Monday, June 11, 2018

Luke 12:1-3

Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.

True to you

In ancient Greece, actors on the stage were hupocrites, in modern English, hypocrites. They wore the face of another who was not them. Their surface appearance didn’t reveal the truth, the heart of the person.

This was the problem of the Pharisees, Jesus said. They played a role. Everything looked good and righteous, pious and faithful. But on the inside their hearts were far from the justice and compassion that are true faithfulness to God.

They were pretenders for the sake of how others see them, driven by the ego’s need to look good in the eyes of others.

All humanity shares this affliction, of course. Too much of what is inside us is not fit for public viewing—our sin, angry words, nasty thoughts, judgmental opinions. We, too, shape our public image so that is better than what we know of ourselves.

God knows all this, of course, and loves us anyway—fully, totally, extraordinarily … and forever. We are sinful, but beloved sinners who should not think ourselves shameful or worthless because we fall short of the goodness God seeks in us.

Acknowledging and confessing our sin is not an exercise in groveling. It is the cure for hypocrisy. It leads us into greater awareness of the Love who wants and transforms us into people who are not actors but true expressions of the Love God is for us … and for all.

Holy One, this day may we live not for the sake of how others see us, but only for the sake of your love.

Pr. David L. Miller