10th Sunday ordinary Year A
I desire Mercy
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Reuben was a proud and self-righteous Sunday school teacher. One day he was teaching the children the importance of living a flawless Christian life, using himself as an example. Toward the end of the class, he asked the kids: “Why do people call me Christian?” After a moment’s pause, one of the kids answered, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.” Some of us are like Reuben. People call us Christian simply because they do not know us well enough. To make matters worse, sometimes we do not even know ourselves well enough, and all it takes is a serious temptation or crisis to reveal us to ourselves.
In today’s gospel we read about men like Reuben who think they have it all when it comes to being right with God. They are the Pharisees. The Pharisees are people who have committed themselves to one hundred percent observance of the whole Law. To make sure they do not break the Law, they make other laws to protect the demands of the Law. For example, the Law demands that one pay tithes on one’s capital income. In order to make sure they do not default on that, the Pharisees go beyond the requirements of the Law and pay tithes on everything they own, even on the vegetable that grows in their gardens. Thus they become very scrupulous in the observance of the fine details of the Law.
In their observance of the Law, the Pharisees were uncompromising both to themselves and to other people. They figured that if they could do it, so should everyone else. As a result, they became excessive and unreasonable in the demands they made of other people. The Pharisees categorized everybody into two groups: saints and sinners. People who, on account of their job could not observe all the 613 demands of the Law were labeled sinners. These included such tradesmen as shepherds, butchers, tanners, and tax collectors. People took Pharisees for heroic men of God because people see only the outside. Some people consider me as a good person; I know only handful of them but they know me only one hour in a week. I could be a nice person for one hour. Like that they are fixed in their ways and in their minds. They can no longer learn. They can no longer change. The “sinners” are much better. They know they are sinners, they can learn, and they can change. So Jesus invites Matthew the tax collector, the public sinner, to join him. When Matthew’s friends, the tax collectors, hear that there is a man of God, Jesus, who accepts them as they are, they flock to him to celebrate the good news.
Now we all point our finger towards Pharisees. Look at your hand when you point, as you have three fingers pointing right back at yourself. When we go to sporting events, for example, we stand for the national anthem. The words of the song are from a poem about a battle during which the flag remained flying. But for the most part, although we may sing along, we don’t give much thought to the meaning of the words. And our participation doesn’t necessarily guarantee that we’ll be more committed to the flag or to our country. Rather, it’s something we do because we’re expected to do so. Just try sitting during the national anthem and you’ll know what I mean. There are also verbal rituals. “How are you?” we ask, oftentimes not really interested in the response. Nor are we terribly honest when we’re asked how we are. The point is simply this: We all engage in ritualistic behavior. And if you ask, why we’re doing it? It’s just because we’re in the habit of doing so; or because we’re expected to do so; or because we’re just unwilling to face the truth of our own emptiness?
Godliness is more than keeping the Law. If it was only a matter of observing the Law, the Pharisees would be saints. Godliness has more to do with our ability to admit that we are all sinners. This will make us more disposed to learn and to change our ways, more disposed to accept other people as they are.
We can "do sacrifices" left and right, but if our motive behind such sacrifice is not pleasing to God, then it is worthless. The fact is, all human beings are sinners. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Paul didn’t say just tax collectors have sinned, or just prostitutes or politicians or thieves or drug addicts have sinned. He said ALL. That means everyone.
The church is for sinners, and it is populated with nothing but sinners. If only sinless people were allowed to become members of a church, then in Protestant churches only Jesus would be allowed to join, and in Catholic churches only Jesus and Mary would be welcomed. Every church should have a huge banner hanging above the front doors: “Sinners Only. Perfect People Not Welcomed Here!” And the good news is that our God IS A God of Mercy.
We shall conclude with a prayer by Peter Marshall: “Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.A
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Reuben was a proud and self-righteous Sunday school teacher. One day he was teaching the children the importance of living a flawless Christian life, using himself as an example. Toward the end of the class, he asked the kids: “Why do people call me Christian?” After a moment’s pause, one of the kids answered, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.” Some of us are like Reuben. People call us Christian simply because they do not know us well enough. To make matters worse, sometimes we do not even know ourselves well enough, and all it takes is a serious temptation or crisis to reveal us to ourselves.
In today’s gospel we read about men like Reuben who think they have it all when it comes to being right with God. They are the Pharisees. The Pharisees are people who have committed themselves to one hundred percent observance of the whole Law. To make sure they do not break the Law, they make other laws to protect the demands of the Law. For example, the Law demands that one pay tithes on one’s capital income. In order to make sure they do not default on that, the Pharisees go beyond the requirements of the Law and pay tithes on everything they own, even on the vegetable that grows in their gardens. Thus they become very scrupulous in the observance of the fine details of the Law.
In their observance of the Law, the Pharisees were uncompromising both to themselves and to other people. They figured that if they could do it, so should everyone else. As a result, they became excessive and unreasonable in the demands they made of other people. The Pharisees categorized everybody into two groups: saints and sinners. People who, on account of their job could not observe all the 613 demands of the Law were labeled sinners. These included such tradesmen as shepherds, butchers, tanners, and tax collectors. People took Pharisees for heroic men of God because people see only the outside. Some people consider me as a good person; I know only handful of them but they know me only one hour in a week. I could be a nice person for one hour. Like that they are fixed in their ways and in their minds. They can no longer learn. They can no longer change. The “sinners” are much better. They know they are sinners, they can learn, and they can change. So Jesus invites Matthew the tax collector, the public sinner, to join him. When Matthew’s friends, the tax collectors, hear that there is a man of God, Jesus, who accepts them as they are, they flock to him to celebrate the good news.
Now we all point our finger towards Pharisees. Look at your hand when you point, as you have three fingers pointing right back at yourself. When we go to sporting events, for example, we stand for the national anthem. The words of the song are from a poem about a battle during which the flag remained flying. But for the most part, although we may sing along, we don’t give much thought to the meaning of the words. And our participation doesn’t necessarily guarantee that we’ll be more committed to the flag or to our country. Rather, it’s something we do because we’re expected to do so. Just try sitting during the national anthem and you’ll know what I mean. There are also verbal rituals. “How are you?” we ask, oftentimes not really interested in the response. Nor are we terribly honest when we’re asked how we are. The point is simply this: We all engage in ritualistic behavior. And if you ask, why we’re doing it? It’s just because we’re in the habit of doing so; or because we’re expected to do so; or because we’re just unwilling to face the truth of our own emptiness?
Godliness is more than keeping the Law. If it was only a matter of observing the Law, the Pharisees would be saints. Godliness has more to do with our ability to admit that we are all sinners. This will make us more disposed to learn and to change our ways, more disposed to accept other people as they are.
We can "do sacrifices" left and right, but if our motive behind such sacrifice is not pleasing to God, then it is worthless. The fact is, all human beings are sinners. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Paul didn’t say just tax collectors have sinned, or just prostitutes or politicians or thieves or drug addicts have sinned. He said ALL. That means everyone.
The church is for sinners, and it is populated with nothing but sinners. If only sinless people were allowed to become members of a church, then in Protestant churches only Jesus would be allowed to join, and in Catholic churches only Jesus and Mary would be welcomed. Every church should have a huge banner hanging above the front doors: “Sinners Only. Perfect People Not Welcomed Here!” And the good news is that our God IS A God of Mercy.
We shall conclude with a prayer by Peter Marshall: “Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.A
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