Vent

Good Morning!!!

I often wondered why God chose to include the following passage in the Scriptures we have today.

Matthew 23:1-36 (English Standard Version)
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3so practice and observe whatever they tell you— but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi[b] by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.[c] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.[d]
15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell[e] as yourselves.
16"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,[f] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 23:4 Some manuscripts omit hard to bear
b. Matthew 23:7 Rabbi means my teacher, or my master; also verse 8
c. Matthew 23:8 Or brothers and sisters
d. Matthew 23:13 Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation
e. Matthew 23:15 Greek Gehenna; also verse 33
f. Matthew 23:35 Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah

Norma and I headed down to Fred and Daisy Hottensen’s to fish yesterday morning. Norma shared with me a story from one of her Facebook friends. And it made my blood boil!!! So, please indulge me this morning while I vent - - and thank you for being a sounding board for me.

Norma’s friend visited a church Sunday. During the service, the preacher got up and asked a deacon to remove an individual because he was inappropriately dressed. According to Norma’s friend, the problem was that he had long hair and was wearing biker attire (jeans, T-shirt, leather vest, boots). How dare he enter the house of the “Lord” dressed that way!

Norma’s friend left immediately – and happened to catch up with the poorly dressed individual. It seems he had been drinking and suddenly realized he needed to get his life right. So he came to church – dressed just as he was. And he was shown the door – escorted out for not being appropriately dressed!

In my opinion, that man tried to visit the house of the Lord but ended up in a graveyard disguised as a church. You see the passage above is include in our Scriptures because God wants us to understand how easy it is to get caught up in a legalistic religion as opposed to a godly life. The Pharisees were “godly people” – at least they thought so – and they made sure that every one knew it. They took the Torah, added a bunch of traditions and practices and proclaimed themselves holy. They also rejected anyone who didn’t go along with them. They “escorted them out”, so to speak.

Now I am not saying you should show up at church in shorts and a golf shirt – but what I am saying is that I believe God is much more interested in your heart condition than in your attire. The biker had / has a need – he is caught up in a lifestyle that he wants to escape. And he came to a place where he thought he could find help – only to be turned away because he wasn’t dressed appropriately.

I believe with all my heart that the church (I am talking about all called out Christians) is charged with the responsibility to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Gospel isn’t about length of hair, style of clothing or what you come to church on or in. The simple Gospel is this: God loves you so much that He took on the form of man (Jesus); lived a perfect life so that He could offer Himself as a blood sacrifice for the Sin of humanity. Having completed that task, He offers to you and to me eternal life if we trust in this completed work. That is it – simple, straight-forward. No strings attached. No hoops to jump through.

God makes this offer to you and to me just as we are. There is nothing we can do to deserve this precious gift. All we must do is believe God and trust in the finished work of the cross. And that’s the message we should be giving to the world. What message did that biker receive Sunday?

Well, thank you for listening. I know it might not be the best devotion you read this morning – and I apologize. God is still on His throne and He can make a way for that biker to hear the truth and get help. He can also change that church. I am praying in that direction. Won’t you join me?

Agape’

Mr. Jim