God will send the holy ones

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082718.cfm
II Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12
Matthew 23:13-22

A fine line exists between true and false, do and don’t, and yes and no. “Maybe” does not exist in that space. Maybe fades to the left of true, do and yes; and to the right of false, don’t and no. The fine line of one way or the other sits between the edges, a split decision, like the transition between tile and carpet, asphalt and concrete, or wood and dirt. The step we take from one to the other is obvious and clear.

The Church, mentored, monitored and guided by the Holy Spirit, is here to move us to the center of truth.

"Maybe" and "confusion" exist to the far left and far right of the center of decision-making. We wander from the truth when we waffle in confusion and linger in doubts. The actual middle of decisions is stark. The urgency of clear thinking requires a definitive step. The line between decisions shrinks thin the more “maybe,” “I’m not sure,” and “let me think about it,” are non-existent. Truth remains clearly opposed to false. Do stands upright against the recline of don’t. Yes abruptly objects to no. This is the proper alignment of truth, do and yes.

Jesus speaks from such an alignment and with no hesitancy. His words come with a finality that lives on this sharp center edge of truth, righteousness, and action. 

“Woe to you, …”

The seven Matthew 23 woes cited by Jesus (with an eighth woe added in Mark and Luke) delineate a series of lies attempting to keep truth hidden from people under the authority of the Pharisees. Jesus marks the places where their misleading hypocrisy purposely hides God from the Jewish people. If we read this scripture as a harangue against just the scribes and Pharisees we do so with misplaced chagrin. Anyone who holds the grip of power over another is subject to similar woebegone analysis pointed out by Jesus. Almost all of us are in that position.

The scribes and religious elite wielded control of the mission, world view and daily operation of the Jewish people. They simulate what we call our educators, governors, lawyers, politicians, and religious officials. We can correctly substitute those who have authority over us with such titles.

The first woe cited by Jesus is the most deplorable, because it inhibits entry to the Kingdom of God by substituting a temporary and false unholy-oriented loyalty. Nothing can match the eternal joy of unhindered life with God, so anything put in place to block people from enjoying this relationship to God is by definition hoisting a false barrier, and thus a misleading one. Nothing can replace the goodness and holiness of God, so attempts at a surrogate require intriguing yet fake formulas. Jesus points them out as poisonous recipes. 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.”

The only way to stand between a person and their holy life with God is to usurp -- to steal -- the position and role of God. 

If we believe we do not hold any such power over another we fail to understand the pecking order of our human existence. Parents can usurp the role of God in the power they exert over their children. Or, they can model the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in order for their children to know the true Kingdom and person of God. Who better to  model the true God to children than their parents? 

Employers and supervisors exert similar power over their charges. They can model the freedom of conscience for truth shown through honesty and integrity, or they can obfuscate it. Police and military can model by exercising restraint and mercy, or execute violence with merciless adherence. Friends can model support and wise counsel, or manipulate and trample over each other.

Jesus speaks clearly of himself as the one who brings the Kingdom to Israel. A large number of Jewish people become convinced of Jesus’ powers from God. The Pharisees and their scribes already have a process of procedures in place for access to God. They thwart Jesus' offer of the Kingdom, citing the religious obligations necessary for Jews. Like any set of religious leaders protective of their assigned authority the Jewish priests and their lawyers identify Jesus as the usurper. They can't recognize him, because managing an obstacle course of incomprehensible tasks occupies their every moment.

To reveal the confusion wrought by the evil-intending scribes and Pharisees (yes, there are scribes and Pharisees who followed Jesus) Jesus goes to the clear center edge of truth. Evil ones are those who want to stop him. They put doubt, confusion, and delay in the way of his path, driving folks away from the truth.

Do not do this, Jesus warns us. If we object to Jesus, we are forced to twist the mind of our charges, halt their progress to Jesus, and provide alternative access to another God with false offerings and promises and rules. We can hold up gold as an offering one can use to buy God’s love. We can encourage gifts to some oddly structured or even logically titled folks important as intermediaries to God. We can explain that gifting these intermediaries will assure God’s favor. We can design oaths that script our conversations to an unreachable God. Once in our control, we can organize ritualized steps to complete which we explain as necessary to bend God’s will. 

But, Jesus says, “Woe to you …”

Eventually, we will see the plunder and self-indulgence of the false representatives and authorities of God. Since all authority is from God, all of us in authority act as a channel of God’s holiness, mercy, and as living authorities of his will. All will be revealed. How will we be reviewed in this revealing?

There is no other way to explain the responsibility of spiritual leadership when we look through the lens of God’s eye. We are all in positions of spiritual leadership and subject to judgment.

“Maybe,” we say. “I’m not sure,” we exclaim. “Let me think about it.”

When? Where will we look? Who will tell us?

Jesus says that God leaves no doubt about his claims of authority because he has sent prophets, wise men and women, and scribes. Evil ones step in the way of Jesus. They hold back the Holy Spirit. They usurp the Father. The holy ones hold up Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father as Way, the Guide, and the Creator. Holy ones explain. They pray. They model. 

Scriptures have been written and endorsed that fulfill the prophecies of Jesus, including his own birth, death and resurrection. When Matthew wrote this gospel the Holy Spirit had already been living in the hearts of believers for decades. The lines crosses in the woes identified by Jesus had even been crossed by members of the very Church that was founded at Pentecost.

Matthew urged faithfulness to Jesus in the face of selfish and woeful authority within the Church, which at the time was still closely attached to the temple life of the Jewish people. Not long after this gospel was written the Christian Church fled from the Jewish temples. By the end of the first century the book of Revelation reported seven letters to seven churches (Rev Chapter 2 - the letters dictated by Jesus) which are uniquely Christian churches. In those seven letters several of the woes cited by Jesus in Matthew Chapter 23 are called out as things Jesus “held against” the Churches. 

Our time is no different. We do not wholly act in obedience to God’s authority over us because we do not wholly subscribe to holiness in our own authoritarian roles. Jesus already knows this. We’re not perfect. Who among us does not find ourselves following and fomenting false gods? The message might be for us. “Woe to you, …”

OK ... Now what? 

God has already sent us holy ones. If we must vet them, then that's what we must do. We do so by being with the holy ones. The Holy Spirit gathers us and we model holiness to each other. That’s how we come closer together, listen to the Spirit, and thus to Jesus who reveals the Father. 

Listen for the truth. Do what the truth tells you. Say yes.