“Jesus’ Favorite Sermon”
24th Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 23:1-12
You’ve heard the story of the preacher who reported this humbling conversation with his wife. It took place on the way home from church after what he considered to be the delivery of a rather magnificent sermon: “Tell me, dear,” he asked, “how many truly great preachers do you think there are today?” She replied, “I don’t know, but I am quite sure it is one less than you think there are.”
Cody and Madeline and I did this little skit about phylacteries this morning to point out something Jesus saw with His very own eyes, and felt the need to comment upon – to His disciples, and the crowd that was gathered outside the temple. He saw the religions leaders of the day exalting themselves over those they instructed, and then not really practicing what they preached. Jesus told the crowd that day to listen to and heed their teaching, but not to follow their example – and then at the end of our gospel lesson for the day, He turned things toward His point when He said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I think this main point of this discourse was His favorite sermon. We see it often in the scriptures – it’s the great paradox – what seems to be isn’t necessarily so. In fact, usually the opposite of what you hope to attain is actually attained by your actions. So, if you want greatness, practice humility. If you actually try to find greatness, humility will be what you find instead.
The trouble with this teaching, of course, is the paradox of it – that, and the fact that everything within our beings, most of what surrounds us, most visual images in our daily paths, most teaching that we receive from the time that we are small children – nearly everything that we know, think and are – all works against living our lives the way that Jesus instructs us in this passage.
Friday week ago, we had to go to a meeting about Travis. It seems that once again, his living situation will have to change. I’m not all that surprised this time around – last year when we placed him in this particular group home, I was concerned at the age of most of the men in the house. They are older than Travis, and Travis requires more interaction than they are willing to give, and slightly more activity. So I was not surprised that the people who care for him think a smaller, more intimate situation would actually work to give him greater opportunity and fewer hindrances toward personal growth.
Anyway, in that meeting, one of the observations was Travis’ rather intense competitive streak. I had to admit familial guilt on this one – Travis comes by this competitive nature honestly – everyone on my side of the family is highly competitive, and he has certainly picked it up as well. It will be virtually impossible for him to unlearn that personality trait at this point. About the best we can hope for is that he’ll get older, fatter, and sleepier as the years progress.
We are certainly a by-product of our environments!! We live in a “boot-strap” society that expects the best from us – always. We are encouraged to excel – from our first steps and our first words. We start out our schooling, and if it hasn’t already, the competition begins. Grades, peer pressure, social progress – all depend on our ability and willingness to advance – at all costs. We are a competitive society, and we value excellence, attainment, and outstanding progress. In our homes, our families, our schools, our jobs, and our recreation – we value most highly the person who can excel and get ahead. We encourage it, we applaud it, and in some cases, we require it.
Eventually, the very thing we value most begins to rule us. And we not only don’t think anything about it – we look askew at the ones who don’t live for the goal of exaltation.
Jesus messes everything up for us when He announces that the greatest in the kingdom will be the least among us. And His teaching begs the question – “How do we practice humility, especially in a world that constantly requires us to move toward greatness?”
The secret may just be in the middle verses of our passage for today. Look back, starting at verse 8. “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father – the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, you have one instructor, the Messiah.” Notice here that Jesus calls us to take our eyes off those around us, and focus our attention squarely on God and His Son. God is our Teacher, God is our Father, and Christ is our Instructor.
We are to follow the example of Jesus. “Well, Pastor – didn’t Jesus do all things well? Wasn’t that the example He set for us? I seem to remember there’s an old hymn that even uses that phrase – Jesus doeth all things well. Isn’t that our example?”
The answer is the paradox. We are to do all things well. We are to excel, as best we can. We are to do our best – every day of the world. We are to strive, to stretch, to question, to glean, to learn. We are to do all those things. But the attitude with which we do them is key. We are to do all of those things with the attitude of Christ, who did all those things as an example to us.
You know, Gary Shields has been trying to teach me something over the last couple of years when we go fishing. You know that competitive streak that I have – well, when we get in the boat over there on Canton Lake, it really kicks in. I can be pretty gracious about it – I can cheer for the guy in the other end of the boat when he catches the first fish, or the first seven fish, or the biggest fish. But what is on my face, and what is in my heart are often two different things. I love to win – and on the boat, that means catching most of the fish, or the biggest fish. Now, Gary has been trying to teach me that the next level of joy comes when I cease being so much the competitor, and start being more the teacher – when I take the opportunity to teach a youngster how to do what I already know how to do.
I had opportunity to do just that this summer. A couple of times, I took some young men with me when I went out – and spent much of my time instructing them, helping them, encouraging them. It was actually fun. For me, the competition never really goes away, but it is learning to be restrained to some degree.
Now, I want to talk about the corollary application to this teaching. I have noticed in the church – and I don’t just mean this church, although we struggle with this to some degree – we sometimes practice a false humility in the church. Let me illustrate with a preposterous suggestion. Let’s say, somewhere back in Matthew, that the disciples had said to Jesus, “Lord, show us how to pray.” And Jesus had responded to them by saying, “Oh, boys – I always do the praying around here. I’m just one of you, and not more important. Why don’t one of you bless the dinner this evening?”
Here’s my point on this one. While we practice humility of position within the church, we never shirk a duty or an opportunity to be of service for the sake of false humility.
Now, I don’t want us all to get self-conscious down in the basement in a little while, but when we line up to eat, someone is going to have to be first, and someone will have to go through the line last. If someone isn’t first, then we’ll never get to the food. And if someone isn’t last, we’ll never go home. The two things we don’t want to do down there. We don’t want anyone going to the front of the line because they perceive that they are more important than anyone else, nor do we want anyone practicing the false humility of standing back, urging others to “go ahead of them” as an act of overt humility.
That’s kind of a silly example for us, because we really don’t have any of those kind of problems here. But you get my point. We never hesitate to serve because “there are those who are more qualified” or because “I’m sure that there are those who haven’t had the opportunity yet.”
Most often, humility doesn’t look like humility. I have a phrase that I use sometimes when I describe most of the men who are a part of our church. It’s a phrase that we don’t use as often in this day and time – churchmen. I will speak rather proudly (of course, with due humility) about one of our men, and I will describe them as a true “churchman.” For me, a “churchman” looks something like this. He’s the man who, when he’s asked to serve, willingly responds – and then begins to plan how he might best serve in the capacity for which he has been asked. In most settings, he’s the man who is so busy serving that his own temporary needs might seem to go unmet. But they never do go unmet – for the church is always about the business of meeting everyone’s needs, even those who serve the most. And the Spirit of God is always about the business of meeting the needs of everyone in the church, even those who serve the most.
I have one other example from the scriptures this morning. Jesus talks about the practice of fasting. I actually read a pretty good article about fasting this week. Not that I want to practice fasting. And I don’t know anyone who enjoys fasting. You know, Jesus commented on the practice of the Pharisees when they fasted – they would actually put on makeup so as to make themselves look emaciated – thus presenting the appearance that they were truly pious. Instead, Jesus instructed us, not if, but when we fast, to put on a pleasant expression, and to go about our business as though we are not fasting. I suspect that in Jesus’ case, most often He was so busy doing something else – praying, serving, teaching – that He simply forgot to eat.
I close with an illustration from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, He writes: “Our activity must be visible, but never be done for the sake of making it visible. ‘Let your light so shine before [others]’ . . . and yet: Take care that you hide it! . . . That which is visible must also be hidden. The awareness on which Jesus insists is intended to prevent us from reflecting on our extraordinary position. We have to take heed that we do not take heed of our own righteousness. Otherwise the ‘extraordinary’ which we achieve will not be that which comes from following Christ, but that which springs from our own will and desire.”[1]
“The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Richard W. Dunn, PhD.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, (New York: Touchstone Books, Simon and Schuster, 1995), p. 157.
Matthew 23:1-12
You’ve heard the story of the preacher who reported this humbling conversation with his wife. It took place on the way home from church after what he considered to be the delivery of a rather magnificent sermon: “Tell me, dear,” he asked, “how many truly great preachers do you think there are today?” She replied, “I don’t know, but I am quite sure it is one less than you think there are.”
Cody and Madeline and I did this little skit about phylacteries this morning to point out something Jesus saw with His very own eyes, and felt the need to comment upon – to His disciples, and the crowd that was gathered outside the temple. He saw the religions leaders of the day exalting themselves over those they instructed, and then not really practicing what they preached. Jesus told the crowd that day to listen to and heed their teaching, but not to follow their example – and then at the end of our gospel lesson for the day, He turned things toward His point when He said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I think this main point of this discourse was His favorite sermon. We see it often in the scriptures – it’s the great paradox – what seems to be isn’t necessarily so. In fact, usually the opposite of what you hope to attain is actually attained by your actions. So, if you want greatness, practice humility. If you actually try to find greatness, humility will be what you find instead.
The trouble with this teaching, of course, is the paradox of it – that, and the fact that everything within our beings, most of what surrounds us, most visual images in our daily paths, most teaching that we receive from the time that we are small children – nearly everything that we know, think and are – all works against living our lives the way that Jesus instructs us in this passage.
Friday week ago, we had to go to a meeting about Travis. It seems that once again, his living situation will have to change. I’m not all that surprised this time around – last year when we placed him in this particular group home, I was concerned at the age of most of the men in the house. They are older than Travis, and Travis requires more interaction than they are willing to give, and slightly more activity. So I was not surprised that the people who care for him think a smaller, more intimate situation would actually work to give him greater opportunity and fewer hindrances toward personal growth.
Anyway, in that meeting, one of the observations was Travis’ rather intense competitive streak. I had to admit familial guilt on this one – Travis comes by this competitive nature honestly – everyone on my side of the family is highly competitive, and he has certainly picked it up as well. It will be virtually impossible for him to unlearn that personality trait at this point. About the best we can hope for is that he’ll get older, fatter, and sleepier as the years progress.
We are certainly a by-product of our environments!! We live in a “boot-strap” society that expects the best from us – always. We are encouraged to excel – from our first steps and our first words. We start out our schooling, and if it hasn’t already, the competition begins. Grades, peer pressure, social progress – all depend on our ability and willingness to advance – at all costs. We are a competitive society, and we value excellence, attainment, and outstanding progress. In our homes, our families, our schools, our jobs, and our recreation – we value most highly the person who can excel and get ahead. We encourage it, we applaud it, and in some cases, we require it.
Eventually, the very thing we value most begins to rule us. And we not only don’t think anything about it – we look askew at the ones who don’t live for the goal of exaltation.
Jesus messes everything up for us when He announces that the greatest in the kingdom will be the least among us. And His teaching begs the question – “How do we practice humility, especially in a world that constantly requires us to move toward greatness?”
The secret may just be in the middle verses of our passage for today. Look back, starting at verse 8. “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father – the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, you have one instructor, the Messiah.” Notice here that Jesus calls us to take our eyes off those around us, and focus our attention squarely on God and His Son. God is our Teacher, God is our Father, and Christ is our Instructor.
We are to follow the example of Jesus. “Well, Pastor – didn’t Jesus do all things well? Wasn’t that the example He set for us? I seem to remember there’s an old hymn that even uses that phrase – Jesus doeth all things well. Isn’t that our example?”
The answer is the paradox. We are to do all things well. We are to excel, as best we can. We are to do our best – every day of the world. We are to strive, to stretch, to question, to glean, to learn. We are to do all those things. But the attitude with which we do them is key. We are to do all of those things with the attitude of Christ, who did all those things as an example to us.
You know, Gary Shields has been trying to teach me something over the last couple of years when we go fishing. You know that competitive streak that I have – well, when we get in the boat over there on Canton Lake, it really kicks in. I can be pretty gracious about it – I can cheer for the guy in the other end of the boat when he catches the first fish, or the first seven fish, or the biggest fish. But what is on my face, and what is in my heart are often two different things. I love to win – and on the boat, that means catching most of the fish, or the biggest fish. Now, Gary has been trying to teach me that the next level of joy comes when I cease being so much the competitor, and start being more the teacher – when I take the opportunity to teach a youngster how to do what I already know how to do.
I had opportunity to do just that this summer. A couple of times, I took some young men with me when I went out – and spent much of my time instructing them, helping them, encouraging them. It was actually fun. For me, the competition never really goes away, but it is learning to be restrained to some degree.
Now, I want to talk about the corollary application to this teaching. I have noticed in the church – and I don’t just mean this church, although we struggle with this to some degree – we sometimes practice a false humility in the church. Let me illustrate with a preposterous suggestion. Let’s say, somewhere back in Matthew, that the disciples had said to Jesus, “Lord, show us how to pray.” And Jesus had responded to them by saying, “Oh, boys – I always do the praying around here. I’m just one of you, and not more important. Why don’t one of you bless the dinner this evening?”
Here’s my point on this one. While we practice humility of position within the church, we never shirk a duty or an opportunity to be of service for the sake of false humility.
Now, I don’t want us all to get self-conscious down in the basement in a little while, but when we line up to eat, someone is going to have to be first, and someone will have to go through the line last. If someone isn’t first, then we’ll never get to the food. And if someone isn’t last, we’ll never go home. The two things we don’t want to do down there. We don’t want anyone going to the front of the line because they perceive that they are more important than anyone else, nor do we want anyone practicing the false humility of standing back, urging others to “go ahead of them” as an act of overt humility.
That’s kind of a silly example for us, because we really don’t have any of those kind of problems here. But you get my point. We never hesitate to serve because “there are those who are more qualified” or because “I’m sure that there are those who haven’t had the opportunity yet.”
Most often, humility doesn’t look like humility. I have a phrase that I use sometimes when I describe most of the men who are a part of our church. It’s a phrase that we don’t use as often in this day and time – churchmen. I will speak rather proudly (of course, with due humility) about one of our men, and I will describe them as a true “churchman.” For me, a “churchman” looks something like this. He’s the man who, when he’s asked to serve, willingly responds – and then begins to plan how he might best serve in the capacity for which he has been asked. In most settings, he’s the man who is so busy serving that his own temporary needs might seem to go unmet. But they never do go unmet – for the church is always about the business of meeting everyone’s needs, even those who serve the most. And the Spirit of God is always about the business of meeting the needs of everyone in the church, even those who serve the most.
I have one other example from the scriptures this morning. Jesus talks about the practice of fasting. I actually read a pretty good article about fasting this week. Not that I want to practice fasting. And I don’t know anyone who enjoys fasting. You know, Jesus commented on the practice of the Pharisees when they fasted – they would actually put on makeup so as to make themselves look emaciated – thus presenting the appearance that they were truly pious. Instead, Jesus instructed us, not if, but when we fast, to put on a pleasant expression, and to go about our business as though we are not fasting. I suspect that in Jesus’ case, most often He was so busy doing something else – praying, serving, teaching – that He simply forgot to eat.
I close with an illustration from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, He writes: “Our activity must be visible, but never be done for the sake of making it visible. ‘Let your light so shine before [others]’ . . . and yet: Take care that you hide it! . . . That which is visible must also be hidden. The awareness on which Jesus insists is intended to prevent us from reflecting on our extraordinary position. We have to take heed that we do not take heed of our own righteousness. Otherwise the ‘extraordinary’ which we achieve will not be that which comes from following Christ, but that which springs from our own will and desire.”[1]
“The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Richard W. Dunn, PhD.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, (New York: Touchstone Books, Simon and Schuster, 1995), p. 157.
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