TEXT: Luke 11: 37-44 NRSV

Pharisees R Us

Jesus criticized the Pharisees. They were not a formal organization or political party; they were simply a group of well-meaning, good intentioned Jews who sought to keep Israel well-aligned with the Torah and its traditional interpretations. They were the “righteous ones” of the day—the guardians of public morality. Funny how Jesus reserves his harshest rebukes for the very ones trying hard to be good Jews and keep everyone else aligned with the Jewish religion.

The problem wasn’t their good intentions and desire to follow Torah and please the Lord; the problem was that all of their observances took the place of genuine faith. The outward observances failed to engage the heart.

As we approach Lent 2019, we need to be aware that we all have an inner Pharisee—there are things that turn us into guardians of the public morality. We need to examine ourselves in this light.

Outward Observances Fail to Engage the Heart

I think we know that outward observance are insufficient. Forever we’ve been saying that going to church alone doesn’t save anyone. It was put very well a hundred years ago by the evangelist Billy Sunday:

Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.

Still, the outward appearances persist and can even dominate our spirituality. There’s a great painting by Norman Rockwell called “Easter Morning.” What makes it fascinating is not only the squirming father and the envious son, but the sanctimonious posture of the wife: 

Since then, we’ve come to literally wearing our faith on our sleeves. Many of these are atrocious and build up the believer up and against everyone else: 

It’s no better to wear it on your car. Bumper stickers do not win souls and even cheapen the sacred message, diminishing it into dumbed-down slogans or prideful rah-rah-isms unbecoming of the Christian call to humility and service.

Altogether, these expressions amount to a kind of piety which is a false piety. It is party spirit for the Church—and there must be no Christian pride parades ever. The calling of faith is a call to humility and service, not personal pride or the glories of the Church. To glorify either self of church is nothing short of idolatry. Such piety is only there to boost the self-importance of an insecure believer.

Piety Which Boosts Self-importance

Piety is more than simply devotion to God; it is that passion for righteousness that drives the zealous in their campaigns as guardians of the public morality.

Good causes can breed bad attitudes. There is little in society ultimately more dangerous than a zealot armed with one—and perhaps only one—virtue.

Remember Carrie Nation? She was a figurehead of the Prohibition and was known for smashing pubs and bars to bits. 

The problem with such piety is that it can lead even to hatred. We see it widespread today in the popular code of cultural righteousness known as political correctness. It is nothing less than piety, though it is a secular piety.

It’s hard to top George Carlin’s comment on this:

“Political correctness is America's newest form of intolerance, and it is especially pernicious because it comes disguised as tolerance. It presents itself as fairness, yet attempts to restrict and control people's language with strict codes and rigid rules. I'm not sure that's the way to fight discrimination. I'm not sure silencing people or forcing them to alter their speech is the best method for solving problems that go much deeper than speech.”

Sometimes, even fools and clowns produce pearls of wisdom.

There’s another great word for this: sanctimonious, which means making a show of being morally superior to others. Again, sanctimony—and its twin sister Pretentiousness—can breed hatred.  The bluenosed moralists of the early 20th century are hardly a match for today’s “enlightened” or “woke” zealots. It’s no longer “morality” or “righteousness” on their banner, but “social justice” or “equality.” These virtues (and they are) are wielded by activists with the same, destructive zeal.

It tends to make the righteous ones rather smug. They used to call it “Holier Than Thou,” but today it is something like “More WOKE Than Thou.” 

The problem with all moral guardians is that under the surface we see the inherent drive to self-serve, and moralization merely as a means of self-advancement. It’s just a power-game. We all play in our own way. You and I can be triggered by certain politicians speaking their tiny minds on CNN. We catch headlines that make our righteous blood boil. We can become righteously angry.

Our righteous causes inevitably lead to hatred, division, civil wars, and a total loss of perspective on the whole picture of our world. We too cause others to walk over whitewashed sepulchres— defiled as we march for righteousness.

Not all that appears good is good.

Pollution Which Appears Clean and Wholesome

Guardians of the public morality tend to engage in Newspeak—renaming things in order to assert greater control and advance their moral agendas. Often it is a matter of making something ugly look virtuous—whitewash on a gravestone.

The Nazis of Germany, the Soviet Russians, North Korea—all wage their holy crusades by propaganda. Billboards and posters of happy, healthy families waving the flag of their cause. Underneath is totalitarianism and the ugliest abuses of political power in history.

In America today, the work is done through entertainment media—movies, TV, and the internet. Worst of all: advertising. Doctors who recommend cigarettes in ads from the 50s and 60s now seem humorous. Today we see the American pieties-du-jour plastered on movie screens and featured in Super Bowl commercials. They scream at us:  EQUALITY! FEMINISM! RACISM! GAY LIFE! RECYCLING! TRANS RIGHTS! SAVE THE PLANET! GENDER NEUTRALITY! and, ironically, DON’T SMOKE!

Goodness can be used to support evil. Today’s guardians of public morality are today’s Pharisees. In hearing them out we must take pains to sift out all that is false about them—the outward observances that substitute for real moral substance. The racism that pretends it is traditional Americanism, the neglect of the poor and the truly oppressed at home and around the world vaunted as good ol’ suburban living, the portrayal of one’s political bubble—be it left or right—as the only true seat of righteousness—all are whitewashed sepulchres to be avoided.

We all have a Pharisee inside and must take care with our judgments. We all walk over the whitewashed graves every day. We are all defiled and defiling.

Jesus calls us to live a simple life of love and humble service. We can do no good without God. We must beware not to think of our good causes and righteous indignation as a form of holiness, but rather part of our flaws, our sins, and our inescapable pharisaism. We too easily raise Hell by seeking what seems just or righteous on the surface. Many would do well to—literally—shut the Hell up.   †