Are We So Busy Trying To Look Good That We Forget To Be Good?
Good Morning Friends,
In today’s lectionary passage from Matthew Jesus rips into religious hypocrites that had created their own brand of legalism to perpetuate their own power. The Pharisees were not demonic, evil people but had fallen into a way of worship that was self-serving. They had fallen prey to pride in a way and were trying to mask the effects. Normally Jesus would have an encouraging word and even compassion for the worst of sinners, but in today’s text is the beginning of seven woes and the picture is not pretty. It is a call for introspection that when coupled with the passage from Thessalonians is a clear message that only with Jesus can we embrace a labor of love that rescues us from the wrath that is coming. Are We So Busy Trying To Look Good That We Forget To Be Good?
Scripture: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10 (NRSV)
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.
Matthew 23:13-22 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, living our faith out in community is not easy, but it is the way of Christ. Thankfully through our relationships with other Christians, the Holy Spirit and Scripture comes alive for us. We are reminded in these relationships of the faith we share, the love we share, and the hope we share. And we are also challenged to make sure that we are growing in our work of faith, our labor of love, and in our endurance of hope. I, for one, am glad to be along for the journey with you. And I am thanking God for our journey together for there are some that shut the door of the Kingdom of heaven in people’s faces and that is not you. You see, when the Pharisees evangelized, they were not looking for people who did not know God at all. They were looking for people to convert to their “brand” of religion. Each Rabbi had his own theories and they each wanted people to follow their sect of Judaism. Christianity was in fact viewed as just another sect. And unfortunately, this is one of the biggest problems in the church today. Friends, the work of Christ is not easy. It is a great labor and the only thing that makes it possible and palatable is our love in forgiving. We cannot do this by simply acting the part of a Christian in Christian settings. It must go deeper. Still
as Shakespeare rightly said, “All the world is a stage,” and, so yes, hypocrites do come to church. But really, they belong in places of worship. What better place can there be for hypocrites than in contact with other worshipping God and where they can hear the saving gospel of Christ. We should be thankful that hypocrites join with others in worship, for they will thus have greater opportunities to be saved. And if we let the fact that hypocrites are in worshipping communities keep us away, then they might be limiting our spiritual growth. Indeed, we need to pray for hypocrites, for some assume places of leadership. And that is the crux of the problem. Playacting being Christian falls short. So, we must search our own hearts to make sure that we have no hypocrisy there. And, if we discover hypocrisy in our lives, and let’s be honest, it does have a way of creeping in, we must allow Jesus to perform spiritual surgery on us to remove it. How else can we proceed?
Pray we not obscure the Gospel in legalism. Pray we realize that God sees our hearts and is never fooled by appearance. Pray we not claim to have a monopoly on God. Pray we not bring misery into the lives of those who believe. Pray we not be blind guides. Pray we not find ourselves victims of other people’s bitterness, insecurity and smallness. Pray we are never so busy that we cannot reconsider our priorities. Pray we not exalt the letter of the law and forget the spirit of love. Pray we realize that there is no shortcut to the success of the work of the church. Pray we have a hope that liberates, energizes, and stabilizes and protects. Pray we not forget to love even hypocrites.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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