Sixteen year old Jacob was in the habit of giving his mother a hug every time he came into the house. On the other hand, Jacob’s bedroom always looked as if a tornado had just struck it. Responding to his mother’s request that he clean his room, Jacob asked her the question: “Would you rather I give you a hug or clean my room?” Her response was: “Both.”
What about Jesus? Is he more interested in tidy rooms or in giving hugs? This is an issue raised in today’s gospel reading (Matthew 23:23-26).
“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.”
Jesus valued the “weightier things” of the law more than the details. Was he advocating a careless attitude toward religious practice in preference to bigger social issues? Let’s read on.
“But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.”
So Jesus is like Jacob’s mother. To the question, “What is important, the details of religious practice or the big issues like peace and justice?” Jesus replies, “Both.”
The religious culture of the day presented the scribes and Pharisees as the ones who had their acts together. They were offered as role models for the people to imitate. Yes, it was important that they devote themselves to religious practice, but it was more important that they manifest the heart of the Father in their attitudes and actions.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of the up and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that they outside also may be clean.”
Jesus tells these leaders that if they work on the inside of the cup first, the outside will take care of itself. Looking good on the outside is of no worth if one’s heart is filled with such things as “plunder”—using others to meet our own needs and “self-indulgence”—catering to our own pleasure rather than investing ourselves in doing God’s will.
We live in an age in which protest lines are getting longer, and confession lines are getting shorter. Jesus’ message to cleanse the inside of the cup first is highly relevant. When hearts turn back to God, other issues, like social injustice, begin to take care of themselves.
Many in our country are engaged in a game of “finger pointing.” One side points to the president for not doing his job well; another side points to the “left wingers” for their unrealistic approach to life. In either case we are looking to the outside rather than the inside. What if we all took a moment to point the finger toward ourselves, and made a “clean heart” our top priority?
Yes, we love God as best we can, and we show him how much we love him by doing all in our power to get our “rooms in order.”
“The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
