Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:2-3)
So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven – that is, the hypocrisy – of the Pharisees. There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” (Luke 12:1-3)
Piety
May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us, who have put our hope in you. (Psalm 33:22, Gospel acclamation for today)
Study
Winning Brownie points is a strategy many of us employ in our attempt to get God to notice us or to win God’s approval. We volunteer in multiple ministries. We behave as though more is better. But what would ever constitute enough? How can we be sure what number of good works would be required to earn an A+ in the Kingdom? And how often do we fail to notice along the way how exhausted we are or how neglected our families feel?
All that effort, and then Paul turns around and tells us we can’t earn our way into heaven. The Brownie points plan doesn’t work when it comes to salvation. God asks for only one thing from us. “One thing?” we say with astonishment. That sounds more doable than the many activities we pursue every week. What is this one thing?
Paul uses Abraham as an example when answering. Abraham did many good things, the apostle says. But what made him righteous in the Lord’s eyes were not these good deeds but his trust in God. That’s what God is looking for – trust.
So why is that one tiny thing, that little five-letter word, so difficult for us? In part, I think the answer lies in the fact that it’s absolutely the last thing the evil spirit wants us to do. The overall plan the evil spirit works is to separate us from God at every opportunity. The evil spirit is so clever we may not even recognize his attempts to prevent us from trusting in God’s goodness.
Perhaps the evil one uses our human experiences of broken trust in relationships to keep us from putting our trust in the Lord.
Maybe the evil spirit uses our feelings of unworthiness and our awareness of our sinfulness to put doubts in our mind when it comes to trusting God. It is difficult to believe that God loves us -- sins and all -- but God’s love for us is precisely what causes God to reach out to us with forgiveness and mercy.
Action
Jesus tells us not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees. There is no hiding our sins. There’s no point in pretending to be better than we are because God knows everything about us. And God is the one who, knowing every nook and cranny of our beings, loves us enough to offer us forgiveness for our sins and the chance to be every bit as clean on the inside as any shining image we project to the world on the outside.
Good works alone may not save us, but they certainly have their place as signs of our gratitude for God’s charitable disposition toward us.
When you have time, sit with Jesus and share with him anyway in which the image you present to the world is incongruent with what you find in your heart and soul. Trust in God’s love, mercy and forgiveness and God’s power to make you as clean on the inside as you are on the outside.
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