Luke 11:37 – As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over. 42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.” 46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’ 50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.
52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” (NLT)
Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus opposed the practice of legalism. Legalism is following the letter of the law without any awareness of what the law points toward. When we read the Gospels, we discover that Jesus dealt with this issue many times. For all of Jesus’ teaching, many Christians still follow religious rules without any thought to the spirit of why they do what they do. This is seen most clearly in Christian worship services. We are very fortunate in that our congregation knows the value of offering different types of worship services. I would dare say that all Christians today worship far differently than the Christians of the early church. The history of Christian worship teaches us that worship styles have changed many times throughout the centuries. This does not necessarily mean that any particular style was wrong, just that they changed. My point is that worship must first be worship, regardless of what musical instruments are used, or what hymns are sung.
In the reading today, Jesus doesn’t confront worship style, but he does address various religious practices. The religious leaders of his day were expecting people to observe many rituals. If the people did not observe the rituals, they were looked down upon by the religious leaders. The key to this entire passage is found in the final verse: “You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.” Kingdom life begins when we live in a relationship with God. Our religious rituals and practices should help us live a kingdom life. They should be practiced in a way that reminds us of Jesus and his desire for our lives. If we observe rules only for the sake of observing rules, then like the religious leaders that Jesus spoke to, we have not entered the kingdom. When we expect others to observe the same rituals as we do, simply because that’s the way we do church, then we, too, have prevented others from entering the kingdom.
Let’s observe our religious rituals, but let us never forget why we do the things we do. Let us remember the One to whom all of our religious rituals should point towards. Let’s enter the kingdom!
Posted by Ramón Torres
Thank you for your comments. A good reminder of the importance of a personal relationship with God – praying, listening, following – and not letting my ego and desires lead the way.
Also, your comments remind me of how clearly God sees us, inside and out. Which is precisely why we sometimes hide or run from him (literally or figuratively). Not that I have ever done that 🙂