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OF MASKS AND PRETENSE
(Matt. 6:1-5; Matt. 23:27-28) (Delivered 10-27-02)

On Halloween, people like to dress up. Children like to play
"make believe." We ask: "What costume are you wearing?" "What
mask are you hiding behind?" "Who are you pretending to be?"

But in real life, Jesus hated pretense. He said, "Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Matt. 7:15).

If you're a wolf, then look like a wolf. If you're a sheep,
then look like a sheep. Deceit is wrong. James said we can
even deceive ourselves. "Do not merely listen to the word, and
so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).

Jesus said we can make false claims. "Everything they do is
done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the
tassels on their garments long" (Matt. 23:5).

Jesus said we should walk our talk. "Do not do what they do,
for they do not practice what they preach" (Matt. 23:3).

In short, we should be who we are! We should be real, for our
own sake as well as for others. Dr Hans Selye, the world's
greatest authority on stress says, "One thing I've observed is
that animals are free of the kind of stress that can be very
damaging to people. It's the stress that comes from trying to
be something you're not. No animal is guilty of this, but you
see it everywhere in our society: The woman of fifty who tries
to look and act as if she were twenty-five; The insecure
businessman who poses as a great expert in his field when
actually his knowledge is quite limited. The individual who puts
on a great show of piety when his private life is full of
dishonesty. Jesus likened such hypocrites to whitewashed tombs,
clean and shining on the outside, but full of rottenness within.

People who try to be something they're not put themselves under
stress. They're always afraid of having their bluff called, or
their pretense uncovered, or their inadequacy revealed. Whether
these fears are realized or not, the stress is there, day after
day, year after year, and in the end it takes its to1l."
Sure it's fun to dress up and play "Make Believe" on Halloween;
but in real life fakes and shams and disguises are wrong. The
Scriptures use several illustrations about pretense.

I. JESUS COMPARES HYPOCRITES TO BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS
WITHOUT INNER SUBSTANCE.

In fact, he said they are full of rotting garbage. "Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like
whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on
the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as
righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and
wickedness" (Matthew 23:27-28).

The world needs things they can depend on-things that are the
same through and through.

II. JESUS COMPARES HYPOCRITES TO SALT WITHOUT TASTE.

He said, "If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be
thrown out and trampled by men" (Matt. 5:13).

Again, how disappointing it would be to season our food and find
that it makes absolutely no difference. Jesus told us we "are
the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). Salt gives joy and peace.
He said, "Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with
what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and
be at peace with one another" (Mark 9:50).

That's what this world needs.

III. JESUS ALSO COMPARES HYPOCRITES TO LAMPS WITHOUT LIGHT.

He said, "Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a
bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to
everyone in the house" (Matt. 5:15).

It can be deadly to depend on an illumination that's not
consistent. If your car headlights go out some night on a busy
highway you may have a wreck.

Jesus told us to be lights in the world. "In the same way, let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:14). These are dark
times. The world needs moral insight and Spiritual knowledge.
"A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this
world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles,
for he has no light" (John 11:9-10).

IV. PETER COMPARES HYPOCRITES TO WELLS WITHOUT WATER.

He said, "These men are wells without water . . . Blackest
darkness is reserved for them" (II Peter 2:17, kjv).

Now, nothing is more frustrating and dangerous than for a person
to masquerade as a life giving spring, and then have a person
come for a refreshing drink, and find a dry hole.

Jesus promised living water. He said, "If you knew the gift of
God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have
asked him and he would have given you living water. Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks
the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give
him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life" (John 4:10,13-14).

Water is the most essential requirement for life. That's what
we must offer people.

V. JESUS COMPARES HYPOCRITES TO TREES WITHOUT FRUIT.

He said, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire" (Matt. 7:19).

If someone promises food, but instead, gives out sawdust to
hungry people, they are cruel.

Jesus commanded us to bear fruit. He said, "You did not choose
me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit
that will last . . ." (John 15:16).

Our fruit glorifies God. "This is to my Father's glory, that
you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples"
(John 15:8).

Fruit includes Christian love and kind deeds.

Christians must not be hypocrites. A hypocrite means "One who
pretends or acts in a way that deceives." Are you who you claim
to be?

To be true, a Christian must be a good employee. A minister
said, "I'm often astonished to hear about Christians who are
poor workers on their jobs. Some employers have even told me
that they prefer to not hire Christians . . . As I probe for
reasons, these are the actual statements I've heard: 'Some
Christians tend to take advantage of a Christian boss . . .'
'Christians have an attitude problem. They are negative,
critical and resistant to change . . .' 'Many Christians are
incompetent. Several Christians simply could not (or would not)
do the job . . .' 'Christians are too preoccupied with other
things like inappropriate witnessing or church activities.'

What an indictment. Real Christians should be the best workers
because they have integrity, faithfulness, competence and
kindness. Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men, that
they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven"
(Matt. 5:16). A good Christian is a good employee.

To be true, a Christian must be a good citizen. "Fifty years
ago on election day, a reporter wrote: "I think it's not
irreligious to parody Paul's chapter on love, for love of
country is important too: 'Though I speak with the tongues of a
William Jennings Bryant, or Franklin D. Roosevelt, and do not
vote, I am becoming as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, even as the Gallup Poll,
and understand all knowledge even as the members of the Supreme
Court, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and do not vote, I accomplish nothing. And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor through contributions to
the Community Chest and though I give my body to be burned in
the ravages of war, and do not vote, it profiteth my country
nothing."

A good Christian is a good citizen.

To be true, a Christian must be a good neighbor. Bishop Hazen
Werner tells of being in the home of a woman whose husband had
just died. She told of her husband's long nights of suffering
and how she had cared for him, not having the money to employ a
nurse. He wondered how she could have kept going, and she told
him that the neighbors had kept their lights burning through the
last few nights. She said, "I knew that they were thinking of
us, feeling for us. I can't tell you how, but I got strength
from it. It kept me up."

The fact that somebody is interested, that somebody cares, that
somebody believes in us is often our strongest support. A good
Christian is a good neighbor.

One philosopher gave this definition, He said, "A Christian is
one who makes it easier for other people to believe in God."
What would a creature from outer space believe about God if it
visited earth after being told that human beings were created in
God's image? On a more personal level: What would a space
creature believe about God if he followed you around for a day?

Well, we may not be observed by space creatures, but there are
many people here on earth who get their ideas about God by
observing our lives. We must not be hypocrites!

So, it's fun to dress up and pretend on Halloween; but in real
life, we must be who we are!

Edgar A. Guest wrote:

I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for things I have done.

I don't want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of a man I really am;
I don't want to dress up myself in sham.
. . . . .
I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.
-E.A. Guest in "Myself"

***
(Word Count 1738)

These messages are from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted
by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use them in
any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that
you give credit for original material in published works.

My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 55 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" before I began my sermon preparation
(usually Saturday night, about midnight). Then, I discovered it
wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I would have
welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).

Miles E. Wesner