For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
God gives us rules to help us stay close to him. He describes to us the boundaries on the field so we know where out of bounds is and can avoid it. The world is full of people attempting to live selfishly for our own ends. It is full of idolatry which is ultimately at the service of self, pursuing comfort, riches, and security. Without realizing it we can be sucked into such pursuits. Even the bad things which people pursue are actually lesser goods. Because of this there is a good somewhere in those actions, but there is still a greater evil being overlooked. This means we often get lost if we try to figure things out on our own. God does not simply impose on us some abstract good. He is our ultimate good and the law is meant to teach us how to prefer nothing to him.
You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.
The Pharisees think that they are pursuing the will of God more zealously than those around them. But for them this law has become detached from its original purpose. Rather than helping them remain close to God it has simply become a point of pride that they observe their own traditions so thoroughly. It ends up being too external to be useful. Without the internal aspect that God cares about this hand washing and "purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds" is of no avail. The idea of purity is not wrong. But the way they are acting to purify themselves has become disconnected from God.
From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.
The law that helps us to realize the evils that defile us from within is a good thing. It is teaching us, showing us our distance from God, and drawing us back toward him. Yet without God's help even the law is insufficient.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
Only by the grace Jesus died to bring us can we be "doers of the word and not hearers only". And only by the actual doing, the seed of which God plants within us as a good and perfect gift, do we avoid the delusion of the Pharisees. Their doing is all for show on the surface. Our doing must begin with God's gift in the depths of our hearts.
We may read about care for orphans and widows and think we're back in mere externals but the opposite is truly the case. These are people made in the image of God and by loving them we remain close to God. It is this that gives evidence to the nations of our wisdom. The world may not believe our hierarchy with much readiness right now. But if another Saint Theresa of Calcutta appears they will still believe her life. They will still say, 'God is close to her.'
Let us humbly welcome the word, a seed planted in our hearts, that we may bear fruit for the Kingdom.
The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment