What Did Jesus Do?
Jesus Ranted Against Pharisaism
“But woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites!”
Matthew 23:13 ff
Although Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes more or less disappeared
along with Israel with the First Century destruction of the Temple by the Romans, and the global dispersion
of the Jewish people, pharisaism has continued to flourish. Time was when you could spot a Pharisee by
his robes and phylacteries, but nowadays they can be harder to spot. Oh, to be sure, some who practice pharisaism
still wear robes (And unfortunately occupy pulpits!). But there are plenty of “plain-clothes”
Pharisees out there as well. Some of
them wear red jackets and hang out in the woods a lot.
I encountered some of the red jacket variety last week when I was
teaching at a Boy Scout National Camping School. No, that’s not where we train
Scouts to camp, it’s where we instruct the folks who will be running summer
camps how to do their jobs. Camping
School faculties generally have no shortage of red jacket Scouters, men and
women who have spent years and years in the program, have a chest full of knots
(little badges which indicate various training and service awards earned), and
who often consider themselves living breathing authorities on all things Scouting,
not unlike the way the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes appointed themselves
the arbiters of all things religious in ancient Israel.
Anyway, I ran afoul of some red jackets when I offered grace before
supper one evening last week. My
offense? I used the Superman grace. If you’ve
worked with youth groups, at church camps, or other venues where young people
congregate, you may be familiar with the Superman
grace, which goes like this:
Thank you, Lord, for giving us food!
Thank
you, Lord, for giving us food!
Thank
you, Creator!
Thank
you, Redeemer!
Thank
you, Sustainer!
Amen!
The grace is sung to the tune of the theme music from the Christopher
Reeves movie franchise. It has the
virtues of being spot on with what a grace should say, incorporating a little
liturgical dance, and putting a redemptive-spiritual spin on something
otherwise totally secular, and maybe even a little idolatrous. It may also have some long-term effect on
those young people who hear it, in that the next time they watch one of the Superman movies, the music might cause
their minds to recall the time God was praised and thanked at camp.
Be that as it may, the grace apparently was offensive to some, because
as everyone was lining up to enter the dining hall, the camp chaplain came
running up to me to tell me that several people, himself included, were, well,
offended. I had added reason to thank
God that very moment, because it was only the Holy Spirit who prevented me from
telling the chaplain and those who had complained to him to stuff it. Instead, I thanked him for coming to me, and
I went off to pray about what had happened.
In the end I came to the conclusion that some latter-day Pharisees had
judged my grace as unacceptable according to their standards. But, since the grace was offered to God, and
not to them, I did not lose any sleep, as I believe the grace is well-pleasing
to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The words of the grace can be found expressed in numerous prayers
throughout the Bible. I can’t believe
that even Pharisees would find fault with what the grace said. Maybe it was the dancing? But dancing as an expression of praise and
exultation is as old as Israel itself. Miriam, the sister of
Moses, led a whole troupe of women in a liturgical dance of thanksgiving for
deliverance beside the Red
Sea (Exodus 15:20-21).
David was a regular dancing fool when the Ark of the Covenant was
brought into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6). I wonder if those who were offended by the Superman grace know about the fate of
Michal, one of David’s wives, when she despised the king for his liturgical
dancing (2 Samuel 6: 16, 20-23)? Perhaps
what the red jackets condemned was the setting of the grace to a secular piece
of music, rather than a classical hymn tune or Gregorian chant? But the Jesus I know wasn’t really all that
into condemnation (With the exception of Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes!),
but rather came to redeem and save the world.
While I don’t believe anyone will find much that is redemptive or
salvational in any super-hero movie, I have complete confidence that God might
use something as simple as the Superman grace
to turn the mind of a child towards thoughts of him, even if just for a
moment. And God can do amazing things in
our lives in a divine moment.
I apologize if this WDJD has
come across as more of a rant than a devotional thought for the day. But, if we take a close look at Matthew 23, I
believe we might have to concede that it was the Lord’s rant against
pharisaism. And, if ranting against
pharisaism was what Jesus did, it just might be something we need to do
ourselves once and a while.
S.D.G.
Jim
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
