THE BEST DRESSED CORPSE IN TOWN (2): CARRIERS OF DEATH

(Luke 11:37-44)
Intro (Read Lu 11:43-44). Jesus has a message in this passage. Hes
teaching that many people put on a faade of godliness to fool others, then end
up believing it themselves but all the while what is inside is destroying
them. They are like Pete who had an appendectomy. Bill asked how he was
doing. Pete replied, Im fine, but the doctor did leave a sponge inside me.
Bill asked, Have you got any pain? No but boy, I sure get thirsty. All
seemed fine on the surface, but a killer lay within.
People trying to earn their way to God may look great outwardly. Pillars of the
community. Oblivious to the killer who lurks within. For to those who reject
Him, Jesus is saying, Youre just a well-dressed corpse. People like this are
moralists or religionists, doing all the right things outwardly, but without any
inward reality. Paul says of them in II Tim 3:5 they are having the appearance
of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. In this passage Jesus
defines 7 ways that people dress up death. Christians can fall into the same
trap putting on an outward show for the benefit of believing friends but
living like the world the rest of the time. So there is warning here for all of us.
What characterizes moralists?
Exhibitionists of Externals (37-41) This is the umbrella category. The
chief characteristic or moralists is that they are focused on the external. They
believe their standing with God can be summed up in this creed: I dont
smoke and I dont chew and I dont go with girls who do. To the moralist
its all about what you do; to God its all about who you are!
Trivializers of Truth (42) Moralists get hung up on trivialities. For the
Pharisees it was all about tithing. That was their ace in the hole. We dont go
for that one so much today. Were more about getting our kids to SS, or
working for a charity or getting to church at least on Communion Sunday or
some other little tid-bit we count on to get us in Gods good graces.
Something that keeps us from looking deep into our heart to see whats there.
III.

Passionate About Position (43)

Outfit # 3. Pride of position. People look up to me for my leadership. I must

be okay with God. V. 43, Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in
the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. These guys were
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consummate ladder-climbers, the higher the better. Somehow believing the

more forward their position, the more in they were with God.
When I was in seminary, we had daily chapel. The faculty sat behind the
speaker facing us in the audience. Now, Im not saying they were Pharisees,
altho those selected to give class sermons no doubt thought so, but thats the
idea here. In the synagogue someone would read Scripture, then sit down and
deliver a sermon. High ranking community elders would also sit facing the
audience. Men vied for a lifetime for that privilege. They loved it, Luke tells
us. And if you werent in one of those seats, you wanted to be as far forward
in the audience as possible.
And they loved greetings in the marketplaces. Matt elaborates in 23:6-7:
and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
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and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. These
guys reveled in recognition. They loved it. They thought it was a sign of their
righteousness and would get them to heaven, but it wouldnt. Not unless their
heart was clean. They loved being called Rabbi teacher. Great, but that
didnt save them. Titles are meaningless to God. People can call you Pastor,
Elder, Doctor, Bishop, Cardinal, Pope. It doesnt matter. It wont get you to
heaven. You know what? The titles come off at the door. You cant sneak one
in. The only one that counts is child of God. Thats the only title any of us
should ever want or need.
People ask me occasionally what to call me. I tell them, Dave is great. Its
worked all my life. They say, Not pastor? Sure, if you want. Some of you do
for your kids sake, to teach respect for the position. And, may I say that I love
being your teaching pastor. I do. But that doesnt make me any better than
anyone else. Dave is great. Ive been called a lot worse!
Its so easy to get pride of position, thinking it somehow speaks to our
spirituality. In Lectures to My Students Spurgeon warned of the danger of
trusting in positions and symbols of importance. He said, I know brethren
who, from head to foot, in garb, tone, manner, necktie, and boots, are so
utterly parsonic that no particle of manhood is visible. One young sprig of
divinity must needs go through the streets in a gown, and another of the
High Church order has recorded it in the newspapers with much
complacency that he traversed Switzerland and Italy, wearing in all places
his biretta (a stiff, clerical cap, different colors for rank); few boys would
have been so proud of a fools cap.
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Theyre still with us. I had a friend in seminary who was asked to speak at an
Easter Sunrise service at the Hollywood Bowl. When he agreed, the
committee asked, Where can the helicopter pick you up? He answered
there wasnt room on his street for a helicopter to land. They responded, But
the man who spoke last year had to have a helicopter! He was offered a
police escort but turned that down too saying hed get there on his own. When
he arrived he noticed another participant dressed in T-shirt and Levis. That
seemed a little casual even for LA, but not to worry, just as the service was
ready to start the guy put on a robe of multiple colors that my friend said
would have made the Queen of Sheeba blush. Strutting ecclesiastical
peacocks we dont need. Im not against robes or title or anything else, but
look out. They often cover an unrepentant heart.
Chief seats. Grand regalia. Special privileges. Exalted titles. Were all
susceptible, arent we? I saw one folder advertising an All-Star Worship
Band. Ive known people to get all bent out of shape and refuse to serve
because they were not given a leadership role. Wed do better to worry about
our character as opposed to reputation, right? Reputation is what people
think you are; character is what God knows you are. Child of God is the
only title that counts. Others are just dressing up the corpse if the heart isnt
changed; or just window dressing for a believer who is living a fake existence.
Arturo Toscanini finished directing Beethovans 9th one night to wild applause
and a standing ovation. He signaled the orchestra to bow, then turned to
address them as the noise abated. Clearly moved, the brusque director said,
Gentlemen, I am nothing. That was news because Toscanini had an
enormous ego. He continued, Gentlemen, you are nothing. No news there;
theyd heard it every day in rehearsal for the last two weeks. Then he
continued, But Beethoven is everything, everything, everything! And thats
just who Jesus is to us, Beloved. He is everything. Our salvation and our
standing with God has nothing to do with our goodness, or even our badness.
Absolutely nothing. It has everything to do with, do we know Jesus? Have we
bowed to His lordship? Is He the king of or life? Anything else is just dressing
up the corpse. So, we must serve Him wherever, caring nothing for titles and
acclaim and recognition. His recognition is the only one that counts.
IV.

Distributors of Defilement (44)

If you think Jesus was meek and mild, you dont understand how this would
have fallen on the ears of the Pharisees. 44 Woe to you! For you are like
unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it. This was a
horribly offensive accusation to make against these paragons of self-righteous
virtue. The background to Jesus comment is given in Num 19:16, Whoever
in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died
naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
To touch a dead body or even to touch a human gravesite rendered one
ceremonially unclean for 7 days. That would be devastating, especially for
someone who might have traveled for days to be in Jerusalem during
Passover, but now finds himself unable to offer the sacrifice which was his
whole reason for coming. People in Jerusalem knew where the graves were,
but out-of-towners might inadvertently walk over one. So prior to feast days,
gravesites were whitewashed and thus clearly marked to prevent anyone from
inadvertently stepping on one.
And now here is Jesus telling his fellow-guests at dinner, You know what
you guys are like. You are like unmarked graves. Youre dead inside, but
people dont know that. They look up to you. They admire your piety. But
they dont realize that in dealing with you, they are being contaminated. You
carry disease wherever you go. You contaminate, defile, infect, pollute and
destroy everything and everyone you touch. You are the kiss of death.
In 1906, Dr. George Soper was hired by a NYC family to investigate an
outbreak of typhoid fever in their family and others in the surrounding area.
Soper eventually discovered that the common factor was an Irish cook about
40 years of age. The problem was, no one knew where she was. Every time
there was an outbreak, she left that family with no forwarding address.
Eventually, Soper was able to track down Mary Mallon, but she adamantly
refused to cooperate, insisting that she was in perfect health. So Soper
compiled a five-year history of her employment and found that she left
typhoid in her wake everywhere she had been. Eventually she was forced to
submit to testing and it was found that her gall bladder was teeming with
typhoid salmonella. Typhoid Mary was a perfectly healthy carrier who was
eventually forced to live in quarantine the rest of her life when she would not
consistently practice prescribed hygienic precautions. She refused to accept
that she was a carrier.
Thats what Jesus is saying of the Pharisees. They are Typhoid Marys of
death bringing eternal condemnation on all who follow their fatally flawed
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attempts to approach God on the basis of their own self-righteous deeds. So it

is not just themselves that are missing salvation by grace thru faith but
everyone who follows them. They should have signs around their necks like
our cigarette packages that warn Carrier of Death. They should be like the
lepers who were forced to shout out Unclean if anyone should approach
them unaware. The should be quarantined, but instead they roam free, lording
it over the populace at large, teaching their doctrine of works-righteousness
and leading others down the broad way that leads to destruction.
In His last discussion with them prior to His death Jesus castigates them in
Matt 23:15, For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte,
and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell
as yourselves. You cant really say it any stronger than that, can you? Not
only are you a child hell yourself, but you are leading others to that same
awful destiny. Jesus is not patient with those who pervert His gospel.
Neither would you be if you took a fatal bullet for a friend, only to see him
stand up and expose himself to further gunfire saying, Im invulnerable,
and take a few others along with him. Jesus is about to give His life to provide
the opportunity of redemption from sin not only for these men but also those
they are misleading. No wonder He doesnt cut them any slack.
So, let me ask, are you a carrier of death to those around you your family,
friends, acquaintances? Its one thing to decide you dont need Jesus yourself
that you can be good enough to get by. But you are not alone. Others are
looking and saying, If hes good enough, then surely I am too. There is
only one way to be redeemed, and it is not by being good enough, or being
baptized, confirmed, giving to the poor or being better than the next guy.
Those are just description of a well-dressed corpse.
Jesus give another example in Luke 18.9 He also told this parable to some
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with
contempt: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: God, I
thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even
like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.
[Substitute what you are trusting to make you right with God and you will see
the point. But this guy is a carrier of death, just like you if you are trusting
anything other than this] 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not
even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner! 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather
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than the other. Thankfully this tax collector refused to be taken in. He broke
the cycle of contamination. How? By throwing himself on the mercy of God.
Thats salvation by grace thru faith. That is the gospel. That is the only gospel.
Conc
Just before we moved to Colorado, PBS ran a film called My Boy Jack, which
depicts a true story from the life of author Rudyard Kipling. WWI has broken
out and Kiplings only son,17-year-old Jack, declares his intention to join the
Royal Navy to fight against the Germans. The elder Kipling, who encourages
his ambition, arranges several appointments for him to enlist in the Army and
Navy. However, Jacks poor eyesight prevents him from passing the medical
examinations. Both he and his father are devastated. However, Rudyard
continues to use his influence as a highly regarded author and eventually
secures Jack an officers commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Irish
Guard. His mother, Carrie, and sister, Elsie disapprove of this post as it will
send him directly to the front line.
Jack goes, however, and proves to be a popular and effective officer. Within
six months he is sent to France and on his 18th birthday, Jack receives orders to
lead his platoon over the top out of the trenches and into a charge during
the Battle of Loos. Shortly thereafter the family is notified that Jack is missing
in action. Three long years follow during which Jacks parents methodically
track down surviving members of Jacks platoon and interview them. The
climax of the film comes when one of Jacks platoon members confirms the
worst that Jack died while doing his duty.
After the soldier leaves Rudyard and his wife have a talk. Rudyard explains
that Jack was lucky to die before facing a lot of pain. But his wife reacts
predictably by saying that she misses him whereupon the stoic Rudyard
breaks down and says he misses him too. He begins to question whether he is
responsible for sending his son to his death. He then says, If I am to blame
what have I sent him to [meaning after death]? Have I sent my own son to
oblivion? Kipling had no faith and now when it was too late was haunted by
what fate he had sent his son to. He was a good man who was a carrier of
death.
Beloved, dont wait until its too late to consider what comes next. Dont be
carrier of death. And if you are being influenced by someone who is, break it
off. Learn to say and mean, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Because of
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Jesus death and resurrection, the Father can and will be merciful. Thats the
gospel, the only gospel. Be a carrier of life. Lets pray.