Serving to be Seen
9 August 2015
I. Introduction
--
turn in your Bibles to Matthew 23:1-12
Matthew 23:1-12 (NIV)
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do
what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their
phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats
in the synagogues;
7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them
'Rabbi.'
8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one
Master and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father,
and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the
Christ.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.
--
I'd like to share with you a true story that was written by Wesley Willis
--
several years ago, there were these two brothers who grew up with a father that
taught them the meaning of hard work. -- He owned his own business, and as far
back as they could remember, Johnny and Jim worked with him. -- They knew what
it felt like to be too tired to sleep at the end of the day -- but they also
learned to value the perks that come to the ones in charge
--
Both of the brothers had short fuses and violent tempers -- They were known as
the “terrors of the neighborhood.” -- But they were very good workers -- and
their father came to rely upon his sons to maintain and develop the family
business
--
Then one day, just as Johnny and Jim were finishing up a major project with
their father, they abandoned him -- they walked away from their father's
business without a word and without looking back
--
you see, a new young leader who was building a new organization had just
arrived in town -- He had heard of Johnny and Jim and he came to where they
were and he handpicked them to join his elite group -- Johnny and Jim saw their
chance to hit it big -- Abruptly they turned their back on their commitment,
their plans, and their father’s dreams to jump at what they thought was the
chance of a lifetime.
--
Almost immediately, Johnny and Jim ran into problems -- They viewed life
differently from their boss -- He was patient and methodical -- they were
anxious and impetuous -- He believed in serving people -- they wanted to use
people.
--
Worse, the two brothers had failed to recognize the implications of being
little fish in a big pond -- you see, in the family business, they were the
only ones next to the man in charge -- they were the leaders -- and they had
all the rights and privileges that goes with being in charge
--
but here, they were simply two members of a large executive team that had no
pecking order -- all were equal in the sight of their young leader -- and
Johnny and Jim were worried because others on the team were smarter and more aggressive
than they were -- they were afraid that others would be promoted ahead of them
--
so, Johnny and Jim conspired to get an edge on the others -- when they were
alone with the boss, the brothers suggested that when he was ready to go public
with his formal organization, that they should be his top men -- in charge of
all the others -- and, just in case their suggestions weren’t enough, they
arranged for a close relative to plead their case.
--
But their plot could not be concealed for long, and when the news leaked out to
the rest of the team, the brothers were ostracized -- Their peers and
team-members -- their friends -- plotted countermoves to protect their own
rights -- everyone wanted to be in charge of the others
--
Naturally the boss caught rumors of unrest and insurrection and called an
executive committee meeting -- Sorrowfully he informed his team that they had
totally missed the purpose of his training sessions -- He explained that his
organization was built on giving, not getting—on service rather than privilege
-- It was a hard lesson for Johnny and Jim and the others to learn because it
ran so counter to the prevailing culture -- it went against everything they had
been taught in life and in business1
II. How to be a bad Christian:
Part 2
--
this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on "How To Be a Bad
Christian" -- this series is built around the passage of Matthew 23, where
Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their actions and warns His disciples not to
follow their ways
--
in verse 3, Jesus tells His disciples that they are to follow the teachings of
the Pharisees from the Holy Scriptures -- but they are not to follow the
additional teachings or to imitate the actions of the Pharisees
--
Last week, we looked at the first example of how to be a bad Christian -- which
was to make Christianity a burden on others -- and we talked about how the
Pharisees had added to God's original law by imposing a burden of over 1,500
additional rules and rituals and regulations on the people -- burdens that they
could never follow and that were keeping them from fully entering into a
relationship with God
--
and then we talked about how we do the same thing in our churches today -- by
having unwritten rules for people to follow that makes Christianity a burden on
them -- rules such as requiring people to come to all church events and making
them feel bad if they don't show up -- rules such as making people read their
Bible or pray or participate in worship as a duty and not because of a desire to
grow closer to Jesus
--
this morning, we are going to be looking at the second way to be a bad
Christian -- which is to "serve in order to be seen"
--
as the story of Johnny and Jim shows -- perhaps you know them better as the
Apostles James and John -- we are all born with this innate desire for
affirmation -- it was placed there by God, and in a perfect world, we are to
seek our affirmation -- our self-worth -- from Him
--
but, because of our fallen human natures, we tend to find our self-worth, not
in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of man -- and, as a result, we either tend
to think of ourselves more highly or more lowly than we ought -- and we want to
be recognized for what we are doing and to be praised by others because of our
actions
--
time and time again, we see Jesus rebuking His disciples for this tendency in
their lives -- for their pride and for their desire to be placed higher in the
kingdom -- as my opening illustration reminded us, James and John did
everything they could to be exalted over the other disciples -- even to the
point of having their mother go to Jesus and ask that they be given the
positions on His right and left hand
--
of course, the other disciples weren't much better -- Peter was always getting
in trouble for trying to place himself higher than the other disciples -- in
the Scriptures, we see Jesus rebuking the disciples time and time again for
trying to exalt themselves above the others
--
but this was what they knew -- this was what the world taught them -- and this
was what they saw lived out in the lives of the Pharisees -- so in this passage
from Matthew 23, Jesus specifically draws their attention to the ways of the
Pharisees and tells them that they should not do as the Pharisees do -- but
that they should live differently
III. Serving to Be Seen
--
if you would, look back now at verse 5, and let's see what Jesus had to say
about this subject
5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their
phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats
in the synagogues;
7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them
'Rabbi.'
--
"everything they do is done for men to see" -- lest we forget, the Pharisees
were men of God -- the teachers of the law and the leaders of the synagogue --
but Jesus tells us that their service was not for God, but for themselves
--
everything they did was to win the praise of men and not of God -- Jesus tells
us that the Pharisees would make their phylacteries wide so that everyone could
see them -- phylacteries were small boxes that held scriptures -- they would be fixed to a
ribbon and tied around the hands or foreheads of the men as reminders of God's
law
--
in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, God told the Israelites that His commandments were to be
on their hearts -- that they were to teach them to their children -- to write
them on the doorframes of their houses and gates -- and to tie them as symbols
on their hands and their foreheads
--
so the Pharisees took these symbols of God's law and made them very large and
very wide so that everyone they passed would see them and recognize what good
works these men were doing
--
likewise, Jesus said that they made the tassels on their garments long -- all
Jewish men wore prayer shawls that had tassels that hung from them
-- Jesus wore one Himself
-- that is what the woman who had an issue of blood reached for in the crowd
for healing
--
but the Pharisees made special prayer shawls -- they would make their tassels
long and obvious so they would call attention to themselves and let the whole
world know just how holy they were
--
we do the same today -- why do you people carry those big Bibles with them when
they go out in public? -- so that people will see them and recognize how holy
they must be -- why do some people make a production about praying in a
restaurant? -- so people will see them and see how holy they are
--
a couple of years ago I read a story about a teenager who stood up in a local
restaurant and called for the attention of everyone in the place -- and then he
asked all of them to join him in prayer -- why did he do that? -- was it simply
because he felt led to pray? -- no -- I'm sure he felt called to pray, but he
did so in such a spectacular manner because he wanted the attention -- he
wanted them to see how holy he was
--
Jesus says these Pharisees always looked for honor and glory for themselves --
they took the best seats in the synagogue -- the seats near the front of the
synagogue where the symbolic ark was at and the scrolls of scriptures stored --
they loved to be greeted in the marketplace and hailed as "Rabbi" and
for the attention to be on them
--
so Jesus says to His disciples and to us, "Don't be like them" --
this was not the first time His disciples had heard these instructions -- hold
your place here and flip over to Matthew 6:1
Matthew 6:1-5 (NIV)
1 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men,
to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in
heaven.
2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with
trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be
honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what
is done in secret, will reward you.
5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love
to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.
I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
--
it all comes down to this question -- where do you find your worth and
identity? -- do you find it in the praise and recognition of men, as the
Pharisees did? -- Jesus says that that is the wrong place
--
as Christians our trust and our identity is in Christ -- as we place our trust
in Him, God identifies us through Christ -- His righteousness becomes our
righteousness -- and He is the source of our true identity and our true
self-worth
--
the Pharisees were seeking their self-worth through their works and service --
in essence, they were seeking affirmation of who they were -- but instead of
seeking it from God, they were seeking it from the recognition of others by
trying to exalt themselves in the eyes of the world
--
look back at Matthew 23:8-10
8 "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one
Master and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father,
and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the
Christ.
--
even though we're not supposed to -- even though we all know that in God's eyes
a sin is a sin is a sin -- we have this scale of sins that we recognize --
killing someone is obviously a lot worse than telling a white lie to us -- even
though God says otherwise
--
in the same way, we have a scale of works and of positions in the church -- we
regard and recognize people based on what their position is and what they are
doing in the church
--
the Pharisees loved to be recognized in the marketplace and around town and
called "Rabbi" and "Teacher" and "Father" -- they
loved for people to give them honor and glory and praise because of what they
were doing and for the positions they held in the church
--
but Jesus told His disciples and us, "Don't do it -- Don't command
recognition and praise in this way" -- He was pointing out that there's
nothing wrong with titles in the church when they are used as terms of respect
or to indicate certain duties or responsibilities -- but He was condemning the
attitude that sought out such recognition because they were seeking their
affirmation from men rather than from God or because they thought this made
them more important than someone else
--
this reminds me of a story I read about Mark Twain -- Twain used to tour the
country speaking to various groups -- and he once said that he preferred to
introduce himself, so as to make sure he got in all the facts
--
that's exactly what the Pharisees were doing -- they wanted to make sure that
everyone got in all the facts and knew that they were the most important people
in the temple or the synagogue -- Jesus was warning against this prideful
seeking of public praise as shown by the Pharisees' desire for places of
prominence, for titles signifying superiority, and for their superior
"holier-than-thou" attitudes
--
instead, Jesus said, you should follow my example -- you should seek to be a
servant and to serve -- that was the role that Jesus took upon Himself when He
came to earth -- He chose to be a servant first and foremost
--
just think about the Last Supper -- when none of His disciples offered to wash
the feet of the others because that was the job of a slave or lowly servant --
Jesus got a towel and a basin and He washed their feet -- the King of Kings and
the Lord of Lords -- the Creator of the Universe -- took on the role of a slave
and served His disciples
--
and He says that is the way we are to approach life
--
look at verse 11
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles
himself will be exalted.
-- "If you want to be great
in My kingdom, you must be a servant to others -- If you want to be recognized
by the King, you must be humble and seek your approval from Him and not the
world"
--
like we talked about a couple of weeks ago, it all comes down to motive -- why
are you doing the things that you are doing? -- is it for God or for men? --
whose eye are you trying to catch? -- whose recognition are you seeking?
--
one commentator summed it up this way -- "The Pharisees paraded their
piety in public to win public praise"
--
Jesus paraded His piety in private to win the praise of His Father -- and He
calls for us to do the same -- Don Simpson says that the best therapy for our
self-image is to abandon self by genuinely loving other people, meeting their
needs, encouraging them, and praying God's best for them -- to serve them
wholeheartedly and to consider others better than yourselves2
--
that is the way of the servant -- that is the way of the cross -- that is the
way of Christ
IV. CLOSING
--
I think everybody in here is aware that I love college football -- actually, we
can take this one step further and say I love the Georgia Bulldogs -- and at
this time of the year, when we're just 27 days away from kickoff -- not that
I'm counting -- I start thinking that this is the year when Georgia is going to
win another National Championship
--
it's been a long time since Georgia won a national championship -- 1980, to be
exact -- but ask anyone
around here about that 1980 team, and they'll be able to tell you all about it
-- Georgia taking on Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to win the National
Championship -- they'll probably tell you about all the great players on that
team -- Hershel Walker -- Lindsay Scott -- Valdosta's own Buck Belue
--
but, you know what, despite all the Georgia fans here in this community who
remember that 1980 championship and can tell you about every game and every
stat from every game that year, I doubt that anyone would remember the names of
Warren Gray, Wayne Radloff, Joe Happe, James Brown, or Jimmy Harper -- no one
ever talks about them, but they may have been the most important men on the
team that year
--
these men made up the starting offensive line -- and it was their unheralded
and unrecognized service on the field that led the Georgia Bulldogs to a
national championship in 1980
--
while all the world exalted and talked about the star players after the game --
and continue to talk about them 35 years later -- no one remembers these five
men -- no one knows who they are -- no one talks about them each year before
the season -- their contribution and their service remains unheralded
--
it may be that no one here on earth will ever know your name -- it may be that
no one on earth will ever know the name of this church -- it may be that the
world will never recognize what we are doing here -- but that's okay
--
because there is One who sees -- there is One who knows -- and He tells us that
it is more important to serve Him -- to find our self-worth and our affirmation
through Him -- than to receive all the glory and admiration of the world
--
earthly glory and recognition may go to those who exalt themselves in pride as
the Pharisees did -- who serve to be seen -- but heavenly recognition is
reserved for those the world does not see and who serve from a grateful heart
simply because God loved them first
--
let us never forget that we are not called for glory but to glory
--
let us pray
References:
1Wesley Willis, "Full
Service Christians in a Self-Serve World," Discipleship Journal, Volume
53, Sept/Oct, 1989.
2Don Simpson, "From
Self to Servanthood", Discipleship Journal, Volume 1, Jan/Feb 1981
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