A note of caution to some of us

“…All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt 23:12)

Matthew 23:1-12 (Year A: Fourth Sunday before Advent 5^th November 2017)

As we journey towards the end of another liturgical year with the focus on the Gospel of Matthew since its beginning, we encounter many sayings and warnings from Jesus – not directed against the ordinary mass of people but against the religious elites and authorities of his time. Last Sunday, we heard of the exchange involving Jesus and Pharisees about which was the greatest commandment. Jesus left them in no doubt that the entire edifice of the Law the Prophets hung on two commandments, only, namely, the love of God and the love of our neighbour.  This Sunday, Jesus launches into a full-scale attack on the teachers of the Law and the religious authorities.

If we are listening and hearing at all, it is not possible to read, hear or preach this Gospel passage without a slight flutter of disturbance to the mind. You see, the message is very blunt: those who sit in places of authority (the ‘scribes and the Pharisees’ of Jesus’ time) are not honest and do not live according to the precepts and maxims they preach. Moreover, they are more interested in social position, power, and (though Jesus spells it out in other places) money.

Why is the passage just a little bit disturbing to us today? If we are honest with ourselves, all of us can admit to some affinity with the Pharisees.  Which one of us does not enjoy a little bit of social prestige and notoriety. If it is not the size of our houses or cars (assuming we have same) it is the string of initials after names and the use of terms of reverence in being addressed. Let’s be even more honest, in many of the ways that we practice liturgy and church ritual we like, facilitate and go along with the outer things of hierarchy and status of positioning, clothing, and title. I don’t need to explain what is meant here.

Lest readers immediately jump to a conclusion that we must all cast off hierarchy, ritual and ceremony let me be clear: what matters is the human heart and the relationships among us that spring from the heart. All of these other things are of lesser consequence.  Even still, it would be a great scandal, if, in assuming the office of leadership, preaching or sacramental ministry we were to say one thing and, by our very lives, do another thing. Much harm is done to the whole body of Christ including those distanced from church and from organised religion.

Line by line

‘Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples…’ (v.1)

The scribes and Pharisees are not listening. Jesus now turns to the crowds and his disciples – those who must listen to and follow their religious leaders. But, Jesus is also speaking to his disciples who, in time, will become leaders in their communities and, thereby, lay the foundations for churches in faraway places.

 ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat’ (v.2)

Moses was, to the Jewish people, the great Law giver. The reluctant leader servant who found himself at the head of a chosen and specially loved people communicated the Law to God’s people. The seat (‘cathedra’ in Latin or ‘cathaoir’ in Irish) symbolises, here, a position of authority and teaching authority at that. This is why the Bishop’s Throne or seat is so prominent in each diocese or, indeed, the chair of the President or Presider at the Sacred Liturgy.  He or she who sits on this seat is tasked with preaching the gospel, maintaining unity of the disciples and leading all under his or her care forward.  A heavy responsibility rests on the one chosen to do this.

‘..therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach.’ (v.3)

This seems harsh. However, Jesus – and those who followed him in the Matthean community – spoke from hard experience.  In the history of the Christian church, we cannot deny the many times that those entrusted with authority to teach and ‘govern’ were either not up to the task or failed, abysmally, to match the message with their deeds (and too often their lack of deeds when it really mattered).  There may be a temptation to point to and lay the blame upon those in positions of leadership.  Which one of us can claim that we live fully according to the message we profess and believe in?  Yet, the whole community must be vigilant to hold those in leadership to account as well as to support them in their difficult mission.

We may note that, in this and other passages, Jesus is not asking his disciples to repudiate the teaching of the scribes but, rather, to discern the essential truth contained within their message and so badly attested by their failure to match words with deeds. In the final analysis, we must obey our informed consciences and God and not men or women even if their teaching is for the most part true (Acts 5:27-32).

‘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.’ (v. 4)

Here is the rub. Even if the teachers of the Law and the Scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time and our time were to be completely correct in their interpretation and application of the Law, they would have still failed were it a case of laying burdens on others while unwilling to lift a finger to move them. Perhaps, this matter has been most evident of late in regards to the intimate details of personal relationships and received teachings on sexuality. For sure, we must be faithful to God’s plan and will for our lives and we must be faithful to the teaching and tradition of the Gospel. But, do we know God’s plan in each and every situation? Do we know as much as God knows about this relationship and that case?  Do we willingly or otherwise add to the trauma of those who have undergone breakdown in the past and now find themselves in new relationships?  Do we preach a message of do’s and don’ts without lifting a finger to address the painful and scandalous circumstances in which people find themselves as a result of abuse, oppression or lack of rights?

The caution against tying up heavy burdens on others is instanced in the very difficult and sensitive area of new life and what is sometimes referred to as ‘crisis pregnancies’.  People of good will and compassion are very right to acknowledge, value and defend innocent life before birth.  To do and think otherwise is unthinkable for compassionate beings. Yet, in defending life – all life – are there some who add to the burden by judging and even criminalising those whose circumstances some of us would never imagine or bear?  Do we really know what it is like to be in a situation of despair and darkness?  Do we strive with all our beings to transform social conditions that no woman or girl feels they have no other option except that which we find unthinkable?

‘They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.’ (v. 5)

Oh yes, we love dressing up and wearing strange hats and long medieval gowns. Whether in the rituals of academia and graduation ceremonies or in the hallowed halls of the legal profession and the courts or in the cathedrals, churches and religious houses of the Christian church. Now, there is nothing very wrong with dressing up or, indeed, in the use of titles such as your honour, my Lord, your Excellency, Reverend, Doctor, Professor, Father, etc. However, we need to put first things first – decency, common sense, kindness, justice and compassion. Often, power, learning and social privilege get in the way so that the dressing up bit and the conferring of grand titles is worse than silly or mildly harmless practices for middle-aged men who like a bit of colour and fame in the limelight.

‘They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues’ (v. 6)

O yes they did and yes we do. Let’s be honest – really honest – one likes the limelight and the honour whether at the top wedding table or in the top pews or in the sanctuary or chancel. ‘For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues … ‘ (Luke 11:43). A respected Roman Catholic scholar, John McKenzie, S.J., comments on this verse:

These are ordinary marks of human vanity, and the protocol of precedence in modern times is as rigorous as anything found in Pharisaism.

In other words, we should be careful about throwing stones at Pharisees from within our modern church glasshouses!

‘and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, 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.  (v. 7—10)

If we were to take the Bible literally all the time an in all verses these lines would throw much of contemporary church practice into chaos. One is not suggesting such a radical approach (though one retains a certain sympathy for the ultra-anabaptist cults such as the Amish and Quaker traditions) is required. However, taking the context and overall thrust of new testament scripture verses such as these should caution against excesses of clericalism not to mention silly controversies over very second-order matters. In this regard the more high-end of Christian tradition does not have a monopoly of clericalism and associated second-order controversies. That said, charity, patience, tact and pragmatism is a good policy when it comes to various details of church life, liturgical practice, the lay-out of places of worship and ecclesiastical polity in general.

The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. (v. 11-12)

In the scriptures, to exalt is a term applied, typically, to God. Occasionally, it is applied to human beings. Jesus warns about those who exalt themselves before God has a chance to exalt them!  In fact, in a pithy saying he says that those who initiate the first move get demoted from their assumed position of greatness while those who wait patiently on God’s wisdom experience an uplifting to a position of responsibility and service (uplifting comes with a high price).

But, here is the rub:

‘The greatest among you will be your servant.’ (v. 11)

Servant leadership is the way.

We should be very careful in censoring those who ‘do not bother’ with organised religion or those who are openly hostile to it. Are those of us who profess faith and adherence to the creeds and the received tradition of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church to which all the Christian baptised belong actually live out the Gospel call? Do we put external and material goals ahead of right relationships and heart-full devotion to God? In other words, are we for real or not?  I am among those who believe – rightly or wrongly – that there is a great hope for our world and our country. Why? Because the younger generations have a refreshing honesty and courage often lacking in those who came before. This is said while acknowledging the huge sacrifices and goodness of most our elders and those of us entering the senior years of life.