Hypocrites

Matthew 23: 13-15 Hypocrites

15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

What is happening in this scripture? This line is taken from the tirade that Jesus leveled against the temple elite in Matthew. The lines are about those who have the knowledge yet lock people out of the kingdom. Here Jesus blasts them by his conviction that they are spreading their perversions of his beloved Judaism to new converts, telling them they make their new members twice as bad as they are. The distortions of God’s laws gradually grow even worse and farther and farther away from what God has told his people. Jesus railed against those who focused on the letters of the law instead of the spirit.

How is this happening in the world today? Do we realize how much we can influence other people? Have you ever noticed that when you walk around looking for someone to be angry with you can always find them? Have you ever felt pretty good until someone’s rudeness or unkindness or downright mean-ness brings you down into anger and despair? What do our children hear from the adults in their household? What do our coworkers hear from our mouths? What about our neighbors? How do others, who know you go to such and such a church or profess to follow Christ, how do they feel about the faith you espouse? Who are we converting, and what are we converting them into?
Seems to me that some of the meanest sounding people I encounter in today’s world are supposed to be Christians. Are you noticing that too, or is it just me? I’m not one of those who think Christians are supposed to be some kind of milk toasty folks with not much of an opinion about anything, or someone who never seems to get angry or upset, BUT…. I do think we are specifically and intentionally called to be forgiving, patient, generous and loving. I don’t think this works from the outside in. I don’t think you can fake it till you make it. I believe it is an inside job. When you really encounter the grace and love of God in Christ it feels good! It is joyful. It brings a peace and a feeling of fulfillment with it. In other words, it is transforming.
Maybe we ought to ask ourselves, often, “How does it feel to the other guy to be around me? How does it feel to my spouse, my kids, my co-workers? As TV’s Dr. Phil likes to ask, “How much fun are you to live with?” And if we are re-born by the grace of God, and we aren’t showing it today, why not? I know sometimes there is a very good answer. Perhaps we are in grief. Maybe we are struggling with an addiction, or some other private hell. Life is hard. But one good thing about being a follower of Christ: you don’t have to suffer alone. There are plenty of brothers and sisters who care about you and who will walk through the valley with you. Just being reminded of that, just feeling that grace coming from God and through them, sometimes is enough to get you through that valley.
The other way is hypocrisy and people can spot it a mile away. And when we carry it around with us, it influences others like mosquito carrying malaria. What makes it hypocritical? Remember the Pharisee in Luke who thanked God in prayer that he wasn’t like all those who are righteous or who don’t keep the laws, especially those tax collectors. Remember the prayer of the tax collector who sat in the synagogue saying, Lord have mercy on me, a terrible sinner? Jesus said that tax collector would be justified before God before the Pharisee would. He keeps taking us back to those two commandments: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. He never spent a great deal of time on the pages and pages of rules in Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Honor your parents. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not covet. Do not kill. Love God and your neighbor. Do not use God’s name for unholy purposes. That was pretty much it for Jesus. He made a point of breaking some of the Sanhedrin’s rules about who to eat with, whether or not to talk to women, or those outside of the faith, like Samaritans.
In my experience as a professional counselor, most of the anger people express is secondary to the fear and pain they are feeling. What Jesus requires of us is to be open, open to our pain and fear, and open to letting someone else who cares know about it. It is hard to live with an angry person, but we hasten to help someone in pain or fear. It is as if it creates a little crack for the light of God to shine in, and that’s where the work of transformation takes place, from the inside out.

How does this scripture pertain to me? Lord, I know that I am one breath away from spreading the disease of hate. Help me to be not another son of hell, or to create new ones. I know I can be a carrier of hate or of love. Help me to be what St. Francis of Assisi prayed to be: an instrument of your Peace. Where there is hatred Lord, transform me and help me to sow love. -RSP