season, the entire system,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: and consequently, those who were supposedly serving the Kingdom of
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: God would not even recognize the king or the kingdom
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: that he was introducing to earth he was coming to
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: They were to prepare thee but instead of the people
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: being prepared, they were confused. But in spite of that,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Jesus would preach, the time has come. The time has come,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: ready or not prepared or not regards as what's going
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: on in Jerusalem. The time has come. The Kingdom of
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: God has come near, and this is your opportunity to
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: repent and to believe so that you can embrace what
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: God is doing. This new thing that God is doing.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Now we're gonna pick up the storyline right there next time.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: But I want us to talk about us a little
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: bit because this is this is a really big deal.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: So let me just ask the question and use Jesus
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: words to ask the question. And this is uncomfortable, but
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: maybe for you and maybe for some of us, this
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: is the breakthrough. This is the moment when we have
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: that aha moment when we begin to understand what Jesus
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: came to do. So let me just ask it this way.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Is it possible, just be honest, it's just you and you.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Is it possible that you have let go of the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: actual command of God and are holding to human traditions?
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Is it possible that you're guilty? Maybe it's not your fault,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: it's your pastor preach, it's your parents, it's your church tradition.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: But is it possible that you are holding on to
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: that you've let go of the actual commands of God
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: are specifically the commands of Jesus, and you're holding to
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: human traditions. Have you come up with your own loopholes?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Have you come up with your own way to set
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: aside the commands of God in order to observe your
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: own traditions. In other words, is it possible that we
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: are guilty of creating our own loopholes, our own fine print?
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: So to kind of drill down on this a little
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: bit more, I want to ask you three or four
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: very uncomfortable questions, and I'm guilty of all of these.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Do you ever try to figure out how close you
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: can get to sin without actually sinning? Do you ever
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: try in your mind as you think about the way
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: that you view got do you ever try to figure
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: out how close can I get to sin without actually sinning?
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: What a silly game we play? How small this makes
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: our heavenly Father? How inconsequential this makes the death of
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus for our sin? But we do this, don't we?
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: In other words, how much sin can I enjoy without
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: ticking God off? How close can I get to sin
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: without running God off? How close can I get to
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: sin without having to apologize to God? I want God
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: in my back pocket, but I want to have my
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: fun as well. As soon as we begin thinking this
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: way and trying to figure this out, we are guilty
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: of the very thing the Pharisees we're guilty of. How
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: about this one? We already talked about this one. Do
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: you believe or assume that there's some kind of ritual
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: that makes you write with God while removing your responsibility
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: to make things right with other people the way you
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: were taught, the way you think, the way you've kind
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: of manipulated the scripture, the way you've manipulated your religion.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Do you believe there's something you can do that makes
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: you write with God? You got a clear conscience with God.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: God is good way with you while removing your responsibility
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to make things right with others. Again, Jesus would say
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: to us, there you go again. You have created a
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: twenty first century or a twentieth century, or an eighteenth
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: or nineteenth century, I don't know where it began tradition
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: that somehow in your conscience lets you off the hook
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: while ignoring what Jesus clearly taught. And do you know
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: how this makes us look to outsiders? This is why
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: so oftentimes Christians are considered hypocrites because they know or
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: how about this one? And this one doesn't apply today?
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Do you feel guilt here about missing church or Mass
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: than mistreating someone at work? Do you feel guilt here
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: about missing mass or church? Then you do mistreating someone
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: at work. Every once in a while, you know, because
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: of what I do, people walk up and say, oh,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: I need to get back in church. Oh I need
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: to get back in church. And I feel like when
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: they're saying that, they think, well, you know, God couldn't
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: love me, or I'm not good with God because I'm
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: not in church. And yeah, everybody needs to connect to
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: a local church. Absolutely, But is there is there something
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: in you because of the way you were raised? It things?
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: You know what, God is happier with me if I'm
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: at Mass and I'm at church in spite of how
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: I treat people at work. If so, you have, unbeknownst
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to you, probably have elevated a human tradition over the
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: clear teaching or the commands not just of Scripture but
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: from our Savior. And then, last, are you banking on
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: the myth? And it's a myth that God has short
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: term memory loss? Right because I grew up. I've told
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: you this bere before I grew up being told that.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: You know, once you confess your sin, God's memory is
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: a rased. He cannot remember anymore. It's like you did
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: what I don't even know what you're talking about and
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: we you know, people have taken this Old Testament idea
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: that God has removed our sin from us as far
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: as the East is from the west, and the whole
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: idea of being forgiven by God is such a big
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: deal and it's a real thing. But our confession doesn't
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: erase God's memory. And one of the reasons we love
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: that idea is because then we're off the hook. We
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: don't have to go back and make things right with
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: other people. But let's think about it. If confessing sin
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: actually erase God's memory, then there would be things in
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: the Bible that God didn't know about. Right. You know
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: that story about David and you know what's her name?
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say in case we erase God's memory. Right,
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: this is just silly. And so this is why the
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: invitation to follow Jesus is so extraordinary, because part of
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: the invitation includes an invitation to be done with all
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: of that ridiculous nonsense, to be done with making God
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: small in God petty, to be done with the traditions
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: that make us look foolish to people outside of our faith.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: So the decision to follow Jesus is a decision to
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: do away with all of our silly games and all
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: of our man made traditions, you have been invited. This
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: is what makes it so amazing. You have been invited,
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: and I have been invited, and the world has been
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: invited to participate in a kingdom. It's a kingdom of conscience,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: a kingdom of conscience that's informed by a single law,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the law of Christ, that is so simple. There's not ten,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: there's not nine, there's not five, there's not three. There's
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: just this one that's all encompassing. That we have been
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: invited to participate in a kingdom of conscience with a
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: mind that our conscience that's fine tuned to this one idea.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: That we are to love others the way that God
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: through Christ has loved each of us. That the one commandment,
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: the thing that is overarching in all of our relationships,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the way we spend our time, our money, our relationships,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: our marriage, the way we raise our kids. Is that
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: we are to love or treat other people the way
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: that God through Christ has treated us. And here's what's
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: extraordinary about it. Here's what's brilliant about it. There are
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: no loopholes and that kind of love, there are no
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: workarounds there's no way to cheat that. We wake up
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: every single day. We wake up every single day to
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: this question, what does love require of me? What does
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: love require of me? And what does love require of us?
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: In every relationship, every time we interact with people in
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: the community, every time we interact with people in our family,
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: those are our marching what does love require of me?
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And there are no loopholes in that kind of love?
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: And when we fall short, let's not make excuses. When
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: we fall short, let's make apologies. So, if you've been
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: playing the game, and I think we're all guilty of
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: playing these games, and there are more games, aren't there.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: If you've been guilty of playing those games, hiding behind
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: some silly tradition, hiding behind some silly mind game that
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: you manufactured or you inherited from somebody that raised you,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: or the religious system you grew up in, would you
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: be willing to be done with that? And would you
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: be willing to be honest with God? And would you
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: be willing to throw up your hands and surrender and follow?
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: Because after all the time has come this brand new
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: way of living, this brand new way of thinking, the
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Kingdom of God has come near, which means you are
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: never far. And the question for me every single day,
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: and the question for you every single day, is this,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: will we turn in the direction of this invitation to follow?
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: And will we repent? And will we put our faith
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: in the fact that God has sent someone on our behalf,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: and that the complexity of religion has been reduced to
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: this one overarching, powerful command. That we are to love
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: as we have been loved, and we are never far
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: from God because His love for us is never far
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: from us.