From the Daily Lectionary for Thursday in the Twenty First Week after Pentecost
Luke 11:53 – 12:12
When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
Jesus is waxing apocalyptic here. He has raised the stakes concerning his arguments with the Jewish elite. He is attributing cosmic significance to the debate. It is no longer a matter of opinion, or of interpretation, it is a matter of truth versus falsehood, good versus evil. His evocation of the figure of “The Son of Man” lends eschatological, that is, “end of times” implications to the division between the Jesus movement and the Jewish authorities. The watchword is hypocrisy, the very means of falsehood.
One may know that they are of the truth by the hypocrisy of the opposition. My mother once told me that I would know I was on the right side of things based on how my allies and my opposition behaved. Certainly that is true in our own time.
We live in a time when opinions have become mere static. Debates and arguments no longer serve us. We live in a time in which one must choose truth over falsehood. There is no in-between. Apocalyptic times are marked by their clarity. Some say that our society is deeply divided. They are right, but the division isn’t over opinion. The division is what has always divided us, and that is truth and falsehood; character and self-interested expediency; dare I say, good versus evil. Some would accuse me of pandering to our unhappy divisions, but, in light of our present situation, Jesus’ words ring true: “You are either with me or against me.”
These are the marks of our faith: We love our neighbor as we love ourselves. And who is our neighbor? The lost and the outcast, the shamed and disenfranchised, those who yearn for a dignified life, the ones left out of the so-called American Dream. That includes our Black sisters and brothers who have endured terror in our culture for some four hundred years. It includes the immigrant whom the writers of scripture exhort us to treat as if they were members of our own families. We are to take care of our sick, prisoners, the aged, the orphan and widow. We are to share our wealth and relieve debt. We are to challenge the abuse of institutional power. We are to be honest, gentle, and compassionate. If that describes the people with whom you hang out, then you are on the right side. Never doubt that.
The divisions in our culture are real, and they are dangerous, but Love can heal. We go about our lives of faith under the rubric of love. Love is kind, and patient, and gracious, but love does not compromise when it comes to the truth; and love will endure. That is cause for certain hope. May love win in this coming election. Our faith teaches that love will triumph in the end… but I’m hoping sooner than later.
A Prayer of Self-Dedication (BCP p. 832)
O God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
