What Would Jesus Say to a Religious Person?
Dr. Rich Peterson
Southern Gables Church
September 2, 2007
”What would Jesus say to a
religious person?”
Gee, I wonder if we should broaden this question some? It appears
to be so narrow, so specific. We simply turn to the one passage in Scripture
where Jesus converses with and confronts a religious person and move from
there.
I wonder if the question needs to be more generalized? When
looking for the red-letter comments from Jesus to a religious person there seem
to be so few choices!
Of course anyone with even
a precursory understanding of the Bible knows that I jest. Instead of the topic
being too narrow, our first concern is that the topic it is too large.
Are we talking about how
Jesus would address the member of a religion outside Christianity, say the
Muslim or the Jew?
Or are we addressing the
person who views herself as only “spiritual” and not religious at all (i.e. the
New Age spiritualist or the Relativist)?
Or is the message today to
be directed toward the avid Bronco fan who by virtue of his zeal and commitment
to the team “religiously” attends every home game “service,” never misses the
“tailgate prelude,” sings, stands and claps his hands (and if necessary kneels)
at all the appropriate times, who faithfully notes the sportscaster’s sermons
and remains standing in the aisle after the game to ponder his personal
response and to tally the “post game conversions?”
Perhaps it would be wise
to narrow our emphasis this morning and allow Jesus to speak to us.
Who me? Yes, you (and me).
We are the religious
persons within the contemporary American context today.
But you object; “I’m not
religious!”
Really.
Let me invite you to take
this little test of three questions:
Question 1: Are there certain
beliefs that to you are essential?
For instance; do you
believe in the existence of a supernatural Deity?
Is this Being “wholly
other” from other beings?
Question 2: Do others
identify you as holding to a particular form of religion? In other words, how
would your neighbors describe you? Your co-workers. As secular or religious?
Question 3: Do you
participate in observable religious activities on a regular basis? For instance
do you attend church services, pray, read a sacred text, give to a religious
organization, etc.?
For some Religious Studies
scholars an affirmative answer to any one of the three questions would classify
you as a “religious person.” Academic scholars have had great difficulty
defining what they mean by religion, but they have had no difficulty in
pointing it out when they see it – and they see it as Belief, Identity and/or a
Way of Life.
Let me say here at the
very beginning that I am a religious person. By any definition or description
of religious characteristics. I hold to certain religious beliefs, I identify
myself with a particular religious movement and I engage in a lifestyle that by
any observable evidence would be considered religious.
I am a Christian. I hold
Christian beliefs, identify myself with the Christian movement and seek to
engage in Christian activities.
But more than that, I am
an Evangelical Christian. I hold evangelical Christian beliefs, identify myself
with the Evangelical Christian movement and seek to engage in Evangelical
Christian activities.
In the arena of
evangelical Christian beliefs, I believe in:
The reality of one God,
eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Regarding Evangelical
Christian identity and way of life, I am convinced that Scripture is essential
over tradition and further that Scripture is the primary means by which any
person comes to saving-faith in Jesus Christ.
I am convinced that the
salvation of God is a gift of grace to be received, not a reward to be earned
by human effort.
I am convinced that the
gift of new birth is indispensable for entry into God’s kingdom but is not the
be-all and end-all of Christian life and responsibility.
I am convinced that both
holiness of life and active participation in the reconciliation of the world to
God are duties to which every Evangelical Christian is called.
Now there are most likely
others, but these are at least some of the essentials of Evangelical
Christianity.
If we were to draw a line
through the middle of the Worship Center this morning and ask those of you who
by belief, identity and way of life would describe yourselves as Evangelical
Christians to move to the right side of the building, my guess is that most
every one gathered here this morning would congregate to the right.
The majority of us in this
place today are (as described by others or self-described) Evangelical
Christians and it is to us that Jesus taps on the shoulder and says, “May I
have a word with you?”
For some this morning this
“word” may feel a little uncomfortable. And so we may need to remind ourselves
of Jesus’ love for us. In so doing we recall that while He did indeed come to
comfort the afflicted, at times it was necessary for Him to afflict the
comfortable.
How much does Jesus love
us? He loves us enough to confront our self-righteousness, our self-importance,
our self-congratulations, our self-absorption, our selfishness and our
self-centeredness.
What then are the things
Jesus might say to us as religious persons today?
From a multiplicity of
messages He might have for us, let’s look at five specific (what I am calling)
“beatitudes for the religious person.” Please understand that I am not
attempting to add to Scripture, but only to homiletically re-state some of what
Jesus might say to the religious person in ways we might remember.
Possible beatitude number one: (Mark 7)
Blessed are those who hold on to the commands of God and let go
of the traditions of men, for they will know the Lord.
The Pharisees and some of
the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2
saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,”
that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat
unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of
the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat
unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing
of cups, pitchers and kettles.a[1]
5 So the Pharisees and
teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to
the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”
6 He
replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is
written:
“ ‘These
people honor me with their lips,
But
their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in
vain;
their
teachings are but rules taught by men.’b
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are
holding on to the traditions of men.”[2]
There
are basically two different ways one can “let go of the commands of God and
hold on to the traditions of men.” The way of the Sadducees (teachers of the
law) was through subtraction and the way of the Pharisees was through addition.
“The Pharisees tended to smother the Scriptures with a mass of tradition,
whereas the tendency of the Sadducees was to undermine the authority of
Scripture by their superficial interpretations.”[i]
Either
way “their teachings are but rules taught by men.” In all the superficiality of
clean hands and clean cups, the Pharisee of every age forgets that with God it
is the sacredness of clean hearts that matters most.
It
should be a warning to each of us that whenever and however we allow “the
tradition of the elders” to become more significant to us than the commands of
God, others are right to call us what we have become – hypocrites, play actors,
pretenders. We are then more concerned with what others around us think of us,
than what God thinks of us. Our manmade rules supercede our obedience to the
mandates of God. Our evangelical culture becomes more significant then our
devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our ecclesiastical rules and regulations
become more important to us then the plain teachings of Scripture. It is at
this point we have let go of the commands of God and hold on to the traditions
of men.
When
we as Evangelical Christians declare that the “Bible is the complete revelation
of God’s will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of
human knowledge and endeavor should be judged” we had better mean it!
The
positive way of stating all of this is simply:
Blessed are those who
hold on to the commands of God and let go of the traditions of men, for they
will know the Lord.
Possible beatitude number two: (John 5:39.40)
Blessed are those who
diligently study Scripture (not as an end in itself, but as a means to an end)
for they will see Christ and find life in Him.
You diligently
studya the Scriptures because you think that by them
you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40
yet you refuse to come to me to have life. [3]
It should be abundantly
clear from Jesus’ statements in the passage above that he held a very high
opinion of Scripture. What is clear from this passage is that it is at least
possible to over-exalt Scripture by making it an end in itself rather than as a
means of pointing and leading people to Christ.
As evangelical Christians
we are convinced of the importance of studying the Bible. When it comes to
weekly Bible Study options there is no short supply. But if the reasons for our
study stop at the collection of useful information than we are running the risk
of “diligently studying the Scriptures because we think that BY THEM you
possess eternal life.” The Scriptures are the means to an end and the end is a
transformation of life which comes solely through a life-changing encounter
with the Lord Jesus.
As evangelical Christians
it is right for us to have an extremely high view of Scripture. But when our
absorption in Scripture, through daily reading, exhaustive study, meditation
and memorization becomes our object of worship, we have lost sight of the true
object of our devotion – Jesus Christ only.
As Evangelical Christians
we love the Bible – but we are not to be Bible-worshippers. We worship Christ.
The Bible can be wrongly used as an end in itself, or rightly used as a means
to the end of finding life in Jesus. The Scripture throughout bears witness to
Christ, so that people will come to Him for life.
Blessed are those who diligently study Scripture (not as an end
in itself, but as a means to an end) for they will see Christ and find life in
Him.
Blessed are those
liberated from an exaggerated confidence in their own merits, for theirs is the
mercy of God.
9 To some who were
confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus
told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a
Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and
prayed abouta himself: ‘God, I thank you
that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this
tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I
get.’
13 “But the tax
collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat
his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that
this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted.”
I’d
like you to notice first the attitude of the people Jesus addresses in this
text. The were each and everyone “confident in their own righteousness and
looked down on everybody else.
I
wonder if this might be the perception of others about us as Evangelical
Christians?
According to a September
2007 report in Religious Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty as
recorded in Touchstone magazine; “Over half of the non-Evangelical faculty in
secular colleges disapprove of Evangelicals, admitting they have
“cool/unfavorable feelings” toward them. More faculty disapprove of
Evangelicals than of any other group, with one-third of non-Mormon faculty
looking down on Mormons, one-fifth looking down on Muslims and atheists, and one-eighth
looking down on Catholics.”
Now if our unpopular
status is simply because we seek to speak and live the truth of God in a
culture full of Pontius Pilate types forever asking,” and what is truth?” If
our lack of social standing has to do with the desire to speak the truth in
love regarding the need for sinners to recognize their sin, repent of it and
turn to Jesus as the only way of salvation, then so be it. But might it be that
in the eyes of those around us we have taken on the same attitude of self-righteousness
that is portrayed here? Is that a true indictment of many of us?
The parable of the
Pharisee and the sinner is told as a way of warning to any of us who may have
become overly confident in our own merits and forgotten that the forgiveness of
sin, the redemption of our souls, the reconciliation of relationship to God,
the rescue of God’s salivation is a gift to be received, not a reward to be
merited.
The Pharisee in Jesus’
parable had become self-righteously proud of his own religious accomplishments,
self-absorbed with self-centered and self-congratulatory thoughts and prayers,
hoping for some kind of self-justification rather then the justification from
God which comes by faith.
The sinner stood at a
distance, empty of self, poor in spirit and cried out the only thing a sinner
can say in the Presence of a Holy God: “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Do you know that about
yourself? That you despite what others may think they know about you, despite
your own exalted estimation of self – do you know that you are indeed a sinner?
By nature and by choice you are corrupt to the core and in need of God’s
forgiveness?
Or
is there still a part of you that believes it is somehow through what you are
doing, through deeds done or words spoken or prayers prayed that you play a
part in your salvation? It is God alone who saves sinners, not because He has
too, not because there is something about us that compels Him to – only because
of His merciful grace!
Blessed are those
liberated from an exaggerated confidence in their own merits, for theirs is the
mercy of God.
Possible Beatitude number four: (Mark 7)
Blessed are those with
new hearts from God, for they will be morally pure from the inside out.
4 Again Jesus called
the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15
Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather,
it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’f”
17 After he had left
the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a
man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? 19 For it doesn’t go
into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying
this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
20 He went on: “What
comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within,
out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander,
arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a
man ‘unclean.’ ” [5]
One of our cherished convictions as
Evangelical Christians has to do with the indispensability of the new birth.
True, Jesus does not mention the new birth in this passage. “But the
evangelical insistence upon regeneration arises directly from his teaching
here.”[ii]
Since “all these evils” originate in their heart, therefore a change of conduct
depends upon a change of heart.
The theological meaning of
“heart” is established in the Old Testament. The “heart” is the conscious self,
the inner core of the individual. Jeremiah portrayed the heart as “deceitful
above all things and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9). Every dimension of the human
personality has been infected by sin.
So what Jesus is
suggesting is that only a radical solution to this heart problem will do. Said
differently, the heart of the problem is in fact the heart. Change the heart of
a person and the person’s conduct is changed. Morality is dependent on our
being given a new heart. And Jesus said this was possible: 33 “Make
a tree good and its fruit will be good.”
This whole idea of the
indispensability of the new birth is spelled out in some detail in Jesus’
conversation with Nicodemus.
Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling
council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you
are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous
signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 In reply Jesus
declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is
born again.a”
4 “How can a man be
born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time
into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I
tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of
water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the
Spiritb gives birth to spirit. 7 You
should not be surprised at my saying, ‘Youc must
be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is
with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?”
Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s
teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 I
tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have
seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have
spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you
believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into
heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.d
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of
Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have
eternal life.e
16 “For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son,f that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed
in the name of God’s one and only Son.g 19 This
is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil
hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will
be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light,
so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through
God.”[6]
Nothing short of a heart transplant will take
care of the heart disease of sin that corrupts us in the ways described by
Jesus in verses 21-22 of Mark chapter seven: For from within, out of men’s
hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22
greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23
All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ” [7]
Our morality as
Evangelical Christians is the result of an inward transformation of the Holy
Spirit. The fruits of our lives are the beautiful graces of “love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These
are the qualities that the Holy Spirit himself produces and continues to
cultivate in us throughout our lifetime.
Simply stated:
Blessed are those with
new hearts from God, for they will be morally pure from the inside out.
Possible beatitude number five: (Luke 15:1-2)
Blessed are those who are rightly separate to God and fully involved in the world, for theirs is the compassion of Christ.
Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” [8]
It would appear that for
many Evangelical Christians today there is a growing satisfaction in gathering
for energetic worship with other like-minded believers, participating in
fabulously facilitated small groups with other evangelical Christians,
listening to Christian music, viewing only Christian television and film,
eating with only other believers, attending only Christian schools, etc. etc.
all in the name of holy living. Separation (even isolation) from a tainted
world appears to be the favored protected path for many of us today.
So then, what would Jesus
have to say to us at this point?
Most likely He would
balance our thinking yet again.
As God’s own people we
are to separate ourselves from sin, but as God’s own people we are to fully
involve ourselves with sinners.
Should we be tempted to
cultivate a false separation we need remember that Jesus referred to us as the
salt of the earth and as the light of the world. When these Pharisees
“muttered” that Jesus welcomes sinners and even hangs out with them, they had
forgotten the prophetic description of their destiny to be “a light to the
nations.” Instead they withdrew. They turned away. They shunned those who
didn’t seem to fit into God’s plan.
But not the Lord Jesus. No, He reached out
and touched lepers, and children and the sick; the blind, the deaf, the dead.
Jesus conversed with women, told poignant stories about enemies like the
Samaritans, dined with height-challenged tax collectors, threw a party for
another tax collector named Levi and his friends and later had the audacity to
include him in His team of apostles.
What was the difference
of response between the Pharisee and Jesus? A simple answer: Pharisees are
always most and more concerned with themselves and how they might preserve
their own purity. Jesus Christ’s first concern was and is always others, how
“to seek and save the lost.”
We might sum it all up by
saying:
Blessed are those who are rightly separate to God and fully involved in the world, for theirs is the compassion of Christ.
As I conclude this
morning let me say how happy and relieved I am that this sermon is over! No
kidding! For the past several months I have been wrestling with what to say and
how to say it. It was not until very late in the process that I came across a
work by John Stott that was of immense help to me.
In searching for insight
while looking through the seminary library I mistakenly read the title of his
book as “Christ the Conversationalist.” Upon closer examination of the work, I
was pleasantly surprised by the book’s real title, “Christ the Controversialist.”
If I have said something
this morning that seems controversial to you, I take great comfort in the idea
that the Lord Himself was known to many by that description.
If we have learned
anything this summer it is simply that Jesus causes controversy. Whether we are
addressing a Mormon, a Muslim, a Homosexual or an Alcoholic, what Jesus says is
often different from what the world would say.
And yet that is exactly
the point is it not? Jesus is our Teacher. John Stott has written, “We may not
particularly like what He taught about God and man, Scriptures and salvation,
worship and morality, duty and destiny, heaven and hell. But are we daring to
prefer our own opinions and standards to His and still call ourselves
Christians? Or are we presuming to say that He did not know what He was talking
about, that He was a weak and fallible teacher? Such suggestions are dreadfully
derogatory to the honor of the Son of God.
Of course we have the
responsibility to grapple with Christ’s teaching, its perplexities and
problems, endeavoring to understand it and to relate it to our own situation.
But ultimately the
question before us can be simply stated: is Jesus Christ Lord or not? And if He
is Lord, is He Lord of all?”
The true Christ follower
is not at liberty to disagree with Christ or to disobey Him. On the contrary,
the true Christ follower is to conform both his mind and his life to the
teaching of Jesus.”
a Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mk 7:1-4
b Isaiah 29:13
[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mk 7:5-8
a Or Study diligently (the imperative)
[3] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jn 5:39-40
a Or to
[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Lk 18:9-14
f Some early manuscripts ‘unclean.’ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
[5] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mk 7:14-23
a Or born from above; also in verse 7
b Or but spirit
c The Greek is plural.
d Some manuscripts Man, who is in heaven
e Or believes may have eternal life in him
f Or his only begotten Son
g Or God’s only begotten Son
[6] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jn 3:1-21
[7] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mk 7:14-23
[8] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Lk 15:1-2