Tuesday of the second week of Lent is taken from Matthew 23. Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, the Scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach, but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to carry, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries, lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation, Rabbi, as for you, do not be called rabbi. You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your Father, you have but one Father. In heaven, do not be called master, you have but one master. The greatest among you will be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. As clearly as Jesus points out the faults, the weaknesses, the disappointments that he has in the scribes and Pharisees, he wants to make a point about the office of being a leader, a Pharisee, a pastor, a bishop, a cardinal. But whatever it is, there’s something about that office that everyone should respect. But at the same time, the real issue for Jesus is who are they in that position? What is their focus? If their focus is themselves, they’re a great disappointment to God.
But if they’re intent on service, then there’s the perfect combination. The office, the authority, and the teaching that’s at the heart of Jesus, to be in service to one another. Please pause and reflect upon these images. And then I will close with a prayer, foreign closing prayer. Father, for all of us, you have some position. We all do, in some way that we never lean on.
That in a way that keeps us from understanding the core role of this life that we all share, filled with divine wisdom and divine power. But it’s always about service. It’s always about the other. It’s always about the call to be like the Christ. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
