July 24, 2025 • 30 mins
The gap between knowing and living, between religious performance and authentic faith—this is where many of us find ourselves today. In this challenging and heartfelt message, Stephen Feith opens a new six-week series with a question that hits close to home: "Have you ever done the right thing for the wrong reasons?"
Drawing from Matthew 23, Stephen examines why the Pharisees—people who believed in Scripture, the Messiah, and resurrection—completely missed Jesus when he stood right in front of them. Their failure wasn't a lack of knowledge or even wrong practices; it was that they had substituted the appearance of righteousness for actual transformation.
The parallels to our modern spiritual experience are striking. We live in an age saturated with biblical knowledge and spiritual content. We know how to look and sound spiritual. Yet as Stephen powerfully puts it, "We are educated beyond our obedience." We know far more about God than we're willing to live out.
Jesus uses startling imagery like whitewashed tombs to illustrate this spiritual danger—appearing beautiful externally while harboring death within. This isn't just about personal hypocrisy; it's about how our focus on appearances rather than transformation can actually contaminate those closest to us.
But this message isn't about condemnation. After his strong rebukes, Jesus shifts to a maternal image of longing: "How often I've wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks." His desire isn't to shame us but to free us, not to punish but to gather us in love.
Whether you're exploring faith, returning to it, or consider yourself spiritually mature, this message offers a powerful invitation to move beyond spiritual performance to spiritual surrender. Because Jesus didn't die so we could learn the correct answers—he died to give us new hearts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, welcome to Madison Church.
I'm Stephen Feith, lead pastor,and it has been five weeks
since you have heard me up here.
Now I'm just going to try to benormal, but you know I mean
five weeks got a lot of energyput into this and, as I
mentioned before we got goingwith the camera that we've been
planning this series for aboutsix months.
I think it's going to be a goodone, and I want to begin by
(00:22):
asking a question that I thinkall of us could potentially
raise our hands for.
Have you ever done the rightthing for the wrong reasons?
Yeah, you can raise your hand.
Okay, look around the room.
These are the truth tellers.
These are the truth tellers.
Have you ever done the rightthing for the wrong reasons?
I mean, I do it all the time.
(00:43):
Ever done the right thing forthe wrong reasons?
I mean I do it all the time.
Maybe it's at home and Iapologize, not because I thought
I was wrong, not because I'madmitting really that I was
wrong, but I just kind of wantthe fight to be over with.
So I say, oh yeah, I'm sorry Ishouldn't have done that, but
deep down I'm like I'm not sorryat all.
I just want to move on to thenext thing.
(01:03):
Maybe you're at work and youhave another gear.
You work really, really hard.
When your boss is around, younotice them and you're like I've
got to step it up.
You do it not because you're aperson of great integrity, but
you do it because you're aperson who has great means.
You need more money, okay.
(01:25):
Or perhaps in your neighborhoodyou help someone out and it's
not really out of love, but youhope that when we get piled on
with two feet of snow thiswinter, they will come over and
help you shovel your drivewayout.
You know you're banking futurefavors by helping.
But if we're honest, it doesn'tjust happen to places we work,
where we live.
It happens here at church too.
(01:48):
I mean not just someone else'schurch, not just another
denomination.
It happens right here atMadison Church.
We volunteer, sometimes notbecause God has led us to or we
feel like we want to, but weserve because we feel obligated.
We heard that there was a needin the Kidman area, and so we're
going to step up to volunteer.
(02:09):
We show up to this gathering andwe sing the words.
We even know the right placesto put our hands up never during
verse 1, but always during thebridge.
But our hearts are bitter,distracted or even numb.
The thing is, as I prepared forthis series and this message
and thinking about it, I knowmost of you in here and I don't
(02:31):
know a lot of you watching orlistening online, but I know
that most of the people in theroom we want to follow Jesus and
we want to follow Jesus well,we want to live faithfully.
I know our motives are good,but along the way to live
faithfully, I know our motivesare good, but along the way.
It's common happens to me, itdoes happen to you that we focus
more on looking right.
Looking right rather than beingtransformed.
(02:56):
Rather than being transformed,we settle for good appearances
instead of authenticity, andthat's the why behind this
series.
The Pharisees were deeplyreligious.
They believed in the scripture,they believed in a coming
Messiah and they believed in aresurrection.
These people didn't just havethe right beliefs, they were
(03:19):
respected leaders committed toholiness.
They didn't just believe theright things.
Oftentimes, the Pharisees weredoing the right things, and yet
we can't help but notice thatwhen Jesus, the person that they
believed all the things about,the person they did all the
things for, when he was right infront of them, they didn't
recognize him at all.
They didn't recognize him atall.
(03:41):
They missed him completely.
They tried to live righteously,but they missed grace.
They performed publicly, butthey didn't surrender privately.
They would judge harshly, butthey didn't show mercy.
And yes, they followed therules, but they lost the
(04:02):
relationship so much that theycouldn't recognize God in front
of them.
Now, this six-week series isn'tabout judging them.
It's actually about examiningus.
It's about holding up themirror and saying there is a
Pharisee in me.
(04:23):
And saying there is a Phariseein me Because if I'm trying to
believe the right things and ifI'm trying to do the right
things, then there is a Phariseein me.
Today we begin with thequestion I know the right things
, but do I live them?
I know the right things, but doI live them out?
(04:45):
And so we're going to Matthew23, if you want to follow along.
And again, this message, thesemessages that are forthcoming,
aren't to shame us, but they areto invite us back and invite us
closer to God's heart.
And so we're in Matthew,chapter 23, starting with verse
1.
We're going to read throughverse 3.
(05:05):
Jesus says to the crowds and tohis disciples, the teachers of
religious law and the Phariseesare the official interpreters of
the law of Moses.
So practice and obey whateverthey tell you, but do not follow
their example, for they do notpractice what they teach.
(05:27):
He tells his followers and eventhe crowds.
Okay, so there's still peoplewho are kind of following around
Jesus.
They're not sure what to thinkyet.
Is he the Messiah?
Is he not the Messiah?
Is he a rabbi?
Like?
What is Jesus?
They don't know what to think.
And Jesus says these Phariseesand these scribes, practice.
If they tell you to dosomething, do something, obey.
They know what they're talkingabout.
(05:47):
He says, but don't live likethem.
I mean like, do not live likethem at all.
This would have been kind oflike shocking a little bit If
you didn't know.
There are two different groupshere.
There are the scribes and thereare the Pharisees, and I expect
that none of you would know thedifference unless you went to
seminary.
So I'll just briefly cover whatthey are.
The scribes are scholars andexperts in the written law.
(06:12):
Okay, so think of them as theones who are like biblical
scholars.
They're studying this stuff.
This is what Moses wrote, thisis what Jeremiah wrote, this is
it?
This is what it is, and thePharisees are more like
theologians.
So once the scribe said, no,this is it, this is sound, the
Pharisees then take it andinterpret it.
(06:32):
Here's how we should live thisout.
So you have your scholars andyou have your theologians, and
these guys are tied together.
They form a spiritual andcultural leadership that was
deeply respected in Jerusalem.
It was rigorous and deeplycommitted to faithfulness Not
just faithfulness of the text,but faithfulness of practice,
(06:53):
and this is what makes Jesus'critique of them so pointed.
They were not a people whorejected God.
They did not reject God, butthey were.
I mean, these were the guys whowere most passionate and cared
the most about getting theirbeliefs right, and I know a lot
of us in the room can relate tothat.
(07:14):
I mean, none of us in here wantto believe the wrong things.
We don't want to be ignorant,whether willfully or just
unknowingly, like we don't wantthat.
But somewhere along the way thePharisees they stopped
reflecting this heart of Godthat they claimed to serve.
Do what they say Jesus says,but not what they do.
(07:35):
Their words are correct, buttheir lives are out of sync.
They are religious, they arenot righteous, and that same
danger exists today.
I mean, I can't tell you howmuch Christian, biblical,
theological content I see on adaily, even hourly, basis.
(07:58):
There are podcasts, there areYouTube channels, there are
reels, sermons, books, blogs.
Something else I'm sure existsthat I don't know about yet.
You name it.
There is Christian content outthere for it.
If you want to take on apassage or a theological
argument, a spiritualperspective, you will find
someone out there who supportsyou.
(08:19):
Well, and not only that, butyou can find the version that
fits you.
You can find the theology youwant, packaged the way you want
it your preferences, yourpolitics, your personality Check
, check, check.
What's your preferred method toconsume this content?
The problem for us today inMadison, wisconsin, in 2025,
(08:43):
isn't a lack of information.
It is not a lack of information.
It is not a lack of information.
It's that knowing more doesn'tmake you more like Jesus.
Knowing more doesn'tnecessarily make us more like
Jesus.
Neil Cole was a professor ofmine at Wheaton and he once said
in a book but he said it oftenin class we are educated beyond
(09:03):
our obedience.
In a book, but he said it oftenin class we are educated beyond
our obedience.
We know more about God andJesus and the kingdom and the
scriptures than we couldpossibly ever obey.
Let's start doing more.
Let's start doing it.
It's entirely possible, as welook in the mirror today, to be
(09:23):
saturated in spiritual contentand still untouched by spiritual
formation.
We can be consumed with contentand not growing spiritually.
Then, a few verses down, inverse 5, jesus says everything
that they do is for show.
On their arms, they wear extrawide prayer boxes with scripture
(09:46):
verses inside and they wearrobes with extra long tassels
and they love to sit at the headtable at banquets and the seats
of honor in the synagogues.
They love to receive respectfulgreetings as they walk in
marketplaces and to be calledrabbi.
This is a very detailedcritique.
(10:09):
I mean.
Jesus is tearing them apart,literally head to toe.
Here.
He says these people, thesePharisees and these scribes,
they want to project spiritualauthority.
He accuses them not just beinginconsistent between what they
believe and how they practice,but he says they're performing
righteous, they're acting holyfor the sake of visibility and
for status.
They're not doing these thingsnecessarily for God, but they're
(10:32):
doing it because they love theattention that they get.
Jesus was exposing a religiousculture, this image that had
replaced integrity.
Jesus isn't rejecting tradition, though he's not rejecting the
tradition.
He was warning about misusingtradition, the traditions that
(10:52):
the Pharisees and scribes had.
They weren't necessarily theproblem, but the problem was
that the tradition had become atool of self-promotion rather
than spiritual formation.
It was look at me rather thanspiritual formation.
It was look at me, not look atGod.
And so for us today, it's notjust that we have all of this
(11:12):
information at our fingertips,in our pockets, but we also know
how to look the part, don't we?
If we've been going to churchfor some time, we've been part
of spiritual communities.
We know how to speak thelanguage of faith.
We know how to quote the rightscriptures, post the right verse
, wear the right shirt real andraw stuff We've even packaged
(11:33):
real and raw.
We do this.
We show up to church with asmile, but not too big of a
smile, right, we got to gauge it.
We don't want to be too big,because then it's fake and
people will know I'm fake.
I mentioned we lift our hands.
We know the right spots to doit.
We nod in our small groups andstill keep the deepest parts of
ourselves hidden and untouchedfrom the community that we are a
(11:56):
part of.
I don't want to make theargument.
It's possible in today'sChristian culture.
It's entirely possible tocurate an image of deep faith
without actually cultivating anyfaith.
We perform holiness whilequietly protecting our pride,
our preferences and our need tobe in control.
And when enough of us do thistogether if I were to back the
(12:19):
mirror and say look at everybodywhen enough of us do this
together, we start formingcommunities that look
spiritually alive for an hour onSunday but lack the power to
transform lives.
Between that gathering time, wemiss the heart of God and we go
(12:42):
down to verse 23.
Jesus says what sorrows awaityou, teachers of religious law,
and you Pharisees, hypocrites,for you are careful to tithe
even the tiniest income fromyour herb gardens, but you
ignore the more tithe, even thetiniest income from your herb
gardens, but you ignore the moreimportant aspects of the law
justice, mercy, faith.
You should tithe, yes, but donot neglect the more important
(13:06):
things Blind guides, you strainyour water so you won't
accidentally swallow a gnat, butyou swallow a camel In this
passage.
We talked about it in Luke acouple months ago, but we're
revisiting it again in Matthew,as we see a greater context here
of Jesus talking to Pharisees.
(13:26):
Now, tithing was a commandunder the law, but it applied to
grains, wine and oil.
And that's what the scribeswould say.
They would say, as we studythis passage, it's grains, wine
and oil.
And then the Pharisees, who areputting this theology in
practice, pull out a principleno, we are to tithe and give
everything back to God.
So we're going to do even thetiniest garden herbs, mint and
(13:46):
dill and cumin as ademonstration of not just
regular obedience but meticulousobedience.
Yeah, they just tithe thenormal stuff, but we are above
and beyond.
But then Jesus says theyneglect weightier matters of law
, justice, mercy andfaithfulness.
These are not just side issuesto God.
It's not like just if you writethe check, you're good to go.
(14:09):
But he says there's more goingon outside of that.
Jesus doesn't reject thetithing, he actually affirms it.
But he condemns theirpriorities.
They're obsessing overreligious details while ignoring
relational integrity and theimage here.
If you don't get it, if theywere to swallow a gnat, they
would have been unclean.
(14:29):
You're not allowed to eat bugs,so you strain the water so that
way you don't swallow the gnat.
But then Jesus says you'reactually swallowing the camel,
which is another ceremoniallyunclean animal.
That's way more than a gnat.
It's huge and it's not hard tosee how that still happens today
.
I asked Kyle this morningduring our prayer time to lead
(14:53):
us in Lectio Divina and he did,and he chose this verse that
we're doing right now.
And when you're doing Lectio,you're kind of opening yourself
up and you want to hear from God.
And the weirdest image came tomind.
That's not in my notes.
I don't have to stand by thecomputer, but did anyone play
Pokemon on the Game Boy growingup?
Anyone.
As I'm sitting there in prayer,I think of Bulbasaur and
(15:17):
Charmander and Squirtle andPokemon Red and my game boy, and
I remember the first time Iplayed through I would get so
annoyed when you're goingthrough tall grass and a Pokemon
pops up and I was like I'd runaway every time.
I don't want to deal with this,I don't have time for this pops
up and I was like I'd run awayevery time.
I don't want to deal with this,I don't have time for this.
And then I go to this guybattles me and then like I don't
(15:39):
want to battle all of theseguys.
I got all these people so I gotreal good at walking in between
the guys, so I never had tofight them.
And then what happened was Igot to the very first gym and I
got my teeth kicked in, real bad, because I still had like a
Charmander who was level six,and that very first gym master
had like an Onyx that was level28.
(16:00):
I wasn't prepared, I skipped allthis stuff and I was thinking
this is exactly what Jesus istalking about, or it's like it,
in this passage.
These issues of justice areabsolutely critical, mercy is
absolutely critical, faith isabsolutely critical.
But he's saying if you haven'tdeveloped generosity, it's not
(16:22):
going to happen.
And honestly, as I begin tothink about justice and the lack
of it, and mercy and the lackof it and faith and the lack of
it, I wonder if what Jesus issaying here is let's go back a
step to level one, go back tothe tall weeds, go back to those
battles you wanted to skip, andif you would develop generosity
, we can move on to the nextstep.
(16:42):
I wonder if the reason we don'tsee more justice and mercy and
faith in the world is because usas a church have not developed
generosity.
We want to skip level one andgo to level five and then we get
frustrated when we get ourteeth kicked in.
Jesus isn't saying don't tithe,don't give, just focus over here
(17:04):
.
He's saying this is step one ofa really long path that will
eventually lead to justice andmercy and faith.
So the Pharisees, they gotstuck on one, remember.
They believe right things, theypracticed the right things.
What he's calling them out isthat they stayed there, that
(17:25):
they didn't move.
And so, as we look inward toourselves, are we on step one or
are we before that?
It's not hard to see how whatJesus is calling out applies to
us.
Today.
We serve, perhaps we give, weshow up and we stay involved
just enough to appearspiritually healthy.
Or maybe we find ourselveswe're like we're at a good
spiritual pace here.
(17:46):
We got cruise control turned on.
We check the right boxes thatsignal maturity to those around
us, we have the right titles, wehave the right degrees.
Whatever it might be, it's notthat we're inactive, but our
activity becomes a substitutefor intimacy with God.
I know in my role I got to becautious of that, because
(18:08):
otherwise the only time I'mpraying is when I'm praying for
people or with people.
I know in my own life I got tobe careful of that because
perhaps the only time I read theBible is when I'm prepping for
my talk on Sunday.
I got to be careful of that andI imagine that you do too.
We've got to grow beyondlearning how to do just enough,
just the minimum, to keep theimage, while avoiding the hard
(18:31):
and vulnerable work of surrender.
The danger is if we start tobelieve that outside alignment,
outside alignment means inwardtransformation, we're just
managing appearances.
We're just managing appearances, and you can do that here at
Madison Church.
You become a member, you getbaptized, you join the small
(18:52):
group, you give check, check,check, check.
You can do that here.
We're not immune to it is whatI'm trying to say.
I'm not, and we're not as acommunity.
When we jump down to now, verse27, when Jesus he says to them
what sorrow awaits you, teachersof religious law, and you
(19:15):
Pharisees, hypocrites.
For you are like whitewashedtombs beautiful on the outside
but filled on the inside withdead people's bones and all
sorts of impurity.
Outwardly you look likerighteous people, but inwardly
your hearts are filled withhypocrisy and lawlessness.
This is an analogy that is kindof gross, and that's Jesus's
(19:37):
point.
He wants to give everyonelistening the ick, as the kids
say today, or, as I understandthe kids say today, according to
Jewish law, to contact a tomb,even even accidentally, rendered
you unclean for seven days.
That makes sense, right?
I mean, dead bodies have germsand other things going on and
even the space around them couldcarry bacteria and things.
(19:59):
So don't touch it because youwill be unclean.
And to prevent this, because ifyou're going to the Passover and
you were traveling, you mightnot know that this is a tomb
right here.
You've never been here before.
They didn't have Google Maps.
It wasn't like watch out, soyou'd whitewash them.
So you're walking with yourfamily and you see, oh gosh,
that's white.
People are buried there.
(20:19):
So I'm not going to touch that.
We're going to avoid thatbecause we don't want to ruin
our Passover experience.
And Jesus is saying you're justlike that.
You're whitewashed on theoutside so everybody walking by
can see you oh, there you are,but on the inside you're dead
and rotting.
Jesus wasn't just accusing themof a spiritual deadness.
(20:40):
He was also saying that you'recontaminating others while
appearing holy, get it.
It wasn't just that you lookgood, but if you touch the tomb
you are ceremonially unclean.
And he's saying in the same wayPharisees and scribes, when
people interact with you, theybecome unclean because of what's
going on inside you.
(21:01):
We see how easy it is toconstruct a version of faith
that checks all the visibleboxes.
We know the right theology, weknow how to look the part, we
know how to sound spiritual, weknow how to act committed.
And we often do enough to justappear faithful on the outside.
But God isn't fooled.
God sees our hearts, god knowsus, he sees what's going on
(21:23):
beneath the surface.
And the warning for us is ifI'm so focused on the outside
but I'm dead and rotting on theinside, I might not just be
hurting myself, but thoseclosest to me my partner, my
best friend, my kids, mycoworkers.
You think about the person orthe people closest to you.
(21:44):
They're probably the people youlike and love the most.
And Jesus' warning is if we'reso focused on outside-in
transformation rather thaninside-out transformation, we
will contaminate those around us.
He says what sorrow awaits.
Can you feel the heartbreak?
He's not yelling at them.
He can see something that'sabout to happen.
(22:05):
How sad is it when you hurt thepeople you love the most.
How heartbreaking is it whenyou're the reason that they go
through pain and suffering werun the risk of, while we're
maintaining our appearance, ofharming those around us.
(22:30):
Now a message like this.
It's difficult.
We can start to feel convictedand maybe perhaps we're like
well, convicted is a bad feeling.
I shouldn't feel any of thesebad feelings.
I want to kind of comment onthat.
Sometimes we got to look insideand we got to deal with some
yucky stuff, and that's okay.
I'm not trying to make you feelguilty or ashamed.
This morning and as a matter offact, jesus wasn't trying to
(22:52):
make the Pharisees feel guiltyor ashamed we read his lament in
verse 37.
Oh Jerusalem, jerusalem, thecity that kills the prophets and
stones God's messengers.
How often I've wanted to gatheryour children together as a
hand protects her chicks beneathher wings, but you wouldn't let
(23:13):
me.
And now look, your house isabandoned and desolate.
After a chapter filled withpublic rebukes, the tone shifts.
Jesus isn't a critic anymore,but a grieving lover of his
people.
He names the tragedy.
You kill your prophets, youstone those sent to you.
(23:33):
That is the pattern we haveseen for hundreds and thousands
of years.
God sends messengers in mercyand you reject them every time.
And then Jesus talks personally.
He says how often have I longed.
Jesus is like I wake upthinking about this, I go to bed
thinking about this, I dreamabout this.
(23:54):
This is what causes me anxiety,this is what makes me depressed
.
And his longing, did you hearit?
It wasn't to punish them, butto gather them.
He offers a picture of anythingthat's harsh a hen gathering her
chicks and, as a bonus sidebar,this is one of a few different
(24:14):
times where Jesus or NewTestament writers will use
maternal language to describeGod.
It was almost like Father God,warrior God wasn't the right
image.
It was Mother God, mother Godwho looks after her kids, who
gathers them up.
Mother God, that God, our Godprotective and intimate.
(24:40):
Jesus doesn't rebuke them againto shame them, but he rebukes
them and us to awaken us.
Sometimes we need to get shooka little bit.
And he says and as he weeps, hesays you were not willing, you
were not willing, and this isthe danger of a life built on
(25:00):
appearances, performance andcontrol.
Eventually, we're not justavoiding change, we're resisting
love.
We're not just avoiding change,but we're resisting love.
We miss the invitation hidingbeneath the confrontation.
Again, jesus doesn't want toshame us, but he does want to
free us.
He wants something more for usthan we want for ourselves.
(25:21):
He wants us to move beyondmanaging an image or holding
onto some sort of spiritualcontrol.
What he wants with us is arelationship that's open and
honest.
He's not looking for polishedwhite tombs.
He's just looking for peoplewho come to him as they are so
he can make them new.
And when we do, when we look atthe mirror, when we have the
(25:42):
courage, the strength, theboldness and the trust in God to
look in the mirror, when wedrop the act, when we let go of
the need to be right or the needto look impressive, what you're
going to find is not judgmentthere, not from God.
You're going to find Jesus,arms wide open, heartbroken, but
(26:03):
still willing to gather us.
I know roles and rituals havechanged.
We live on the other side ofJesus's life, death and
resurrection, but I know thatthe pull toward appearances over
authenticity is still with us.
There's a temptation to performfaith rather than live it out.
The late Brennan Manning, aformer priest, recovering
(26:25):
alcoholic, who wrote honestlyabout grace and his own failures
, once said the greatest singlecause of atheism in the world
today is Christians whoacknowledge Jesus with their
lips, walk out the door and denyhim by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelievingworld simply finds unbelievable.
(26:45):
Jesus' harshest words inMatthew 23 weren't for people on
the outside looking in, thosewho didn't believe, those who
weren't sure.
His harshest words were for us,those here today.
They're for us, people whothink or feel like we figured it
(27:07):
all out, or we figured some ofit out, or more than another
person.
And today I want you to reflecton the question am I performing
my faith or being transformedby it?
If you're somebody who'sexploring faith, wrestling with
disbelief, all you got to do isstart with honesty.
Jesus doesn't need you topretend.
He invites you Questions,doubts and all, because being
(27:29):
real is the first step to beingknown.
And so this week, just trypraying honestly.
God, if you are real, show mewho you are.
God, if you're real, show mewho you are.
If you're kind of newer tofollowing Jesus, you're kind of
coming back to following Jesus.
We run the risk of trying tofix everything in a weekend.
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We're going to come, we'regoing to leave church today and
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
My schedule's going to change,my checkbook is going to change,
my circle of friends is goingto change.
All of this and you're going toburn yourself out and you're
going to be exactly where youwere before you came here today.
(28:11):
Part of your life, just one,your schedule, relationships,
priorities and ask does thisreflect the heart of Jesus?
Does this reflect the heart ofJesus?
And as you invite him in,you'll begin to notice real
change.
And for those of us today, youmight find yourself in
leadership at Madison Church ornot in leadership at Madison
Church, but you're a maturefollower of Jesus.
You have been for a while.
The practicalities of what todo become a little harder.
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But how about this week?
There's a reflection.
Where has spiritual performancein your life replaced spiritual
intimacy?
Where has performance replacedintimacy?
Where have you gottencomfortable looking godly
instead of becoming more likeChrist?
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And as you engage God withthose questions, he will show
you there's more for you.
He will show you there's moredepth, more freedom and more joy
on the other side of surrender.
The Pharisees studied Scripture.
They followed the rules, butwhen Jesus stood right in front
of them, they missed Him, notbecause they lacked knowledge,
(29:20):
but because their heartsresisted transformation.
Let that not ever be said of ushere at Madison Church.
Let us not study the scripturesand know how to do all the
right things, but if Jesus wereto walk through that door right
now, we wouldn't recognize him.
Jesus isn't asking us toperform.
He calls us to surrender.
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And that brings us to the table.
Each week, at Madison Church, wetake communion to remember what
Jesus has done for us His bodybroken, his blood poured out.
And so today, as the band comesforward and leads us in this
final song, let's remember Jesusdidn't die so we could learn
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the correct answers.
He died to give us new heartsAt the cross.
Jesus didn't perform, hesurrendered.
He didn't perform, hesurrendered.
He didn't protect his image.
He poured out his life.
Through his resurrection, heinvites us into something better
than empty religion.
It's a life of humility, mercyand deep, authentic faith.
(30:25):
So today, as we take the breadand we take the cup, don't just
remember what Jesus did.
Let it reshape who you are.
Let it be a response to theinvitation we've been talking
about today, the one that Jesusis offering you now, not just to
know him, but to become likehim.
Well, welcome to Madison Church.
I'm Stephen Feith, lead pastor,and it has been five weeks
since you have heard me up here.
Now I'm just going to try to benormal, but you know I mean
five weeks got a lot of energyput into this and, as I
mentioned before we got goingwith the camera that we've been
planning this series for aboutsix months.
I think it's going to be a goodone, and I want to begin by
(00:22):
asking a question that I thinkall of us could potentially
raise our hands for.
Have you ever done the rightthing for the wrong reasons?
Yeah, you can raise your hand.
Okay, look around the room.
These are the truth tellers.
These are the truth tellers.
Have you ever done the rightthing for the wrong reasons?
I mean, I do it all the time.
(00:43):
Ever done the right thing forthe wrong reasons?
I mean I do it all the time.
Maybe it's at home and Iapologize, not because I thought
I was wrong, not because I'madmitting really that I was
wrong, but I just kind of wantthe fight to be over with.
So I say, oh yeah, I'm sorry Ishouldn't have done that, but
deep down I'm like I'm not sorryat all.
I just want to move on to thenext thing.
(01:03):
Maybe you're at work and youhave another gear.
You work really, really hard.
When your boss is around, younotice them and you're like I've
got to step it up.
You do it not because you're aperson of great integrity, but
you do it because you're aperson who has great means.
You need more money, okay.
(01:25):
Or perhaps in your neighborhoodyou help someone out and it's
not really out of love, but youhope that when we get piled on
with two feet of snow thiswinter, they will come over and
help you shovel your drivewayout.
You know you're banking futurefavors by helping.
But if we're honest, it doesn'tjust happen to places we work,
where we live.
It happens here at church too.
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I mean not just someone else'schurch, not just another
denomination.
It happens right here atMadison Church.
We volunteer, sometimes notbecause God has led us to or we
feel like we want to, but weserve because we feel obligated.
We heard that there was a needin the Kidman area, and so we're
going to step up to volunteer.
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We show up to this gathering andwe sing the words.
We even know the right placesto put our hands up never during
verse 1, but always during thebridge.
But our hearts are bitter,distracted or even numb.
The thing is, as I prepared forthis series and this message
and thinking about it, I knowmost of you in here and I don't
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know a lot of you watching orlistening online, but I know
that most of the people in theroom we want to follow Jesus and
we want to follow Jesus well,we want to live faithfully.
I know our motives are good,but along the way to live
faithfully, I know our motivesare good, but along the way.
It's common happens to me, itdoes happen to you that we focus
more on looking right.
Looking right rather than beingtransformed.
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Rather than being transformed,we settle for good appearances
instead of authenticity, andthat's the why behind this
series.
The Pharisees were deeplyreligious.
They believed in the scripture,they believed in a coming
Messiah and they believed in aresurrection.
These people didn't just havethe right beliefs, they were
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respected leaders committed toholiness.
They didn't just believe theright things.
Oftentimes, the Pharisees weredoing the right things, and yet
we can't help but notice thatwhen Jesus, the person that they
believed all the things about,the person they did all the
things for, when he was right infront of them, they didn't
recognize him at all.
They didn't recognize him atall.
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They missed him completely.
They tried to live righteously,but they missed grace.
They performed publicly, butthey didn't surrender privately.
They would judge harshly, butthey didn't show mercy.
And yes, they followed therules, but they lost the
(04:02):
relationship so much that theycouldn't recognize God in front
of them.
Now, this six-week series isn'tabout judging them.
It's actually about examiningus.
It's about holding up themirror and saying there is a
Pharisee in me.
(04:23):
And saying there is a Phariseein me Because if I'm trying to
believe the right things and ifI'm trying to do the right
things, then there is a Phariseein me.
Today we begin with thequestion I know the right things
, but do I live them?
I know the right things, but doI live them out?
(04:45):
And so we're going to Matthew23, if you want to follow along.
And again, this message, thesemessages that are forthcoming,
aren't to shame us, but they areto invite us back and invite us
closer to God's heart.
And so we're in Matthew,chapter 23, starting with verse
1.
We're going to read throughverse 3.
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Jesus says to the crowds and tohis disciples, the teachers of
religious law and the Phariseesare the official interpreters of
the law of Moses.
So practice and obey whateverthey tell you, but do not follow
their example, for they do notpractice what they teach.
(05:27):
He tells his followers and eventhe crowds.
Okay, so there's still peoplewho are kind of following around
Jesus.
They're not sure what to thinkyet.
Is he the Messiah?
Is he not the Messiah?
Is he a rabbi?
Like?
What is Jesus?
They don't know what to think.
And Jesus says these Phariseesand these scribes, practice.
If they tell you to dosomething, do something, obey.
They know what they're talkingabout.
(05:47):
He says, but don't live likethem.
I mean like, do not live likethem at all.
This would have been kind oflike shocking a little bit If
you didn't know.
There are two different groupshere.
There are the scribes and thereare the Pharisees, and I expect
that none of you would know thedifference unless you went to
seminary.
So I'll just briefly cover whatthey are.
The scribes are scholars andexperts in the written law.
(06:12):
Okay, so think of them as theones who are like biblical
scholars.
They're studying this stuff.
This is what Moses wrote, thisis what Jeremiah wrote, this is
it?
This is what it is, and thePharisees are more like
theologians.
So once the scribe said, no,this is it, this is sound, the
Pharisees then take it andinterpret it.
(06:32):
Here's how we should live thisout.
So you have your scholars andyou have your theologians, and
these guys are tied together.
They form a spiritual andcultural leadership that was
deeply respected in Jerusalem.
It was rigorous and deeplycommitted to faithfulness Not
just faithfulness of the text,but faithfulness of practice,
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and this is what makes Jesus'critique of them so pointed.
They were not a people whorejected God.
They did not reject God, butthey were.
I mean, these were the guys whowere most passionate and cared
the most about getting theirbeliefs right, and I know a lot
of us in the room can relate tothat.
(07:14):
I mean, none of us in here wantto believe the wrong things.
We don't want to be ignorant,whether willfully or just
unknowingly, like we don't wantthat.
But somewhere along the way thePharisees they stopped
reflecting this heart of Godthat they claimed to serve.
Do what they say Jesus says,but not what they do.
(07:35):
Their words are correct, buttheir lives are out of sync.
They are religious, they arenot righteous, and that same
danger exists today.
I mean, I can't tell you howmuch Christian, biblical,
theological content I see on adaily, even hourly, basis.
(07:58):
There are podcasts, there areYouTube channels, there are
reels, sermons, books, blogs.
Something else I'm sure existsthat I don't know about yet.
You name it.
There is Christian content outthere for it.
If you want to take on apassage or a theological
argument, a spiritualperspective, you will find
someone out there who supportsyou.
(08:19):
Well, and not only that, butyou can find the version that
fits you.
You can find the theology youwant, packaged the way you want
it your preferences, yourpolitics, your personality Check
, check, check.
What's your preferred method toconsume this content?
The problem for us today inMadison, wisconsin, in 2025,
(08:43):
isn't a lack of information.
It is not a lack of information.
It is not a lack of information.
It's that knowing more doesn'tmake you more like Jesus.
Knowing more doesn'tnecessarily make us more like
Jesus.
Neil Cole was a professor ofmine at Wheaton and he once said
in a book but he said it oftenin class we are educated beyond
(09:03):
our obedience.
In a book, but he said it oftenin class we are educated beyond
our obedience.
We know more about God andJesus and the kingdom and the
scriptures than we couldpossibly ever obey.
Let's start doing more.
Let's start doing it.
It's entirely possible, as welook in the mirror today, to be
(09:23):
saturated in spiritual contentand still untouched by spiritual
formation.
We can be consumed with contentand not growing spiritually.
Then, a few verses down, inverse 5, jesus says everything
that they do is for show.
On their arms, they wear extrawide prayer boxes with scripture
(09:46):
verses inside and they wearrobes with extra long tassels
and they love to sit at the headtable at banquets and the seats
of honor in the synagogues.
They love to receive respectfulgreetings as they walk in
marketplaces and to be calledrabbi.
This is a very detailedcritique.
(10:09):
I mean.
Jesus is tearing them apart,literally head to toe.
Here.
He says these people, thesePharisees and these scribes,
they want to project spiritualauthority.
He accuses them not just beinginconsistent between what they
believe and how they practice,but he says they're performing
righteous, they're acting holyfor the sake of visibility and
for status.
They're not doing these thingsnecessarily for God, but they're
(10:32):
doing it because they love theattention that they get.
Jesus was exposing a religiousculture, this image that had
replaced integrity.
Jesus isn't rejecting tradition, though he's not rejecting the
tradition.
He was warning about misusingtradition, the traditions that
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the Pharisees and scribes had.
They weren't necessarily theproblem, but the problem was
that the tradition had become atool of self-promotion rather
than spiritual formation.
It was look at me rather thanspiritual formation.
It was look at me, not look atGod.
And so for us today, it's notjust that we have all of this
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information at our fingertips,in our pockets, but we also know
how to look the part, don't we?
If we've been going to churchfor some time, we've been part
of spiritual communities.
We know how to speak thelanguage of faith.
We know how to quote the rightscriptures, post the right verse
, wear the right shirt real andraw stuff We've even packaged
(11:33):
real and raw.
We do this.
We show up to church with asmile, but not too big of a
smile, right, we got to gauge it.
We don't want to be too big,because then it's fake and
people will know I'm fake.
I mentioned we lift our hands.
We know the right spots to doit.
We nod in our small groups andstill keep the deepest parts of
ourselves hidden and untouchedfrom the community that we are a
(11:56):
part of.
I don't want to make theargument.
It's possible in today'sChristian culture.
It's entirely possible tocurate an image of deep faith
without actually cultivating anyfaith.
We perform holiness whilequietly protecting our pride,
our preferences and our need tobe in control.
And when enough of us do thistogether if I were to back the
(12:19):
mirror and say look at everybodywhen enough of us do this
together, we start formingcommunities that look
spiritually alive for an hour onSunday but lack the power to
transform lives.
Between that gathering time, wemiss the heart of God and we go
(12:42):
down to verse 23.
Jesus says what sorrows awaityou, teachers of religious law,
and you Pharisees, hypocrites,for you are careful to tithe
even the tiniest income fromyour herb gardens, but you
ignore the more tithe, even thetiniest income from your herb
gardens, but you ignore the moreimportant aspects of the law
justice, mercy, faith.
You should tithe, yes, but donot neglect the more important
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things Blind guides, you strainyour water so you won't
accidentally swallow a gnat, butyou swallow a camel In this
passage.
We talked about it in Luke acouple months ago, but we're
revisiting it again in Matthew,as we see a greater context here
of Jesus talking to Pharisees.
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Now, tithing was a commandunder the law, but it applied to
grains, wine and oil.
And that's what the scribeswould say.
They would say, as we studythis passage, it's grains, wine
and oil.
And then the Pharisees, who areputting this theology in
practice, pull out a principleno, we are to tithe and give
everything back to God.
So we're going to do even thetiniest garden herbs, mint and
(13:46):
dill and cumin as ademonstration of not just
regular obedience but meticulousobedience.
Yeah, they just tithe thenormal stuff, but we are above
and beyond.
But then Jesus says theyneglect weightier matters of law
, justice, mercy andfaithfulness.
These are not just side issuesto God.
It's not like just if you writethe check, you're good to go.
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But he says there's more goingon outside of that.
Jesus doesn't reject thetithing, he actually affirms it.
But he condemns theirpriorities.
They're obsessing overreligious details while ignoring
relational integrity and theimage here.
If you don't get it, if theywere to swallow a gnat, they
would have been unclean.
(14:29):
You're not allowed to eat bugs,so you strain the water so that
way you don't swallow the gnat.
But then Jesus says you'reactually swallowing the camel,
which is another ceremoniallyunclean animal.
That's way more than a gnat.
It's huge and it's not hard tosee how that still happens today
.
I asked Kyle this morningduring our prayer time to lead
(14:53):
us in Lectio Divina and he did,and he chose this verse that
we're doing right now.
And when you're doing Lectio,you're kind of opening yourself
up and you want to hear from God.
And the weirdest image came tomind.
That's not in my notes.
I don't have to stand by thecomputer, but did anyone play
Pokemon on the Game Boy growingup?
Anyone.
As I'm sitting there in prayer,I think of Bulbasaur and
(15:17):
Charmander and Squirtle andPokemon Red and my game boy, and
I remember the first time Iplayed through I would get so
annoyed when you're goingthrough tall grass and a Pokemon
pops up and I was like I'd runaway every time.
I don't want to deal with this,I don't have time for this pops
up and I was like I'd run awayevery time.
I don't want to deal with this,I don't have time for this.
And then I go to this guybattles me and then like I don't
(15:39):
want to battle all of theseguys.
I got all these people so I gotreal good at walking in between
the guys, so I never had tofight them.
And then what happened was Igot to the very first gym and I
got my teeth kicked in, real bad, because I still had like a
Charmander who was level six,and that very first gym master
had like an Onyx that was level28.
(16:00):
I wasn't prepared, I skipped allthis stuff and I was thinking
this is exactly what Jesus istalking about, or it's like it,
in this passage.
These issues of justice areabsolutely critical, mercy is
absolutely critical, faith isabsolutely critical.
But he's saying if you haven'tdeveloped generosity, it's not
(16:22):
going to happen.
And honestly, as I begin tothink about justice and the lack
of it, and mercy and the lackof it and faith and the lack of
it, I wonder if what Jesus issaying here is let's go back a
step to level one, go back tothe tall weeds, go back to those
battles you wanted to skip, andif you would develop generosity
, we can move on to the nextstep.
(16:42):
I wonder if the reason we don'tsee more justice and mercy and
faith in the world is because usas a church have not developed
generosity.
We want to skip level one andgo to level five and then we get
frustrated when we get ourteeth kicked in.
Jesus isn't saying don't tithe,don't give, just focus over here
(17:04):
.
He's saying this is step one ofa really long path that will
eventually lead to justice andmercy and faith.
So the Pharisees, they gotstuck on one, remember.
They believe right things, theypracticed the right things.
What he's calling them out isthat they stayed there, that
(17:25):
they didn't move.
And so, as we look inward toourselves, are we on step one or
are we before that?
It's not hard to see how whatJesus is calling out applies to
us.
Today.
We serve, perhaps we give, weshow up and we stay involved
just enough to appearspiritually healthy.
Or maybe we find ourselveswe're like we're at a good
spiritual pace here.
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We got cruise control turned on.
We check the right boxes thatsignal maturity to those around
us, we have the right titles, wehave the right degrees.
Whatever it might be, it's notthat we're inactive, but our
activity becomes a substitutefor intimacy with God.
I know in my role I got to becautious of that, because
(18:08):
otherwise the only time I'mpraying is when I'm praying for
people or with people.
I know in my own life I got tobe careful of that because
perhaps the only time I read theBible is when I'm prepping for
my talk on Sunday.
I got to be careful of that andI imagine that you do too.
We've got to grow beyondlearning how to do just enough,
just the minimum, to keep theimage, while avoiding the hard
(18:31):
and vulnerable work of surrender.
The danger is if we start tobelieve that outside alignment,
outside alignment means inwardtransformation, we're just
managing appearances.
We're just managing appearances, and you can do that here at
Madison Church.
You become a member, you getbaptized, you join the small
(18:52):
group, you give check, check,check, check.
You can do that here.
We're not immune to it is whatI'm trying to say.
I'm not, and we're not as acommunity.
When we jump down to now, verse27, when Jesus he says to them
what sorrow awaits you, teachersof religious law, and you
(19:15):
Pharisees, hypocrites.
For you are like whitewashedtombs beautiful on the outside
but filled on the inside withdead people's bones and all
sorts of impurity.
Outwardly you look likerighteous people, but inwardly
your hearts are filled withhypocrisy and lawlessness.
This is an analogy that is kindof gross, and that's Jesus's
(19:37):
point.
He wants to give everyonelistening the ick, as the kids
say today, or, as I understandthe kids say today, according to
Jewish law, to contact a tomb,even even accidentally, rendered
you unclean for seven days.
That makes sense, right?
I mean, dead bodies have germsand other things going on and
even the space around them couldcarry bacteria and things.
(19:59):
So don't touch it because youwill be unclean.
And to prevent this, because ifyou're going to the Passover and
you were traveling, you mightnot know that this is a tomb
right here.
You've never been here before.
They didn't have Google Maps.
It wasn't like watch out, soyou'd whitewash them.
So you're walking with yourfamily and you see, oh gosh,
that's white.
People are buried there.
(20:19):
So I'm not going to touch that.
We're going to avoid thatbecause we don't want to ruin
our Passover experience.
And Jesus is saying you're justlike that.
You're whitewashed on theoutside so everybody walking by
can see you oh, there you are,but on the inside you're dead
and rotting.
Jesus wasn't just accusing themof a spiritual deadness.
(20:40):
He was also saying that you'recontaminating others while
appearing holy, get it.
It wasn't just that you lookgood, but if you touch the tomb
you are ceremonially unclean.
And he's saying in the same wayPharisees and scribes, when
people interact with you, theybecome unclean because of what's
going on inside you.
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We see how easy it is toconstruct a version of faith
that checks all the visibleboxes.
We know the right theology, weknow how to look the part, we
know how to sound spiritual, weknow how to act committed.
And we often do enough to justappear faithful on the outside.
But God isn't fooled.
God sees our hearts, god knowsus, he sees what's going on
(21:23):
beneath the surface.
And the warning for us is ifI'm so focused on the outside
but I'm dead and rotting on theinside, I might not just be
hurting myself, but thoseclosest to me my partner, my
best friend, my kids, mycoworkers.
You think about the person orthe people closest to you.
(21:44):
They're probably the people youlike and love the most.
And Jesus' warning is if we'reso focused on outside-in
transformation rather thaninside-out transformation, we
will contaminate those around us.
He says what sorrow awaits.
Can you feel the heartbreak?
He's not yelling at them.
He can see something that'sabout to happen.
(22:05):
How sad is it when you hurt thepeople you love the most.
How heartbreaking is it whenyou're the reason that they go
through pain and suffering werun the risk of, while we're
maintaining our appearance, ofharming those around us.
(22:30):
Now a message like this.
It's difficult.
We can start to feel convictedand maybe perhaps we're like
well, convicted is a bad feeling.
I shouldn't feel any of thesebad feelings.
I want to kind of comment onthat.
Sometimes we got to look insideand we got to deal with some
yucky stuff, and that's okay.
I'm not trying to make you feelguilty or ashamed.
This morning and as a matter offact, jesus wasn't trying to
(22:52):
make the Pharisees feel guiltyor ashamed we read his lament in
verse 37.
Oh Jerusalem, jerusalem, thecity that kills the prophets and
stones God's messengers.
How often I've wanted to gatheryour children together as a
hand protects her chicks beneathher wings, but you wouldn't let
(23:13):
me.
And now look, your house isabandoned and desolate.
After a chapter filled withpublic rebukes, the tone shifts.
Jesus isn't a critic anymore,but a grieving lover of his
people.
He names the tragedy.
You kill your prophets, youstone those sent to you.
(23:33):
That is the pattern we haveseen for hundreds and thousands
of years.
God sends messengers in mercyand you reject them every time.
And then Jesus talks personally.
He says how often have I longed.
Jesus is like I wake upthinking about this, I go to bed
thinking about this, I dreamabout this.
(23:54):
This is what causes me anxiety,this is what makes me depressed
.
And his longing, did you hearit?
It wasn't to punish them, butto gather them.
He offers a picture of anythingthat's harsh a hen gathering her
chicks and, as a bonus sidebar,this is one of a few different
(24:14):
times where Jesus or NewTestament writers will use
maternal language to describeGod.
It was almost like Father God,warrior God wasn't the right
image.
It was Mother God, mother Godwho looks after her kids, who
gathers them up.
Mother God, that God, our Godprotective and intimate.
(24:40):
Jesus doesn't rebuke them againto shame them, but he rebukes
them and us to awaken us.
Sometimes we need to get shooka little bit.
And he says and as he weeps, hesays you were not willing, you
were not willing, and this isthe danger of a life built on
(25:00):
appearances, performance andcontrol.
Eventually, we're not justavoiding change, we're resisting
love.
We're not just avoiding change,but we're resisting love.
We miss the invitation hidingbeneath the confrontation.
Again, jesus doesn't want toshame us, but he does want to
free us.
He wants something more for usthan we want for ourselves.
(25:21):
He wants us to move beyondmanaging an image or holding
onto some sort of spiritualcontrol.
What he wants with us is arelationship that's open and
honest.
He's not looking for polishedwhite tombs.
He's just looking for peoplewho come to him as they are so
he can make them new.
And when we do, when we look atthe mirror, when we have the
(25:42):
courage, the strength, theboldness and the trust in God to
look in the mirror, when wedrop the act, when we let go of
the need to be right or the needto look impressive, what you're
going to find is not judgmentthere, not from God.
You're going to find Jesus,arms wide open, heartbroken, but
(26:03):
still willing to gather us.
I know roles and rituals havechanged.
We live on the other side ofJesus's life, death and
resurrection, but I know thatthe pull toward appearances over
authenticity is still with us.
There's a temptation to performfaith rather than live it out.
The late Brennan Manning, aformer priest, recovering
(26:25):
alcoholic, who wrote honestlyabout grace and his own failures
, once said the greatest singlecause of atheism in the world
today is Christians whoacknowledge Jesus with their
lips, walk out the door and denyhim by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelievingworld simply finds unbelievable.
(26:45):
Jesus' harshest words inMatthew 23 weren't for people on
the outside looking in, thosewho didn't believe, those who
weren't sure.
His harshest words were for us,those here today.
They're for us, people whothink or feel like we figured it
(27:07):
all out, or we figured some ofit out, or more than another
person.
And today I want you to reflecton the question am I performing
my faith or being transformedby it?
If you're somebody who'sexploring faith, wrestling with
disbelief, all you got to do isstart with honesty.
Jesus doesn't need you topretend.
He invites you Questions,doubts and all, because being
(27:29):
real is the first step to beingknown.
And so this week, just trypraying honestly.
God, if you are real, show mewho you are.
God, if you're real, show mewho you are.
If you're kind of newer tofollowing Jesus, you're kind of
coming back to following Jesus.
We run the risk of trying tofix everything in a weekend.
(27:50):
We're going to come, we'regoing to leave church today and
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
My schedule's going to change,my checkbook is going to change,
my circle of friends is goingto change.
All of this and you're going toburn yourself out and you're
going to be exactly where youwere before you came here today.
(28:11):
Part of your life, just one,your schedule, relationships,
priorities and ask does thisreflect the heart of Jesus?
Does this reflect the heart ofJesus?
And as you invite him in,you'll begin to notice real
change.
And for those of us today, youmight find yourself in
leadership at Madison Church ornot in leadership at Madison
Church, but you're a maturefollower of Jesus.
You have been for a while.
The practicalities of what todo become a little harder.
(28:34):
But how about this week?
There's a reflection.
Where has spiritual performancein your life replaced spiritual
intimacy?
Where has performance replacedintimacy?
Where have you gottencomfortable looking godly
instead of becoming more likeChrist?
(28:56):
And as you engage God withthose questions, he will show
you there's more for you.
He will show you there's moredepth, more freedom and more joy
on the other side of surrender.
The Pharisees studied Scripture.
They followed the rules, butwhen Jesus stood right in front
of them, they missed Him, notbecause they lacked knowledge,
(29:20):
but because their heartsresisted transformation.
Let that not ever be said of ushere at Madison Church.
Let us not study the scripturesand know how to do all the
right things, but if Jesus wereto walk through that door right
now, we wouldn't recognize him.
Jesus isn't asking us toperform.
He calls us to surrender.
(29:41):
And that brings us to the table.
Each week, at Madison Church, wetake communion to remember what
Jesus has done for us His bodybroken, his blood poured out.
And so today, as the band comesforward and leads us in this
final song, let's remember Jesusdidn't die so we could learn
(30:01):
the correct answers.
He died to give us new heartsAt the cross.
Jesus didn't perform, hesurrendered.
He didn't perform, hesurrendered.
He didn't protect his image.
He poured out his life.
Through his resurrection, heinvites us into something better
than empty religion.
It's a life of humility, mercyand deep, authentic faith.
(30:25):
So today, as we take the breadand we take the cup, don't just
remember what Jesus did.
Let it reshape who you are.
Let it be a response to theinvitation we've been talking
about today, the one that Jesusis offering you now, not just to
know him, but to become likehim.
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