The mirror is being held up again to the people of God. In Jesus's challenge today (from the gospel of Matthew), the charges disturb...we are making children of hell like ourselves. We might head them in the right direction, but then we keep them from the Kingdom of Heaven. (Remember, this was not a future kingdom for Jesus, but a kingdom present on the earth.) We teach the focus on sacrifice and ritual and the-way-things-should-be-done and we forget the things that will place us fully in the Kingdom...justice, mercy, faith.
I use "we" deliberately. As a child, I was taught how terrible the Pharisees were. It was easy to excuse my own behaviors when looking at "them." Or perhaps ignore is better than excuse. We just didn't ever look in the mirror. We were too busy condemning the Phariseees.
Our favorite task is seeking out the failure, the weakness, the sin of the other. We bring it, proudly, to the Master and we lay it at his feet. We hold out our hands for reward, and Jesus hands us a mirror.
Again.
"You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!" Great line. We immediately begin to search for gnats and camels. If we can just identify them, we can fix this and enter the kingdom.
As we search, Jesus hands us a mirror.
Again.
As I read the texts this morning, I was sorry I saw the mirrors again. I'm ready to look somewhere else.
Exactly the point, says Jesus.
And hands me a mirror.
Again.
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