“Good Intentions” – Nov 6, 2011 Sermon
Nov 5, 2011
Scripture: Matthew 23: 1-12
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they don’t practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the churches, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Sermon: Good Intentions
by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Don’t you just love it when you hear a story where the villain is clear. You know who to root for, and who you anticipate will get a comeuppance. In the gospels we here lots of stories about Jesus criticizing the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes. These religious leaders, we hear in today’s reading, are hypocrites. They lay heavy burdens on the Jewish people. They seek their own glory and comfort and wealth and standing and power, rather being servant leaders for God and God’s people. And we see such religious hypocrisy today, don’t we? And worse! These people seeking places of honor at banquets, looking for respect in the market place have nothing on some of the indiscretions, financial or otherwise, of our times. I found story after story of trusted religious leaders diverting funds for their own luxuries, and exploiting their followers for their own gain and pleasure. And it certainly resonates for me when Jesus himself condemns such villains.
You have to wonder what these people were thinking when they got involved in such sinful behavior. Did they enter into ministry, into these positions of trust, with the intention of exploiting the trust? Did they figure it was just a great way to focus their drive for power and wealth and personal satisfaction? I’m sure some of them did something like that – saw an opportunity and calculated the possibilities. But I’m also certain that many, if not most, started out with the best of intentions – to serve God and God’s people faithfully and meaningfully.
Now has anyone here ever said or heard someone say, “Do as I say but not as I do.” Or things like, “I give great advice, but I can’t always follow it myself.” Jesus is saying just that in this passage, only not about himself, but about the Pharisees. It is an interesting tension, when he acknowledges that the laws they teach are good and righteous, but to be careful and noticed how and whether it is lived out. The Pharisees were very devout Jews, committed and devoted to preserving Israel’s identity as God’s chosen people, as a holy people, by adhering as strictly as possible to the laws handed down through the millenia. They wanted to purify the faith, not harm it. I believe most of them had the best of intentions in leading their people on a righteous path. After the destruction of the Temple after Jesus’ death, the law was the thing that most strongly bound the Jewish people together. Putting the law into practice in daily life was a form of worship, so important once their central gathering place for worship was destroyed by Rome. Their goal was to protect the law from being diluted and corrupted. They did this by surrounding the law with specific rules of interpretation and application to daily life. The goal was to enhance inward faithfulness, but in practice all these rules just multiplied to the point that keeping the law became a burden rather than a joyful and grateful response to God’s goodness. They got carried away with their own ideas, with their influence.
It’s good to want to influence people, right? To lead people on a path you believe will bring them and others good things. And yet, when we do become influential, it can so easily go awry. It’s heady to have people listen to you and respect you and take your suggestions. Lots of times they want to show their gratitude and give you gifts and compliments that go to your head. You hear enough about how smart you are and what a good person you are and you can become pretty convinced of it. And even when you are not being smart or good, it’s hard to see. It is hard for us humans to stay true to our ideals,to set our egos aside, to recognize our limits. Paul writes about it in Romans, our responsive reading today. At least here he is aware that he does things he shouldn’t and doesn’t want to do. There are other places in Paul’s letter where he has way too much confidence in himself.
It can be comfortable for us to hear Jesus’ teaching against the behavior of the Pharisees and be clear who the villain is. But remember that saying where if you are pointing your finger at someone, there are 3 fingers pointing back at yourself. This story about the Pharisees as a cautionary tale: they started out with good intentions, but some ended by seeking to be great. They started out concerned for holiness but some ended in exclusion. They started out seeking to recognize God in all things but some ended by seeking recognition at banquets and in the synagogue. Jesus wants his disciples to both start out and end up at a radically different place. He wants his church to honor the heart of the law of love of God and neighbor and serve both with purity of heart and intention. Jesus calls the church to live in such a way that they can say to the world: “Do as we say and as we do.”
How to accomplish this? It’s not easy. I love this quote by Paul Anderson: “Humility is tricky business. I’ve caught myself being proud of my humility. It’s like the skeleton of the body — it needs to be there to under gird everything else, but it only shows if something is broken. The skeleton is grotesque when that’s all you see. So is a protruding piety.” So there is a way to get carried away even by humility. But we do need to pay attention to the temptations of the ego. Spiritual integrity requires that we not only look carefully at ourselves, but that we look with empathy at others. The Phariesees became so removed from their people that they couldn’t see the burdens they were placing on them. They were so excited by not only the comforts and glory of their position, but also by their own piety, that they were blind to the suffering around them. I read this thought on the Pharisees by Bruce Epperly and thought of our own governmental leader and other people of privilege and power: “They speak of peace from a place of prosperity and are unable to see the pain of the homeless and dispossessed, the unemployed and vulnerable. Their own security buffers them from others. Though they see themselves as generous to those at the margins, their attitudes and behaviors actually wage war on the hungry and powerless. They can’t see the connection between their behavior and others’ poverty and despair.”
And I again have my finger pointing at THEM, but I have to look at the three pointing back at me. I am a person of privilege and power, as an educated, employed, white American, and I know I barely scratch at the connection between my lifestyle and the suffering of others. I don’t like to think about the choices I make that harm others people and creation. But that is the path to spiritual integrity. Looking with empathy at ourselves and at others. And the thing that gives me courage and hope is what Paul says. I will not, cannot, do it on my own, but only through Christ, who promises us new life, who has already acted to reconcile us with our loving Maker. And we are reminded of that each month as we join together at the table of hope.
