23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 23:1-12

Dear God, while I was reading this passage this morning it made me think of the boy Samuel in the temple. He was seeing Hophni’s and Phinehas’s bad examples, and you called to him in the middle of the night to warn him that this isn’t what he was supposed to do. I’m sure he was curious and even liking the idea of acting like them when he got older. He was probably a bit hormonal at the time, and the idea of sleeping with the women at the temple gate sounded like fun. Taking the best meat from the offering sure would be tasty. But you warned him in a pretty dramatic way that he was not to follow their example, and that you were going to punish them and Eli for it all.

There is such a big difference between words and actions. Is there a difference between mine? Am I being what you’ve called me to be inside and out? There are certainly times when I have been duplicitous. I can say I’m doing something with one motive, but I really have another one in mind. One of the hardest parts about becoming a nonprofit fundraiser was figuring out how to draw the line between getting to know someone as a donor and getting to know someone because I was truly interested in and cared about them as a person. Was I trying to be their friend, or was I just manipulating them to get money? I had to decide early on that I cared more about them as people than I cared about their donation.

Father, as a husband, as a parent, as a person who teaches in your name sometimes, as a friend, as a son, as a brother, as an uncle, as a member of our community, I don’t want to be a Pharisee. I want to be just like Jesus. I know I’ll never get there. It’s like a mathematical graphing equation approaching zero but never reaching it. Just a little more like Jesus each day. That’s what I want to be. Forgive me for where I fail. Love well through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen