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SERMON

March 8th, 2026

Luke 11:37-52

  1. INVOCATION… We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
  1. PRAYER…Gracious God…we are a weary people. Ash Wednesday is three

                                weeks behind us; Good Friday is three weeks ahead. Give us

                                strength for this Lenten journey., and enough faith to carry

                                us to Calvary and your cross. In the Name of the Crucified One

                                we pray. Amen.

  1. THE BIG QUESTION FOR US TODAY AFTER LISTENING TO OUR TEXT IS “WHO IN THE WORLD DID THESE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES THINK THEY WERE?”
  1. THESE WERE THE RELIGIOUS MEN OF POWER AND WEALTH IN THE FIRST CENTURY AT THE TIME OF JESUS…WHO CONTINUALLY CONFRONTED JESUS WITH ROADBLOCKS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY.
  1. BUT JESUS IN RETURN, CONFRONTED THEM WITH BUILDING BLOCKS OF “JUSTICE…LOVE…GRACE…CARE & COMPASSION!”
  1. WHILE THEY WERE TRYING TO “EXCLUED” MANY FROM THEIR RELIGIOUS CIRCLES…JESUS KEPT REMINDING THEM AND ALL THAT HE CAME THE “EVERYONE WOULD KNOW THAT THEY ARE ALL INVITED TO BE PART OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD…THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!”
  1. THE PHARISEES ATTEMPTED TO KEEP ALL THE LAWS…THEY “FASTED…THEY TITHED AND MADE SURE EVERYONE KNEW HOW MUCH THEY GAVE…BUT THEY MOSTLY PORTRAYED THEMSELVES AS BETTER THAN MOST…ESPECIALLY THE LEAST…THE LONELY…THE OUTCAST!”
  1. PHARISEES WHERE THOSE WHO “SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM OTHERS”…THAT IS WHAT THE NAME PHARISEE MEANS…”THE SEPARATED ONES!”
  1. THEY REFUSED TO ASSOCIATE WITH ALL THE SO-CALLED SINNERS AROUND THEM…SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WOULD EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO ATTACH “BLINDERS” ON THE SIDES OF THEIR HEADS SO THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO LOOK AT ALL THE SINNERS!
  1. AS A BIT OF AN ASIDE…BECAUSE OF THESE “BLINDERS” THEY FREQUENTLY RAN INTO WALLS AND POSTS…AND THAT IS WHY THEY OFTEN SACASTICALLY BECAME KNOWN AS “THE BLEEDING PHARISEES!”
  1. THE “SCRIBES” WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE PHARISEES AS LAWYERS AND LEGAL COUNSELORS.
  1. THEY WERE THE EXPERTS ON THE JEWISH LAW. THEY DETERMINED HOW A LAW OUGHT TO BE OBSERVED…AND HOW IT MIGHT ALSO BE AVOIDED. THEY CRAFTED ESCAPE CLAUSES THAT ENABLED THEM TO DO WORK ON THE SABBATH.
  1. JUST LISTEN TO HOW THE SCRIBES GOT AROUND ONE OF THE LAWS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT:
  1. “TO CARRY A BURDEN IS FORBIDDEN…HE WHO CARRIES ANYTING…WHETHER IT BE IN HIS RIGHT HAND, OR IN HIS LEFT HAND, OR IN HIS BOSOM OR ON HIS SHOULDER IS GUILT……..

               BUT HE WHO CARRIES ANYTHING ON THE BACK OF HIS HAND, OR WITH HIS FOOT…OR WITH HIS MOUTH…OR WITH HIS ELBOW…OR WITH HIS EAR…OR WITH HIS HAIR…OR WITH HIS MONEY BAG AND HIS SHIRT…OR IN THE FOLD OF HIS SHIRT…OR IN HIS SHOE…OR IN HIS SANDAL IS NOT GUILTY…BECAUSE HE DOES NOT CARRY IT IN THE USUAL WAY OF CARRYING IT.”

  1. THIS IS THE WAY IN WHICH THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES OBSERVED AND AVOIDED THE LAW.
  1. AND THEY CONDEMNED ANYONE WHO DID NOT DO IT “THEIR” WAY” AND ALL OF THIS WAS DONE IN THE NAME OF “RELIGION.”
  1. AND THEN ONE DAY…JESUS COMES TO TOWN…HE CAME TO EAT DINNER IN THE HOME OF A WELL-KNOW PHARISEE.
  1. JESUS DIDN’T WASH HIS HANDS BEFORE BEGINNING THE MEAL.
  1. OH, NOT THAT HIS HANDS WERE DIRTY…THAT WASN’T THE ISSUE…HAND WASHING WAS A CEREMONY…A BIG RITUAL BEFORE THE MEAL AND BETWEEN EACH COURSE…BUT JESUS DIDN’T OBSERVE IT.
  1. WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABOUT IT…JESUS BECAME ANGRY…UNCHARACTERISTICALLY ANGRY.
  1. BASICALLY…JESUS EXPLODED AT HIS DINNER HOST…
  1. “YOU PHARISEES ARE ALL ALIKE!”…”YOU TAKE GREAT CARE IN WASHING THE OUTSIDE…FOR APPEARANCE SAKE…BUT MEANWHILE THE INSIDE REMAINS FILTHY.”
  1. AND IT WAS THEN THAT JESUS BEGAN HIS LIST OF WARNING…HIS LIST OF “WOES” IF YOU WILL.
  1. THE FIRST THREE ARE DIRECTED AT THE PHARISEES…
  1. “WOE TO YOU PHARISEES…YOU GIVE 10% OF EVERYTHING…WHEAT, BARLEY, MINT AND EVERYTHING! BUT YOU FAIL TO LOVE GOD AND YOU FAIL TO TREAT PEOPLE WITH JUSTICE…SHAME ON YOU!”
  1. “WOE TO YOUR PHARISEES,” JESUS CONTINED…”BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS TAKE THE VERY BEST SEATS AT THE SYNOGOGUE…IN THE VERY FRON ROW(UNLIKE TYPICAL LUTHERANS WHO FILL UP THE BACK ROWS FIRST)…AND YOU SIT THERE…NOT SO THAT YOU CAN SEE BETTER…BUT SO THAT YOU CAN BE SEN! …SHAME ON YOU!”
  1. AND THE FINAL ONE…”WOE TO YOU PHARISEES…FOR YOU TELL PEOPLE THAT IF THEY TOUCH A GRAVESTONE…EVEN BY ACCIDENT…THEY WILL BE UNCLEAN…AND YET YOU PHARISESS ARE WALKING GRAVESTONES! YOUR FAITH IS DEAD…AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT!”
  1. AND AT THIS POINT…A CERTAIN SCRIBE STOOD UP AND ADDRESSES JESUS AND SAID, “TEACHER…WHEN YOU SPEAK TO THE PHARISEES LIKE THIS…YOU HURT OUR FEELINGS.”
  1. TO WHICH JESUS REPLIED, “WELL…WOE TO YOU, TOO!” KIND OF LIKE SAYING…”HEY MISTER SCRIBE…IN YOUR FACE!” OR “IF THE TRUTH FITS WEAR IT!”
  1. “WOE TO YOUR SCRIBES…YOU MAKE RULES FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW AND THEN YOU INVENT WAYS FOR YOURSELVES TO ESCAPE THEM”
  1. “WOE TO YOU SCRIBES…BECAUSE THE ONLY PROPHETS YOU LIKE ARE THE DEAD PROPHETS…WHEN THE LIVING PROPHETS COME TO YOU…YOU TURN THEM AWAY
  1. “WOE TO YOU SCRIBES…FOR YOU HAVE MADE THE SCRIPTURES A BOOK OF RIDDLES THAT ONLY CONFUSE AND CONFOUND THE PEOPLE.
  1. “SHAME ON YOU, TOO!”
  1. THE COMMON THREAD IN ALL OF THESE “WOES” IS THE FACT THAT THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES WANTED TO KEEP THEIR HANDS ON THE RELIGIOUS GATE OF ENTRANCE.
  1. THEY WANTED TO DETERMINE WHAT THE RULES WERE. THEY WANTED TO DECIDE WHO MET THE RULES AND WHO BROKE THEM…THEY WANTED TO PRESERVE THE CHURCH THE WAY IT WAS FOR THEM…THE WAY THEY ALWAYS LIKED IT.
  1. KINF OF LIKE TO DAY…WHEN WE LOOK AT THE CHURCH AND WE SAY THE SEVEN DEADLY WORDS “WE’VE NEVER DONE IT THAT WAY BEFORE!”
  1. THEY USED THEIR OWN LIVES AS A YARDSTICK TO MEASURE THEMSELVES AND OTHERS…AND THAT IS WHY JESUS WAS SO BRUTAL IN HIS ATTACK OF THEM.
  1. IF THERE IS ONE COMFORTING FACT IN THIS STORY…IT IS THAT JESUS WAS NOT DENOUNCING SCRIBES AND PHARISEES…THAT IS…RELIGIOUS PEOPLE…PER SE.
  1. HE WAS CONDEMING THEIR “RELIGIOUS PIETY.”…HE WAS DENOUNCING THEIR “LEGALISM”…THE WAS CRITICIZING THEIR PRIDE…ESPECIALLY WHEN IT BECAME A “RELIGIOUS PRIDE”…THAT “ I AM BETTER THAN YOU THEOLOGY!”
  1. SO WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS TEXT TODAY…IT IS BOTH SUBTLE AND YET POTENTIALLY PAINFUL…AND IT IS THIS:
  1. IF WE MET A PHARISEE ON THE STREET TODAY…HE OR SHE WOULD PROBABLY LOOK A LOT LIKE US.
  1. ISN’T IT WE WHO WANT TO DETERMIN WHAT THE RELIGIOUS RULES OUGHT TO BE?
  1. ISN’T IT OUR INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE NOW THE YARDSTICK BY WHICH WE MEASURE RELIGIOU PEOPLE?
  1. YOU SEE, IT IS POSSBILE TO HAVE A LUTHERAN PHARISEE..OR A ROMAN CATHOLIC PHARISEE…OR BAPTISM…EPISCOPALIAN OR METHODIST ONE…OR THE 45,000+ CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS IN THE WORLD PHARISEES…
  1. IT HAPPENS WHENEVER PEOPLE ARE SO CONVINCED THAT THEIR WAY IS THE RIGHT WAY…THAT THEY DISMISS OTHERS AS BEING WRONG…WHEN THEY FAIL TO REALIZE AND REMEMBER THAT THERE IS TRULY ONLY “ONE WAY” AND THAT IS “GOD’S WAY!
  1. WE’RE NOT TALING ABOUT “DOCTRINE…WE NEED DOCTRINE WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH…FOR LUTHERAN FOUNDATION IS BASED ON “GOD’S WORD AND SACRAMENTS!”
  1. WHAT JESUS IS TELLING THE PHARISEE’S AND SCRIBES…AND PAY ATTENTION BECAUSE HE IS TELLING US ALSO…HOW TO CARE FOR PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THE LEAST…THE LAST…THE LONELY…THE OUTCAST…THE WIDOW…THE ORPHAN…THE HOMELESS…THOSE WHO FILLED WITH GRIEF AND FEAR!
  1. JESUS PROVED…RATHER EMPHATICALLY ON THE CROSS…THAT LOVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN RULES.
  1. JESUS PROCLAIMED THAT PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROGRAMS.
  1. JESUS PROCLAIMED THAT CARE AND COMPASSION ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN RITUALS.
  1. BUT PHARISEES AND SCRIBES OF EVERY AGE DISAGREE…SO RATHER THAN EMBRACE THE PEOPLE JESUS EMBRACES…THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES CHOOSE TO FIDDLE WITH THE “FINE PRINT” AND IT TAKES OUR FOCUS…OUR CHRIST-GIVEN MISSION AWAY FROM MISSION AND “SERVING GOD BY SERVING GOD’S PEOPLE”
  1. SOCIOLOGIST AND GREAT CHRISTIAN SPEAKER, ANTHONY CAMPOLO, ONCE DESCRIBED THE GREATEST CRITICISM HE EVER RECEIVED WHILE SPEAKING IN A CHURCH.
  1. STANDING BEOFE THE PIOUSLY-DRESSED…RELIGIOUS-SOUNDING CONGREGATION…CAMPOLO ANNOUNCED…
  1. “TONIGHT…IN WEST AFRIDA…6000 PEOPLE WILL DIE OF STARVATION…AND YOU DON’T GIVE A _ _ _ _!” YOU CAN FILL IN THE BLANKS!
  1. THE CONGREGATION GASPED…BUT CAMPOLO CONTINUED…”AND RIGHT NOW…YOU ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT I SAID
    _ _ _ _ (AGAIN FILL IN THE BLANKS) FROM YOUR PULPIT…THAN YOU ARE ABOUT THE 6000 PEOPLE WHO WILL DIE.”
  1. THE POINT IS…CAMPOLO HEARERS DIDN’T GET IT. AND JESUS’ HJEARERS DIDN’T GET IT EITHER.
  1. ON THE CONTRARY…THEY RESENTED BEING SCOLDED.
  1. THEIR HEARTS WERE HARDEDED AND THEY RESPONDED WITH RIDICULE AND CRITICISM AND REJECTION..
  1. DO YOU RECALL HOW TODAY’S GOSPEL STORY ENDED? (PAUSE AND LOOK OUT AT CONGREGATION)
  1. “WHEN JESUS LEFT THAT PLACE…THE SCRIBES AND PHARISESS BEGAN TO CRITICIZE HIM “BITTERLY” AND SKIM HIM QUESTIONS ABOUT MANY THINGS…TRYING TO LAY TRAPS FOR HIM AND CATCH HIM SAYING SOMETHING WRONG.”
  1. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THE FOLLOWING SAID: “ ONCE A HEAR HAS TURNED TO STONE…IT IS DIFFICULT TO SOFTEN IT AGAIN.”
  1. SOMETIMES IT TAKES “HUMILITY” TO TURN THE HEART AROUND.
  1. SOMETIMES IT TAKES “CONFESSION.”
  1. WHY…SOMETIMES IT EVEN TAKES A DEATH.
  1. WHATEVER IT TAKES FOR YOU…I ENCOURAGE YOU TO LAY YOUR HEART AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS TODAY….TO LAY YOUR STONE AT THE CROSS IN THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH AND BEGIN THAT SOFTENING PROCESS TODAY…

DURING OUR “JOURNEY OF STONES” TO THE CROSS!

AMEN!”

(IF ABLE…LET US STAND AND SING TOGETHER #___________________________