Oh, You Pharisees!
Six-year-old David walked into the candy store and stood looking at the boxes of candy. Seeing him staring at the candy, an employee asked him what he was looking for. He asked, “How much is that big box of candy?” “$12.99” responded the worker. “What about the other one?” “$9.99” she answered. “What about the small one?” “That’s the cheapest we have; it is just $5.99. Why do you want to know the prices of our candy?” “I want to buy my Mommy a box of candy for her birthday.” “Hmm,” said the worker. “How much money do you have?” Searching in his pocket he pulled out a handful of coins. “This is all I have,” David said. Counting the money, the worker came up with 97 cents. Walking over to the store manager she had a brief conversation with him and came back with good news. “This is your lucky day; why that box of candy has been reduced to exactly 97 cents!” David handed her his fistful of change and walked happily out the door.
There is no way David could have afforded even the small box of candy, yet he loved his Mommy so much that he gave away everything he had to make her happy.
Do we love Jesus as much as David loved his mother? What are we willing to give up to have the eternal life that Jesus wants to give us.
Today’s gospel story reminds me of David (Luke 11:37-41)
“…a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at the table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him. ‘Oh, you Pharisees!’”
This must have been a good Pharisee. He was generous enough to have Jesus to dinner. Good chance a few of Jesus’ disciples were invited as well. This Pharisee was a devout man who inconvenienced himself by observing the prescribed rules of ritual cleansing. He, no doubt, assumed that God was impressed with him that he kept religious rules conscientiously. This was a sizable “donation” he was making to God—but it wasn’t everything he had.
“Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?”
The Pharisees went to extremes to keep a good religious appearance. This may have been a 1% “contribution” to God. Yet inside they were filled with pride, greed, disdain for the poor, and self-righteousness. Had they shown the contents of their hearts, people would have been disgusted at what they saw there. They kept 99% for themselves. Did they not know that God made their insides as well as their outsides? And the inside of a person is more sacred than what’s on their hands and feet. Sadly, their inside appearances didn’t seem to bother them. They were willing to give God a few pennies, but unlike David, they were not willing to give him all they had. What does this tell us about their level of love?
How could they clean up their hearts. Jesus told them:
“But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Giving to the poor was the same as giving to God. As they start giving away their riches to God’s poorest children, their insides would start becoming as clean as their outsides.
What if we took an inventory of how much we are willing to give to God. A small percentage of our money? An hour on Sunday? A few hours of service to the Church? How much do we love God? Are we willing to give everything we have for him, so that in turn we will receive the gift of eternal life
Our pastor reminded us Sunday that “eternal life is not free.” Though we can’t afford it, Jesus tells us that it still costs us everything we have. Are we willing to give up our “box of earthly treasures” so that in turn we might receive eternal life?
