Description
I’M A BIG HYPOCRITE
Don’t Drench the Hypocrite
March 30, 2014
Ed Young
Hypocrisy is everywhere. But is it something we recognize in ourselves as much as we can point it out in others? Or do we elevate and convincing ourselves that hypocrisy is one thing we don’t struggle with it?
In this message, Ed Young takes a look at one of the strongest parables in Scripture. And as he unpacks Jesus’ words of warning about hypocrisy, we discover that our own position before God determines so much of our potential in life.
Transcript
Welcome to Fellowship Church, all of our many different locations. We’re one church I think in 10 locations. We’re happy to have you here by the miracle of technology. What I’m saying now is being said all over the place. So thank you for being right here in gorgeous Grapevine, Texas. Gorgeous Grapevine, Texas.
I was in the 7th grade and I found myself in our four-story tall church building. See, Dad’s a pastor and I was waiting for our Sunday night worship service to begin. So I’m up there just hanging out, a couple of girls, one or two guys, and I’m looking down and I’m watching people walk down the sidewalk to church. Four stories up I’m looking down. I’m in the 7th grade. I can’t resist at just looking at people, so I began to spit at people. And I’ve got decent hand/eye coordination so I figured out if I spit one crack in the sidewalk in front of them, the spit would hit them perfectly every time. It was hilarious! I mean, I almost got a hernia laughing at people. Because people would just walk to church, BOOM! And they wouldn’t even know it. They were like… just keep on walking. And I did that for a while and we were laughing. And then I thought, OK, OK, OK. I’m gonna take it to the next level.
So there was a trash can in this little Sunday school room. I went to an old-school water fountain, filled the trash can full of ice-cold water. And I said to myself, man, I am going to drench the next person I see! And the girls are like, don’t do it! You’ll get in trouble! Don’t… you’re gonna hurt someone! And I’m thinking to myself, I’m not gonna throw the trash can four stories, just the water. It’ll be funny, ya know? Let’s have some fun!
So I see this guy, way down the street, walking to church. He was decked out, kind of an older man, head in the air, looked very pious and self-righteous, carrying this giant Bible under his arm. And I said, this is my target. So when he got one crack away. I aimed for the crack where I had been spitting on people, and I threw the water.
Have you ever seen that much water cascade four stories down? It kinda goes here and there with the wind. It hit him perfectly! Ba-doosh! It just drenched him! And he looked up and I sort of felt like Lee Harvey Oswald. I was back so he couldn’t see me in the windows and I thought to myself… we were laughing so hard. We were dying laughing! I thought to myself, I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve gotta get out. I’m not gonna take the elevator, I’ll just take the stairs. So I’m running down the stairs and I hear someone sloshing <boom-boom-boom> up the stairs. Obviously it’s the guy I’ve drenched. He’s come to find out who the perpetrator was. And I pass him. And he goes,
“Do you know who drenched me? Someone threw water all over me and ruined my suit!” He had a bow tie on, it was just wilted. His hair was straight. It was just hilarious! And I said,
“Sir, I have no idea. No clue.” So I make my way down and I ease into the church service. And I’m sitting there early, the organ <humming>, you know, old-school Baptist… <more humming> and I’m like, I can’t believe I did that! That was hilarious!
Well, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked back and they said,
“Ed, your father wants to see you in his office right now.”
Now, let me tell you something about my father. Dad doesn’t see anybody before he preaches. His famous line is “Don’t knock on my door unless the whole church is burning down and the flames are coming up underneath my office door. Don’t disturb me.”
I’m saying to myself… oh no. Oh no. Those girls told on me. Those kids told on me that I drenched this guy! I walked into Dad’s office. He said,
“Son, sit down. Did you drench… (and he called the guy’s name)? Did you throw water on him, son?”
I said, “Yes, sir. I did.” Then Dad looked at me and what he said was so ironic. He said,
“Thank you. Congratulations! You could not have drenched a better person! This guy has been a pain in my side ever since I’ve been pastor. He’s negative, he’s critical, he doesn’t give. I don’t like him. I’m glad you drenched him. I hope he leaves the church. Good job, son!” And I left the office! I’ve never forgotten that!
What was going on there? I drenched a hypocrite! This guy was a walking, talking charade. This guy was wearing a mask. He was a hypocrite. I drenched a hypocrite! But as I have thought about this story, really a hypocrite drenched another hypocrite, which was totally and completely hypocritical.
OK, let’s say it. At the count of 3, I’m a big hypocrite. You ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? 1-2-3- I’m a big hypocrite! Everybody technically is a hypocrite. So when you call someone a hypocrite, you’re a hypocrite calling a hypocrite, hypocritical.
It’s like a basketball player. We’ve been watching a lot of basketball lately, you know? The Elite Eight. Final Four. National Champions college basketball. It’s pure! Well, what if a basketball player was bringing a ball up court and he looked at another basketball player he was playing against. And what if he said, “Hey! You’re a basketball player!” You would have a basketball player calling a basketball player a basketball player. You’d be like, that’s strange.
Well, whenever I call you a hypocrite, it’s a hypocrite calling a hypocrite a hypocrite. And I don’t know about you but I have enough stuff in my own life that I need to worry about as opposed to pointing my finger at you. Because when I point my finger at you and call you a hypocrite, I’ve got three pointing back: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
“But Ed! I don’t like to go to church because the church is full of hypocrites!” No we’re not. There’s always room for one more. That’s as ridiculous as me saying (and I brought my Gold’s Gym card today on my keys), that’s as ridiculous as me saying, “You know, I was at Gold’s Gym a couple of days ago (which I was) and I saw a couple of people in Gold’s Gym who obviously were out of shape. Those hypocrites. I’m never going back to Gold’s Gym. In fact, I’m never working out again because I saw some hypocrites, some people who are out of shape, at Gold’s Gym.”
So you’re telling me you’re gonna let a hypocrite keep you from God? You’re gonna let a hypocrite stand in the way between you and God? The hypocrite, because he’s standing between you and God, is at least closer to God than you are. We have to understand God is our standard, not man. That’s why Jesus said don’t point at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s or sister’s eye, because you’ve got a sequoia tree, an East Texas pine tree, in your own eye! And really, the reason you’re pointing out the sawdust in your friend’s eye is because you don’t like the log in your own eye and you’re probably pointing out that stuff in someone else’s life that you’re struggling with in your own life.
Is this message for you? Is this message for me? Let me ask you a couple of questions. Have you ever been on your way to church, maybe you’re leaving your apartment complex, your neighborhood, your dorm, and you’ve seen someone who obviously is not going to church. They’re working out. Maybe they’re going to Gold’s Gym. They’re doing some yard work. They’re just kicking back, sipping strong coffee. And you said to yourself as you’re leaving for Fellowship Church, you said to yourself, “You know, I’m just a little bit better than they are.”
Have you ever, I’m just saying, have you ever been at the grocery and you’ve seen all those tabloids, those magazines, advertising the shenanigans of the actors and actresses of the cultural elite, or maybe some professional athlete or coach, and have you ever said to yourself, “Wow. I’m just a little bit better than that reality television star. I’m just a little bit better than that athlete.” If you ever said that, Jesus wants to say something to you and to me today.
Have you ever driven by a prison and said to yourself, “I’m just a little bit better than they are.” Have you ever watched The First 48 or maybe Scared Straight or whatever and said to yourself, “I’m just a little bit better than that person.”
Have you ever seen someone or known someone who was really immoral? Who sleeps in the wrong bed, who is maybe an adulterer or a fornicator? Have you ever said to yourself, “I’m just a little bit better than they are.” If you’ve ever said that, Jesus has something to say to you.
I think we would all say, “I’ve been guilty trying to impress God by what I’ve thought and what I’ve said.” Because we’ve all, whether we admit it or not, said those things and thought those things.
Jesus is gonna tell us something. Jesus, in no uncertain terms, is gonna tell us today, “Don’t drench the hypocrite.” That’s what he’s saying! Don’t drench the hypocrite. Because he’s gonna tell us a story, a funny story. Jesus used Hebrew humor all the time. Like the text I just mentioned to you. You’re walking around with a tree in your eye – that’s hilarious! And you’re pointing out a speck in someone else’s eye? What? That’s funny, that’s funny.
Well in this one, he starts off like a great comedian. In Luke chapter 18, he’s talking to a bunch of people like you and me who struggle with trying to impress people, trying to impress God, who struggle with being a hypocrite, which means I’m wearing a mask. It comes from the stage, it comes from being an actor or an actress. And technically again, we’re all hypocrites. Jesus is talking to some hypocrites and he goes,
“Hey! Have you heard the one, have you heard the one about the Pharisee and the tax collector?” Two people who are antagonists. Two people who are totally opposite. And I’m sure his audience leaned in. They were like, oh man! This is cool! You’re gonna tell me a story, a joke Jesus about the Pharisee and the tax man. This will be hilarious!
Well, dad’s response to me drenching the hypocrite was ironic. And Christ’s response in this story is totally ironic as well. You think he’s gonna say one thing but he says another. So, let’s join Jesus as he told this story, this joke. Let’s see if he has a word to say to you and me.
Luke chapter 18, the gospel of Luke, Dr. Luke. Luke chapter 18, verses 9-10. Luke was a physician and one of the disciples. “Then Jesus told this story (this joke you could say) to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else. (I’m just a little bit better than they are.)
“He said, ‘Two men went to the temple to pray (you could say to Fellowship Church to pray, you could say this). One was a Pharisee…” an actor. A Pharisee was someone who was a moral and spiritual leader of the day. There were 6,000 of them. They weren’t all bad but some of these jokers, they had added 600 laws to God’s law, and the laws were whack! Like, oh, the fringe on your robe has to be a certain length. Oh, when you fast, don’t just fast but wear makeup so people will know you’re wallowing in martyrdom. It’s so tough, it’s such an arduous process to fast. They would wash their hands in certain ways, fingers pointing up, water being poured, fingers pointing down, water being poured, and doing their fist like this, doing their fist like that. And then they would get ready to eat. Crazy stuff! A lot of the guys started out with good intentions but everything got sideways.
Here’s a key phrase about the Pharisees. Take your keys out just a little bit, take your keys out. You ready for this? It’s going on the side screens right now. You can have a heart for religion, yet your religion can have no heart. That’s hypocrisy. That’s acting.
So Jesus said, “Have you heard the one about the Pharisee and the tax collector, who both went to church?” So he’s gonna talk about two guys praying two prayers with two different responses. Now this Pharisee – and when I’ve read this before I’ve said to myself – “Oh I would never do that.” I say to myself, “I’m a little bit better than that.” I’ve said that. Notice the Pharisee acts, he acts. He’s all about the stage. He’s all about wearing masks. He’s not keeping it real. He’s not being authentic. Look at verse 11. The Pharisee stood by himself… Think about our atrium, our lobby is huge. All the people going back and forth, the different kiosks, the different advertisements, the different flat screen televisions telling you what’s going on at Fellowship Church. Picture a guy walking in, stopping, and just praying,
“Dear Looooord! I’m so glad I’m not a sinner like these other people. I’m so glad I’m not like that IRS agent over there. I’m so glad I’m not corrupt or messed up like her. Lord, I don’t sin. I’m the man! I keep all of these laws and rituals and routines…” because that’s what was going on. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. “I thank you, God, I’m not a sinner like everyone else. I mean, being a sinner is true for others but not me.”
I want to say to our Pharisee friend, “Dude, why don’t you just go ahead and call God a liar straight up.” Because the Bible says, God says all of us have sinned. All of us have sinned.
Think about the 10 Commandments, the Law. We all have broken the 10 commandments. We all have. Jesus took the law and he took it to a whole ‘notha level, a holy ‘notha level. Back in the day if you had envy in your heart, for example, you know, wow. You had envy. And one of the commandments says thou shall not steal. And you’re saying to yourself, “Well, I don’t steal. I don’t break into houses. I don’t…” Well Jesus said if you envy someone’s stuff you’re like a burglar. But the 10 commandments say do not murder. I’ve not murdered anybody. Jesus said when you have out-of-control anger in your life towards someone it’s like you’ve killed them. Well, I don’t commit adultery. I’ve been pure! I’ve stayed in the marriage. Well, Jesus said if you look at someone with lust you’ve slept in the wrong bed. So the law by itself leaves us helpless. It is the schoolmaster, the Bible says, that leads us to the cross.
God did something. What did God do? Because it’s obvious we’re all sinners we have a choice. Well, God chose to send Jesus to pay the price on the cross for all of our sins. A debt that we couldn’t take care of. God did it because of his grace and love. So God offers us an option. You can either pay for your sins in eternity in a place called Hell. You can pay for your sins. Or you can arrange to receive the payment that I put in play for you. Thereby asking Jesus to come into your life by receiving his payment. By admitting you’re a sinner, that you’re a hypocrite, and that you don’t have it together, and Jesus took care of your sins. Then you’ll go to Heaven. So the law is important but the law in and of itself doesn’t get us where we need to know. Because basically, and here’s what the Pharisee didn’t realize, good isn’t good enough. Good isn’t good enough! And the enemy, the biggest lie the enemy throws out in our world today is good people go to Heaven, bad people don’t. If you’re good enough then at the end of the day, at the end of the hunt when you clock out God will say, “You know what, you tried. Come on in.”
Well, good isn’t good enough because we’re all sinners. And this Pharisee was telling God, “Oh, I’m not a sinner. I even fast a lot! I mean, God you tell your people to fast once a year, I fast twice a week!” Check him out. “I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery and I’m certainly not like that tax man over there.” A tax collector, overcharging people, skimming money off the top. A tax collector that couldn’t be involved in any office in the community. A tax collector, they were the scum of the earth. A tax collector, what a hypocrite. A tax collector!? Here this hypocrite was saying, “I’m not a hypocrite like the tax collector, not me!”
I like this. If I don’t cheat, if I don’t sin… that’s like the own song. <imitation banjos> “I don’t drink, I don’t dance, I don’t cuss, don’t chew, don’t run around with girls who do….. I don’t drink, I don’t dance, I don’t cuss, don’t chew, don’t run around with girls who do…” And if I don’t do all these things I guess God will say, “You’ve done a good job keeping the law and so…” No, no, no, no. Good isn’t good enough.
Well, this guy says I fast twice a week, I give you a tenth of my income. This guy was a tither. Rah-rah-rah. Go team, go. And the Pharisees were so specific if they had 10 jalapeños they would tithe one. And I love jalapeños. If they had pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, whatever it was they would count out the grains. It was that nuts to tithe. Whoa.
So here’s another. Here’s another key phrase, I love it. Are you ready for this? Check it out. If we’re pleasing him we don’t have to worry about them. I talked to a leader a couple of days ago who was going through a difficult time. He said, “Ed, I have some people attacking me, some people unfairly coming after me. And I want to sit down with them and tell them all the truth.” And I said,
“Hey, I understand. That’s great. However, at the end of the day, listen to me… at the end of the day it’s about HIM, not them.” If we please Him, he will take care of them. Don’t waste your time worrying about the other hypocrites, the other Pharisees, the other religious people. You take care of your relationship before God. Because again, I’m just confessing my own sins here, I’ve got enough junk in my own life to worry about what you’re doing or what you’re not doing. What you’re believing and how you’re not behaving. Now we see that and observe that, and it’s great to understand that, but it’s about God.
So Jesus just kinda rips this Pharisee. He’s calling him a hypocrite. Well now he changes gears and he talks about the tax man. Look at verses 13-14, “But the tax man (I hate to bring up April 15th but it’s coming quickly, right?), but the tax collector stood at a distance.” Here you’ve got the hypocrite. He’s like,
“YO! I’m in the housssse!!! I’m gonna pray and watch me! I’m so righteous and religious. I don’t drink, I don’t dance, I don’t cuss, don’t chew, don’t run around with girls who do. I’m gonna perform my way into Heaven. I’m really not a sinner. Although God says I am, I’m not.”
Well, this tax man, he didn’t stand in the middle of the atrium, he’s standing at a distance. Check out his feet. His eyes, they’re not heavenward or they’re not looking around from the left to the right, from the right to the left, looking at other people’s response. No, no, no. His eyes are looking down. “The tax man stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to Heaven as he prayed.” So the Pharisee acts, this guy cracks, man. He’s just cracking open his heart. He’s being authentic. “Instead he beat his chest with his hands saying, ‘O, God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner.’” His heart. So his feet, his eyes, his hands, his heart. It’s a heart issue. Yes, God listens to our lips but he hears our heart. What’s going on here? What am I trying to say? Don’t drench the hypocrite! I said don’t drench the hypocrite! Don’t listen by proxy, don’t listen to this message for someone else. Don’t say, “Oh I wish my husband was here.” Or don’t say, “I am glad you’re saying that. My wife really needs that. Or my friend needs that.” Think about you, before God. Oh God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner. I tell you, and here’s the punch line, I think about Dad. I couldn’t believe he said, “Good job! You drenched that guy. I hope he leaves the church.” That’s what Dad told me. And he did. “I tell you, this sinner,” Jesus says.. and his audience is probably going – what??? “This sinner…” Jesus, what?!? “This sinner…” Say what?!? “Justified, leaves home justified before God.”
So the sinner walks out of Fellowship Church justified, covered, right with God, and the hypocrite (because we have a few here in Dallas/Fort Worth) does not leave justified. He still thinks it’s about himself. “I tell you this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Here’s another key phrase: What impresses God is when we don’t try to impress God. What impresses God is when we don’t try to impress him. It’s about you, God, it’s not about me. It’s about you, God, it’s not about the other people. It’s about you. And I’m not gonna let hypocrites, I’m not gonna let someone’s inconsistent lifestyle get in the way from me being the kind of man or the kind of women or the kind of student that you desire me to be.
Here’s one more key phrase: I like that. There’s one thing worse than being a hypocrite. It’s not being willing to admit that you are one. Just say it once again on the count of three. 1-2-3- I’m a big hypocrite. And let’s say this together, too. Here’s the prayer, “Oh God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner.” That’s Luke 18, verse 13. Let’s say that together. 1-2-3. Oh God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner. That should be our prayer today. That takes care of the hype of the hypocrite. You’re not worried about this person or that person or someone else over there, it’s between you and God. Because our boy, the Pharisee, was using the wrong standard. He was comparing himself to others.
And that, quite frankly, is one of the temptations of social media. A therapist told me recently, she said one of the dangers of technology, what the hecknology, is every time we go on it it’s highlight-reel living. Whoa. I compare myself to this person or that person. Oh, they have a good life. Look where they go. Look what they drive. Look where they travel. It can create envy and it can create hypocrisy very, very rapidly. Because so often who we put up our self to be on social media is not who we really are. We’re hungry for authenticity, we have this hypocritical chip in our lives and we want the real deal. Let’s learn from the tax man! Because the tax man had it right! Oh God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner! Don’t drench the hypocrite!
So the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee and the tax man. One lies, the other cries. One advertises, the other agonizes. One tricks himself, the other kicks himself. One compares himself, the other is aware of himself. One’s playing a game, the other is full of shame. One is religious, the other is rebellious. One is holy, the other is humble. One is a saint, the other is a sinner. Somebody help me here. One is tenacious, the other is tentative. One’s a show-off, the other is wheels off. One’s elevated, the other is hated. One’s cool, the other is a full. What are you going to be? A Pharisee you see, or a publican, a tax collector. What are you gonna be? How are you gonna behave? With all this chicanery and acting and all of this posturing like a hypocrite? Or are you gonna be like the tax man who said, “God, have mercy on me for I am a sinner.”? Don’t drench the hypocrite.
[Ed leads in closing.]