Saturday, April 28, 2012

Righteousness verses Self-Righteousness

Scripture Passage that Caught my attention today: Matthew 15:1-6 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’ then that person need not honor the father. 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God.

Observation: In the passage above the Pharisees were trying to prove their own righteousness and another’s unrighteousness. Jesus, however, pointed out that they were self serving in each case and were ignoring the larger aspects of the law in the process.

Application: At times we are all prone to smoke and mirrors. There is a fine but rather definite line between living as a somewhat righteous person and trying to either prove one’s righteousness or point out another’s unrighteousness. In doing either of the latter we usually retort to various ‘proof’ texts which normally involves ignoring the larger picture of faith.

Perhaps this is why even Jesus said at one point, “why do you call me good. No one is good except God alone.” The Apostle Paul said that no one is righteous for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

To be human is to be a sinner. But there are basically two types of sinners—those who realize the depth of their own sin and those who don’t. Those who don’t know the depth of their own sin tend to be especially prone to pointing out the sin of others, as if that should be some great surprise. Those who are aware of their own sin (and of God’s corresponding grace) tend to be much more forgiving on the whole and less inclined to focus on another’s sin.

We would all be better served to spend more time in the latter camp.

Prayer:
Lord, there’s a little Pharisee in all of us. There is also some of you in all of us. Please help us make more room for you and less room for more self-serving measures. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 2 Samuel 3, 1 Chronicles 12, and Matthew 15)

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