Today's Gospel reading continues with Jesus giving more "woes" to the Scribes and Pharisees.
Jesus calls them hypocrites pointing out that they might be legally following parts of the law, but they are missing the important stuff. They continue to concern themselves with legalism but not the bigger picture, those things of the heart. They are focusing on the things that can be seen and measured, like how much they give or the sacrifices they perform, but are missing out on the things of the heart, like mercy and grace.
This section makes me think of so many of the people I went to college with. There were so many intelligent men and woman who could recite to you everything out of the text, but when it came to applying what we learned and put it into practice, they struggled. Growing up we referred to these people as being "book smart." Then, you had a group of people, like myself, who couldn't memorize and spit back word for word definitions, but we could tell you what something meant and how to actually apply it. Often times this group would be considered "street smart." (and yes, I am using this pretty loosely).
I always knew that I wanted to be in the second group. Sure I would work toward being able to learn more of what the books said, but the core was internalizing and applying it. With that as my focus, the rest would come!
The scribes and Pharisees were as "book smart" as it came, but they didn't internalize what they learned and therefore, they couldn't put it into practice the way it was intended.
Sometimes we feel it would be easier to have a checklist of things that we should do and not do. A way to measure that we are on the right path! The problem is that with a check list or list of "rules," we start to focus on the rule themselves and not why the rule is there or the heart behind it. Jesus cares more about our heart. Sure, he wants us to give, but if we are not giving with the right intentions, it means nothing to him!
I spent a year in youth ministry and I love the second part of this Gospel. It is an easy object lesson and way to explain this dirty cup idea. We would have 2 cups. One totally filthy on the inside while the other was totally filthy on the outside. Then we would as the youth that if they had to drink out of one, which would they choose. The easy choice is the one that is clean inside, right?
The scribes and Pharisees spent all their time trying to look good on the outside. They wanted to be seen as something special without actually being something special. As they looked great, inside they were becoming more and more filthy.
Jesus cares about our heart. He wants our heart to be clean and pure!
Have you found yourself focusing more on what you look like on the outside? Have you found yourself putting out a certain image that doesn't line up with your heart? I think we have all done this to some extent, especially in today's world of social media! We create these false images of us based on what we think others want us to be.
I see this a lot when it comes to my job in health and fitness. Some people come to me saying they want to lose some weight, but their reason is to look good in a bikini. Sure, I can help those people rock a bikini, but their results aren't long lasting because they didn't work on cleaning up their inside and their heart wasn't in the right place.
The women that come to me that want to do real work, that want to gain overall health, that want to regain strength and confidence so they can be better for their families....those women do well! Those women spend more time working on the inside and because of that, they maintain longer. They know that if they don't make changes on the inside, they can never truly be changed!
As you go forward today, what kind of cup do you want to be? Are you only going to pretty yourself up so others think you have things together, or are you going to do some work on the inside? Are you going to start to be kinder? Are you going to start showing more love and mercy? Are you going to start to clean up your thoughts and actions?
My prayer daily is Psalm 51:12 (NABRE)
"A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit."
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