Meditation for July 9, 2008

From The Rev. Peter Munson

Psalm 14:1-2; Matthew 23:27-28

Psalm 14:1-2

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good.

The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God.

Matthew 23:27-28

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

Seeking After God and The Things That God Seeks

The two scriptures quoted above are both portions of readings appointed for today in the Daily Office Lectionary.  In the lesson from Psalm 14, we read about one possible approach we can take in the world.  It is a perspective that says that God is not present in the world in any kind of a way that makes a difference.  If there is a God who has created the world, He has stepped back and is letting all of us "go at it", and He is no longer involved.  The Psalmist says the one who adopts this perspective is a fool, which is synonymous in the Wisdom literature (of which Psalms is a part) for "the wicked".  Those who don't know God, or who thumb their noses at God, and take matters into their own hands as they take advantage of others, are both foolish and wicked.

In the verses from Matthew 23 we are reminded that Jesus reserved his harshest criticism for the religious leaders of his day, whom he referred to - at various times - as hypocrites, snakes, and as a "brood of vipers" (see Matthew 23:33).  The original meaning of the word hypocrite is "actor".  I have nothing against actors.  We have some wonderful actors at St. Ambrose.  What person doesn't enjoy an actor giving a "spot-on" performance, one that moves us to tears, or makes us laugh, or gives us goose bumps?  But to be called an "actor" by our Lord is, I'm guessing, something that none of us wants to hear.  To profess to be more pious than we are... to think we are spiritual, faithful people when all the while we are critical of and condemning those around us... this is to be a spiritual actor, a 21st-century religious hypocrite.  This is another approach we can take towards God.  We might proclaim, "God, we love you!  We praise you!  We worship you!"  Perhaps it looks to others - from what we project on the outside - that we are righteous, faithful people.  But on the inside it's a different story.  "The Lord looks on the heart," as we are told in the story of the anointing of David (1 Samuel 16:7), and sometimes the Lord looks on the heart of professing Christians like us and sees that we are "full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

We return to Psalm 14 again and read:  "The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God."  Do you want to be wise?  The wise one is the one who seeks after God.

You and I go seeking many different things.

We seek financial security and wealth.

We seek to be seen and affirmed.

We seek honor, recognition - perhaps even fame.

We seek influence and power.

We seek pleasure and happiness.

We seek anything that we think will keep boredom away, for boredom is the #1 evil in 21st-century America - so some would say.

We seek anything that will keep us from feeling pain or loneliness or despair.

But seeking all those things makes us either fools or hypocrites (or both) if we are not - first and foremost - seeking God and His kingdom.

And what does it mean to seek God?  Seeking God has to do with seeking the things that God seeks. 

To seek God, according to Jesus, is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" and to "love your neighbor as yourself"  (Matthew 22:37, 39, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18) and to "strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness." (Matthew 6:33)  Then there's that whole thing about washing each other's feet.  (John 13:12-17)

To seek God, according to Amos, is to "hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate..." (Amos 5:15)

To seek God, according to Micah, is to "do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

To seek God, according to Paul, is to let the Spirit work in you in such a way that what emerges is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).  To seek God, according to Paul, is also to take account of "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable" and those things that excellent and worthy of praise.  (Philippians 4:8)  (If you want still more from Paul about what it means to seek God, see Romans 12:9-21.)

To seek after God in these ways is to be wise, according to scripture.

If I am not seeking after God in these ways, then there is a really good chance that I am either a fool or a hypcrite.