REMOVING MASKS (1): THE SKELETONS ARE COMING OUT

(Luke 12:1-3)
May 17, 2015
Intro (Read Lu 12:1-3). A mother was irate to find her daughter playing
doctor with the neighbor boy one day. The boys mother advised, Oh, dont
take it so seriously. Its only natural for children to want to satisfy their
curiosity. The girls mother fumed, Curiosity? Curiosity, my foot. He
removed her appendix! The moral to the story? Playacting is destructive.
Thats the moral to that story and its the theme of Lu 12:1-12.
Jesus lunch with a Pharisee was a disaster from the start when He failed the
man-made ritual of ceremonial washing. Jesus literally lit up his host and the
others present over their hypocritical lifestyles. Now with lunch over, Lu 12:1,
In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered
together that they were trampling one another. The crowd has gathered for
teaching. But first, Jesus, interestingly, began to say to his disciples first.
What was so urgent that it could not wait? Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy was still on
Jesus mind. Hes concerned that those who will eventually found the first
church, write the NT, take the gospel to the far corners of the known world not
become infected with the Pharisees disease hypocrisy!
So, He treats the issue of hypocrisy to His followers in 2 sections a Warning
Against (vv. 1-3) and a Way to Avoid (4-12). This morning -- the Warning.
Someone has said Many a mans reputation would not know his character
if they met on the street. That must not be true of Jesus followers.
Playacting destroys. What we do must be consistent with who we are in
Christ. So lets look at the falseness, folly and the future of hypocrisy.
I.

The Falseness of Hypocrisy (1)

V. 1, Beware (look out. This happened to those Pharisees you revered all
your life, and it could happen to you!) Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy. In ancient Greek theater, an actor would often wear a
large, grinning mask in front of his face as he left his audience roaring with
laughter at his comedy lines. But the same actor would soon appear onstage
with a large frowning mask as he performed a tragic scene. Know what he was
called? A hypocrite one who wears a mask. A play actor. You never know
whats going on behind the mask. Thats a hypocrite. He only shows you
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what he wants you to see. That was the Pharisees. They looked super spiritual
giving with great ceremony while robbing from their parents, fasting with
faces painted white to look tired, praying ostentatiously on the street corners.
But inside, loving neither God nor man.
Hypocrisy is a disconnect between the inward reality and the outward show.
Hypocrites are to a degree out of touch with reality. Showing themselves to
be something they are not. Scribes and Pharisees convinced people they were
spiritual when in reality they were spiritually dead. Fake reality. But in the
end, they most deceived themselves! Like the little girl -- always the butt of
her brothers practical jokes. She came crying to Dad and he suggested that
perhaps she could get back at him. Tell him theres an elephant in the
backyard, he said. Off she ran toward her brothers room happily calling out,
Michael! Michael. But suddenly she stopped, turned around, grabbed Dad
and pulled him toward the window. I want to see him first, she cried. And
thats just hypocrisy works. It deceives the deceiver most of all.
The leaven of deceit spreads everywhere. The Pharisees should have known
their traditions were inconsistent with Gods Law. They could have discerned
they loved mens approval. They should have seen their hearts were not right.
But they had long ago decided what they did outwardly was the only thing
that mattered. They had destroyed themselves. And in Mt 23:15 Jesus says not
only were they children of hell, but they were taking others with them.
Jesus is warning His disciples, Dont go there! It can happen to you, too!
There is a little hypocrisy in all of us. Sometimes church encourages it when
we look down on those experiencing doubt, depression, despair, or emotional
trauma. We encourage each other to act spiritual rather than be spiritual.
This is why the first of Luthers 95 Theses argued that the Christian life is a
life of repentance not a one-time event. Rather than mask our failures, we
face reality. That clears the way to grow so our conduct matches our calling.
Outward deeds count, but only as they reflect a heart that loves God.
In the OT Israel clambered for a king like the other nations. God gave them
one to their specifications! I Sam 9:2, There was not a man among the
people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was
taller than any of the people. Saul looked the part. Steven Dempster points
out in Dominion and Dynasty there is a play on Hebrew words with Saul. He
comes from Gibeah (hill or elevation). He is tall or gigantic (geboha). But
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alas, Saul is all show. He fails Gods obedience test and eventually, the giant
(geboha) from the town (Gibeah) dies on the mountain (Gilboa). His
tallness was outward, God only saw small. Sauls tallness was his
downfall because it was all outward. Outward greatness; inward poverty.
God tells him in I Sam 13:14, But now your kingdom shall not continue. The
LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. Saul was all outward a
man after his own heart. David, failure and all, was a man after Gods own
heart grounded in reality. Like him, we must exhibit outward greatness
driven by a broken and contrite heart (Ps 51:7).
II.

The Folly of Hypocrisy (2)

What is the first reaction when we do something wrong? Cover up. It comes
as naturally to us as eating. Its part of who we are inherited from the Garden
of Eden. Its one of the signs that God exists and created us. We feel shame.
So, where does that come from? Animals dont feel shame. Nothing in the
evolutionary process can explain shame. Shame is the result of knowing we
have violated Gods character written in our heart. Shame is Gods law
written within. And so, like Adam and Eve, we cover up.
But heres the folly of hypocrisy. It wont work, Beloved. Its based on the
flawed premise that we can hide our true person. Thats a fools errand. V. 2
reminds us, Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that
will not be known. There are no secrets from Him. I Sam 16:7, Man looks
on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. I Cor 4:5
reminds us that God will disclose the purposes of the heart. Secrets are for
humans. God sees it all, and its all coming out. Hebrews 4:13 says, And no
creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of
him to whom we must give account.
A door-to-door salesman rang the bell. An 11-year-old boy answered. He was
smoking the biggest cigar the man had ever seen. The guy asks: Is your
mother home? The boy takes a puff, blows smoke in the mans face and asks,
What do you think? Mom was gone. But God is always home. He is never
missing and He misses nothing. We think we can hide. Like the hillbilly who
showed up in Vegas and signed his name with a big X. Then he circled the X.
The clerk said, Whyd you circle your X? The guy replied, Well, you know
how it is. Sometimes you dont want to use your real name. Weve been
brainwashed to believe what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but God makes
sure it eventually shows up in Eaton, and if not there, then at the judgment. I
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Tim 5:24, The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to
judgment, but the sins of others appear later. Its all coming out, Beloved.
With God there are no secrets and no hiding places. We know that, but the
folly of hypocrisy is it gets us to ignore what we know and soon we are selfdeceived. Adam and Even thought they could hide. But God ran them down
and said, Where are you? (Gen 3:9) Cain thought he could kill Abel in the
privacy of the open field, but the next thing he heard was God asking, Where
is Abel your brother? (Gen 4:9). Ninety-year-old Sarah thought she could
laugh in the privacy of her tent at Gods promise of a son, but the next thing
she heard was God asking her husband, Why did Sarah laugh? (Gen 18:13).
Achan thought he could confiscate a little gold and silver for himself at Ai, but
the whole nation was defeated: God said, Israel has sinned, and led Joshua
straight to Achan. David thought he could cover adultery with murder. God
sent Nathan to say, You are the man. There are no secrets, Beloved. God
will not be mocked! Whatever a person sows, he/she will also reap.
As he scans our congregation this morning, God knows the heart set on
revenge. He knows the secret fantasy life. He knows the habit that not even
your spouse knows about. He sees the joy you take in anothers failure. He
sees the harsh attitudes exhibited toward family, the character assassination
of gossip, the generous donation selfishly given. God knows. He sees the
income under the table, the burning ambition to advance at any price, the
unfinished mission. There are no secrets from Him here today. No today and
not ever.
So how do we deal with hypocrisy? Repentance. Thats the only way it can be
covered. A serviceman found a gold mechanical pencil on the floor of a room
where he was giving a briefing. After everyone assembled, he approached
four generals and said, I believe one of you gentlemen lost his pencil.
Why, yes, answered one of the generals happily. Thats mine. But what
made you so certain it belonged to one of us generals? Just because its
gold? No, replied the man. Because the eraser has never been used.
What is the eraser for hypocrisy? Confession. Repentance. Thats the only
option friends. It cant be covered any other way. Folly is thinking weve
gotten away with it. The folly of hypocrisy thinking we can cover it on our
own.
III.

The Future of Hypocrisy (3)

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The future of hypocrisy is simple. All the skeletons are coming out. All! V. 3,
Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and
what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the
housetops. Darkness gives the illusion of privacy. But they are coming out,
folks. Private rooms were storerooms (v. 24) built in the middle of houses to
make them harder to get into. Secret conversations were often held there. But
they were not hidden from God. They will be shouted from the housetops
the best means of broadcasting news prior to radio and TV. The secrets are
coming out and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be
proclaimed on the housetops (Mt 10:27). Whispered secrets? Coming out!
I was in the 6th grade when someone first quoted these words to me. I got
caught sending notes to a girl I liked. We were too shy to talk to each other.
Those notes would not even cause comment these days, but then, the secrecy
of the thing landed me in the principals office, and somewhere someone
quoted this verse to me. It scared the living daylights out of me. And well it
should, Beloved. It reminds us there are no secrets not from God. In the
end, all will be revealed. Ecc 12:14 reminds us: For God will bring every
deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Rev
20:12, And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to
what they had done. This is a fearsome thought even if it were only outward
deeds. But God sees clear to the heart, imagine standing alone before God
trying to justify every thought. Like righteous Isaiah when he met God faceto-face, you will be on your face begging for mercy but it will be too late.
But mercy is available, Beloved. What God demands, God provides through
the death of His own Son. The instinct to cover sin is the right instinct. No
sin can enter Gods presence. But hypocrisy denies; it doesnt cover. Thats
why, Adam and Eves fig leaves wouldnt do. God sacrificed an animal and
covered them with a blood sacrifice provided by Him. Later, on atonement
day, the priest entered Gods presence in the Holy of Holies carrying the blood
of an innocent lamb. Inside was the Ark of the Covenant which contained the
Ten Commandments inside, the mercy seat on top of it, and the presence of
God above that. The priest sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat and thus the
blood came between a holy God and a people who had broken the
commandments, thus picturing the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Sin can only be covered by the blood of Christ, never by our trickery. God
will unveil every sin we cover. But He promises those who believe in I John
1:7, the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. Heb 9:22 tells us,
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. But it goes on
to tell us in 9:26, But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the
ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The only sufficient cover for
sin is the blood of Jesus Christ. Its the only cover that counts.
Thus salvation comes when we once-for-all repent our sin and ask God to
cover it with Jesus blood. But Jesus is talking to His own disciples here. The
crowd is listening in and this is aimed at them too, but the primary audience is
His believing disciples. They will never be judged for entrance to heaven.
Their eternal destiny is settled once and for all on the basis of their acceptance
of Jesus as Lord. But there will be a judgment for believers to determine
reward for faithfulness. Paul says, writing to believers, in II Cor 5:10: For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may
receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Please note that both good and evil deeds, thoughts and words will be judged.
Nothing will be hidden. All the secret places will be unveiled. You say, I
thought my sins were as far as the east is from the west. And they are,
Beloved, as far as your condemnation is concerned. They will never be held
against you judicially. But they will show up at this Bema seat judgment
before Christ to determine eternal reward.
Paul details this in I Cor 3:11, For no one can lay a foundation other than that
which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation
with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw (that is, good works, works
of faith, deeds on Jesus agenda) 13 each ones work will become manifest,
for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will
test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built
on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyones work is
burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as
through fire. How we will wish on that day we had been fully dedicated to
Jesus every minute of every day. Hypocrisy will be weeded out on that day
and the loss will be severely felt. Better to weed it out now.
Conc Im afraid were all going to have a lot to answer for one day. We will
deeply regret then that we have rationalized away eternal privilege. Too many
of us are playacting. Theres a famous story about the time Steve Jobs,
founder of Apple, was recruiting John Scully who was the 38-year-old
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President of Pepsi Cola. Nothing was working until he finally asked: "Do you
want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a
chance to change the world?" Let me ask you if you made no changes, how
will you feel about your life in 1,000 years? Are you just going through the
motions of being a Christian? Putting on a show with no reality? Like the
pilot who came on and said, Ive got good news and bad news. The bad
news is were lost. The good news, weve got a strong tailwind. Thats like
some of us going nowhere fast on the road to oblivion fooling everyone,
including ourselves. But the skeletons are coming out one day, Beloved. Join
reality. Live for Jesus. Lets pray.