03-27-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 27, 2024
There are many passages of scripture that leave me scratching my head, and the words from the opening of Matthew 23 are one example. It reads,

[Jesus said,] “The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. So obey everything they teach you, but don't do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.”

Christians often suggest the teachings of the Pharisees were what Jesus came to confront. In fact, I just heard a minister say, “The message of the Pharisees was the antithesis of what Jesus taught,” but is that necessarily true, at least according to this passage? At the heart of Pharisaic thought was the importance of holding onto certain practices of the faith that kept one connected to the primary teachings, specifically in the context of Rome’s occupation of what we would call the Holy Land. It wasn’t always easy to maintain your faith, especially as the Greco-Roman culture continued to be more and more influential. Certain practices and rituals helped to reinforce the stories of the faith. For Jesus, it sure appears as if his greater concern was hypocrisy—not always matching what one did with what one claimed to be important. Jesus may not have always agreed with the Pharisees and other religious leaders, but in these words, he presents for us a different lens through which we can make some determination about a person’s convictions. The old saying, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear a sermon,” sort of resonates with this teaching. Most of us express our deepest-held convictions in what we do, not necessarily what we say.

I know I will never be perfect, O Gracious God, but I pray for the capacity to discern my own life witness and what it is that I am communicating to the world. If it is your limitless love that I preach, I hope my life gives just a glimpse of such beauty and power. Amen.