Pentecost 26 Year A

Matthew 23:1-12

I’ve noticed something; in looking back over some of my past sermons over the years, many of them start with some kind of comment about the difficulty I was having with the scripture. So often the readings just seem obscure or I am having a bit of reaction to what I have just read. Well, I have something to tell you, today’s scripture is not going to be any different.
I guess that is the function of the scriptures; they are supposed to challenge us – invite us to a higher level of being. The scriptures are not content to leave us where we are and hope that we do ok; scripture pulls us out of our sleepwalking through life and entices us to truly live!
Well, the big dilemma I had with today’s reading is that it all flies right in the face of everything anyone who has ever dealt with kids knows: “Do as I say and not as I do” just doesn’t work. We were just talking about this a while ago. We were being told to practice what we preach because the world is going to be watching. We were told that the best way to witness to the world is to be sure our words and our actions are in synch. But now Jesus would appear to be telling us something different. Jesus is telling us that we are to listen to what the priests are saying, but we are not to pay attention to what they are doing. For how psychologically wonderful the Bible is, this comment does not seem psychologically wonderful at all.
Or maybe not…Jesus is not telling us that we can go around doing whatever we want, we are not let off the hook that easy! I am the only one that gets let off the hook. You see, Jesus is telling the people to listen to what the priests have to say, because they speak the truth, just do get caught up in what they see the priests doing. So for y’all, that means you have to listen to what I say and then live it out in your lives. For me, that just means I just need to preach a powerful sermon and then I can do whatever I want! I’m beginning to like this scripture more and more!
But that still leaves me in the dilemma of the past couple of weeks. If I claim to be a Christian – which I do – I still need to be aware that people are watching me. So I guess that means that I can’t just go off doing whatever I want. So we are all in the boat together: We need to be aware of not only what we say, but what we do.
But still, why this whole thing about listening to the priests, even if we disregard their actions? Well, that comes down to the whole working of the Holy Spirit. We don’t talk a whole lot about the Holy Spirit, but I believe the Spirit is continually at work around us. I believe the Spirit is continually at work nudging us and prodding us into the way of fullness and life in Christ. And I also believe that if we approach the scriptures and the preaching with a willingness to be open to the workings of the Spirit, we will be strengthened and empowered to be about the work of God in the world. This is the message that Christ is bringing us in today’s scriptures.
The Biblical times were not all that different from our times. We have well-intentioned preachers out there trying to help us lead Godly lives. The unfortunate thing is that most preachers, both then and now, forget that God is really quite a loving God. (If you have any doubt, just step outside and look at the glorious spectacle of the leaves changing in the fall or the explosion of color from a prairie field bursting with wildflowers. This is not a gift from a God who does not love us!) As such, these preachers get all caught up in what specific things we need to do to make God happy. To these preachers, a happy God is a tolerable God and an unhappy God is going to heap pain upon our lives and damn us to Hell. When a preacher forgets the abundant love of God, the message gets twisted. When we forget about the abundant love of God, then we get into all kinds of “Have To’s.” “Have To’s” are all those things that we have to do to get God to love us. In Biblical times, there were all kinds of things that were called fences to the law. These were things that you needed to do to make sure you didn’t violate the law. In many ways, these fences became just as powerful as the law itself.
A simple one to look at is the whole Sabbath thing. Now, the law states that we are to keep holy the Sabbath Day. What is the meaning of this law? Why should we have it? Well, we have it so that we do not work ourselves to death and that we take time away from the routine of life to recognize God’s place in our lives. When we are constantly working, which can become especially trying for an agrarian people, we tend to place God on the back burner.
But we need to remember that the law does not say, “You shall not work on the Sabbath Day.” It says, “Remember to keep holy on the Sabbath Day.” Let’s not lose the difference there. Throughout history, people have taken “keeping holy” as meaning “doing nothing.” But that lead to a whole bunch of weird things like “If my cow falls in a pit, how far can I walk to save it before it becomes work.” And then it goes even farther, “If I can only walk 70 steps and the cow is 71 steps away, can I not walk the extra step to save the cow or do I have to wait and hope it does not die over night?” A current embodiment would be wondering if it is work to turn on a light switch (I kid you not!) or take a meal out of the over.
It is these sorts of things that I believe Jesus is talking about. The law to keep the Sabbath is a good thing. It is something that we should listen to and take to heart. It is when we get into all kinds of weird rules that we need to stop. When we start adding rules upon rules, we forget our role as the created, beloved children of God and try to move ourselves into the role of the creator. When we get all these little nit-picky things that we need to do, then we are moving into the realm of trying to force God.
What we forget is that God is so much more willing to give then we are to receive. The laws of God are not there to make our lives onerous; they are there to make our lives a joy! Do you think people who freely tithed of their income started the financial collapse we see around us? The key word here is freely. To give a tithe, just because you have been told to do so, is only following the letter of the law. What Jesus is asking us is to follow the spirit of the law.
And just what is the spirit of tithing? I was just discussing this very point last week at the diocesan convention with the Rector of Christ Church, Grosse Pointe. I liked the way he described it: He said that we don’t give a tithe just because the Bible tells us to; We give an amount that is large enough to make us aware of what we are doing with the amount that is left over. If we are not made aware of our spending habits through our offering to the church, then we need to increase the amount. What we give should make us stop and think about what we are spending. And in so doing, what we give should increase our pleasure in those things that we have.
This is a whole different way of looking at laws. Laws are not there to restrict our lives but to make our lives more full. Laws are there to help us fully enjoy what we have been given. Laws are there to teach us how to employ the abundance of God in the most responsible and fulfilling way possible.
Well, I guess another scriptural mystery has been laid to rest. Don’t worry, I am sure with the next scripture reading a whole new set of questions and dilemmas will arise. And then, through the insight of the Holy Spirit, hopefully an answer will shine through which in turn will probably raise a whole new batch of questions. That is the beauty of the Bible, as we grow, it is already waiting with new challenges.
Oh, and remember to vote on Tuesday. I will not tell you who to vote for, but just remember, if you vote for the wrong person, society as we know it will end; the power grid will collapse; pink will become the new national color and Pig-Latin will become the new national language! Don’t leave your country down!