Life: If It Only Came With Instructions

Morning Worship Service - 2/19/06

 

I. Introduction

- Folks, I’m not sure where each of you stand, but I for one am very glad that God, by the working of the Holy Spirit, guided some of Christ’s disciples to record some of the events and teachings that they had and heard when they were with Christ - men like Matthew and Peter.

- By their own first hand experience, they can give us as real to life recordings as to who Christ was, what he did, and probably most important for our current series, what he said.

- So, personally I believe we have much to be thankful to these guys for.

 

- However, not everyone will agree with my belief and my opinion. There are those who really don’t care one way or another about the inspired writings of men like Matthew and Peter, and they don’t really care because they don’t really see how Jesus’ teachings, or really any teachings found within the pages of Scripture, are of any help today.

Ä They just see Christ’s teachings as just part of religion, or Christianity, that they don’t believe or see making any kind of a real difference in their life and with the issues that they are dealing with on a daily basis. 

Ä As far as these people are concerned, they could basically do without guys like Peter and Matthew, and it wouldn’t have any kind of an affect one way or another.

- You see folks, there are hundreds, upon thousands of people who have come to the conclusion in their lives that religion just isn’t a big deal, because they don’t believe it makes that big of a difference in a person’s life.

Ä Maybe you’re here this morning, and even though you are at church, deep down inside you just don’t believe that what you are going to hear today will have any kind of real impact on your life.

Ä Out of those hundreds of thousands of people who believe this way, many of them are people who go to church week in and week out. They go to church maybe out of obligation, maybe out of tradition, maybe out of fear; but whatever the case, they certainly don’t go because they believe it will have any kind of a real impact in their day to day lives.

Ä And they don’t believe that because they don’t believe the church, and more importantly, this instructional manual called the Bible, can really do that.

è Now, will individuals such as these voice this belief or opinion? >>> Some may, but for the most part many who believe this way keep things to themselves - and they keep things to themselves in order to keep up appearances.

Ä I can tell you from my own personal experience with this battle that while I was struggling with the reality and benefit of my faith to my life, many people really had no clue. I certainly wasn’t going to share with anyone the struggle I was going through.

Ä And I am sure that there are many others experiencing the same struggle that I faced, and like me they are just keeping it to themselves in order to keep up appearances.

 

è Well, you know what? >>> I for one got sick and tired of believing and thinking that way

Ä I for one wanted to come to fully understand the truth of Hebrews 4:12, that tells me that this instructional manual is indeed living and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword able to divide my soul and spirit and discern the thoughts and intents of my heart - this book is powerful and effective.

- So, in this series that is meant to deal with some real life issues using the instructional manual of Christ’s teachings,  I’d like for us to take a couple of weeks and address this particular issue that people might have concerning the powerlessness and ineffectiveness of Christianity and particular the teachings of the Word of God.

- If you are sitting here this morning, and you are struggling with this issue of life, than any other issues that we may try to deal with using this instructional manual, will be of very little value to you.

- So, beginning this week, we want to try and make the writings of guys like Matthew and Peter, and specifically their writings concerning the teachings of Christ, come alive and be as real as possible to our everyday lives.

 

II. Christ’s Teachings

- So if you would, I would have you to turn over to Matthew chapter 15 in your Bibles, where we will find an account recorded for us by Matthew of when Jesus had to deal with some individuals who were also struggling with this exact issue.

(READ Matthew 15:1-9)

 

A. The History of Scribes and the Pharisees

- Here we see Jesus dealing with a group of individuals known as the Scribes and Pharisees

Ä And if you know anything about these individuals you know that they are indeed very religious.

ü These guys were very well educated in religion and specifically the teachings of God’s law - God’s Word.

ü As a result, they were viewed by many as the ones responsible for the spiritual leadership of others.

Ä However, the problem that we see Jesus having to deal with here is the fact that, while these guys may have been very well educated in religion and specifically the teachings of God’s law, those teachings had very little impact in their lives.

Ä And as a result, they began to turn to other sources that they considered to be of greater value and impact to their everyday lives. And that source we see being identified here, was that of the “traditions of the elders”. (vs.2)

è Now real quick let me explain that the traditions of the elders were basically interpretations of scribes gone by, as to how they believed that God’s law should be interpreted and lived out in a person’s life.

è As time went by a larger and larger number of these interpretations were accumulated to the point that there was more interpretations than there was actual Scripture.

è And as these interpretations grew, the distinction between Scripture and the interpretations became less and less distinct. So that ultimately these interpretations or traditions became more familiar, more revered, and more important that God’s own Word.     

B. The Problem of the Scribes and the Pharisees

- So, these Scribes and Pharisees struggled with the reality and impact of God’s Word to their everyday lives, and here that problem becomes very obvious.

(READ Matthew 15:1-2)

- Folks, this problem of the Pharisees and Scribes concerning the powerlessness and ineffectiveness of the God’s instructional manual for our lives, which is a problem that so many deal with today, is made perfectly clear in their questioning of Jesus Christ.

- If you notice, these guys did not even try to hide the fact that they viewed the traditions of the elders to be of greater value that the Word of God itself.

Ä In verse 2 they flat out tell Jesus that the problem that they have with the disciples had nothing to do with the Word of God, but instead it was all about the traditions of the elders.

Ä And specifically, the problem they had with the disciples concerning the traditions of the elders was all about the disciples failure to wash their hands when they ate - which to them was a very serious offense.

 

- Now, this morning I have gathered together a few materials to help you to understand what this “serious offense” was all about.

(Make sure to have ready on a small table a pitcher of water, a large bowl, and towel)

Ä First of all, let me just point out that this issue was not serious to these Scribes and Pharisees because they believed it to be an issue of hygiene.

(Illustration: Ask the kids what their mother might tell them to do before eating dinner, especially if they had been outside playing for a long time - wash your hands)

Ä The issue had nothing to do with hygiene, but instead it had to do with an interpretation passed down by some scribes that taught that an individual had to wash their hands before eating in order to remove the ritual defilement caused by having touched something that was unclean.

(Illustration: Therefore this is what they taught as needing to be done before every meal. They taught that a person was to pour water on both hands, with their fingers pointed upward to that the water ran down the arm and dropped off at the wrist. And it was important to make sure that the water ran down because as soon as it hit your fingers the water became unclean, therefore if it ran down your fingers again, you would be rendered unclean again. After the initial pour with fingers facing upward, they would then repeat the process with hands held in the downward direction, the fingers pointing down. And then, after these two steps, the hands finally became cleansed by being rubbed with the first of the other.)         

Ä Now here is how far out of balance these Scribes and Pharisees took the traditions of the elders. They believed that this practice was so important to a person’s holiness that the strictest of them would not just perform this practice before every meal, but would perform it between every course of every meal.

Ä And the reason for that was because the value of this ceremonial rinsing got to the point where it was believed that along with a few other practices, if a man ate his food with rinsed hands, he was assured that he would obtain eternal life.

 

- Folks, this is basically what these scribes and Pharisees, these religious leaders, had turned religion or Christianity into.

Ä They took God’s Word and Christianity, and turned it into a bunch of man-made interpretations and traditions that God never intended to be. And they in turn, used these traditions to determine how to live one’s life and how to judge others by.

Ä And as you can see, because traditions such as this and many, many more became the focus of religion, which again is something God never intended it to be, it is quite obvious how easy it was for people to become overwhelmed and overburdened, which eventually leads to great discouragement and the belief that religion and God’s Word makes no real difference in a person’s life deep down inside, but instead it is all just an outward and superficial thing.

 

  C. Our Similarities With the Scribes and Pharisees

- These guys missed the point, and they led so many others to do the same. But before we judge them too harshly, let me just remind you that we do the exact same thing today!

Ä There are so many people, and I am just as guilty of this as anyone, who have fallen into the trap of believing that their Christianity and the Word of God is just not very powerful and effective, and the reason for that is because, like the Scribes and Pharisees, we have turned Christianity into something that God never intended it to be.

ü Christianity = prosperity

è But the moment we lose our jobs, struggle making ends meet, and can’t keep up with the Jone’s next door, than our faith and religion is no longer very effective and powerful, because it’s not having the impact we thought that it should.

ü Christianity = problem free living

è But the moment there is some death in the family, or we face some other kind of trial than our faith and religion is no longer very effective and powerful, because it’s not having the impact we thought that it should.

ü Christianity = perfect children

è But the moment our first child grows up and lives a sinful life and walks away from God, than our faith and religion is no longer very effective and powerful, because it’s not having the impact we thought that it should.

ü Christianity = perfect relationships with our spouse and other people

è But the moment our relationship with our spouse begins to crumble or we can’t seem to get along with anyone at work, than our faith and religion is no longer very effective and powerful, because it’s not having the impact we thought that it should.

ü Christianity = elimination of personal struggles and sins

è But the moment we ourselves fall to temptation and involve ourselves in some consistent sin, than our faith and religion is no longer very effective and powerful, because it’s not having the impact we thought that it should.

 

 

ü Christianity = deep philosophy and knowledge or a list of man made interpretations and traditions

è And this is the one that I was guilty of for so many years. Like the Pharisees and Scribes, I turned my Christianity into a knowledge thing and into a list of interpretations and traditions by which to live my life.

è As a result, like so many living during the time of the Scribes and Pharisees, my faith began to be a burden as I was making it something it wasn’t and just plain old missing the point.

è Which is exactly what Christ warned these Scribes, and Pharisees, and us that would happen in Luke chapter 11.

(READ Luke 11:46)

è When we get to this point, we no longer see our faith, our Christianity, as being powerful, effective, and having any great impact in our lives. But instead we have made it much too complicated and much too difficult, and as a result we see it as a burden that we might be better off without.

(Illustration: I got a letter this week from someone who is in this exact place in their life. Sadly to say, this person was in the ministry, in fact he was a missionary, but he had turned Christianity into something God never intended, making it far too complicated, and making it of very little impact in his life and especially in his marriage. Listen to what he writes: “Throughout my years of service, I have struggled to relate to people from my heart. My childhood wounds plagued me. For the past few years, I’ve wrestled to follow God into my emotional core. I wanted God’s Spirit to shine through me, but I feared exposure of my deepest self. I didn’t want to go there. I believed the pain would be too great. My unchallenged fears stood in the way, and I avoided those fears. Now I am no longer able to steer clear of them. When I returned home from taking my daughter to college, the house was half empty, and my wife and son had moved out. My family is broken and so am I. My brokenness comes from emotional wounds that work out in angry and hurtful speech.)

- Folks, whenever we take Christianity and the Word of God, and turn it into something God never intended it to be, we inevitably complicate things and we miss the point.

Ä The point that God always intended Christianity to be a about, and the point that will bring about great power, effectiveness and impact in our everyday lives.

- Sure the Scribes and Pharisees were guilty of this, but so are we. We miss the point all the time.

 

D. What’s the Point?

- And by now, I am hoping that you are still with me enough and awake enough, to be asking yourself - WHAT THEN IS THE POINT?

è What did God always intend Christianity to be about, which in turn brings about great power, effectiveness and impact in our everyday lives?

- Well, after the Scribes and Pharisees ask this question about the disciples back in Matthew 15, Jesus gives some instruction that really spells out the point quite clearly.

(READ Matthew 15:7-9; 17-20)