The Eighth Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle C)

The tie in between today’s readings: Words and Deeds

Psalm 92:2-3; 13-16, Sirach 27:4-7, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, Luke 6:39-45

It is universally accepted that actions speak louder than words and it is refreshing when we find people of character that do what they say. All too often, in the general sea of humanity, however, it’s not the case. It is worse in the church where we announce to the world our higher moral standard. While we do accomplish good things, when we come up short society is all too eager to hit us with the hypocrite hammer. Fair or unfair, I know that a hypocrite lurks deep down inside each of us. After studying the Bible, one thing for certain is that God hates a hypocrite.

The problem with this play acting is that it is unconscious. Nobody wakes up and drinks coffee from their “World’s Biggest Hypocrite” mug. No. The hypocrite runs a self-deluded game of “let’s pretend” and defends himself with denials, deflections, and attacks. Take the Pharisees, hypocrisy’s poster boys, for example. They were respected, law abiding, and, in their world, the righteous descendants of Abraham. They were the good guys! Yet, when Jesus, the Truth of God personified, calls them out as hypocrites, they crucify Him. How could people so learned in the scriptures be so wrong? As we see in today’s reading (Luke 6:39-45) they were proud. And being proud, they were confident in their own abilities to lead the Jewish people on their road to the Lord, all the while never seeing the ditch that they all were heading toward. They believed in their insights to fix others and yet, never evaluated themselves. They strutted and crowed their piety so that everyone would know that they had the inside track to the Almighty. A case in point is one of the scariest parables in the Bible: The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14). It’s not the clueless Pharisee with the Theological degree spouting his goodness that frightens me. What gets me is that we often see ourselves as the repented Tax Collector and miss an important part of the story, which is the hypocrite in us will not even permit the consideration that we, in fact, may very well be the Pharisee!

Jesus once said to the crowd that you who are evil can give good things (Matthew 7:11). We have to understand that we are part of that evil crowd. Bad people are not just Hitler, Al Capone, or the annoying neighbor down the street. When we, like the Pharisee, compare our goodness to those who are the more morally challenged around us we will always come out on top. Tisk! Tisk! God and His holy perfection is our standard! How are you feeling now? That’s why we need a Savior. When we come to Jesus in faith for the forgiveness and receive our new nature it is only the beginning. The church, in essence, is the family of God and as a family each individual member is at a different stage of development. We and The Holy Spirit have our work cut out to make us more like Jesus in this life. It’s a growth process with advances and setbacks.

We have baggage. Upbringing, habits, and our lifestyles have to be scrutinized and conformed to the Bible. This takes humility and it’s hard. Coming to church and pretending to each other that we are farther along the piety road than we really are is just plain dumb. That is our hypocrisy. We should stop. Let’s admit that we are struggling to become the people God wants us to be. The Apostle Paul owned his failures. Peter had to be taken to task over backsliding into legalism. The early church contended with, among other things, social favoritism, drunkenness, and false-face love. What makes us think that we are any better than they? It’s time to trade in our pride, embrace the truth about our failing selves, confess our sins, have a little compassion for those around us, and instead of trying to fix them…pray!  

So, what now?  Slap on a bumper sticker that says, “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven.” and call it a day? Hardly. We need to run the race set before us. We treat God’s Word as a mirror to our souls and honestly deal with the smudges on our faces. Let’s fill our thoughts with heavenly perspectives, so that it comes out even in our speech (Sirach 27:4-7, Psalm 92:2-3; 13-16). When we fall, and we will…Get up! Forget what’s behind and press toward the high calling of Jesus and be confident that God, who began the good work of salvation in us, will complete it in Christ. Our Father gives us the victory through His Son. Therefore, be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). The world will know you by your works and glorify God, not you. That’s the way it should be.