Justice and Love

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it." (Luke 11:42-44)

(Today's reading - Ruth 1-4; Luke 11:29-54)

Interesting stuff in Ruth. I often find the traditions of the Jews hard to understand, but I am sure they would find ours just as interesting. The whole, "go uncover his feet and lay down there" thing makes me smile. Maybe I should give that advice to my daughter :). I understand that this is all done to keep the land in the proper families and tribes, so just go with it.

Luke records Jesus confronting the Pharisees... as He usually does. This time he is brutal. No wonder they decided to kill Him, He was calling them out for their unrighteousness all the time. Be sure to read the entire section. The piece that I want to discuss today are verses 42-44. He comes down hard on them for their devotion to keeping the portion of the Law that is easily kept, while disregarding the spirit of the Law.

The Pharisees were dogmatic about keeping the letter of the Law that dealt with the outward demonstration of righteousness. They would go so far as to measure out the smallest herb and give a tenth of the measure. Imagine going to your kitchen cabinet and getting out your oregano and dumping it out on the counter, measuring it up and giving 1/10th of that this Sunday when the collection plate is passed. Now do the same with everything in your cabinet. They were devoted to this demonstration of their religiousness. (if that is a word)

Jesus tells them that righteousness is more than outward demonstrations of devotion. He tells them that in doing the trivial, they have neglected the important. They have been so focused on meeting the letter of the Law, that they have overlooked the nature and spirit of the Law. They have a checklist religion. Mint, check. Rue, check. Herbs, check. They want the best seats in the assembly. They want the attention of the people. I can hear them now, "did you see me give my oregano, I am so committed that I even gave a tenth of my salt!". Jesus is having none of this. He tells them they are like unmarked graves. They are spiritually dead and don't even know it.

So, what does that have to do with you and me? Human nature is still the same. If we are not careful, we can begin to have a checklist religion. Attend worship, check. Give a little cash, check, Communion, check. Sing, check. Read my Bible, check. Pray, check. Jesus says to us, "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others". He doesn't tell us to stop keeping the letter of the Law; rather, He tells us to keep on doing the little things and... do the big things. Things like justice and the love of God. We are to worship, sing, give and commune, but these are not the whole of the matter. We are to be a people of justice! We are to be a people of love!  

God has called us to be His representatives on planet earth. We are to demonstrate His justice, His love to those around us. Doing the little outward things is required, but He is not satisfied if that is our focus. The question for us to answer is this, what am I doing to demonstrate justice and love to my neighbor, the person around the corner, the lady in prison, the girl starving in Africa or the boy being beaten by the Taliban? Are we too busy with the mint, the rue, the herbs to do the work of God? Think about it.

Love God, Love People.