26 February 2013 - forget hypocrisy

26 February 2013 - forget hypocrisy 

Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.

We are called to holiness, not arbitrarily, but so for our good.

If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;

Today Jesus reminds us not to pursue these things for the sake of our self image.  The Pharisees already have their reward.

All their works are performed to be seen.

No amount of superficiality will make a difference in our plight.

“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”

But this is nevertheless a real danger.  We don't have phylacteries and tassels, necessarily, but being seen as good or disciplined can be a "consolation prize" for giving up the baser pleasures of the world.  Disagree?  Think of a time when our intention was misunderstood, when we were doing something altruistically and it was interpreted as selfishness.  How easy was it for us to just let that be?  We don't want to give scandal of course, but was it really that?  Wasn't it mainly that we need to be thought of as holy, more than the desire to actually be holy?

God will help us by showing us where we are inconsistent.  He will show us where we are merely superficial.  Our problem is often self-delusion in this regard, so in his mercy he will help us to see clearly.

“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.

Praise is the necessary self-emptying that puts God's glory before our own.  If we enter into praise sincerely it will undercut hypocrisy because we will care more about God getting the glory than we ourselves getting any recognition.

He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

Pridefully seeking self-image actually puts true fulfillment further and further from us.  Seeking God's glory and becoming self-forgetful paradoxically opens us to receive all the blessings which God has for us.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”