Sunday, 1 September 2024. Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8, Ps. 15:2-5, James 1:17-18,21-22,27, Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
“Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’” (Mark 7:6-7)
Last Sunday, we read that many of Jesus’ disciples left Him because, rather than multiply loaves for them, Jesus promised to give them His flesh and blood. Reflecting on today’s readings, I feel that the crowd who turned away from following Jesus deserves some commendation for their sincerity. They left Jesus because they did not understand or desire what He offered. Today, we find many people pretending to follow Jesus while their hearts are very far from Jesus.
Last Sunday, Joshua asked the people to choose who they wanted to serve. This question became very necessary because the people were neither hot nor cold. (Cf. Rev. 3:15-16). They claimed to be followers of God, but they still carried their idols around. Coincidentally, during this last week, some of our Gospel passages were taken from Matthew 23, where Jesus addressed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. The truth is that many Christians today (and religious leaders) are worse than these Scribes and Pharisees.
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “I like your Christ, but I don’t like your Christians because they are so unlike your Christ.” The biggest problem with Christianity today is what St. James refers to as self-deception in today’s second reading and what Jesus Christ refers to as lip service in our Gospel passage. Would it not be better to walk away like the crowds in Last Sunday’s Gospel passage than to remain like Peter and the other disciples even when we lack their conviction?
Peter said, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Many Christians’ lifestyles today contradict their belief that Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. Have you ever ordered an item online only for something entirely different to be delivered to you? This is how God feels when we fail to live up to His expectations in the name of impressing others.
How do we get entangled with self-deception and lip service? And how can we avoid falling into such traps? These are the lessons we shall learn today.
1. Cleanse the Inside and the Outside Would Become Clean
To avoid self-deception, Jesus says, “First, clean the inside of the cup.” In other words, the first step to becoming His true followers is to look honestly at ourselves, acknowledge the dirt within our hearts, and clean them up. The problem is that, like the scribes and Pharisees Jesus condemned, we always try to do the opposite; we clean the outside and abandon the inside.
In Matthew 23:25-28, Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside, they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First, clean the inside of the cup so that the outside may become clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside, they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So, you also, on the outside, look righteous to others, but inside, you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
The story is often told of a man who struggled with alcohol. On the day of his baptism, the priest said to him: “From today, your name is no longer ‘Drunkard’, you are now ‘Evangelist’,” and the whole congregation clapped for him. When he got home that day, he opened his fridge and behold, a bottle of beer called out his name. At first, he closed the fridge, saying: “I rebuke you.” After a while, he thought about it, brought out the bottle of beer, dipped it in water, and said: “From today, you are no longer ‘Beer’; you are now ‘Pure Water.’” He opened the bottle and gulped its entire content.
Avoid cosmetic repentance. Cleanse the inside. As Jesus said in today’s Gospel passage: “It is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23).
Now, let’s ask ourselves: What is inside me? How pure is my heart? What efforts do I make each day to purify my mind of evils such as immoral thoughts, pornographic images, wicked imaginations, vengeful feelings, criminal moves, deceptive tricks to dupe people, etc.? If the whole world could see my thoughts, would I be proud of what they would say?
2. You Are Not Who You Say You Are; You Are What You Do
A few years ago, I went to a busy market to purchase a particular electronic device, but the more I asked for it, the more I was referred elsewhere. I almost gave up until one shop owner told me to wait while he checked his warehouse. After about thirty minutes, the man came back full of smiles with the device I had requested. I was happy at first, but seeing what he held, my happiness dampened. It looked like something he picked from the dustbin. I asked him: “Sir, this doesn’t look original to me oh…”
I was still speaking when he quickly cut in and said: “Oga, na wetin dey inside na you dey buy oh, no be the carton.” That was a moment of enlightenment for me. How often have we bought things with beautiful wraps only to be disappointed with their content? We live in a world of “Packaging.” We are like people who paint our houses beautifully but bring deadly snakes into our bedrooms. At an ordination ceremony some time ago, a young man was caught trying to steal a car, but what was so shocking was that he was dressed as a Seminarian. The thief thought that by dressing as a seminarian, people would assume a priest sent him to repark the car.
Is there a contradiction between my carton (my packaging) and my real self? Do I project myself as a saint before others, whereas I am a demon inside in my heart? Refrain from being carried away with packaging (trying to look good) when your inside is not in order. If you are good on the inside, the world will seek you out.
3. Be Wise. Keep God’s Commandments. Avoid Lip Service
Just as the scribes and Pharisees could not hide their hypocrisy from Jesus (even though they cleverly deceived the people into thinking they were holy), there is no way we can hide our secrets from God. Let us reason together. Wouldn’t it be better not to have a skeleton in your cupboard than to wake up one day and find that the skeleton you kept is now haunting you like a ghost? Why live a double life? Every secret has a lifespan.
Jesus tells us: “For nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” (Matthew 10:26). Is there something bad I am planning to do now that I wouldn’t want people to know or hear about? God is saying to you right now: DON’T DO IT. Am I in a relationship with someone, and I am trying so hard to keep it secret? God says: END IT. Are there certain things on my phone that I wouldn’t want my spouse to see? God says: REMOVE THEM. Moses says in today’s first reading: “Keep them (the commandments) and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding.” This means we are foolish when we disobey God’s commandments.
Keeping God’s commandments begins with trust. We struggle to obey God’s commandments because we do not believe God can meet our heart’s desires. As students, we often struggle with keeping the school rules because we think those who made the rules are senseless or out of touch with what students need. How foolish are we to think we know better than God or that we can eat our cake and keep it?
4. Render Pure Worship to God
How do we render Pure Worship to God? St. James answers: “But be doers of the word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror, for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like…. If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:22-27)
This is pure religion: One, Charity to the orphans, widows, the afflicted, the needy, etc. (Corporal Works of MPurity Purityurity; freedom from immorality in our world. If we cannot help people and do not keep ourselves from worldliness, our going to church, our night vigils, our singing and dancing, tithes and offerings, are in vain! Without PurityyPurityurity, we waste time observing human traditions (rules and regulations). Imagine how Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath rule all because he healed a sick person on the Sabbath day. Sometimes, we leave the important aspects of our faith to chase after frivolities.
How sad would it be that on the last day, after all our pretence, God will deny us entry into heaven? In Luke 13:25-28, Jesus says: “When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply, he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you thrown out.”
Let us pray: Almighty, ever-living God, we repent of our lives of secrecy and religion of hypocrisy. Strengthen our resolve to render you only pure worship from this day. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. May God’s abundant blessings be upon us all. (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8, Ps. 15:2-5, James 1:17-18,21-22,27, Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu
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