10-17-22 - Righteous

You can listen to this reflection here.

I used to be hyper-critical of myself (and others… those go hand-in-hand). One day I realized I had a trial going on inside my head 24/7. This court was always in session; the judge never called a recess. The prosecutors were vehement, the defense attorney was, well, defensive, always trying to excuse… it was exhausting, always trying to justify myself.

We have new parable this week; this one is not hard to interpret. Luke telegraphs the message up front: Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” That pretty much summed up the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, so focused on keeping the Law in minute detail they seemed to lose sight of both God and their neighbor.

There is not much plot to this story – it’s more a situation with two well-known “types”: a Pharisee (professional do-gooder) and a tax-collector (corrupt extortionist, scum of the earth). Both are praying in the temple, but the Pharisee thanks God that he is so much more holy than other people, “especially people like that tax collector over there.” The tax collector, meanwhile, is abjectly repentant, pleading God’s mercy. Jesus says that this is the one who will go home “justified… for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

This parable is not a call to be modest or circumspect about our gifts or accomplishments. It’s a reminder to be clear about whose judgment on us matters: not our own, and not other peoples, but God’s. The Pharisee in Jesus’ story, even as a caricature, is an excellent likeness of those who usurp God’s role as judge, who dare to declare themselves worthy and others unworthy. (And it’s just as wrong to declare ourselves “bad” and others “better.”).

The Pharisee makes a case for his own goodness – his fasting, tithing, religiosity. And that case is never enough – it has to be augmented by comparison to someone less “good." That’s a problem with self-righteousness – we never get to rest our case. We have to keep marshaling evidence, comparing ourselves. The tax collector, as numerous as his sins may be, is honest before God.

So – which are you more like today? If you feel unsure of your righteousness as a child of God, why? What evidence do you feel compelled to present? What does God say as you pray about that?

Do you find yourself comparing yourself to other people in order to feel better about yourself? If there’s anyone you feel is beneath you… pray for that person or group today. Try on the idea that you are no better or worse than another – though your actions might be.

We have received the Spirit of Christ and his righteousness; we are worthy because of who he is. We can silence the prosecutor and fire the defense attorney; in fact, we can disband the whole court, because God has provided us an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to stand with us. Actually, our case has already been decided – we’re good to go. Jesus said so.

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6-1-21 - Fighting Evil With Evil?

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

As Jesus' public ministry was getting under way, he got flack from many quarters. His family tried to shut him up, and next we see the scribes speak out against him: 

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”

The scribes' job was to painstakingly copy out Torah scrolls and perform other clerical duties in the Temple. This group had come from Jerusalem to either investigate or condemn Jesus – at the point we hear from them, they are clearly condemning. Unable to deny the spiritual power so evident in Jesus’ miracles of healing, they are nevertheless unwilling to credit it to the presence of God. They assert that it is by demonic power that Jesus casts out demons.

As usual, Jesus makes no defense for himself. Instead, he points out the logical fallacy in their theory. “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” That makes sense – we can’t draw on the power of evil to rid us of evil.

So much horror and heartbreak in the world arises from just that: using the arsenal of evil to stamp out some oppression or corruption or injustice that benefits some people at the expense of others. What is terrorism but the attempt to counter evil with evil, destruction with destruction? What are violent revolutions and “Robin Hood” schemes but combating evil with evil?

Are there times when even people rooted in godliness use violence as a weapon against evil? Of course. I think immediately of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazis for his part in a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Did this profoundly holy and faithful Christian leader fall into that trap – or is some evil so horrific it can only be met with violence?

One online piece about Bonhoeffer said, "Some of his later writings insist that many Christians do not take seriously enough the existence and power of evil." I imagine he made that choice to fight evil. He was forced to choose between two evils, really - letting the madman continue, or taking action to stop him. He made a choice, rooted in prayer and community, to take one life in hopes of saving millions. Many have done the same.

In the gospels, Jesus never does. He is often liberal with sarcasm, but never violence. His mission was to disable the devil, to “bind the strong man,” as he puts it. As Christians we claim he accomplished that – and yet, to live into that promise takes a very long view indeed, as we still see the power of evil wreaking horrendous destruction.

What are we to do in the face of evil forces? We are invited to deploy the arsenal of God – the power in the name of Jesus, the fierce advocacy of the Holy Spirit, the defensive weapons of the Spirit promised to us (Ephesians 6). And we have the power in prayer, the power that made galaxies ready to mobilize when we pray in faith, in the name and power and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the promise!

I sure would like to see heaven and earth move more quickly and clearly against certain evils that persist in cruel destruction around this world of ours. And yet I believe, sometimes against evidence, that the only force powerful enough to cast out evil is the love of God, wielded in prayer. As Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

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