191: David Todd - Exhortation: Are We Upright or Uptight?

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week, with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. This is Brother Brian. This week's talk is an exhortation by Brother David Todd, which was given in November 2020 at the Barossa Valley Ecclesia in South Australia. And it was titled, Are We Upright or Uptight? This one was sent in to us by recommendation a while ago.

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   And in full disclosure, I've listened to it probably seven to eight times now. And had held off in posting it due to what had seemed like a very familiar topic. You know, in looking at the Pharisees, why they were so wrong about what Jesus' ministry was meant to accomplish. Wasn't the most uplifting message in comparison to many others that we were considering.

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   And so I've let it sit. And yet, I keep coming back to it over and over and again. And it felt like falling in love in slow motion. So, I'm actually excited to post this now. Now that I think I can actually describe why I've come to listen to it so much and love it so much.

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   To pay Brother David a big compliment. I found myself continually going back to this talk over and over because of not only how the brother's words make me feel. But that his speaking style is so deliberately calm and poignant. That I find myself having the time to genuinely feel and reflect. And to consider my own ways to impart some level of meditation into the listening experience.

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   And I find that so refreshing. And it takes something that can feel, you know, impersonal or like a little distant. You know, I found myself initially thinking, oh, you know, I'm definitely not like those Pharisees. To something that then over time becomes very humbling. And a reminder of how much our God really desires a heart that he can mold.

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   I think it's the graceful pace that the message is delivered at that makes it so memorable. And I hope that you find yourself thinking deeper as well about what righteousness means to you. So as always, we hope this does strengthen your faith and brighten your day. Brother David Todd, are we upright or uptight?

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   Good morning everyone. Good to see plenty of faces here. And to those of you listening online, hello and welcome. The topic that I'd like to look at today is the question of are you upright or are you uptight? And it comes out of Matthew 5 verse 20.

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   So let's turn then. Matthew 5 verse 20. Jesus says, I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

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    That's quite a harsh call. Yeah. The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the coming king. And it's structured around a number of Jesus' public speeches. Of which this one here, in Matthew 5-7, is the first. So here he is as the coming king, presenting his manifesto, his first policy statement for the kingdom of heaven.

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    He begins the chapter with what's often called the Beatitudes, the nine blessings. And then we've only got about two minutes into his first speech, and we come to this verse. where he calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their righteousness, for their form of righteousness, and announces that it's not up to scratch.

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    It doesn't meet the entry criteria for God's kingdom. When we come to Jesus' last public speech in Matthew chapter 23, what's it all about? It's structured around seven woes. So it's the counterpart to the blessings of Matthew chapter 5. Seven woes directed at whom? The scribes and Pharisees. So this is how he starts out his first public speech.

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    It's how he finishes his last public speech. Why does he single out the scribes and Pharisees with so much contempt? And it's not just Jesus. The gospel writers, in general, take up this theme too. Right across the gospels, we find that as the Lord Jesus is introduced and held up as the Son of God, the epitome of uprightness and purity, the light shining in the world, it also has a contrast.

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    And who is that contrast of darkness, of evil, the antithesis of Jesus himself? It's the scribes and Pharisees. Why are they singled out? If you were looking at someone to use as a contrast to Jesus, why not pick up on the criminal riffraff? Surely they're evil.

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    Think about the criminals that we meet in the gospels. What do we find? One of them turns and repents and seeks Jesus' forgiveness. Okay, if not criminals, what about the brutal Roman soldiers, the occupying armies that were oppressing the population of Jesus' day?

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    What do we read about Roman soldiers in the gospels? Mostly what we hear about is their faith. They believe Jesus. Even more than his disciples do in one case.

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    It could call out the immoral pagan Greeks. But what do we find when the Greeks turn up in John's gospel? They're coming seeking Jesus.

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    Or even the doctrinally questionable Samaritans. But no, when they turn up, in most cases, they're listening to Jesus and learning from him. And in fact, one even finds himself as the unlikely hero of what is probably Jesus' most famous parable. So the gospels don't take any of these groups and hold them up as a contrast to Jesus.

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    No, they take the scribes and Pharisees. Why? And why does Jesus make the statement that their righteousness is not up to scratch? Well, think about what the people of his day would have thought of this. He singles out the scribes, the legal experts, those who would have known more than anyone else how to precisely and exactly follow God's law.

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    And the Pharisees, the separate ones, as they called themselves, those who were too holy and pure to mix with the general population around them. Those who held themselves out as the epitome of piety.

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    So if these were the people who were at the pinnacle of Jewish society, at least as far as their seeming obedience to God's law was concerned, their ability to keep in minute detail the instructions of the law of Moses, what would Jesus' audience have thought?

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    If they're not good enough, how can I ever be up to scratch? Put yourself in their shoes. When Jesus said that unless your righteousness is greater than that of the Pharisees and scribes, you couldn't enter the kingdom of heaven. Would that make you uptight?

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    Would that get you worried? Need it worry you? So, let's look at the scribes and Pharisees and say, why does Jesus single them out? And what was so wrong with their righteousness or their form of righteousness that he considers that they were the worst offenders around him? That they should be held out as the opposite of godliness?

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    well, looking at Matthew chapter 5, there are some hints in there in the following sections as to perhaps what Jesus was getting at in that he runs through a number of different topics and points out how that there was an established tradition of how to keep the law. for instance, do not murder, do not commit adultery and so on.

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    And then there was his version which is to step aside from the letter of the law and look at the intent and say, actually, if we're not even angry with our brother, then we're not going to get close to committing murder. if we don't look around lustfully, then we're not going to get close to committing adultery.

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    So, maybe what Jesus is drawing out is that the scribes and Pharisees were too keen at just meeting the line and that they weren't really putting their heart into seeking the objective of God's law.

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    Well, maybe that's true. but do you really think that just not quite having their heart in it enough was justification for Jesus talking about them the way he did?

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    If that's what it was, then we're all doomed, don't we? Because I'm sure there's all times, for all of us, there's times for all of us where we don't really have our heart in what we're doing. No, I think there's more to it than that. So if we look at Matthew chapter 23, and I won't go through it in detail, but I'd just like to draw out what are the key points of Jesus' woes against the scribes and Pharisees.

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    There are three. First, he accuses them of being all talk and no action. They knew their stuff, they talked about it all day long, but they weren't really interested in doing it quite so much as talking about it.

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    Second, they were great on detail. They obsessed over the minutest of details, but they lost sight of the bigger picture. They were so in-depth in their details that they forgot of what the objectives and the important principles were.

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    And thirdly, that their religion was one of outward appearances. They were very concerned about looking right, acting the part, but not about being right inside. right.

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    Now, those three things, being full of talk, knowing the details, and having outward appearances of doing right, aren't necessarily so bad of themselves. I mean, being able to talk about God's law, hey, nothing wrong with that. And Jesus even said in that same speech, you listen to what the scribes and Pharisees say, they know what they're talking about.

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    You do what they say, just don't copy what they do. About obsessing over details, well, it's not a bad thing to know details. And again, Jesus does not condemn them for looking at the details. He says, yeah, it's perfectly fine that you tithe the herbs in your garden, but you strain out the gnat and swallow the camel.

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    And that is where these things are so deadly dangerous, is if they come at the expense of what the alternative is. That they were full of talk without action. That they obsessed over the details and missed the bigger principles.

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    And that's why Jesus condemns their form of religion. not because it was full of talk and detail and outward appearance, but because it missed the principles and the action and the pure heart.

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    Now, how did they get to this? What is this misdirected religion all about? And the number one central thing that causes it is what Jesus says about them in Luke 16, verse 15. Let's go there.

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    Luke 16, verse 15. Speaking to the Pharisees, it says, who loved money, they were hurt all this and were sneering at Jesus and he said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. and that is the root cause that led to the Pharisees form of religion.

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    They were trying to justify themselves, to make themselves look right in the eyes of others, rather than being right inside, in the sight of God.

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    Jesus elaborates on this in a parable in Luke chapter 18. Let's go there and look at it. Here he depicts very graphically what is the problem with this religion of self justification, self righteousness. Luke 18, starting at verse 9.

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    To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable. And here is one of the nasty catches of a religion of self righteousness.

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    It's that while we're focusing on trying to make ourselves look upright and perfect and in ship shape, what do we inevitably end up doing?

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    Looking down on others, pointing out everyone else's faults, faults, to try and make ourselves look better. It's just how we naturally tend to do it.

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    We can't make ourselves look perfect without pointing out everyone else's faults. And that's what happened with the scribes and Pharisees. Think of all the times through the Gospels where they looked at what Jesus did and leaned on what he said, looking for faults. Oh, your disciples picked some grain as they were walking through the field.

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    Oh, they didn't wash their hands. Oh, you said this. You're pretending to be this. it's just a natural reaction that if we try and make ourselves look right, we inevitably start picking on everyone else around us to make them look bad.

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    Right, so the parable that he told. Luke 18 verse 10. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even this tax collector.

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    I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all I get. Look at me. I'm right. I'm perfect. 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. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.

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    God. Know how it says that the Pharisee prayed, depending on your translation, either within himself or about himself? Well, he actually had no need to pray to God.

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    He wasn't asking for God's forgiveness. forgiveness. He didn't think he had anything to be forgiven of. So it's a religion of self, where I'm so good, I don't actually even need God to do anything for me. And the end result of that is that he was not justified. He was not forgiven and put right with God.

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    And herein lies the great danger of self-righteousness. So when we get into the trap of being self-righteous, we lose the ability to be given God's righteousness. self-righteousness disqualifies us from God's grace.

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    It's put very straightforward in 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1 starting to verse 8. verse 9. 2 John chapter 1. 2 John chapter 1. 2 John chapter 1. chapter 1. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

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    If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. if we claim we have not sinned, we make Him, that is God, out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. Here is the danger of self-righteousness.

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    that while we try and make ourselves look right, we, by doing that, disqualify ourselves from God's gift of righteousness. Self-righteousness is the only thing that excludes us from God's kingdom. We all make mistakes.

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    We can commit crimes. but we can be forgiven. We can be immoral, but we can be forgiven. Whatever we do, we can turn back to God.

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    But not if we're self-righteous. That is the one and only thing that excludes us from God's kingdom. Now, the scribes and Pharisees didn't invent hypocrisy.

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    They were not the first to be self-righteous hypocrites. and they didn't take out a patent on it. Hypocrisy did not die with them. It's not a Pharisaic problem. It's not even a Jewish problem. It's a human problem. And it lurks there within every one of us. And we all have this innate tendency to want to make ourselves look good.

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    To want to think of ourselves as being up to scratch and meeting God's criteria. It's in all of us. And I'm sure every one of us could think of the times where we have been self-righteous. where we have done things for show. Where we have tried to look the part even when our heart is not really in it.

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    Or where we've looked down on others and obsessed over their faults. Not noticing our own. So how do we know when we're suffering the problem of self-righteousness? How do we know if we are uptight as opposed to being upright? Well, look at the next couple of verses. 1 John chapter 2. my dear children, I write this to you so that you'll not sin.

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    But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence. Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the world. we know that we've come to know him if we obey his commands weren't the Pharisees and scribes experts at obedience wasn't that what they obsessed over all day long well yes so how do we tell the difference between genuine humble sincere obedience and their self-righteous obedience when it suits John says the man who says I know him but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him but if anyone obeys his word God's love is truly made complete in him this is how we know we are in him whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did so how do we tell the difference between these two types of obedience the one that is genuinely following in the footsteps of Jesus as opposed to the other which is selective obedience obedience when others can see us when it suits to make sure that we look the part well firstly think of the examples that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 5 of anger versus murder and of lust versus adultery and so on he's pointing out that there is a need for inward obedience having a heart that is set on on the right objective as opposed to only actions that just meet the mark so think about what we do whether our heart is in are we doing it because we really want to do it

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    or are we doing it just to meet a criteria the next thing would be whether it is whether our obedience is private or public if you think of Matthew chapter 6 Jesus talks about the self-righteous who do their arms in public go and blow a trumpet and say look at me I'm giving all my money to the poor of those who pray on the street corner in a loud voice just to make sure you all know that I am a good praying religious believer right versus those who do it on the quiet okay so the the positive example that Jesus gives is in Matthew 25 the parable of the sheep and the goats those that he calls the sheep what does he say that they've done that they have fed the hungry that they've given water to the thirsty that they have taken in the homeless they have visited the sick and those in prison now these are not the people in the best place out in the out in the street these are the people who are sidelined who are vulnerable these are not the ones who are right in the public eye these are things that are done in private and comparing what Jesus says the scribes and Pharisees love of having the best seats you know taking the front row in the synagogue having the having the most important seat at a feast and so on mixing with the great and powerful what does Jesus say about his his sheep in that parable you have done it for one of these the least of my brethren not for the greatest for the least

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    so we can think of ourselves when we do good who are we doing it for are we doing it for the great and powerful the respected or are we doing it for the invisible people the people that don't get noticed those who are least in society and are we doing it to be noticed or are we doing it to achieve an outcome even if no one notices so if we find ourselves worried about is so and so seeing what I'm doing what would what would brother X think if he saw me doing this if he saw me here then that's a clue that we might be suffering a little bit of self-righteousness but if those thoughts are not in our mind that we're not concerned about who's seeing us or what people might think of us because our hearts are focused on a good objective then we can have some confidence that our righteousness our obedience is genuine and that we are being upright rather than uptight you see how the self-righteous get uptight a lot they're worried about what other people see whether what they do is up to the standard whether they're getting noticed for the good that they do whether they can hide the mistakes that they make they worry about all these things you can't help it if you've got a form of religion which says I've got to make myself up to scratch I've got to be the top the perfect one I've got to be seen to be better than everyone else then you can't help being uptight and worried about what other people see and think of you

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    and you can't help worrying about what other people are doing and whether they're making mistakes and whether you can show yourself to be better than them but when your obedience is genuine when we are truly upright in heart we have no need to worry about those things we are not worried about what other people see of us because we don't know that God is our judge we are not worried about what other people do because we are content to let God be their judge and we can be confident that our own intentions are right and good and we can be confident in God's faithfulness that if we slip up we can confess and that we will be put right and that no harm is done so think about this are you upright or are you uptight is our religion one of making ourselves look good acting the part being seen in all the right places with the right people doing the right things or is our religion one that starts from good intents inside us not concerned about others thoughts and opinions but simply about doing our best to live like Jesus to show our love and care to other people whoever they may be and however insignificant or invisible they might be are you upright or are you uptight let's conclude with a verse from the psalms psalm 24 verse 3 who may ascend the hill of the lord who may stand in his holy place he who has clean hands with a pure heart who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false clean hands and a

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    pure heart right not the hands that have been carefully kept out of any incriminating evidence but the hands that stay clean because the heart that motivates them is pure verse 5 he will receive the blessing from the lord and vindication from god his savior the one with the pure hand the clean hands coming from a pure heart is the one who receives god's blessing god's vindication being put right with god because of faith in god's forgiveness now remember the danger of the scribes and pharisees what was so wrong about them what made jesus speak so strongly against them what made the gospels hold them up as the epitome of evil against christ it was self righteousness because self righteousness is the one and only obstacle that will keep us out of god's favor and out of his kingdom so if we find those hints of self righteousness in our lives let's chuck them out let's stop worrying about the finer details of are we doing enough to be on the right side of the line and instead refocus our objectives on where is the goal that we want to be and aim towards it forgetting about exactly where that line is if we find ourselves worrying about what others think of us whether they are concerned about where we are or what we're doing or whether we're behaving right let's stop the worry and instead focus on our own intents and on knowing that we are on the right track because our heart is guiding us to a good objective our pure heart and intention and if we find ourselves looking down on others and

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    seeking faults then let's quit that and instead know that each and every one of us are all God servants to be judged by our God and not by each other and instead let's take our effort and focus it on doing good for those who are least for those who are most vulnerable as the book of James says what is true religion to visit the fatherless and the widows the most vulnerable the least visible and to keep oneself unspotted from the world thank you for listening to the good Christadelphian talks podcast we hope this talk helped you in your walk if you would like to hear more please subscribe for new episodes and leave a review in apple podcast or whichever service you are using to help more people find the show when they search for it if you enjoyed this particular talk please share it with someone who you think might enjoy it as well for show notes on the talk you just listened to visit our show page at anchor dot fm slash gct or check the show notes section of your podcast player please share your thoughts on the talk from this week on our facebook or instagram pages where we are at good christadelphian talks on twitter where we are at gct underscore podcast or leave a comment on our youtube channel where these talks are posted !

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    Thank you for listening God bless and talk to you next week