From the Daily Lectionary for Tuesday in the Fifth Week after Pentecost
Matthew 23:13-26
“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.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.”
One would think that Jesus might have experienced a little catharsis after his “tantrum in the Temple,” but he persists in his anger towards the Jewish elite. He’s told three parables, all aimed at the hypocrisy of the elders, scribes, priests, and Pharisees. But he doesn’t stop there. Lest his audience miss the point, Jesus decides to spell it out, “drill down,” as it is said these days. There are in effect two things that have gotten Jesus’ goat: First, the leadership has a habit of saying one thing and doing another. They preach and teach Torah, the Law of Moses, but their actions prove otherwise; lip service, in short. The second accusation goes at the heart of the elite: their love of wealth, and of course wealth’s collaborators, power, and self-interest; using their office for their own good at the expense of the powerless.
We should know by now, because Matthew is pounding it into our heads, that his gospel as the “Good News” of God, that is to say, the process of salvation, is as much about critique as it is about a particular way of life; two sides of the same coin, as it were. Truth is that way. There is truth, and there is that which opposes the truth. We have to acknowledge both. And the truth about which Jesus speaks, and Matthew writes, has to do with our common life, the life of a community, the life of a people… not the life of a person. Jesus is not speaking to “me” about my salvation. Jesus is speaking to a community about how all manner of folk may be included in that community; how wealth, and well-being, and dignity might be brought to sacred equilibrium. That can’t happen until the opposition to the good and true is brought to light; and that light is not for a private conversation among like-minded friends. It is a conversation that belongs in the public square.
You’ve heard the term “righteous anger.” There is anger smoldering in the lines written by the scribe Matthew; there is anger aglow in the words spoken by Jesus. And who in their right mind wouldn’t be angry. Rome has occupied Palestine and has sapped its resources. The powerful have garnered all the wealth; the poor are poorer. The Jewish leadership in deference to their own interests have sold out to Rome’s coercive bidding. Even the religious have sold out to the siren’s song of power and their own opulence.
Some things never change. The sin that opposes the truth is the same. It will not be undone by compromise. Our divisions in our own time may be a first step towards healing. Jesus said, just a few chapters before, “Don’t think I come to bring peace; I come to bring a sword.” He is speaking of the sword of truth. There was a time when compromise was an artful virtue. Now is not that time. We dare not shrink from the clarity that is before us. Now is the time for the truth, speaking it and acting upon it. Falsehood is not a valid opinion deserving our respect. Some may say that the truth before us is just righteous anger… and they would be right.
A Prayer for Government (BCP p. 822)
O God, send down upon those who hold office in our country the spirit of wisdom, charity, and justice; that with steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their offices to promote the well-being of all people; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
