← Archive2020 VisionAuthenticityDateJanuary 12, 2020SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamText—Passages in this sermonMatthew 235:57Psalms 13914:53Acts 230:52TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00We'll be right back. We'll be right back.0:30We have a vision this year of seeing, really, Christ conquer St. Clair County, one gospel conversation at a time.1:00And to wrap our minds around this big vision for what God is doing in our county, in our community, we really have rallied our thoughts around three words. So last week we talked about substance, that we want to be people of substance, that God wants us to build our lives on the rock.1:24There are many things that we can build on. Everything else will fall. Everything else will fail except Jesus Christ. We can do a lot of things to attract people, but only Jesus Christ can save. So we want to be built upon the rock, the substance of Jesus Christ. The second pillar we're going to look at today for this year is authenticity. Living and being authentic people.1:54And I believe this is important because we as a society, we as a community are okay with being semi-authentic. Now, you would never admit that, but the reality is we're okay with having inauthentic products, especially in our life. Marketing demonstrates this for us. Let me give you some examples. You can go to the store and buy plastic decking that looks like real wood.2:22That's not saying that's bad. I'm just saying that's a reality. You can also go to the store and buy vinyl that looks like ceramic. And if you don't like that, you can buy ceramic that looks like wood. Are you tracking with me here? You can eat a hamburger that is not made from meat that says it tastes better than beef.2:49I have not tried that. I just say that is fake news. I know that we will be vegetarians in heaven like the Garden of Eden. I am saving up my meat consumption today. We can talk about that later, but that's just where I stand on that. But there's an English invention.3:19I think this is fascinating in England. And it's an invention called fake mud. It's in a spray paint. And this is the slogan for the fake mud. It says, spray it on your SUV, and friends might think you've just returned from a wilderness adventure. Like, that couldn't go bad at all. I could just see one of our youth walking around school saying, you have mud on your shirt.3:45But you can actually buy that today. This is what the inventor says. He says, if you want an authentic look, there's not a lot else you can do because there's not a lot of mud in Chelsea, England. And so he invented, he said, if you want an authentic look, so it's fake mud that makes you think it is authentic. And if we're not careful, all of these inauthentic things in our life, artificial sweetener and artificial this and that,4:14if we're not careful, this is imported into our spiritual lives. Let me give you some examples before we look at what Jesus says. For example, it's easy for us to try to pass off as the real thing good wishes instead of prayer. It's easy for us to think that success can be misconstrued as spiritual achievement.4:42Or we think that inspirational bumper stickers or symbols is evangelism. We can think that excellent music can cover for authentic worship in our hearts. Or that Christian cliches can be handed out as biblical wisdom. Or an attractive personality can be mistaken for a spirit-filled life. Or, in the South, moral behavior as true righteousness.5:12But what if we stood up and said, Lord, we want authentic faith? We don't want the spray paint faith. We want true faith. What would that look like? And so I want to speak with you very briefly on, let's get real. That's my sermon. Let's get real. And we're going to look at two verses.5:42Now let me be real for a second. Just because there are two verses doesn't mean the sermon is going to be shorter. I know some of you are thinking, let me call Cracker Barrel. We're going to get out early. No. Two verses, two points, but the same length. Sorry. But let's look at what Jesus says in Matthew 23, verses 27 and 28. And reminds the Pharisees that they need to be authentic. And in the same way, it's a reminder to us today that we need to be authentic. Matthew 23, beginning in verse 27, there's two verses.6:13Jesus says, whoa. Now, we can stop there and that could be the sermon, by the way. Woe to you, scribes. Woe to you, Pharisees, hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside you are full of bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside, you seem righteous to people,6:39but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Wow. I don't know who these Pharisees are, but I don't want to be them. Right? Let's pray, Lord.7:09Father, if I'm honest, there are times in my life where we fake it. We try to fake it till we make it, and we know we can't do that spiritually. So, Lord, help us lay aside all of the masks that we wear. And, oh, that we would yearn for authentic communion with our Father and with others today. Lord, help us listen and hear this woe, and help us live it out.7:37For the glory of our Savior and for our good, we pray. Amen. Amen. So, we're quiet right now because this is a pretty strong word from Jesus Christ. Woe. So, let's begin here. Let's look at authentic relationships. So, Jesus uses this word, woe. It's a common Old Testament word. Over and over again, we see the prophet saying, woe.8:05It's a form of interjection. It's an exclamatory of how greatly one will suffer, mixed with some grief. It's almost like Jesus saying, you are going to a place where you do not want to go. This is going to be for your suffering and your doom. And Jesus is saying it with sadness in his heart. So, when you hear woe, Jesus is warning inauthentic people,8:34and he's deeply saddened by their condition. But Jesus is saying, you don't have to be this woe to you. And he's picking up on this common language. This is the fifth of seven woes in this passage. I would imagine that the scribes and Pharisees at this point are thinking, okay, another one? Like five? And Jesus said, no, I have seven, which is really a number of completion.8:59But Jesus is laying out to them. If you keep doing what you're doing, this is where it's going to end up. Don't be inauthentic. Don't be like these whitewashed tombs. We're going to get to that. So, Jesus began speaking to really two groups, but they're one here. So, he says, whoa. Warning. Will Robinson. Wake up.9:30Wake up. Right? Some of you did. Y'all go back and Google that. Ask the Siri. Will Robinson. Some of you got that reference, right? Jesus is saying, look, pay attention. And he's asking this group, the scribes and the Pharisees, they were one. They were really four different, unique sects in the time of Jesus Christ. They were the Sadducees. They didn't believe in the resurrection. So, they were eat, drink, and be merry. They had the political power of the day. So, because they were politically connected, you found them in Jerusalem.9:59They were in the Washington, D.C. of the ancient world. Jesus is not in Jerusalem. He's in Galilee at this moment. You also had a group called the Essenes. Really, we most think that John the Baptist was of this variety. They would segregate themselves. They believed that they were the true community. They were survivalists. They were strange, too. They were the ones that would eat wild locusts and honey and live in the desert because they wanted to be pure when God came back for them.10:28You also had the Zealots, who were ready to fight at a moment's notice. They were the ones, hey, when you want to overthrow Rome, God, you just tell us. We're ready to fight. Simon the Zealot was one of the key core disciples that Jesus had. And then you had the Pharisees. They were the greatest in number. They were located in every synagogue throughout Israel.10:56And they were also the most biblically minded and conservative voice in the Jewish world. So before we say, ah, the Pharisees again, just know if you had to choose one of these groups. Now, some of you are in the Zealot category because you just like to fight. Some of you are just, you know, you're on the way stream. You're the Essenes. I give you a cave. Let you be a prepper. That's you. Right? But most of us would be Pharisees.11:25Conservative, biblically minded. We want to hold to the Word of God. But if you're not careful, the tradition of man creeps in. And you begin to value the tradition of man above the tradition and the Word of the Lord. That's the scribes. That's the Pharisees. And so Jesus is now speaking to this group. And he says, woe to you. Warning.11:55Warning. Watch out. Stop it. Scribes and Pharisees. What? You hypocrites. Now, the word hypocrite is the same word that they would use in the Greek tragedies or Greek dramas. It was the word for someone who wears a mask. In a good way. It was someone that was playing a part on stage and it was not who they were. But they were playing that. Jesus is saying, that's who you are. You are a hypocrite right now.12:25You are playing a part that you have no business playing. You are pretending to be someone you are not. Now, I know. I know every one of you. I know that none of you would do this. But let's just assume you had a bad day today. How often in our lives, if we were truly honest before God, we would look and say, God, I've been, I've worn the mask today. I was, I put on the pastor card.12:52I was having a horrible day, but I know I had to do this. So I was, I was pastor. And God, I was playing something that I should not have been. That's the scribes, that's the Pharisees. And what's interesting, I think, is that non-Christians today and Jesus have something in common. Like, they both hate, hate hypocrites. They hate them.13:24Jesus is saying, you hypocrites! Exclamation point in my Bible. Like, how dare you? And I think the world so, so hates hypocrites, especially in the church. It's not that they hate the message of Christ. It's that they hate hypocrites. Because I believe sometimes the world is looking at us and they're saying, my issue with you is not your Jesus, but that I don't see you believing this Jesus that you say you believe.13:46So it's not that they disbelieve our message. They just, they disbelieve that I believe what I say I believe. Does that make sense? So people are looking at us and saying, I get the Jesus. I understand what you're saying, but I'm looking at your life. And I don't believe the dots are connecting.14:13And Jesus is doing the same thing to these scribes. He's saying, I know what you say. I know what you say you believe, but I look at your life and what you say you believe is not what you live. Oh, you hypocrites. So here's the spiritual lesson in all this. You will never begin a relationship with Jesus until you put down your mask.14:39You and I, we will never begin a relationship with Jesus Christ until we lay down the mask. I believe this is what, this is what David is praying in Psalm 139, 23. He says, Lord, search me, God. Know my heart. Test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.15:08I believe David is praying, Lord, help me put down my mask today. God, I've heard your woe, and I don't want to play something. I don't want to pretend like I am something I'm not. That's what an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ looks like. That's what an authentic relationship does in our life.15:37God, help me. Lay my heart bare. See, you and I will never enjoy authentic relationship with the Messiah until our mask comes off. But when it does, wow, what a freedom. When you lay the mask off and you come to God and you say, God, here's what I really look like. Makeup's coming off. Church clothes, done. God, this is who I am.16:06God says to us, Josh, I sent my son Jesus to die for who you really were, not for who you think you are. I find freedom in that. God knows my heart. And he died for who I am, not who I think I should be. There is something freeing in that. So lay your mask down today. Now, why should we as people of God flee from inauthentic lives?16:36Because I think Jesus is reminding a very simple lesson, too, that inauthentic lives stink. Look what he says here. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because what? You are like whitewashed tombs. You look so beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are full of the bones of the dead. So in the ancient world, they had a process called whitewashing.17:05They didn't have funeral homes like we have. And so whitewashing, they would actually pour lime over a dead body for many reasons. But the most immediate reasons, when you die, you decompose. And when you decompose, you stink. And so to remedy your stink, they would put lime over deceased bodies. Now, here's what I find fascinating in this passage. Jesus does not say, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you stink.17:34What does Jesus say? He says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you are like whitewashed tombs. Jesus is saying, you think you look good, but you don't. So be careful, woe to you. Woe to you when you think you smell with the aroma of righteousness, but you do not. Woe to you, whitewashed tombs.18:02You see, we cannot cover up our stink. Now, some of you are looking around right now and you're thinking, I told you so. Pastor just vowed, I told you, put on that today. We cannot cover up the stench and death of our sin. And the Pharisees were trying to do that. And Jesus was reminding us that you can't do anything today to make God love you, to be accepted by God, because you are rotten to the core.18:31Now, some of you are thinking right now, what kind of church should you just bring me into? But the hope is that God knows your rottenness and we don't need to cover our stink. We need resurrection. We don't need to be whitewashed. We need Jesus to look into our tomb and say, Josh, come out.18:57And then when he does, oh, the freedom of resurrection and abundant and eternal life that Jesus can bring in us. So quit covering up your stench. And this is the way I think I said in my mind as I was praying through this this week. You will never experience life if you try to spray spiritual Febreze on your condition. And isn't that what we do with church?19:29We do all of these things and we're just spraying a little church Febreze on our condition. We're whitewashing our lives. And Jesus is saying, you can't do that. You can, but you really stink. You don't think you stink, but you do stink. And God is offering something far greater than whitewashing. He's offering resurrection. Inauthentic lives stink. So turn to your left real quick and say, don't stink.19:58And to make it fair, turn to your right and say, don't stink. Okay, that's what we need to hear this morning. Just leave it there. Don't say no commentary. Just stop there. Okay. Inauthentic lives stink, but they also kill. Inauthentic lives also kill. Look what Jesus says here. Woe to you, scribes.20:27Woe to you, Pharisees. Hypocrites. Quit wearing the mask. You are like whitewashed tombs, which you appear beautiful on the outside. But inside, you are full of bones, of the dead, and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside, you seem churchy. You look good. But inside, you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. See, inauthentic lives kill because the Pharisees and the scribes, they looked like they were righteous, but they truly were not.20:57And so if you follow them and follow their teaching, you are only following a way that leads to death. And Jesus is reminding them, and it's interesting that this is a deadly trap because the Pharisees believed that death and the corpse was the greatest impurity that you could ever know.21:13They believed so strongly in this that the Pharisees believed that if you were walking past a grave and your shadow touched a corpse, that you, yourself, were impure and that you could not worship God. So Jesus is telling these people that believe that, look, you are leading people who come in contact with you.21:43You are making them impure because you, yourself, are impure. He's saying if they were to follow you, your path leads to death. Because inauthentic lives kill. Now, let me make that real for us today. What are things that we do and say that lead to death for others? Here are some things. We can say things like,22:13well, you know, just come to church. That's what you need. Or just pray. That's what you need. Or if you would just read your Bible a little more. That's what you need. The reality of faith is without Jesus Christ, you will never understand the inspired word of God. And the reality, unless you pray a prayer of repentance, God is not hearing your prayers because he hears through the power and the shed blood of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.22:43And the reality of what we're doing right now, this doesn't make sense unless you are the church. And so is what we do right now a great thing? Yes. But what we are doing right now on the Lord's day will not save any man.23:09It is only the resurrection of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for imperfect sinners. So we need to make sure we are living authentic lives. We don't want to give band-aids to people who are dead. We want to give them Jesus Christ. We want to give them the gospel. The gospel is simple. It is Jesus in my place. Oh, that we would give them the gospel message that our lives would not be built on anything else.23:37But inauthenticity does not only affect our relationship singular with our Father. It also affects our relationships with other people. But let's read again what Jesus is saying. Matthew 23, 27. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.24:06Now this is not said in an echo chamber. This is not said in a private business meeting in a synagogue on a Monday night where no one else is watching. So let's back up and look at verse 1 of the same chapter. It's interesting that God's word gives us more of a context of what Jesus is saying and to who he's speaking.24:32So verse 1 of chapter 23. Jesus spoke to the crowds and to the disciples. So in this group, we have mixed company. You have disciples, right? If you're awake, this would be a good answer. We have scribes and Pharisees, right?25:02We've seen that. Yes. We have people that are just interested. Hey, who is this Jesus person? So we have seekers and then we also have pretenders. And Jesus is speaking to all of them. So when he's speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees, he's also shooting spiritual arrows over their head into people who need to hear. So Jesus is speaking to all of them. So here's the spiritual lesson that's going on in verses 27 and 28 for authentic relationships.25:31Do not let your life, do not live your life based on others' perceptions of you. Right? Did you catch what Jesus is doing here? He's saying, scribes, Pharisees, you are whitewashed tombs. You look beautiful to other people. But don't live your life based on others' perceptions. If you live for man's applause, you will die by their criticism.26:01Don't live your life based upon what other people say about you. Live your life based upon what Jesus knows about you. That's what he wants for us. That's the beauty and the power of authentic relationships. One of my favorite ministries at the church right now is Celebrate Recovery on Friday nights.26:29And it's a place, it's an evening where people with hurts, habits, and hang-ups can lay down their mask, they can worship Jesus together, and then they can really dig deep on how to grow in their faith. But do you know what I love about Celebrate Recovery? And just thinking as I've spent time with them on occasion, I've never heard someone with a hang-up say, man, those people with habits, ugh, who invited them tonight?26:59And I've never heard the people with habits say, why do the people with hurts have to show up? It's a place where people lay down the mask and live and worship with authentic relationships with God and others. And there is something freeing in our lives when we're willing to lay down the mask.27:25Because when I lay down the mask and I am coming in here, if I'm worshiping today with a hurt, I am not as likely to point out your habits. And if you lay down your mask of habits, you're not as likely to point out someone who has a hang-up. That's the power of authentic relationships, is it not? We don't have to look beautiful to other people. We don't have to whitewash ourselves when we come.27:53It's refreshing. So I encourage you today, live your life with authenticity based on what God knows about you, not what other people think about you. That's the power of authenticity. Jesus says, people think you are beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, you are full of rotten, dead bones.28:19But when you realize you don't have to worry whether you appear beautiful on the outside, as long as your heart is right before God, wow, we can take a deep sigh of relief. So why does the Lord desire then for us to flee this hypocrisy? Why does Jesus Christ himself want us to reject religious hypocrisy?28:44Because I believe he has created us to live in community. One scholar said it this way. He says, One of the greatest lies that the American church,28:57and I believe the Western church, has accepted from the enemy is that I can follow Christ and not have to love or live in community with his church. The fact that I could even utter,29:28well, I know Jesus, I just don't have to do this as the church, is a lie from Satan. That's what he wants us to believe. Satan wants me to believe that I have it together enough that I can do this by myself. When in fact, the only way I came to Jesus Christ is that I had to lay down my mask and tell Jesus, Jesus, I don't have it figured out. So why would I now think30:00that I have it figured out? Because Satan said, Josh, here's the mask of self-righteousness. It's beautiful. No one will know when you wear it. And you know, really, it's easier if you wear it. Just lay it down on your counter before you go to bed and it's really easy to pick it up when you go out the door. Just put on the mask again. We should reject30:29the mask of self-righteousness. That is a Western idolatry that we have used and that is destroying the community of faith. Reject hypocrisy. Live your life with authenticity with others. That's why in the early church, Acts 2, 4, 2, the very early disciples said that they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching,30:57to fellowship. And that's not fried chicken buffet in the fellowship hall. That was, they lived their life together. They wanted to be with each other. So the apostles' teaching to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, there's where the food comes in and communion and to prayer. If you think you can do it by yourself, that's exactly what Satan31:27wants you to believe. We must reject, reject in authentic community. So what are some ways that Satan uses, puts barriers in our life to relationships? One is hypocrisy. Some of us are wearing masks today and it's time to lay them aside. But I believe another easy barrier that we put in our lives, and I'm going to use a football metaphor because it's still, praise God, it's still football season.31:57Not for much longer, but I'm going to hold on to every thread that I have. Some of us spiritually like to live with stiff arms. We give the spiritual stiff arm to people in our lives. So here is the technical definition of a stiff arm. The stiff arm, in football terms, is particularly effective because its force is applied down the length of a straight arm directly into the shoulder.32:26As such, the force can be applied by a stiff arm which can easily repel or topple an ongoing defender. Now you get the picture, right? You're running with the ball and you stiff arm the defender and they fall down and you are to run back to victory. But some of us today came in here and we came with both arms out.32:55And when people wanted to pray for us or to encourage us, we said, not today! We didn't say it like that, but we said, I'm good. A little intense, but I believe you. Oh, we are carrying deep needs. And the Bible says that we are to bear one another's burdens. And we said,33:26I'm fine! And God is saying, but Josh, don't you understand that I put these people in your life for this time so that when you are weak and when you are in need, they are here to pray for you and to encourage you and to lift you up. But Satan has put in our mind just stiff arm. It's easier to stiff arm them. Do it by yourself. Hey, just put on the whitewash just one more day.33:56No one will ever know. And we live, we're content to live in an inauthentic community. We say, well, I came to church today and God says, but I want you to be the church. And Satan is using that as a barrier to relationships. And why is this so vital in our lives? Because authentic relationships give us life. And if we keep others at arm's length,34:25you are limiting your spiritual growth. Now, does that mean I need to just unload on someone every sin that I've ever committed? Right now? Probably not the best idea. But it does mean that we need to let people in our lives enough that they can pray for us. They can love us. That they can encourage us. Because what the whitewashing would do,34:54eventually the line would encrust over the grave. so that if you were on your way to Passover, for instance, you would know where the dead places are and you could navigate in a way that you could avoid that. And Jesus is asking us to lay aside the whitewashing. that we, again, live in authentic community. This is why we believe so strongly in small groups. We believe35:25We believe that we learn and grow best in small groups of community. And so let me just say this. We have many, many awesome life group leaders. And I didn't ask you for permission, so forgive me if you don't like this. But if you are a life group leader in any way, if you just stand up. I want people to see who you are. Just stand up. If you are a life group leader on campus, off campus. If you say, well, I would love to be a part35:55of one of these groups. Look around. You can see any one of these men or women. Thank you for serving. Thank you for what you do. They would love to talk about how you can be part of authentic community in this church. Thank you guys. You can have a seat. If you would like to serve in this capacity, we have men and women that would love to come alongside of you and raise you up. You say, well, how can you prove that I need to be in a small group? Easy. Jesus in Matthew 23, one was talking to who?36:25Scribes, Pharisees, and we know for sure the disciples. A small group of 12 men who Jesus invested in. We need authentic community. We need to grow in this. And if you would like to become involved, see one of these men or women during the service or after the service, you can go online and find a list of groups that you could plug your life into. We church need,36:56we hunger for authentic community. And what would happen if the church, if this church was the most authentic group of people that St. Clair County had ever seen? What would happen if our county and our state said, we do not believe in this Jesus. But every time we see the people of God get together, there is something different. You guys pray37:27like you love each other. And you weep over sin like you love each other. And you lift up the weak like you love each other. We don't believe this God that you believe, but something is different about you. We live in a world that is full of fake mud. And we do not want to offer religious bandage to people. But we want to say,37:56look, we are going to live in authentic relationship with our Father and authentic relationships with others. And if we do that, watch the Holy Spirit use this church and His church to conquer St. Clair County one gospel conversation at a time. So how do we respond to this woe? One, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a scribe or Pharisee. I don't know38:27what you have to do to be in that group, but I don't want to be in that group. But I believe what Jesus is saying to us today is that it's okay not to be okay. But it's not okay to leave here not okay. God wants us to lay down His mask and find that His grace is sufficient. And that's exactly what you find when you come to the throne of God.38:57You find that Jesus is welcoming you here. And we find here in the scripture that you will never grow in relationship with others until you put down your mask. I had someone tell me this week there are times where I spend time and I pray at the altar. And I'm often praying for people that I know that are in our midst that do not know Jesus. And they said, hey pastor, sometimes I feel like I need to come and pray with you when you pray. And you know39:27what my response was? Come on! Let's go! So maybe for you this morning is that God has stirred your heart and you need to go and pray with someone. Not to say, you share all your dirty secrets to me and I will pray for you. But just to say, look, I don't need to know God knows but I want to live in authentic community today. What would it take for you to live in authentic relationship with other people in this place?39:56If you do not know Jesus Christ, we want you to know that when you put down your mask, you will find life. And if you don't know Christ, you're probably thinking, I can't come to Jesus because He, I can't let Him know who I really am. But here's the secret. God knows who you really are. God knows. And if you would40:27lay down your mask, you would find abundant life in the crucified and resurrected Messiah for you. So what does that look like? You could pray a prayer and respond to the good news like this. God, I recognize today that I am a sinner. That I've been wearing the church mask for years and years and years. and today it's time for me to lay it down. God,40:57God, forgive me. I believe Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. And Jesus, today I will run to you because I will live for you because you died for me. And do you know and do you know what happens for those who call upon the name of the Lord in authentic faith? The Bible says you will be saved. And our prayer is that if you don't know him right now that you will and that we can celebrate eternal life in your life that begins that begins right now. I don't know41:29how you need to respond to the gospel. But I do know that it's time for us to get real with who God is and to get real with others. Let me pray and then we're going to have prayer partners that will come down front. We're going to sing a song. If you need to pray with someone, if you want to pray where you are, if you want to respond in any way, we would love to help you take those steps of faith this morning. Join me as we pray.← Previous in 2020 VisionBuilt upon the RockNext in 2020 Vision →Mission
