Realizing I am a Pharisee
Today’s readings are an indictment of pride, my pride, the sort of “harmless” pride that most people have. Take the first words from the first reading “Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah!” Who do I identify with in these lines? At first I am the speaker, the one who warns others; on second thought, I wonder: am I a prince of Sodom or one of the people of Gomorrah?
In the Gospel, I have the same reaction: “those pharisaical Pharisees, always getting called out by Jesus. What did those villains do this time?” What are the sins of the Pharisees here? Their sin begins with the human desire to be acknowledged, validated, seen. They suffer, and they want others to see how much they suffer. They care, and they want others to see how much they care. They are intelligent, and wise, and faithful, and they want others to see how they are intelligent, wise, and faithful.
The desire to be seen, heard, acknowledged, validated…by who?
If the answer is other people, then we have a desire that will lead us to sin. If the answer is God, then our desire will lead us to holiness.
Whenever I share my lesson plan with a coworker, because I think it is pretty good and I want them to compliment it, I commit the sin of the Pharisees. Whenever I recount how many essays I knocked out last night to my team, because I want them to think of me as a hard worker, I commit this sin. When I share with a friend that one of my students got into an Ivy league school, because I want them to think I am a good teacher, I commit this sin.
So I find that I am in a tough spot, in the Gospel. I am the person that Christ is chastising. But as always, the Lord says: “Come now, let us set things right…Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow.”
I pray, this Lent, that I will be “willing, and obey” and “eat the good things of the land.” And I remember, if I “refuse and resist, the sword shall consume” me.
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In the Gospel, I have the same reaction: “those pharisaical Pharisees, always getting called out by Jesus. What did those villains do this time?” What are the sins of the Pharisees here? Their sin begins with the human desire to be acknowledged, validated, seen. They suffer, and they want others to see how much they suffer. They care, and they want others to see how much they care. They are intelligent, and wise, and faithful, and they want others to see how they are intelligent, wise, and faithful.
The desire to be seen, heard, acknowledged, validated…by who?
If the answer is other people, then we have a desire that will lead us to sin. If the answer is God, then our desire will lead us to holiness.
Whenever I share my lesson plan with a coworker, because I think it is pretty good and I want them to compliment it, I commit the sin of the Pharisees. Whenever I recount how many essays I knocked out last night to my team, because I want them to think of me as a hard worker, I commit this sin. When I share with a friend that one of my students got into an Ivy league school, because I want them to think I am a good teacher, I commit this sin.
So I find that I am in a tough spot, in the Gospel. I am the person that Christ is chastising. But as always, the Lord says: “Come now, let us set things right…Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow.”
I pray, this Lent, that I will be “willing, and obey” and “eat the good things of the land.” And I remember, if I “refuse and resist, the sword shall consume” me.
Author: Drew Maddox, English Department
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