When we read today's scripture from Luke's Gospel, we see why the Pharisees didn't like Jesus very much.  They saw themselves as holy and righteous, because their outward observances of religion looked so good.  Jesus saw deeper than the surface.  He saw to the heart.   Look what happened:  ³⁷As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.  ³⁸His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. ³⁹Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!  ⁴⁰Fools!  Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? Luke 11:37-40

Interesting that Jesus' diagnosis of the insides of the Pharisees' heart was "...full of greed and wickedness."  Wickedness covers a lot of territory.  Actually, wickedness includes greed, and yet Jesus isolated greed from all the other forms of wickedness and paired it with wickedness.  Why?  Greed is also one of the "Seven Deadly Sins", which we've been focusing on in worship for several weeks now, although as one of the "seven" it's also known as avarice.  Greed makes the list and perhaps tops the list in Jesus' estimation, because the "god" of greed is money, and Jesus told us that money is the chief rival god in our lives. 

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, "²⁴“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."  Greed makes Jesus' list of notable sins, because it replaces our pursuit of God!  Jesus told us we CANNOT serve both God and money.  He didn't say it was hard to serve both God and money.  He said it was impossible!  Sometimes people say all preachers ever talk about is money.  Given what Jesus told us about money, that would be understandable.  Most preachers are afraid to talk about money, or to talk about it as Jesus did, because none of us likes to be told we're greedy.  Interesting that Jesus condemned the religious leaders of His day for their greed and wickedness.  Those religious leaders eventually crucified Jesus, at least in part because of His condemnation of their hypocrisy.  The lesson for us to learn is the pursuit of God will ALWAYS be challenged by greed in our lives.  More on that TOMORROW!   

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, Thank You for making it so clear that what matters is what's on the inside in my life.  Don't let me fall into the trap of living in externals--how I look, what I wear, and so on, but fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may always seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, knowing that's where my true security lies.  This I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.