Modern Day Pharisees
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Matthew 23:13-22
13. "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. 14. 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse 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. 16. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, `If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17. You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18. And you say, `If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19. You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20. So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21. and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22. and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
Verses 1-32 of this chapter are titled “The Seven Woes” in my bible. Jesus ticks off all the ways the religious leaders are hypocritical and seek man’s approval by their actions. They don’t act out of genuine love and devotion to God, but rather out of a deep need to be honored and revered by man. More than that, Jesus gets to the core of the question of faith. He challenges us to look in our hearts and examine our motives. Do we talk the talk, but fall short when it comes time to walk the walk? Do we do the minimum required by man’s standards, so that we appear to be on the right path when our neighbors observe our lifestyle and our actions?
Jesus really doesn’t pull any punches in this chapter. He goes on and on and recites all the ways the religious leaders are hypocritical. He pretty much covers every type of hypocrisy I can think of! And these chapters really got me thinking about the sermons that have been delivered at our church the last two Sundays. One was on stem cell research and the other on homosexuality. Our Sunday School class chose to discuss these topics and explore in more depth how these issues impacted our lives, our beliefs, our faith, and how we practice our faith.
The bottom line on both of these topics was that man is so prone to limit God’s grace! We judge others and set ourselves up as holier, more devout, a better Christian, if we believe one way and not another. What I got out of the sermons and the discussions that followed on those two Sundays was that God is big enough to love everyone. What I learned was that I had better be careful how and upon whom I pass judgment, because more often than not I fall under the same category as the Pharisees!
I’m not going to share my personal opinions on either of these topics. This is not a forum for that! But I will share with you that the God I worship has loved me through more sin and pain, aimless wandering and petulant questioning than I deserved to be loved through. And I plan to go to heaven some day! So if God has loved me through everything, absolutely everything; if he has greeted me with open arms and welcomed me back into the fold every time I’ve strayed. If he has revealed his beauty and might, his power and grace, his gentleness and unrelenting love, then who am I to judge someone else?
Do I have to like what they do? Do I have to agree with how they live? No. Do I need to understand and accept that they are children of God, just like me? Yes. Do I need to extend to them the same love, grace, gentleness that God has given to me? Yes! Do I understand why God made me the way he did and someone else the way they are? No! And we’re not supposed to until the end of days, when Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead!
So I’m no better than a homeless man, and I’m no less than Donald Trump. I’m not greater than a mental patient in a hospital and no less than the doctor who treats him. I am, like all of us are, frail and wounded, broken and weak. And I hope and pray that the God who made Donald Trump and the homeless man, the mighty and the meek, the lofty and the lowly, remembers me on judgment day! I hope he remembers that I tried. Really tried. And I hope that is enough!
I hope today you examine all the ways you are like the Pharisees. And that you’ll lift a prayer of thanks to God that He loves you anyway!
Mary
