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<div><span style="font-size: 12pt">Sermons for Proper 26</span> </div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Matthew 23: 1-12 - "<b>Authenticity vs. Showmanship</b>"</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Matthew 23: 1-12 - "<b>Monster Rehab</b>" by Leonard Sweet</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
</font></font>Matthew 23 <font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">- </font></font>the sermon title “Authenticity vs. Showmanship” </span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Maybe
both the best and the worst of us in humanity are far better preachers
than we are doers and deliverers of what we preach and teach. And maybe
maturity has everything to do with our genuine willingness to bring a
greater congruity between our esteemed words and those actions
compatible with, not contradictory of, those words. Jesus, fully divine
and fully human, loved and valued not just the right deeds, but also the
right motives and attitudes. We, being fully human and ever spiritually
in need of completion, will often settle for the right deeds and
tolerate or overlook the improper attitudes and motives behind them. We
do so, in part, because we ourselves are a contradiction in motion,
either desiring to do right while we do wrong or overriding contrary
emotions and attitudes and doing right anyway.<br>
<br>
When one does what's right, but one's heart and mind are not fully in
it, one is mastering showmanship. When one has matured enough to choose
actions that are first of all very rooted in certain valued attitudes
and motives, one is practicing and demonstrating authenticity. To think
one thing and to do another might at times carry its own validity, if
the doing proves preferable to what the thinking might have otherwise
called into action. But to do something good because your mind and heart
are greatly convinced and committed to it is not merely a sign of
congruency. It's also an authentic witness of a fully persuaded person,
with all parts of himself/herself headed in the right direction.<br>
<br>
In the Matthew text we are studying, Jesus counsels all followers indeed
to do/to follow the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees (v. 3).
That's an affirmative response, as far as it goes. But he also calls
them, and all other religious types similarly minded in the centuries
since, to be more than persons who preach and teach a good line but lack
active follow-through (v. 3). In verses 1 and 2, notice first the
informal gathering of the crowds and disciples around Jesus. If you and I
could imagine ourselves in the midst of such a gathering, I suspect we
would consider Jesus being the only one in an esteemed position of
authority. The rest of us, regardless of our life-stations before and
after the gathering, are merely attentive spectators. Is it not our
desire, may we safely say, to move Jesus out of his esteemed seat as
teacher/rabbi/Lord? This is not so with the scribes and Pharisees. Verse
2 notes that they "sit on Moses' seat," that is, wherever they migh
t
travel, sit, or stand, they have an authoritative air about them that
often also carries a kind of arrogance that wants to demote the stature
of others nearby. Their humility before God is darkened by their pride
and arrogance before others.<br>
<br>
The scribes and Pharisees are an interesting kind of person. They are
the religious legalists of the day, knowing religious Law down to its
every detail. They've trained their minds to carry a vast knowledge of
the Law, and their hearts and wills reveal a very deep dedication or
burning devotion to God. Could we call this mixture of personhood
legalistic lovers of God? <br>
<br>
What is it that incurs Jesus' anger, recognized in and between the lines
of verses 3b-7? I think it has to do with his wise unwillingness to
allow showmanship to pass for authenticity and congruency…</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining <a target="_blank" __removedlink__197820027__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBgcACA5aCkkDCQRKDAtXUVw%3D"><font color="#0000ff">http://www.sermons.com/signup</font></a></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The full text of the following sermon is available at <a target="_blank" __removedlink__197820027__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBgcACA5aCEkDCQRKDAtXUVw%3D">www.Sermons.com</a>.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt">Matthew 23:1-12 <font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">- </font></font>the sermon titled "<b>Monster Rehab</b>" by Leonard Swee<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">t </font></font> </span>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">For
the last few weeks we’ve all been subjected to reruns of every scary
movie ever made: zombies, vampires, guys in hockey masks, spooks with
really long fingernails. Monsters in all shapes and forms are the flavor
of the month of October.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">It’s
hardly surprising that, as usual, popular culture has gotten the point
of “All Hallows Eve” all wrong and totally forgets that the ultimate
point is to celebrate “All Saints Day.” The monsters get center stage
and adulation. The saints are left to clean up the popcorn and sticky
soda on the theater floor.</span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">But
the Church has gotten this All Hallows/All Saints holiday all wrong
too. We’ve been convinced that “monsters” are easily identifiable. We
think “monsters” are weird, warped, obviously wicked, bent on murder,
mayhem and mischief. Alas, outside Hollywood “monsters” are not so
easily identifiable. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">A
classic “monster” is a creature that takes the best of its qualities
and uses them in a horribly wrong way. The amazing ability of bats to
negotiate the darkness of night by using sonic signals to hunt swiftly
and silently, is made murderous by, “the vampire.” The agility and
intelligence, strength and speed of the wolf are transformed into the
terror of the hybrid hunter, “the werewolf.” </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">What
the movies miss is that the worst kinds of “monsters” don’t take away
life in an instant. They suck away our souls over time. </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span style="font-size: 12pt">In
today’s gospel text Jesus was preaching against “monsters,” individuals
who took those qualities that should have brought out the best in them,
and yet instead the</span>y warped those gifts into a misshapen<span style="font-size: 12pt">, misinformed message. And Jesus offers them monster rehab…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt">For the rest of Leonard Sweet’s sermon click here: <a target="_blank" __removedlink__197820027__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBgcACA5aCUkDCQRKDAtXUVw%3D"><font color="#0000ff">http://www.sermons.com/signup<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
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