Alexander Woollcott is noted for saying, “All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.” There seems to be a sad amount of truth to that. If I’m driving down the road and I see a Five Guys restaurant I’m tempted to slow down, turn in, and enjoy a premium juicy burger with excellent fries. By contrast, if I’m driving down the road and see a farm stand advertising kale and asparagus I want to hit the accelerator and get away as soon as possible!
Why is this? While we certainly have self-control and can regularly make healthy choices, we seldom have cravings for things that are good for us. How often have you gone to bed at night and thought, “I can’t wait until morning! I’m excited that as soon as I get up I’m going to clean the house, then I get to pull weeds in the garden, and then I get to spend the rest of the day walking along roads to collect litter.” Are those not all good and necessary things? We may do them, and do them willingly, but we are not excited by them.
Why is it that consumptive and indulgent things excite us, but things that are productive don’t? It seems that the natural human condition is indulgent in things that aren’t good for us.
It also seems to be our nature to turn to ourselves for fulfilment and safety. We want to be able to do what we want, when we want. We want to be in control of our own destiny. We want our lives to be in our own power. Appealing as it is to have what we want and be in control, these are actually not good or healthy things for us. With thoughts like this in the back of our minds, let’s turn to our gospel reading.
You may remember from last week that Jesus was invited to have a dinner at a Pharisee’s house. Some lawyers were among the guests. Everyone was polite, except Jesus. He deliberately disregarded their rules of etiquette. Then he openly criticized the Pharisees and the lawyers. The passage ended with Jesus going outside and the scribes and Pharisees being hostile towards him. They decide to lay in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.
Then we pick up the story this week where a crowd, numbering in the thousands, has gathered around Jesus. Whoever all is in this crowd, they do not associate themselves with the Pharisees. Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees continues. We want to pay attention to how Jesus’ criticisms develop; for they build upon each other.
First, Jesus says to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. This phrase made perfect sense for its original readers but it gets muddled for us. We know what a hypocrite is. It is someone whose words and actions don’t line up. In ancient Greek a hypocrite was an actor on stage. An actor wore a mask and pretended to be someone else. Our translations into English are correct in using the word hypocrite, but here Jesus’ is using the Greek word the way Jews often did. That gave a slightly different, and deeper meaning. While hypocrite was the word for a professional actor, Jews often used it to refer to a person whose conduct was not determined by God, and is thus “godless”. That then makes Jesus words, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees; that is, their hypocrisy,” make more sense. Yeast and a professional actor don’t go together in an obvious way. But yeast as hidden corruption and hypocrisy as someone who’s conduct is not determined by God do fit together. Jesus’ warning is that the Pharisees make a show of being religious and faithful, but inside their lives are not determined by God’s will.
“All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening,” said Alexander Woollcott. It appears that these motives are what are driving the Pharisees Jesus criticizes. While their lives appear to be religious, they are not being driven by God. Their apparent religious practices are really just ways to indulge their base motives. Jesus says the truth of their hearts will be exposed.
Then Jesus turns to his own followers with a warnings to that they do not fall into doing the same things. He says, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.” If the Pharisees and lawyers were hostile towards Jesus, they are his enemies. But he is calling this crowd friends. He warns them that those in power may not like them turning to him. Their internal motives are godless after all. So the crowds should be surprised if their commitment to Jesus costs them. Jesus tells them that the real one they should be afraid of is the one who can cast into hell. He says, “Yes, I tell you, fear him!” But this is an ironic teaching. In the midst of hostile situations in life where people might be tempted to renounce their faith, God is the only one who should actually be feared. So they should stand strong in their faith. Of course! And yet Jesus has just called them “friends”. The character of God towards friends is such that we need not fear Him!
But let’s not get cocky. Even as we have God in our hearts and may not driven by godlessness like the Pharisees, there is still that unavoidable truth that all we like is either immoral, illegal, or fattening. We just can’t seem to naturally crave that which is good for us and draws us towards God. Owning up to our natural tendency to turn to everywhere but God is important. If we don’t own up to that tendency we’re thinking we are naturally good – and like the Pharisees and lawyers we read about last week.
As the story progresses we see that even the crowd Jesus just called friends is still prone to problems. They may like Jesus better than the Pharisees do, but they don’t really get what he is saying. Someone in the crowd says, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” What does this have to do with what Jesus has just been talking about? What does it have to do with authentic Spirit-filled witness towards Jesus? Nothing. Indeed the crowd is no better than the Pharisees. They’re just not quite as full of themselves for their own righteousness.
This man’s request prompts Jesus to tell the parable of the rich fool. This parable also gets at the root of human nature that exists in all of us. If we can, we’d rather trust in ourselves rather than in God.
In the parable the land of a rich man produces abundantly. He says to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” What should he do? He should sell the excess, that’s what he should do! By describing this man as a rich landowner Jesus sets him apart from the normal subsistence farmer; or even a farmer is fairly well off. This man is rich. He owns a lot; enough that if he withholds his grain from the market he can drive up the market price. So, in his greed he decides to keep his abundance. That will inflate the market price, which will mean even more money for him. Instead of sharing in his abundance he’s going to use it to further his own desires. He says to his soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
Notice he does not thank God for his abundance. He also does not look to God for his sense of security or identity. He is going to be his own source of selfhood. His wealth will secure his needs and his status. Immoral, illegal, or fattening; this man is able to indulge and he intends to.
Jesus concludes the parable, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” The man in the parable is truly a fool. He has put his focus entirely on the wrong things. He has fallen into the godless trap of thinking that he himself is his own source of self. He’s going to rely on his own strength and prowess to succeed.
We want to be in control of our own destiny. But everything we really want is immoral, illegal, or fattening. That doesn’t take us anywhere good. Jesus said that those who want to save their life will lose it. But those who lose their life will save it. It is a reversal that is true.
We can’t be counted on to know or to want what is truly good for us. It all looks good but it takes us the wrong way. What takes us the right way is legal, moral, and wholesome. It doesn’t look good at first. It may not taste good either. But it is the path to strength. We pray to God to give us that strength and the knowledge to stay focused on him and to truly do what builds us for God’s kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment