Thursday, December 8, 2011

Clean Up Your Act

Matthew 23:13-26
Our gospel reading for today includes words of Jesus’ condemning the actions of the religious elite. “Woe to you,” Jesus says, “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” (Matthew 23:25-26). Jesus is pointing to the ritual purification of household items, and using it as a parable of righteousness. Those who were worried about appearances but who cared little for God’s will were like cups and plates cleaned on the outside but left full of filth on the inside. “Get your priorities straight,” says Jesus. “Clean up your act.”

Most of us are preparing ourselves for the coming holidays by decorating, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and so forth. We worry about our budgets (so much to buy), about our weight (so much to eat), about our time (so much to do), about our obligations (so many folks to please). Are our priorities straight? Are we focused on the real point of the season, the needs of our world that Jesus addresses over and over again? Or are we cups and plates that are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside? Let’s put it another way: would you serve holiday guests on dishes that had not been washed? No! Nor should we serve God with hearts that have not been touched by the call for justice and righteousness.

Jesus’ words are stark and direct. What matters to God is a life of faithful obedience. Live in accordance with God’s will first and foremost, and let your actions be your gift to the world.

Prayer: Lord God, help us to live as you intend, with hearts set not on worldly desires, but on the grace and mercy that you seek. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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