First OR Last Matthew 23: 1 – 12

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

OPEN: There is a story told of a newly married couple that were sharecroppers. They’d rent farms and work them for a percentage of the income from the crops. One of the ways the husband subsidized his income was by milking cows and he had about a dozen cows out in the barn.
One day a salesman came to the farm wanting to show the husband a new device called a “milking machine”. Instead of milking by hand, these marvelous new contraptions would fit right on the cows’ udders and when you turned it on and it would milk the cow for you. The salesman made his pitch and asked to show the husband how it worked.
“Well,” the farmer said “You can use it on any cow in the barn except old Bessie down on the end”
Bessie was a mean and temperamental cow that would kick viciously if angered.
“Really?” the salesman said – obviously thinking the farmer was too young to know anything about real farming. And with an attitude that stated, “you’re just a boy, you don’t know anything” he proceeded to take the machine down to the stall that held Bessie.
As the famer retold the story he said “I thought for a moment he was going to get it done. He got 3 of those cups on Bessie and she stood there without moving a bit… but something must have gone wrong as he tried to put the last suction cup, Bessie went berserk. She bucked and kicked and she caught that salesman with one of her hoofs and kicked him all the way across the aisle.”
The farmer ran over and found the salesman bleeding but still alive and he called out the house for his wife to come and bandage the man.
And as she fixed him up, the farmer now had to decide what to do next, because the farmer now had a problem. Can you imagine what the Farmer’s problem was? That’s right - that milking machine was still on old Bessie, and she was in no mood to have anyone in the stall with her. But he finally got the machine off of her, put it in the car for the salesman and helped the man over to his car.
The salesman left without saying a word.
He never thanked them. He never made an apology – he just drove away.
APPLY: Now, what was that salesman’s problem?
His problem was that he didn’t want to listen to a young farm boy tell him his business. He thought he knew everything there was to know about cows… and he was going to show the young farmer what it was all about.
That salesman was a proud man.
Proverbs 16:18 tells us that “ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”.and that’s exactly what happened to that salesman.
Here in our text this morning, we have Jesus warning the crowds about being proud and He used the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law as His examples of what pride looks like.
The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law were always looking to be at the head of the line.
· If there was a place of honor at the head of the table, they expected to sit there.
· If there was a title they felt they’d earned, you better give them their proper respect.
· If there was praise to be received, they wanted some of it.
The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law were proud men. And because they were proud men they expected to be honored by position and power that came from being at the head of the line.
Jesus was never impressed by these men, and He picked on them every chance He got - because they were proud men. As James says “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” James 4:6

If you were to do a study on the words “proud” and “pride” in Scripture, I believe you would began to realize WHY God opposes the proud.
In Leviticus 26:18-19 God declares: “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 And I will break the pride of your power …

* Pride seems to make it so that we don’t listen to God.
In fact, in Psalm 10:4 we’re told that “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”
* Pride makes it so there’s no room for God in our lives.
Deuteronomy 8:14 warns the Israelites that letting their heart “Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;”
* Pride can make it so that we forget God.
James takes it one step further:
Pride appears to make me a friend of the world and an enemy of God.
That is why Scripture says in James 4:4-8
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

Pride tends to make us seek the friendship of this world.
Pride seeks the applause of the crowd.
Pride seeks the position/prominence/power this earthly realm can bestow.
Pride lies at the heart of wanting to be a friend of the world and to receive it’s praises.
And thus makes me an enemy of God.
So I don’t want to be a proud person
I don’t want to forget Him and I don’t want to end up being His enemy
I want to listen to God.
I want to make room for Him in my life.
So, how do I avoid becoming proud like that?
Well – we need learn from the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law.
Someone once said that every one is an example for us. Some are good examples and some are bad examples. These guys were bad examples.
In their pride, they did what they did to get noticed.
· When they gave money – they wanted you to know how much they sacrificed.
· When they prayed – they made sure you knew how much they were praying.
· When they fasted – they wanted you to understand how they suffered when they missed those meals.
They did all this to get the applause of the world around them. They wanted people to marvel at them and wonder at their righteousness and wish they could be as righteous as the Pharisees.
But in the Sermon on the Mount:
* Jesus warned us that our giving should be in secret. “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Matthew 6:4
* He taught “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly”. Matthew 6:6
* And He told us that when we fast “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly”. Matthew 6:18
Christian devoutness shouldn’t be something we do for show.
That’s what proud people do.
We should be serious about our giving and our praying and our fasting, but we should almost be secretive about it because it’s God’s friendship/attention we want… not the world’s.
But proud people don’t think like that.
They need to be noticed.
They need to crowd to the front of the line.
They need to compete for the best seats at the table.
They need to preen over their accomplishments and their titles.
Jesus, though, said it doesn’t work that way in His kingdom.
If you want to get to the head of the line in His kingdom, you need to go to the back of the line.
In His kingdom “… So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” Matthew 20:16
Now, that doesn’t make any sense to the people of this world. How could you possibly get to the front of the line if you insist on going to the back all the time?
It’s one of Jesus’ upside down teachings.
James tells us why: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up..” (James 4:10)
In other words – if God wants you at the head of the line… He’ll put you there. It won’t matter where you’re standing, or how long you’ve been there, if you humble yourself God will exalt you.
The proud don’t think that way.
The proud don’t want God to do the heavy lifting. They’ll do that themselves – thank you very much.
They adhere to proverb: “God helps those who help themselves” which they’d like to make you think is in the Bible somewhere.
It isn’t.
It’s appears to be a pagan teaching.
God DOESN’T help those who help themselves.
God helps those who humble themselves for His sake.
He helps those submit themselves to His will.
He helps those who come near to Him and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
Well now, you’d think that since this is such a basic teaching of Jesus that Christians would always seek to humble themselves so God can lift them up.
But do they? No.
Why not?
Because (before we became Christians) we were part of the world and we thought like the world.
It has been said that there are large conventions held by denominational churches, and at these conventions, preachers at churches of 100 don’t mix with those of 500. Preachers at churches of 500 don’t mingle with those of a 1000 or more.
Why not? Because many of the preachers in that denominational group had gotten caught up in appearances. Preachers at smaller churches didn’t rate mixing with the more successful men and thus their denomination fell into the trap of imitating the ways of this world. At these conventions it appears that the First are always first… and the last are always last… and that’s the way it is.
Jesus warns us to avoid that kind of prideful pecking order.
And He even warns us against one of the ways that kind of pride sneaks up on people: titles.
"… But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
. (Mt. 23:8-10)
Skip the titles He says.
But why shouldn’t we use titles?
One reason is: titles tend to set us apart from others in the church.
Notice what Jesus says in verse 10: “you are not to be called Rabbi, for… you are all brothers”. Taking the title of Rabbi would ruin that relationship. It would tend to elevate you above the other believers in the church.
For that reason (and others) in this congregation we don’t get into “titles”.
We DON’T call our preachers “reverend” or “pastor”.
“Reverend” means to “hold in awe” or revere
(pause and smile) Do you folks hold me in “awe?”
Of course not.
The only time the word “reverend” shows up in the Bible is in the KJV where it says “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” Psalm 111:9
We’d prefer you not hold any of us in awe here, because awe is something we’d like to reserve only for God.
Jesus said: “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant”. Mt 23:11
So if I really want to be a person of influence in GOD’S church - if I want to be a great leader for Christ – then I need to become a servant… and servants don’t have titles. They have towels, and brooms and mops.

ILLUS: A heard about one church where one of the women became angry with the preacher’s wife because the preacher’s wife hadn’t sent her a “thank you card”.
She was angry because she hadn’t received the recognition she felt she deserved.
She didn’t like the feeling of being unappreciated.
She didn’t like the feeling of being at the back of the line.
And she became SO angry that she lashed out at this other woman.
But servants don’t live for the recognition of the world around them.
They live for the recognition of their master.
John 19:7-12
The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

Where does our power come from daily in our lives?
From our title, or our position, or from man?
OR, does it come from ABOVE … from God!
I want to close with a story about Booker T. Washington. Booker T. Washington was a renowned black educator from about 100 years ago or so. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her.
Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady. The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely.
"It’s perfectly all right, Madam." he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it’s always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute.
Invitation:

Contributing Sermon
Jeff Strite
March 2010