How To Abuse Righteousness (Self-Righteousness)

Luke 10:25-37, MSG

25. Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” 
26. He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” 
27. He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence–and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” 
28. “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.” 

Jesus is not saying here that one’s works will earn them eternal life.  Jesus, knowing the flaw of the man’s heart, is allowing the man to reveal his true character of self-righteousness and personal defense, even though no one is accusing the man of anything.

29. Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” 
30. Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. 
31. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. 
32. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. 
33. “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. 
34. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. 
35. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill–I’ll pay you on my way back.’ 
36. “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” 
37. “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same.” 

This story and the parable of the Prodigal Son are possibly Jesus most famous parables.  This parable has been used to make so many points, many of which could never have been meant by Jesus in telling this story.

If parables are told to make a point, and they are, what is Jesus’ point in this parable?

The story is told in response to a question and comment by a scholar of the scriptures followed by another question by the man.  The question began about how one can inherit eternal life.  It ends with the Master asking which one was a neighbor to the injured man?  How did that happen?

The scholar asked Jesus the question and Jesus asked him what he understood the law to say.  The scholar must have been a good student because he answered appropriately with “Love God above all else with all your being and treat your neighbor as yourself.”

The scholar had mastered himself enough to be obedient to the law in keeping its statutes and ordinances, at least in his own eyes.  But he had a heart issue, a heart problem.  He was interested in self and not in others.  Love for God and humanity was not the driving force in his behavior and observance of the law.

In the story, there are two fine examples of Jewish righteousness, a Priest and a Levite.  They were introduced to the story as two religious individuals who would not get themselves tainted by this world’s filth.  Why would the Priest and the Levite not help the injured man?  Well, before you write them off as uncaring or hateful individuals, consider that the man was half dead.  The Priest and the Levite were on their way to do their beautiful ministry for God, and just in case the man died in their arms, they were not to defile themselves with a human corpse.  They were not to touch a dead human, and this man was half dead already.  Perhaps they should just be excused.  After all, they were being law abiding in righteousness, weren’t they?  Well, no, and that is the point.

Which is more binding, the letter of the law or the principle of the law?  Can the two ever be in conflict?  No, the law, whether by the letter of the law or the principle of the law, it is not in conflict with itself.  The Apostle declares so rightly, “the law is just, holy, and good”.  Then what is the problem?  The problem is the human effort to justify one’s self through deeds done by humans while ignoring the weightier matters of the law, namely love and God’s grace.  The problem surfaces when people use the law to appear godly, full of love, but refuse to let the love of God work through them.

Jesus was accused of breaking the law and teaching his disciples to break the law.  But did the Lawgiver (James 4:12) break the law?  Of course not!  God cannot lie and God does not sin.  Jesus lived a sinless life, not being guilty of a single sin.  In breaking the law by human observation, Jesus was really observing the law to the highest order.  It is important to understand, the Priest and Levite knew this already.  

When Jesus’ disciples were gathering grain to eat on the Sabbath, it was an outrage.  Thankfully, Christians of today are so much kinder, aren’t they?  Well, maybe, that is until someone transgresses their strong suit in the law, then watch out.  That person might be kicked out of Church altogether.  The following is not a parable.  It is a historical account of what happened with Jesus and his disciples.  

Matthew 12:1-14, NIV

1. At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 

2,  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 

3. He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
4. He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread–which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
5. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
6. I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.
7. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
8. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9. Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 
10. and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 
11. He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?
12. How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 
14. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. 

So, what is the point of the parable?  The point is obedience to the law of God is driven by love, love for God and love for man.  One cannot keep the law of God without being a neighbor to the most detestable of souls on this earth.

Oh, wow, is it absolutely necessary to soil holy hands by touching the filth of this world?  Yes, it is.  But, itsn’t that casting one’s pearls before swine?  No, it isn’t.  Holy God, in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, came to this earth, lived without sin and took upon himself the sins of the whole world, its filth and degradation, that the believer might be saved.  

The reference by Jesus to dogs and swine in the work of the gospel deals with not allowing the truth of the Lord’s gospel to be used upon those who are haters of truth and righteousness, those who would devour and destroy the Kingdom of God before they would ever enter into it.  It also teaches one should not give the responsibility of oversight of the Kingdom work to those who have no appreciation of God and the gospel.  The legalist and self-righteous person need to beware, as do those to whom the gospel has been entrusted. 

However, in this parable, quite the opposite it true.  The Priest and Levite have used their religious roles to prevent them from ministering in the love of God or they are hard-hearted individuals without the love of God in their being.  Sadly, these two were among the most prepared to show God’s love, mercy and grace and yet chose to withhold it, perhaps on the grounds of righteous duty or simple selfish will.

The question from the parable then comes to us today.  “To whom will we show ourselves to be a neighbor?”  Must the person demonstrate some degree of worthiness for us to show them kindness as a neighbor?  Or, will we reserve our neighborliness for those more deserving of our gifts and labors in righteousness through the gospel to them?

How could we have such thoughts when we understand the writings of the Apostle Paul to the Romans?

Rom 5:6-11, NIV

6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 
7. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 
8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
9. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 
10. For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 
11. Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 

How can someone abuse righteousness?   One can abuse righteousness by using it to keep from obeying the law of love for God or humanity.

Here is a true story about my uncle, Clyde Walter “Sonny” Maher.  Sonny was a humble man and a local church pastor from 1983 until his death in 2001, following in the footsteps of his father Pastor Clyde Albert Maher.  My grandfather had served as Pastor of the Church for about 30 years until his death in 1983.  

Sonny and I were business partners in two agricultural businesses.  This story is about an incident in our contract haying operations.  While I was the senior partner in our other business, Sonny was the senior partner in this operation.  He knew I had just become a licensed minister in the Church of God (Seventh Day) and wanted to protect me from criticism.  We had prepared to bale a large field of hay by starting at the right time in the week to have it finished being baled on Friday.  Unfortunately, the weather took a strange and unexpected turn with high humidity and cloudiness that resulted in the heavy foliage not curing enough to be baled on Friday.  Then the sun came out extremely hot on Sabbath.  The humidity dropped and the heat was intense on Sabbath.  The hay was not ours and the farmer knew we did not work on Sabbath.  No one expected us to do anything until Sunday.  

However, without even letting me know what he was doing, my uncle Sonny finished Sabbath services, preaching the sermon as he normally did.  On Sunday, I discovered he had immediately gone to the field and baled hay for the rest of the day.  Had he not done so, the quality of the hay would have been ruined and the farmer would have lost a significant part of his investment.  However, instead, the man witnessed the love of a disciple of Jesus Christ who loved him enough to put the interests of another farmer above his own.  

I have always admired my uncle for doing that because it reflected the righteousness of Jesus Christ rather than the self-righteousness of humanity.  My uncle Sonny Maher was a neighbor to a farmer who did not have the wherewithal to prevent a great loss in his annual harvest because of un-forecasted changes in the weather.

What’s the point?  Let love dictate the interpretation of the law for the honor and glory of God, the edification of the Church and the proclamation of the gospel.  The point is, there is nothing mankind can do to earn eternal life.  It is all about what God has already done for us through the birth, life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the finished work of his cross.

Focus on Jesus and Follow His Plan

Jesus proclaimed himself to be Lord of the Sabbath and knew exactly how to keep the law of Sabbath.  Likewise, Jesus’ plan includes true righteousness which is imputed to humanity upon their profession of faith in his finished work and not found in the deeds of the law.  What dictates your choices for personal behavior?  Is it the letter of the law as understood by some scholar of the law, or is it the code of law applied in your heart by the Holy Spirit of God?

To whom will you be a neighbor?