Thursday, December 12, 2013

Do We Have It Backwards?

The Pharisees really take a beating in today’s Gospel reading for the Church’s Daily Prayer for Thursday in the second week of Advent.  Today’s reading is known as the “woe” passages:
 
‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
 
‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.
 
‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
 
‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.  (Mt. 22:14-26).
 
The Pharisees do not fare well.  But what is the key issue Jesus is getting at here?  The Pharisees’ priorities are out of order and they are leading others in the same disordered direction: they place the gold in the sanctuary gold over the sanctuary itself; they place the gift on the altar over the altar itself; they place their monetary tithing over God’s call to justice; and they place outwardly cleanliness over the state of their hearts and souls.  In short, they have things in reverse.
 
During this Advent season, when the world around us is constantly telling us that it just isn’t Christmas unless we have a new luxury car in our driveways, we must stop and consider whether we, like the Pharisees, may have our priorities backwards.
 
Let us pray:  You have made for yourself O Lord, and as our patron St. Augustine prayed, our hearts are restless until they rest in you. We ask you to bless our restlessness in our search for you will live in our lives, and in the events confronting us. Finding you, may we be faithful to you God of history, faithful to Christ our Lord and Savior, faithful to the Church and her teaching and faithful to our particular state of life which we have chosen to serve you. This we ask of you loving Father, through Christ our Lord with lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit now and always. Amen.
 
CALENDAR REMINDERS
 
This Sunday, the 3rd Sunday in Advent, the Galveston Heritage Chorale will provide the music for the Eucharist.
 
We continue this Sunday at 11 a.m. with A World Awaits, Advent Reflections by C.S. Lewis.
 
On Thursday, 19 December, the Seaside Seniors will have their Christmas Party in Sutton Hall at St. Augustine’s where St. Nicholas will give out gifts and the Children’s Choir from St. Vincent’s House will provide holiday cheer.
 
On the 4th Sunday of Advent we will have a pot luck lunch following the Eucharist.
 
Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II will be at 4 PM.
 
Your servant in Christ,
 
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

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