THE BEST DRESSED CORPSE IN TOWN (1): TARGETING TRIVIALITIES

(Luke 11:37-44)
April 26, 2015
Intro (Read Lu 11:37-42) I love gifted impressionists. A favorite was Rich
Little. John Wayne was one of his staples. The first time they met, Wayne
demanded, Little, let me see you do that walk. Little bravely demonstrated
his John Wayne gait to which Wayne said, Im glad youve still got it; Im
losing it. The truth is while impressions are fun, it doesnt take long to spot
an imitation. Its shallow; its fake; its exaggerated and eventually it shows.
Well, the same thing is true of spiritual impressionists -- moralists someone
looking good outwardly, but without any inward reality. They might also be
called a religionist. Paul warns in II Tim 3:5 that they are having the
appearance of godliness, but denying its power. (nothing supernatural). Avoid
such people. And make sure you are not one of them. Moralists are all
dressed up but with no place to go. They look great, but are spiritually dead.
That is the Pharisees that Jesus bluntly addresses in our text. Churches have
moralists, too people thinking they are saved by good works. Usually
putting on an outward show for Christian friends, but living like the world the
rest of the time.
Jesus point here is simple. You may be the best dressed corpse in town tie
on, every hair in place. But in the end, you are still a corpse impressive
outside, cold dead inside. Unless morality is driven by an inner love for Christ
and response to the HS, it is meaningless a shabby imitation of reality.
Background: v. 37: While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine
[noon meal] with him, so he went in and reclined at table. Jesus accepts a
lunch invitation. But this one gets awkward fast. Typically a Pharisee would
never eat with a non-Pharisee who didnt share his passion for law-keeping.
Jesus reaction suggests that this man was just looking for some way to trip
Jesus up. With time running short, Jesus wastes no time on small talk.
He bluntly tries to wake his host with 4 hard verbal punches to the chin,
calling this man and his companions fools for their misplaced piety. A
lawyer interjects in v. 45, Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.
That leads to 3 more devastating punches to men who were not used to being
questioned about their moralism. Thus, in these vv, Jesus gives a total of 7
descriptions of how these men were dressing their dead selves to no avail.
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Jesus rebuke here is intentionally direct. Its edgy to get attention. But it is
also an act of mercy, essentially calling these men to repentance while there is
still time. So, what constitutes a well-dressed corpse? Looking good
outwardly, inwardly dead? More importantly, are you one?
I.

Exhibitionists of Externals (37-41)

Trouble strikes immediately. V. 38, The Pharisee was astonished to see that
he did not first wash before dinner. Pharisees were big on hand-washing, not
as a matter of physical or hygienic cleansing, but of ritual cleansing. It was to
offset any ceremonially unclean thing they may have touched like a Gentile!
The method for washing was precisely defined. For example, if you poured
water over one hand, it was clean, but if you rubbed the other hand without
pouring water on the second, everything was again unclean. They were
scrupulous like a surgeon preparing for surgery. So, was this washing
prescribed by the Law of God? No, it was not. This was just one of the
hundreds of interpretations to the Law that the Pharisees had made so they
could say they were perfect. They were moralists of the highest order.
So here comes Jesus and He doesnt wash His hands at all. Why? He was
not about to obey a tradition that the Pharisees considered more binding than
Gods Law itself. This is a pre-meditated, calculated move by Jesus to
provoke a reaction. He did that often to these religionists, trying to shake their
confidence in ritual to appeal to their hearts. He wants them to see that Gods
law is about clean hearts, not clean hands. He challenges them.
V. 39, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but
inside you are full of greed and wickedness. Some criticize Jesus for bad
manners, but, Beloved, Jesus came all the way from heaven to earth to seek
and to save that which was lost. Thats the reason He came to lunch. But He
could not save someone who thought he did not need saving. You can be sure
that while His message was offensive, His manner was not. Yet He could not
compromise and let people go on thinking they were okay. He wasnt driven
by 21st century PC concerns against hurting anyones feelings by suggesting
that they are okay when they are not.
So, Jesus illustrates. He compares their moralism to cleaning the outside of
their dishes while leaving the inside dirty. They were striving for holiness.
But they thought of it only in terms of external actions. Their unattended
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hearts were so distorted with pride of position and ceremony they were in
reality the very opposite of what they wanted. Inside they were wicked,
totally missing the spirit of the Law. Their traditions were mere loopholes for
them. By their own rules they were clean, but God looks on the heart. And
what He found there was pride, greed, selfishness, lasciviousness, anger,
hatred and violence, all covered with a faade of moralism. Like the little boy
who came running to Mom: Mommy, mommy, Im 9 feet tall! Mom asked,
How do you know that? The boy replied, I just measured myself with this
measuring stick I made. Im 9 feet tall. Thats the Pharisees Were
morally 9 feet tall! We just measured with the ruler we made! Jesus
counters: Youre 9 by you; 0 with God no standing at all!
They were totally focused on what one does. Jesus was focused on what one
is! The word translated "greed" () means to plunder or pillage. In
classical Greek it meant rape. Thats what religion does. It rapes people of
their eternal souls by getting them focused on outward appearance. God has
always been about the heart. The Pharisees should have known that. V. 40,
You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? Fools
ignore God. Hes saying, You guys focus on what you see -- outside. Youve
forgotten who God is; He sees inside as well. Do externals matter? Of
course they do but only as they reflect a heart of faith and love for God.
These guys had a huge disconnect between who they were inside and who
they were outside. That doesnt work with God who made and sees both!
Moses challenges Israel to return to God Deut 6:2, then says in Deut 6:6, And
the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring,
so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, that you may live. Jeremiah 4:4 challenges the people: Circumcise
yourselves to the LORD; [Physically? No] remove the foreskin of your hearts.
God says in I Sam 16:7, For man looks on the outward appearance, but God
looks on the heart. Its whats inside that counts. Another way to say this:
Moralism is right things separated from right motives and it is therefore
useless. Thats Jesus point in v. 41, But give as alms those things that are
within, and behold, everything is clean for you. Hes saying, What you do
outwardly must reflect a clean heart inside. The Pharisees lived in a
Fantasyland that suggests you can do one thing outwardly and be something
else inside. Jesus says, No way. Youre just a well-dressed dead man.
Remember the opening scene of The Big Chill? Its a movie about a bunch of
friends who gather for a college group reunion. It shows close-ups of a corpse
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being flawlessly dressed. Cuff links. Brand new white shirt. Tie perfectly tied.
New suit. Hair combed just so. Outwardly perfect but never got to the party.
Why? Dead! Thats the Pharisees and all who are like them. Religious to a
fault. Never miss church. Give to the building fund. Say long, theological
prayers. Outwardly perfect. But inside dead as a doornail. They were
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Moralism without
heart is dead.
And believers can fall into the same trap. Coming to church, being on the
Praise Team, reading the Bible and praying occasionally, but it is all a faade.
We are Rich Little imitating John Wayne. Its not real for us. Our heart is not
in it. Hating every minute of it. Why? Because weve lost touch with our
Lord. Were not a corpse, but were just a well-dressed fake, living a useless
life. Were the little boy who was ordered to sit quietly by his mother. After
several threats he finally complied, but could not resist the last word: Im
sitting down on the outside, but Im standing up on the inside. Going thru
the motions, but resenting the whole thing. How can that be true of a believer?
Because he has left his first love (not lost, but left the fault is ours). In Rev 2
Jesus compliments the church at Ephesus on avoiding false teachers, but then
He says in Rev 2:4, But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the
love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen;
repent, and do the works you did at first. We must repent, Beloved, and ask
the Lord to fill our hearts again with that love we had at the beginning.
II.

Trivializers of Truth (42)

Heres a second garment of the best-dressed corpse he wears trivialities

proudly majors in minors to look good. V. 42: But woe to you Pharisees!
Woe is a strong warning, spoken with regret. Jesus picks on the point of
greatest pride for these men. They were nothing if not tithers. This was what
most set them apart from the hoi polloi. But Jesus notes: For you tithe mint
and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you
ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Did Gods Law prescribe
a tithe of 10% on crops? Absolutely. But the Pharisees had taken that general
requirement for major grain crops and applied it to everything, including
garden-variety herbs. They were going above and beyond on this one.
So, is that a problem? In itself, no. Jesus doesnt condemn tithing. He says,
These you ought to have done. So whats the problem? Its a heart problem.
It was all for show. They gave ostentatiously to be praised by man but the
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state of their heart was shown by what they neglected. They neglected justice
and love of God. Those were also required by God. Deut 6:5, You shall love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
might. Micah 6:8, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the
LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God? These major things were not even on their radar.
The very way in which they paid their tithes showed this to be true.
Mt 6:2: Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be
praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. There
is no record that anyone actually sounded a trumpet to announce their giving.
But they had subtle ways of trumpeting their generosity. They gave to the
needy with great ceremony at the places where streets and roads met, at times
when large crowds around to see. They waited for max crowds when giving at
the temple. They tithed meticulously, but only to be honored by men and to
buy God off. Compassion, generosity, justice and love for Godall absent!
Jesus knew. Mark 7:9-13: And he said to them, You have a fine way of
rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For
Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever reviles
father or mother must surely die. 11 But you say, If a man tells his father or
his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban (that is,
given to God) 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father
or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you
have handed down. And many such things you do. These guys were stealing
from their own parents in order to give more ostentatiously at church. Thus in
one fell swoop they failed to do justly and love kindness (by honoring their
parents) and failed to love God because those who love Him keep His
commandments. And they did all that for the sake of their own tradition which
said you get double points for tithing! They gave from a rebellious heart.
They were just dressing up a dead man.
So what can we say by way of application? First to those who have not truly
come to Christ. Many think they have because they are doing some little
things. Many think their church attendance or giving to the United Way or
working for a charity or giving to a mission project or the building fund earns
favor with God. None of those things are bad, Beloved. But unless they are
motivated by a heart love for God who has saved us by grace, whose favor we
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could never earn, then they are useless. Worse than useless for they build a
sense of entitlement a feeling that we have put God in our debt.
Were like the little boy whose friend got a new bike so he said, Mom, can I
have a new bike, too? His mother saw a teaching moment and said, Why
dont you ask Jesus for a new bike? So the boy went to his room and began
a letter, Dear Jesus. I have been really good. Can I please have a new
bicycle? Love, Leroy. Realizing that was a little strong, he tried again,
Dear Jesus. I have tried to be good. Could I have a bike please? Realizing
he was still stretching it, he tried a third time. Dear Jesus. I have meant to
be good. Could I have a bike please? Love, Leroy. Still not satisfied he took
a walk down the street to the church. While meditating his attention was
drawn to a statue that he thought might solve his problem. He grabbed it, ran
home and started another letter. Hey, Jesus. Ive got your mama. If you ever
want to see her again, I need a new bicycle. Do you see, Beloved? You cant
buy your way to God. You cant hostage your way to God. Nothing you can
do can put God in debt to you. Its all just dressing up the corpse. Instead of
dressing a dead person, accept Gods gift of eternal life by faith then serve
Him from a heart of love. Thats what Jesus is saying.
But what about believers? Are we ever purveyors of trivialities? Majoring in
minors? Do we criticize the music but never think to pray for our
missionaries? Do we object to the noisy, messy kids who occasionally spot the
carpet -- but have no interest or desire to help with or pray for the Good News
Club were sponsoring at our local school? Are we quick to criticize how the
leaders do certain things, but never pray for them? We are too often trustees
of trivialities, Beloved purveyors of pettiness, protectors of paltriness.
Conc How is it with us? Is it all about externals? Are we just playing church
giving a poor imitation of what we think it means to be spiritual, or are we
the real thing? What we do matters only as it reflects who we are in Christ. I
am so grateful to see God continually calling various ones of you to areas of
service and to see your response from the heart. Not something were
programming, but a real work of the HS. But we have to be careful. If its all
about externals, were just a well-dressed corpse.
My Uncle Gene served for 35 years as a missionary in West Africa with WEC
which was founded by C. T. Studd. Studd came from a wealthy English
family, was a Cambridge graduate and was the best cricket player of his time.
But he came to Christ while listening to D. L. Moody during one of his
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revivals in England, and there was nothing half-way or trivial about his
commitment. He could have lived a life of ease and triviality, but he said,
"What is all the fame and flattery worth ... when a man
comes to face eternity? He took the gospel to China, then
India and finally to Africa saying, Some want to live within the
sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of
hell." That, I think, captures the heart of God. Lets not mimic the real thing.
Lets be the real thing. Lets pray.