Religion can become a curse

Monday   9-28-15  (Palma, Mallorca, Spain... home of Daniel and Noemi Rodriguez)

Scripture reading:    Zech 1-3   Luke 11

S=Scripture O=Observation A=Application P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Luke 11:52-53 "How terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering."  As Jesus finished speaking, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were furious. NLT

O.  Jesus revealed the heart of the Pharisees, the religious elite, and their buddies, the experts in interpreting the laws of Moses.  There were no “Amens” coming from this high-brow crowd.  Instead these lawyers interrupted him, “Hey, you are insulting us!”  But Jesus did not back down.  He just made it worse yet, driving them to murderous fury.  

A.  Religion can become a curse when it elevates the elite sinners above the low-down sinners.  Jesus opened the window to the inside of these highly respected men, calling them brightly decorated tombs full of dead men’s bones. 

I missed that lesson in seminary... thank the Lord.  I never learned how to preach like Jesus.  Oh, the Sermon on the Mount, yes.  But I have never heard any seminary teacher coaching his students on how to insult religious sinners.  It’s a certain way to get yourself crucified.

P.  Lord, I want to be like You... well, in some ways.  Sometimes You were too direct for my style.  Your words pierced to the heart.  You made enemies in high places.  We are taught “how to make friends and influence people.”  You went at these hypocrites with direct blows.  Didn’t You know that this would get You killed?  You did?  Yes, You were the only One Who had the courage to pull back the curtain and reveal an official religion that had become a cult of high sinners crushing low sinners. You blew their cover.  Help me, Lord, to never consider myself as a level above that other sinner over there.  Amen.

Ralph

When I was a kid we used to sing it in church: 

Only a sinner, saved by grace

Only a sinner, saved by grace

This is the story, to God be the glory

I’m only a sinner, saved by grace.

May I never forget it!