S -
Matthew 27:3-7 (NLT): "When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that
Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the
thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and other leaders. "I
have sinned," he declared, "for I have betrayed an innocent
man." "What do we care?" they retorted. "That's your
problem." Then Judas threw the money onto the floor of the Temple and went
out and hanged himself. The leading priests picked up the money. "We can't
put it in the Temple treasury," they said, "since it's against the
law to accept money paid for murder." After some discussion they finally
decided to buy the potter's field, and they made it into a cemetery for
foreigners. "
O - The
conclusion of the leaders is quite curious.
It's against the law to accept money paid for murder but not against the
law to pay for it? Is not the entire law
summed up in a single command? The stark contradiction in the religious leaders
is actually the same contradiction in us all … it's just that ours is as
unapparent to us as theirs was to them.
Like them we use the Scriptures to justify our decisions and actions
rather than to rectify them. We handle
the word but do not allow the word to completely handle us. Then, having fully engaged a flagrant refusal
to do what the word says, we find a way to do something benevolent so we may
feel our way to a more pleasant conclusion.
No one thought Judas would ever bring the money back … their conclusion? 'That was a close one, but we
really dodged a major bullet there'. The
Lord is never shocked when we fail to do what we know we should. His shock, his hurt comes in refusing to
admit it and in judging others so harshly for the very things we are also
guilty of. Jesus always starts at
love, then leads with mercy and then faces the facts … making a way for all who
want to grow forward to do so. This is
how he calls all of us to act toward each other and even toward ourselves. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind soul
and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Do this, he said, and you will live … for all the law and prophets hang
on these two.
A - My
working definition of a Pharisee really does fit here. A Pharisee is someone who thinks they're in …
and I think I'm in. It is a function of
my fallen nature, limited perspective and diminished capacities to miss the
beam in my eye while calling attention to the sawdust in another's. The Lord knows I/we won't live
flawlessly. He died to deal with this
condition in us once and for all. He
does want us to live blamelessly … starting at love, leading with mercy and
then facing the facts in the reality of not only his sacrifice but his
resurrection from the dead. Hope springs
eternal in resurrection reality for this is the reality thrown open to all by
the cross. Come to the cross but please don't stop there … step forward into
resurrection life and hope for all.
Maybe one of the signs of leading with mercy is an indefatigable hope
for any and for all. In my
experience, the absence of hope for all and in all circumstances confirms an
absence of mercy. Jesus says to all
us Pharisees (Matthew 9:13 referencing Hosea 6:6) "Now go and learn the
meaning of this Scripture: `I want you to be merciful; I don't want your
sacrifices.' For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are
already good enough."
P - Lord
who is Almighty and All Merciful,
Thanks for loving all … even
us Pharisees and for making a way for all.
Thank you for how you've ALWAYS dealt with me by starting at love and
leading with mercy, facing the facts and making a way forward in hope. Thank you for calling me to recognize my
liability to be a Pharisee and to engage your apparatus for engaging all
people. Lord, forgive me my sins AND my
Pharisee blindness, judgment, curious conclusions and failed expressions of who
you really are. Thank you that the
presence of hope confirms the presence of mercy. Thank you for having mercy on me, a sinner
and for insisting I live this way toward all.
Leaning into the life that is
really life,
Steve
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