No empty formalism
The very reason why we are together here is that we believe in God and his Son, Jesus Christ, that through the Holy Spirit, we hope in the promises of God our Father and in the future to which Christ leads us, that we are united through the Spirit of love with God and one another. These are the marks of a good Christian community, for which Paul praises his Christians of Thessalonica, the first Christian foundation in Europe (the present Salonika in Greece). 1 Thes is also the first New Testament writing, written in 51 of the Christian era.
May faith, hope and love be a characteristics for us and all our Christian communities.
When we hold on to the letter of the law without concern for its spirit, we easily become hypocrites, perhaps without realizing it fully; also when in the name of tradition, we sap it of all life, or worse, when we speak beautiful words but act differently. For example, when we speak of poverty, community, or dialogue, but live in grand style or fail to communicate from person to person. Such contradictions are not only the lot of Pharisees and scribes: they are often with us today.
Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5,8b-10
I, Paul, together here with Silas and Timothy, send greetings to the church at Thessalonica, Christians assembled by God the Father and by the Master, Jesus Christ. God’s amazing grace be with you! God’s robust peace!
Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master.
The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.
Gospel: Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them, “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won’t let anyone else in either.
“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.
“You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.
Prayer
God, you are clear-sighted
as you look into our hearts.
Do not allow us to seek security
in words and laws and observances,
but in giving in everyday life
a response of love to your challenging word.
Yes, let this word question us day after day
whether we are true
to the Gospel and to the person
of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
