Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-december-11
Matthew 23:13-26
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when they become one, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Unless I miss my guess, most of us who read this passage now think it just goes to show how ridiculous the ancient Jewish religious tradition had become. I mean really — thinking that it mattered to God what you swore an oath by. We tend to think this kind of misguided understanding of God’s priorities just goes to show how far off base the Hebrew people had to become.
But thinking that misguided religious priorities was just a problem of the ancient Hebrew people is probably a big mistake. Sure, the Hebrew religious leadership was failing to lead the covenant people in properly keep God’s law. But if we’re honest, we have to admit that no people anywhere have ever kept God’s law properly. And at least the Jewish leadership was making an effort to lead their people in keeping that law.
Most of those who participate in these Reflections probably don’t think of themselves as “religious leaders.” But my sense is that lots of those who read (or listen to) these Daily Bible Reflections have some kind of leadership role in their churches. Elders are religious leaders, and so are deacons, and so are Sunday school teachers, and committee members, and so on. Actually, when you get right down to it, Jesus seems to express the idea that every one of his followers he is meant to think of himself or herself as being in a leadership role. The Great Commission says we are to make disciples and teach them to obey Jesus’ teachings. That sounds like religious leadership to me. So whatever Jesus says about leadership more or less applies to all of us.
And that means this reading has something to say to us.
For instance, it’s probably true that some of the rules ‘religious’ people think are so important are hard to take seriously if you really think about them. In this Passage, Jesus criticizes an absurd teaching of the Hebrew religious leadership that said swearing an oath was binding only if you swore by certain things and not by others. Really? God expected his people to keep their word if they swore by the temple but not by its gold, or by the altar but not by the gifts on it? That’s what had been taught for centuries, and once the religious leaders came up with the rule, they insisted that it was “God’s will.”
Just about every part of the Christian church has come up with thick books of rules and regulations that are supposed to make us all live “righteous lives.” A classmate in seminary told us in class one day that her mother was once sharply rebuked by the elders of their church because she trimmed the ends of her hair – they came to her home to rebuke her for it! They reminded her that the apostle Paul wrote that women should have long hair.
Strange, I know, but the truth is that most churches have a long list of their own rules – some of them written, some of them unwritten. Some of the ladies in one of the churches I previously served got really upset because some of the teens got cookie crumbs on the carpet in the “ladies’ parlor” During one of the youth fellowship gatherings.
(By the way, that church has now closed down. No crumbs on the carpet now, just dust. Just saying . . .)
I think Jesus is urging the leaders Of God’s people – all of us – to stay focused on what really matters to God. When it comes to keeping your word, for instance, surely God would expect his people to do that no matter what we swear that word by. And I seriously doubt trimming your hair or cookie crumbs on the parlor carpet even show up on God’s list of priorities.
But in today’s reading, Jesus gives some guidance on what does show up on God’s list of priorities. He says that strictly observing religious practices is no substitute for being committed to “justice, mercy and faithfulness.” Based on Jesus’ teachings, that seems to mean being actively committed to helping the needy, the marginalized and the suffering. Apparently, God’s not too impressed by outwardly “religious” behavior.
Jesus seems to emphasize that idea in the last two verses of this passage. He says that putting on religious appearances isn’t much good if we’re greedy and selfish on the inside. I suspect he would say this applies to being angry or judgmental or gossiping or fault-finding, too. Jesus says that if we clean up “the inside of the cup” – our hearts and minds – then the part of ourselves the world sees will be clean, too.
It seems to me that the bottom line of this passage is that we’re to be concerned first and foremost with getting our hearts in line with God’s heart, and then to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us into the outward behavior God really has in mind for us.
Let’s pray. Lord, guard us against thinking that behaving in a ‘religious’ way is what you want from your followers. Help us instead to focus on making our lives examples of commitment to justice, mercy and faithfulness, demanding more of ourselves than we do of others, so that people encounter you in us, and want to experience your love in their own lives. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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