Sermon, Sunday June 8 2008
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Brothers and sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
this morning I am going to do something a little different. This morning I am going to do a teaching sermon. Now don't worry teaching sermon does not mean boring sermon, in fact I think you might find this interesting. I am going to be using a word that you have probably heard me use but might not have known what it meant. That word is doctrine, and it essentially refers to nothing more than simply teachings of the church.
A few weeks ago I was having lunch at the Pizza Hut in Sidney with some fellow pastors. One of the patrons came up to our table and asked if we were pastors. One of my fellow pastors said yes. The man responded by saying that he was a Christian. But then he said that he didn’t really worry about doctrine. He said "No doctrine, just Jesus." As if Jesus is not concerned about doctrine; as if Jesus is not concerned about those who would profess His name having a right and proper understanding of biblical truth.
Now while his heart might have been in the right place I actually see this man’s comments as being reflective of the disdain that the Pharisees were showing for Jesus in this morning’s Gospel lesson. But we have to understand that the commonly accepted understanding of the Pharisees and the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is wrong.
Now we all know of course that Jesus was very critical of the Pharisees, and for good reason. But the basis of this criticism is often misunderstood. I read a very interesting article this week on just this subject. It was written by a Lutheran pastor named Todd Wilken. In the article Pastor Wilken talks about how often these days people will play what he calls the "Pharisee card" in the same way that some people will play the "race card" or the "gender card." He rightly points out that in American politics, both the race and gender cards are used as a way to discredit someone by implying that they are racist or sexist. I would add that these tactics are used also as a way of avoiding any real genuine discussion of an issue.
In the article Pastor Wilken points out that this same tactic happens in the twenty-first century American church, with people playing the Pharisee card in an attempt to portray fellow Christians as narrow-minded, doctrinal purists, resistant to change and therefore unconcerned for the lost. The problem with this, and Pastor Wilken very effectively makes this point, is that it is based on an inaccurate characterization of the reasons why Jesus faulted the Pharisees.
Tonight I will be getting on the train and heading to Minnesota to go to a theological retreat at Mt Carmel retreat center. This retreat is being organized by people connected with Word Alone, the reform group that I am an active member of. There are some in the ELCA who like to play the Pharisee card against Word Alone because of our concern for doctrinal purity, not that there aren’t some in Word Alone who have their own cards that they play in an attempt to cast those who disagree with them in a negative light.
The point is Jesus never faulted the Pharisees for their concern for doctrinal purity. Quite to the contrary, Jesus was very concerned about doctrinal purity Himself. In John 8 we read where Jesus says that if we abide in His Word we are truly disciples of His and we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Doctrinal purity is not about trying to legalistically bind people in rules, it is about seeking to preserve the truth that our Lord promises will set sinners free.
Neither did Jesus fault the Pharisees for being resistant to change. In fact the opposite is actually true. The parable of new wine in the old wineskins from Luke 5 is often used to suggest that Jesus was critical of the Pharisees for being resistant to change, but actually that parable is critical of the Pharisees for introducing their own innovations in place of God’s Word. And again I must give Pastor Wilken credit for pointing this out in his article. Jesus concludes the parable by saying "And no one, after drinking old wishes for new; for he says, ‘the old is good.’"
Jesus did not see the Pharisees as being unconcerned for the lost. In Matthew 23 Jesus acknowledges that the Pharisees and scribes travel about on sea and land to proselyte.
The Pharisees error was not a concern for doctrinal purity or resistance to change or lack or being unconcerned for the lost; it was their false teaching. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their apostasy. The Pharisees taught that salvation was the result of God’s mercy plus man’s obedience. This teaching is reflected much more today in a lot of the tips for daily living preaching that you might see on television than it is in biblically grounded Christ-centered law and Gospel preaching that some might mistake for being reflective of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees could not let go of the myth of their own righteousness, so much so that they went to the point of actually not making the law more rigid but actually of dulling the law’s demands in order to fool people into thinking that they can fulfill the law. And this, finally, is where I see the connection between the man at Pizza Hut and the Pharisees.
I believe that ultimately the real problem that this man at Pizza Hut had with doctrine is that doctrine goes beyond a surface-level understanding of scripture. For to have a deeper appreciation of the Word than that would mean seeing that God’s Word cuts to the heart. To truly understand God’s Word we must understand that God’s Word interprets us, not the other way around.
And so it is with the Pharisees clinging to their mythical righteousness, all the while continuing with their vain efforts to interpret God’s Word incarnate Christ Jesus. But the Word-made flesh turns things around and interprets them by telling them that He desires mercy and not sacrifice and that He comes for sinners and not for the righteous. And in that moment He interprets the Pharisees as sinners and exposes them as false teachers.
And therein lies the biggest difference between the Pharisees and the sinners and tax-collectors. When Jesus said that He came not for the righteous but for sinners, He was speaking of how they saw themselves and not how God saw them. The Pharisees believed that they could be righteous on their own, and they were teaching this, and that was what Jesus faulted them about. And so He responds to them by trying to correct their doctrine, not by telling them to be more inclusive, or to be nicer people, no He corrects their doctrine by assuring that they have a true and right understanding of the Word; the Word made flesh.
And so the struggle continues today. The truth is everyone of us daily does something that warrants us rightly being called Pharisees. Anytime we trust our obedience over our Lord’s faithfulness we are being Pharisees. Anytime we cling to anything other than the Lord, be it money, alcohol, work or whatever we warrant the label Pharisee. Anytime we ignore biblical truth in the interest of promoting political-correctness, inclusiveness, ecumenism, inter-faith dialogue and anything else, we warrant the label Pharisee. Really, anytime we sin we warrant the label Pharisee and so we show ourselves deserving of the condemnation and criticism that our Lord Jesus had for the Pharisees.
Our Lord demands perfect righteousness and hiding from that truth does not make it go away, and it certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to you. And try as we might to dull the demands, we still fall far short.
But the righteousness that our Lord demands of us, He brings to us. In the large catechism Luther summarizes the benefits of baptism in two words; "It saves." And so indeed in the waters of baptism our Lord Jesus comes to us, claims us, marks us with His cross, seals us with the Holy Spirit and gives us the righteousness that our Lord demands of us and then gives us the faith to believe this promise. Why would anyone want to cling to the myth of our own righteousness when our Lord Jesus brings us all of this.
There is no reason to run from doctrine. Quite to the contrary, doctrine should be embraced, for through doctrine our Lord gives us greater insight into the Word of our Lord and His promise. And in hearing His word, the Spirit leads into the truth that frees us preserves nurtures and sustains us in the faith; the faith that like it was with Abraham, is reckoned to us as righteousness-the righteousness that God sees.
Amen
Brothers and sisters
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
this morning I am going to do something a little different. This morning I am going to do a teaching sermon. Now don't worry teaching sermon does not mean boring sermon, in fact I think you might find this interesting. I am going to be using a word that you have probably heard me use but might not have known what it meant. That word is doctrine, and it essentially refers to nothing more than simply teachings of the church.
A few weeks ago I was having lunch at the Pizza Hut in Sidney with some fellow pastors. One of the patrons came up to our table and asked if we were pastors. One of my fellow pastors said yes. The man responded by saying that he was a Christian. But then he said that he didn’t really worry about doctrine. He said "No doctrine, just Jesus." As if Jesus is not concerned about doctrine; as if Jesus is not concerned about those who would profess His name having a right and proper understanding of biblical truth.
Now while his heart might have been in the right place I actually see this man’s comments as being reflective of the disdain that the Pharisees were showing for Jesus in this morning’s Gospel lesson. But we have to understand that the commonly accepted understanding of the Pharisees and the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees is wrong.
Now we all know of course that Jesus was very critical of the Pharisees, and for good reason. But the basis of this criticism is often misunderstood. I read a very interesting article this week on just this subject. It was written by a Lutheran pastor named Todd Wilken. In the article Pastor Wilken talks about how often these days people will play what he calls the "Pharisee card" in the same way that some people will play the "race card" or the "gender card." He rightly points out that in American politics, both the race and gender cards are used as a way to discredit someone by implying that they are racist or sexist. I would add that these tactics are used also as a way of avoiding any real genuine discussion of an issue.
In the article Pastor Wilken points out that this same tactic happens in the twenty-first century American church, with people playing the Pharisee card in an attempt to portray fellow Christians as narrow-minded, doctrinal purists, resistant to change and therefore unconcerned for the lost. The problem with this, and Pastor Wilken very effectively makes this point, is that it is based on an inaccurate characterization of the reasons why Jesus faulted the Pharisees.
Tonight I will be getting on the train and heading to Minnesota to go to a theological retreat at Mt Carmel retreat center. This retreat is being organized by people connected with Word Alone, the reform group that I am an active member of. There are some in the ELCA who like to play the Pharisee card against Word Alone because of our concern for doctrinal purity, not that there aren’t some in Word Alone who have their own cards that they play in an attempt to cast those who disagree with them in a negative light.
The point is Jesus never faulted the Pharisees for their concern for doctrinal purity. Quite to the contrary, Jesus was very concerned about doctrinal purity Himself. In John 8 we read where Jesus says that if we abide in His Word we are truly disciples of His and we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Doctrinal purity is not about trying to legalistically bind people in rules, it is about seeking to preserve the truth that our Lord promises will set sinners free.
Neither did Jesus fault the Pharisees for being resistant to change. In fact the opposite is actually true. The parable of new wine in the old wineskins from Luke 5 is often used to suggest that Jesus was critical of the Pharisees for being resistant to change, but actually that parable is critical of the Pharisees for introducing their own innovations in place of God’s Word. And again I must give Pastor Wilken credit for pointing this out in his article. Jesus concludes the parable by saying "And no one, after drinking old wishes for new; for he says, ‘the old is good.’"
Jesus did not see the Pharisees as being unconcerned for the lost. In Matthew 23 Jesus acknowledges that the Pharisees and scribes travel about on sea and land to proselyte.
The Pharisees error was not a concern for doctrinal purity or resistance to change or lack or being unconcerned for the lost; it was their false teaching. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their apostasy. The Pharisees taught that salvation was the result of God’s mercy plus man’s obedience. This teaching is reflected much more today in a lot of the tips for daily living preaching that you might see on television than it is in biblically grounded Christ-centered law and Gospel preaching that some might mistake for being reflective of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees could not let go of the myth of their own righteousness, so much so that they went to the point of actually not making the law more rigid but actually of dulling the law’s demands in order to fool people into thinking that they can fulfill the law. And this, finally, is where I see the connection between the man at Pizza Hut and the Pharisees.
I believe that ultimately the real problem that this man at Pizza Hut had with doctrine is that doctrine goes beyond a surface-level understanding of scripture. For to have a deeper appreciation of the Word than that would mean seeing that God’s Word cuts to the heart. To truly understand God’s Word we must understand that God’s Word interprets us, not the other way around.
And so it is with the Pharisees clinging to their mythical righteousness, all the while continuing with their vain efforts to interpret God’s Word incarnate Christ Jesus. But the Word-made flesh turns things around and interprets them by telling them that He desires mercy and not sacrifice and that He comes for sinners and not for the righteous. And in that moment He interprets the Pharisees as sinners and exposes them as false teachers.
And therein lies the biggest difference between the Pharisees and the sinners and tax-collectors. When Jesus said that He came not for the righteous but for sinners, He was speaking of how they saw themselves and not how God saw them. The Pharisees believed that they could be righteous on their own, and they were teaching this, and that was what Jesus faulted them about. And so He responds to them by trying to correct their doctrine, not by telling them to be more inclusive, or to be nicer people, no He corrects their doctrine by assuring that they have a true and right understanding of the Word; the Word made flesh.
And so the struggle continues today. The truth is everyone of us daily does something that warrants us rightly being called Pharisees. Anytime we trust our obedience over our Lord’s faithfulness we are being Pharisees. Anytime we cling to anything other than the Lord, be it money, alcohol, work or whatever we warrant the label Pharisee. Anytime we ignore biblical truth in the interest of promoting political-correctness, inclusiveness, ecumenism, inter-faith dialogue and anything else, we warrant the label Pharisee. Really, anytime we sin we warrant the label Pharisee and so we show ourselves deserving of the condemnation and criticism that our Lord Jesus had for the Pharisees.
Our Lord demands perfect righteousness and hiding from that truth does not make it go away, and it certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply to you. And try as we might to dull the demands, we still fall far short.
But the righteousness that our Lord demands of us, He brings to us. In the large catechism Luther summarizes the benefits of baptism in two words; "It saves." And so indeed in the waters of baptism our Lord Jesus comes to us, claims us, marks us with His cross, seals us with the Holy Spirit and gives us the righteousness that our Lord demands of us and then gives us the faith to believe this promise. Why would anyone want to cling to the myth of our own righteousness when our Lord Jesus brings us all of this.
There is no reason to run from doctrine. Quite to the contrary, doctrine should be embraced, for through doctrine our Lord gives us greater insight into the Word of our Lord and His promise. And in hearing His word, the Spirit leads into the truth that frees us preserves nurtures and sustains us in the faith; the faith that like it was with Abraham, is reckoned to us as righteousness-the righteousness that God sees.
Amen
posted by Steve at 9:43 PM
1 Comments:
Great sermon. I liked how you connected the illustration with the text and with our common day experiences. I don't know about you, but I think I would have come out of there thinking differently. What was the response?
I really liked this:
"And so it is with the Pharisees clinging to their mythical righteousness, all the while continuing with their vain efforts to interpret God’s Word incarnate Christ Jesus. But the Word-made flesh turns things around and interprets them by telling them that He desires mercy and not sacrifice and that He comes for sinners and not for the righteous. And in that moment He interprets the Pharisees as sinners and exposes them as false teachers.
And therein lies the biggest difference between the Pharisees and the sinners and tax-collectors. When Jesus said that He came not for the righteous but for sinners, He was speaking of how they saw themselves and not how God saw them. The Pharisees believed that they could be righteous on their own, and they were teaching this, and that was what Jesus faulted them about. And so He responds to them by trying to correct their doctrine, not by telling them to be more inclusive, or to be nicer people, no He corrects their doctrine by assuring that they have a true and right understanding of the Word; the Word made flesh."
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