The Pharisee Trap

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners (Gospel of Mark)

13Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This passage is used time and time again to show Christians that we have to be careful about becoming prejudiced against those we see as "less than."  That isn't a bad thing; clearly, Jesus meant to teach the uncomfortable righteous that he Savior had come for the least of these. I wonder how many miss the clues  in the very next passage about why the Pharisees were predisposed in that way.

18Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

19Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

Most will focus on Jesus' teaching that His disciples should be in a spirit of celebration while the Son of God was with them; but, let's focus our attention, for a bit, on the passage immediately before Jesus' response. The Pharisees who grumbled about Jesus having a meal with sinners were fasting, along with John the Baptist's disciples, in an act of piety.  This means a couple of things: 1) they were hungry when this happened...and we know how much more patient that makes people, and, 2) the entire community of religious people were fasting together while Jesus and His disciples were having a feast with tax collectors.

Let's back up for a minute; while many people know Pharisees as teachers of the law and the role they played in attacking Jesus' ministry, few know the background of the Pharisee movement. The movement started after  the Greeks conquered the Jewish Kingdom set up by the Maccabees (the ancestors of Herod). Alexander the Great not only brought Greek rule to the Holy Land, he also brought Greek culture.  While Jews were not forced to abandon their religious tradition, quickly the Greek "Hellenism" permeated the culture. Soon, as had been the case with many other foreign rulers in Israel, the culture started affecting the practice of Judaism. In fact the most popular translation of what we know as the Old Testament becomes a Greek translation (what would later be called the Septuagint) of the original Hebrew.

Let's keep in mind what we know from the Old Testament; the Bible is very clear that the influence of foreign nations on Israel is always bad, and almost always leads to the pain and suffering of the Hebrews. Those who became Pharisees, devout Jews who were experts on the scripture, knew this. The Pharisee movement originates from this desire to keep Israel Holy and separated from the foreign ideas which have meant doom and exile. The Pharisees became the watchdogs, making sure that the mistakes of the pre-exile (having idols, adopting foreign gods, slipping into morality) did not take place again.

Understanding a bit of the history may allow us to understand the Pharisees' feelings a bit more when they saw Jesus eating with tax collectors (local people empowered by the Romans to take funds from locals in support of a foreign government, often with a commission thrown in). This cozying up with the agents of a foreign government was exactly why they had formed a watch on such things hundreds of years before.

The trap, of course, is that they were so focused on stopping a particular kind of threat that they missed the role of God in the world around them. They were so concentrated on keeping the scripture pristine, they missed the object of its lessons. They were so busy being pious, that they missed the party.

There have been enough cliché comparisons of the Pharisees to others over the years, largely making both out to be nasty and self-righteous. I want to speak more towards people of noble concern.  Many of us keep a watch out for some sort of danger in the lives of our friends, families, churches, country, etc... Whether or not we realize it, we have created litmus tests, so that the object of our devotion cannot be infected by foreign items that might ruin it. This fear creates a rigidity in us that can often lead to polarizing opinions based mainly on fear rather that conviction.

While none of us may look as silly as a group of hungry Pharisees scolding Christ about doing what is Holy before God, we still might appear silly enough, or mean enough, or uncaring enough when we allow other concerns (other than loving God and each other with our full hearts) to become our idol. The Pharisees, on the whole, were not bad people...they were good people who allowed themselves to become overly concerned about the wrong thing. Good people being concerned about the wrong things can travel some very dark paths...just as much today as thousands of years ago. 

Confusing the Darkness

⁴ "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it." John 1:4-5

 As most of you know, I am a theology geek. Some folks like to talk about the minutia of every scene in the Lord of the Rings, some folks revel in the details of Coach bags, others can tell you every statistical detail of the New York Mets for the last 50 years (poor souls). For me, I really dig the discussions, arguments, and studies on small details of scripture. One of my favorite discussions is about John 5.

If you look at your various Bible  translations (NRSV, King James, etc...)  of this verse, you will note that different translators come up with different solutions for how to translate the Greek word κατέλαβεν. In the NIV, which is where I took the scripture from above, it is translated as "understood;" but, other translations record it as "overcome," "overtake," or "overpowered." I wouldn't be surprised if you had only really been exposed to one of these other translations.  It's one of those times  where, simply put, the English just doesn't do the Greek  justice.  None of these translations is  wrong, per se, but, all of them are incomplete. The term clearly means all of the above; it is one of those beautiful double entendres available to the Greek writer which is unavailable to the English translator.

Many of us went to candlelight services on Christmas Eve; some of us  even heard this verse read during the service. I encourage you, regardless of the translation used, to think through the total meaning of what this verse says:

If I step into a room that is dark and turn on a light, the darkness vanishes; but, in the Gospel of John it is made clear that there is a light which shines on us, yet darkness is still there. Why?

 If we try and puzzle through this, two thoughts jump to mind: 1) the light must be a very weak light (a candlelight in a dark forest), or 2) the light is very focused and not available for everyone ( a flashlight pointed at one section of a large, dark room).  If we keep reading the Gospel, though, we learn that neither of these is an option. The light of God is "The true light that gives light to every man" (John 1:9). The light of God is all around us, is brought to each of us, and has not been overcome by the darkness.

And, yet....the darkness is still there.....

When I read John 1:4-5 from the NIV (and other similar translations), the part that strikes me the most is that the text clearly says that the light has entered the world, but, the darkness has not understood it. My expectation would be for the scripture to state that the light has entered the world but,we didn't understand it. Generally, the problem is user error...we simply haven't understood the Gospel well enough to adjust our perspectives; but, that's not the case here.  There are plenty of scripture passages which talk about our failure to understand Christ's message; but, in this passage, the scripture points to the inability of the darkness to comprehend the light. We have a tendency to think of this darkness as a situation, or just the way things are... a non-sentient background that we just have to get used to. Within the context of this passage, however, that is not the case. In this passage, the darkness is a conscious force arrayed against us; but, it is also a conscious force which is ignorant of the ultimate foundation of reality. I think this has a special meaning for us this year.

Anyone who has watched the gut-wrenching footage from Newtown, Connecticut, or the plight of people escaping death and destruction in Syria cannot help but understand that there is darkness in the world.  It's a darkness that we know exists, that we often recognize when it occurs; but that, deep in our soul, is ultimately confusing to us. We just can't understand why the darkness exists and why God allows it to continue to exist.

Something to think about as we struggle to reconcile acts that no sane person could truly understand is that, perhaps,  the ultimate ignorance isn't ours at all. When everything is out of whack, maybe the adjustment issue isn't all on our shoulders.... perhaps the true confusion belongs to a darkness that doesn't understand that there is a final act to this play beyond its reach and perversion.

When Jesus came to us those many years ago, the darkness didn't disappear; but, it was put on notice. Many times in our lives, the darkness seems to be all around us.  In the midst of these dark events, though, we are given a light to hold onto. The darkness, and dark people, in the world can't (or don't choose to) understand the truth that the light brings, but, neither can they overtake it. The great gift of the season for us is that, amidst darkness and confusion, the light of truth shines on us...and it will not go away.

  Wherever you are this year, I hope you and your family are especially blessed this Christmas...hold onto the light.....

Christmas Fruit

Mark 12:12-25

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’
¹⁸And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^* went out of the city.
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ ²²Jesus answered them, ‘Have^* faith in God. ²³Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. ²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received^* it, and it will be yours.
25 ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.'

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Many people are familiar with the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple...overturning tables and berating the business of money-changing and sacrifice-purchasing in the Temple's outer courts. What many people often miss is the story of the fig tree that surrounds the Temple story and gives greater context to it. The author of Mark often uses these "aside" stories immediately before stories of significance in order to demonstrate the larger meaning of specific historical events.

The story about the fig tree is a bit odd: Jesus is hungry when He notices a fig tree in the distance. The fig tree looks green and healthy from a distance, so He rides over to the tree in order to pick some fruit. When He arrives at the tree, though, there is no fruit to be had. The tree looked healthy enough from a distance; but, bore no fruit. Jesus makes a quick judgment on the tree and curses it. After Jesus cleans the Temple, the disciples notice (a day after they had seen Jesus curse the healthy-looking tree) that the tree has died.

Of course, it is easy to compare the story of the fig tree to the story of the Temple cleansing. Much like the fig tree, the Temple appeared vibrant and alive from a distance. The entire country came through the gates of the Temple, and the outer courts were brisk with activity. People came from miles around to offer sacrifices to God and participate in prayers. Of course, also like the fig tree, Jesus found that, up close, all the activity of the Temple was bearing no fruit. The hustle and bustle of Temple activity was not bringing people closer to God or their neighbors...in fact, people were getting cheated in the very Temple itself. So, like the fig tree, Jesus curses the Temple. It only took a day for the fig tree to be destroyed...it would take about 40 years longer for the Temple to meet that same conclusion.

Around our home, a whole lot of holiday activity is going on. We sent out a boatload of Christmas cards, my wife is singing in the Christmas Eve service, I'm getting things together for a new small group, decorations are all over the place, and we just finished shoveling out of the 2nd largest snow storm in Philadelphia's recorded history. To put it bluntly, Christmas is a busy time.

All of the activities I mentioned are good activities and/or necessary ones...there is nothing wrong with them and, quite the contrary, there can be so much that is beneficial from them. As we know, though, it is very easy to allow the activity to go on and leave the heart behind. When we do all of the various things around the house, I am trying to be intentional about finding the fruit in the activities. Are we reaching out to people and caring for them? Is the message of Christmas being spread? Have we become like that little fig tree that looks so alive, yet is really dead to all good purposes?

I think we are doing o.k. in this regard; certainly not perfect, we always can do better. We need to keep focus on the fruits of the activities we are taking place in...regardless of the beauty of our lives to passer-bys, we are only truly alive is we are fruitful to the world around us.

I hope the peace and mercy of the Christmas season is upon you, and that your lives are truly fruitful!

New Skins

Mark 2:21-22

21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins."


I'm living the saga of the twenty-year-old house. Apparently, at twenty-years-old, many pieces of a house that you never think about start becoming worn and need to be replaced. A few months ago, I replaced the water pressure reduction valve; the laundry sink was next to go, followed by nearly every window in the house. Little changes can make a big difference, and the house is a more comfortable place with all of these adjustments.

Sometimes, though, you have to know when the little adjustments aren't making life any better, whatsoever. My wife's car has been a solid family auto for nine years. It still looks pretty good, and drives to my wife's place of employment safely. That said, we are starting to see the tell-tale signs that its time of service is coming to an end. The maintainence trips to the mechanic are becoming much more frequent, and the oil leaks are starting to grow. Any expense we would spend to try and correct the real problem of the car (age) would overspend the usefulness of the endeavor. It simply is time to retire the car for a new one...if we wait much longer, we won't get a good trade and the safety issue will begin to be a factor.

The Pharisees lived by tradition. Their role in Jewish society was guide, teacher, and attorney...showing the population how individual actions in life could be done within the context and guidelines of the Law. The full execution of the Law had become fairly complex, so, much like our own legal code, normal people needed expert guidance in order to navigate its waters.

We can imagine, therefore, why the Pharisees were so troubled by the parable of the wine skins. In the midst of discussions about Christ's obedience to the Law, He explains to the Pharisees that the old system of obedience, from which they drew so much of their prestige and importance to society, needed to be discarded in order to make way for a new Covenant. Christ was not discarding the Law; rather, He was dismissing the man-made complications and confusion which had been added by the lawyers and scribes. Instead of trying to repair these legal codes, Christ decides that they must be wiped away. His new wine will not fit in the old wineskins (a very clear metaphor...as new wine in old wineskins would simply explode); new wineskins must be brought to use.

The Pharisees' reaction is not unpredictable. Much like accountants learning that the nation is going to a flat tax, they see their livelihood and control fading into peril. Control can be gained over people if you subject them to a complicated system that only you understand (or, at the very least, that you understand much more than they do). In the end, this regard for "the way things are" can be perverted into a lust for control.

Mature Christians need to pay heed to the dangers of lording ritual and routine over the unchurched. Having respect for the Word of God can be perverted into exclusionary tactics. Do the least of these feel welcomed and loved? Do we have a caste system of piety in our congregations? How simple is our message of grace and faith to those who need it?

We may need to check our wineskins.....

The Holy Spirit and the Blocked Path

Acts 16:6-10
6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

You hear a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit allows some men to preach great sermons, others to cast out demons, many to make it through terrible tragedy. It provided the power needed to start the church and send the Apostles to the ends of the Earth, and it allowed those same Apostles to heal in Christ's name.

What you don't hear a lot about is the obstructionist quality of the Holy Spirit; the Spirit that forbids you from preaching well, that stops particular endeavors, and that sets us off on a path entirely not of our choosing.

In the beginning of Paul's ministry, he received many lessons in both sides of the Spirit's power. Blinded by the power of the Spirit, healed by the power of the Spirit, launched into the ministry by the Spirit, and blockaded by the same Spirit.

Paul's original destination was set to be India, perhaps to the Jewish diaspora community that would later be journeyed to by the Apostle Thomas. Paul, as we well know, was a determined, resourceful man who was willing to overcome obstacles in order to achieve the goals of the ministry. Yet, in a very matter-of-fact way, we are told that the Holy Spirit blocked this path and, much like with Jonah in the Old Testament, kept closing down options until Paul reached the place he was supposed to be.

Paul found his direction in the Spirit through trial and error. Convinced of the certainty of one path, he trudged forward only to be blocked. Instead of trying to force the issue, he reassessed his mission, went forward again, and then adjusted with the next block.

A number of churches in Midian have great trouble with the obstructionist Spirit. Huge building campaigns go awry, ministries fail to start, desired populations fail to come to church, and through all of this the belief is that the Holy Spirit must be waiting on the proper show of faith before He grants the desires of the church leadership. In some cases, faith like this is rewarded, in many other cases, true faithfulness is understanding that the power of the Holy Spirit frustrates as many desires as it fulfills, and is very much in the business of changing human direction.

Pauls inconvenience led to the conversion of the Gentile world, and the eventual conversion of the Roman Empire. His realization of the Spirit's will led to the accomplishment of great feats, even amongst his own personal frustration. When we face an obstacle in Midian, we need to keep in mind that the Spirit does not always light the path He wishes us to take; sometimes He darkens all the other paths in contention.

Forgiveness

"We consider ourselves pilgrims and strangers going through this life on Earth," he said. "Our citizenship is not here on Earth."

Andrew Troyer, quoted in a piece from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is a member of an Amish community. His particular community suffered an unspeakable horror: the massacre of of 10 Amish schoolgirls by milk truck driver Charles Carl.

The Amish community, already looked at as strange by many for their particularly rigid code of self-discipline and easily-identifiable dress, gained even more incredulous looks for a quality sometimes more rare than even a horse-drawn buggy...forgiveness.

Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer's burial; and the killer's widow spoke often of the communities kindness to her and her children (including a fund which was set up specifically to help them with their needs).

The capacity of this community to not only say a phrase of forgiveness; but, actually follow through with dedicated acts of kindness, was unusual in the least. Many other communities would be spitting on the killer's grave instead of buying flowers for the widow. The Amish, though, take forgiveness very seriously.

The story of the Apostle Paul is, in many ways, a story of forgiveness. One of the greatest persecutors of Christians, and complicit with the murder of Stephen (the first Christian martyr), Paul was on the short list of greatest enemies of the faith. His life journey, which was dependent upon his acute knowledge of legal fine print, and ability to demonstrate his higher degree of righteousness than those around him, was turned on its head on the road to Damascus.

Before his trials and tribulations of his ministry really began, he had to go before the council at Jerusalem and convince the Apostles that he, the man who had participated in the murder of one of their close friends, really wanted to spread the Gospel of Christ. That, my firends, is what you call a hard sell.

What would Paul have done if he had not been given forgiveness by his fellow Christians? He probably would have continued his mission; but, with information coming to beware this possible spy, it is hard to think that his works would have been as great...or as well recorded. This speaks nothing, of course, of the forgiveness that he had already received from Christ himself. IN a moment of clarity, Paul realizes the vanity of his life, and the bankrupt treasure of false righteousness that he had been storing away for his own ruin. Its no wonder one of Paul's great themes in all of his epistles is the theme of forgiveness and unity...forgiveness was the essence of his new life.

In Midian, there is a real challenge to forgive. It becomes a harsh necessity for many to overlook things, and call that approach forgiveness; but, ignoring pain and harboring anger does not equate to the forgiveness shown by Christ. Forgiveness moves right to the pain we feel and robs it of its rage through a willful application of love. Thought hard, and demanding of committed work, loving forgiveness of those who are our enemies is the centerpiece of our lives as Christians. The only softener in our death grip on sin is the hope that mercy can prevail. Jesus forgave us freely, thought we nailed Him to a cross; and part of our salvation is the healing that His mercy has guided us to.

A powerful lesson that the Amish have reminded us of once more...

The Balancing Act

Acts 18:1-4

1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. 4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

The big talk in Midian these days is about "work/life balance." Companies have started championing the cause, organizing several benefits to fit different lifestyles and giving discounts for healthy living. Some of this is motivated by retention, some is motivated by philosophy, a lot of it is motivated by health costs.

In a recent issue of Businessweek, there is an article about a company that has decided to fire workers who continue to smoke tobacco. According to the story, the company management and workers sat down to discuss rising health costs and determined that smokers were driving costs up disproportionately. The decision was made to compel all workers to stop smoking.

It has gotten me thinking about what the proper balance is between "work" and "life"...and why, in that ratio, we notice a separation at all. Is work not a part of our lives? We don't talk about TV/life balance, dinner/life balance, etc....

Biblically, work/life balance gets a pretty steady treatment in the New Testament...only work as much as you need to, in order to support your family and ministry. Paul is a good example of this; he continues to fund his ministry and personal needs through his particular trade (tent-making). The interesting aspect of the Acts passage above is that it paints Paul as a sort of "weekend Bible warrior," working during the week and then spending the weekend at the synagogue, trying to convert people to Christianity.

In America, more than Europe or most other places, there is a strong desire to find "meaning" in our employment. As I have talked with many friends and members of congregations, there are four main reasons people leave jobs: 1) money, 2) horrible boss, 3) lack of recognition, and 4) the job lacked importance or meaning. People often want to find a "vocation," which, in this case, I use to describe a life passion that you've figured out how to get paid for.

Some do find vocations....bully for them...most have a job that pays for financial responsibilities and the things that they enjoy. Some can never come to grips with this situation; they are determined to find a hidden batch of approval and/or meaning in their occupations; they climb the corporate ladder and/or spend long hours doing what they can to "get ahead." There have been a number of books written about this misappropriation of self-worth...this won't be one of them.

My personal interest is in settling into a work/life balance in which I work enough to do my part in an honest and respectable fashion; but, moves away from allowing career goals, successes, and failures to fashion my personal identity. If we are not careful, this mad rush for career affirmation can blind us to the affirmation that we really need. Henry Nouwen, the renowned spiritualist and Catholic priest, fought against this urge, himself, saying "But you have to pray. You have to listen to the voice who calls you the beloved, because otherwise you will run around begging for affirmation, for praise, for success. And then you're not free."

I don't want the first line in my obituary to be, "He was a legend in the Industry;" not that that would be a horrible statement; but, I don't think the return is worth the investment. I would prefer to be seen as a good colleague who was competent and did his part..... and I would like to see that comment at the bottom of my obituary, not at the top.

Most Christians don't even know that Paul was a tentmaker; yet, it is probably what he spent a majority of most of his weekdays doing. He was obviously good enough at it to keep earning a living; but, no one seems to greet Paul with statements like, "Hey, isn't that Paul, the King of Tents?"

Paul would have been passed over for promotion if he was working at a corporation. Paul would be the guy who "put in his 15; but didn't show up for many happy hours." Paul just isn't the guy you can count on for going "above and beyond." Paul always got "target achievment."

Work/life balance is a tricky issue in our Midian culture...it isn't just a battle for time, it's a battle for identity. We have to take a serious look at the affirmations we crave most; it tells us a lot about who we are.