1 Thess. 2:1–8
Ps. 139:1–9
Matt. 23:23–26
If you have driven past Kim’s and my little house on Walnut Street over the last few weeks, I am sorry. The hedges are growing a little too tall. The Jackson Vine has gotten out of control. The grass is starting to reach dangerous levels. To be frank we are being overrun. The rain and a newborn have prevented us from having ample time to care for much of our yard. We will get it fixed. Either that or our neighbors will forcibly remove us. One part of our yard does however look great.
Right by our back door a tiny patch of garden is in nearly pristine condition. My wife and mother-in-law have made sure that our little vegetable and herb garden are safe from weeds and varmints. To grow basil, thyme, mint, and rosemary has been one of the easiest parts of maintaining our yard. In fact, we have had to do almost nothing but pick weeds that are crowding these spices out. When Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees that they are tithing herbs, I am starting to understand more fully what he meant.
Jesus challenged the religious people of his day to see that they were focused on ritual practices that were easier to accomplish, while they neglected those more challenging aspects of living together in community—not unlike a tenant letting his yard grow up tall with weeds. Sometimes we turn our religious practices into a game with a certain set of rules. I will be good when I say my prayers, go to church, and give a tithe. The scribes and Pharisees created a similar system in their day. They wanted to project the illusion that they were making large sacrifices when what they really did was tie heavy burdens on others, while refraining from any sacrificial living themselves. Thus, they tithed mint, dill, and cumin—common herbs cheap and easy to grow—while they did not pursue justice, mercy, and faith. Just to be clear this is not just something true of previous religious folk, as I find Jesus’ words convicting of my own actions.
Our world exists in a perilous period. People are armed with hatred, fear, and distrust. If we focus only on doing what is easy for the sake of fulfilling some arbitrary goal—like the Pharisee’s tithing herbs—Christ’s words will have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. Jesus yearned for those religious people in his day to take up justice, mercy, and faith as their lives’ work. I believe Jesus still desires this from us.
How will we pursue justice? In what ways are we being merciful to others? When are we practicing our faith? These are wonderful starting questions for us to ponder, and let us start with the last first.
When are we practicing our faith? Our church is about to go through some big physical changes. This is an extremely exciting time and has required people here to tithe much more than a few herbs. Our church has been extremely generous. As we feel some displacement and discomfort, we have an opportunity to spend some time being faithful in different ways. We must trust that God will guide us through this. We must have faith in God.
In what ways are we being merciful to others? This might be the most readily available practice for us to engage in and at the same time the most difficult to live into with vigor. God is always merciful to us. We mess up 100 times a day and God forgives us each and every time. And yet, we so often turn to our neighbors expecting them to do even more. Whether on FaceBook, in the neighborhood, at church, or elsewhere we are called to let go of the debts we hold against others. Be merciful to others as God is merciful to us.
Finally, how will we pursue justice? This world is unjust to so many people because of where they were born, their skin color, their beliefs, their gender, their sexual orientation, or their identity in some other way. We who have been given power or privilege as a birthright must be advocates and allies for those who have not historically had a voice. This is challenging work, but God who is just yearns for this world to be like God’s Kingdom where all have a place at the table. We must seek justice as God fights for justice.
Living in the way of Christ is not easy. We cannot simply bring a few herbs and spices to the table and call it a day. Instead we who have been given grace by God are called into living out this grace with others. As followers of Jesus let our identities be about justice, mercy, and faith.
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