Post-feast of the Transfiguration; Holy Confessor Emilian, Bishop of Cyzicus (815).
Dormition Fast.
2 Corinthians 2:14-3:3; Matthew 23:23-28.
Read Matthew 23:23-28
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Have you ever seen someone who looks vaguely Christian (maybe he is part of a youth group, or she has a big cross patched onto her knapsack), and that person is wearing a shirt with the words mercy, justice, and humbly in big bold letters? Once I started making friends with evangelicals in university, I saw this sort of shirt and poster regularly – it’s a reference to the book of Micah in the Old Testament, specifically Micah 6:8: “what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The passage begins with a long list of sacrifices that the prophet could offer to God, before he concludes that what is most pleasing to God is justice, kindness, and humility.
Today’s gospel gets at the same point: the weighty matters of the Law, the really serious stuff, has to do with justice, mercy, and faithfulness. It is good for the Pharisees to tithe their garden herbs, but it would have been far better for them to pay attention to how they were applying more fundamental principles in their lives: justice, the duty to give people what they are owed; mercy, the gift of forgiveness and compassion we receive from God, and turn give to others; and faithfulness, the commitment to remain with God and his people in difficult circumstances.
Maybe we light candles in church every Sunday; maybe we are diligent in saying our prayers before and after receiving Holy Communion; maybe we read scripture every day, rain or shine. Let those actions flow from, and into, a desire for mercy, and justice, and faithfulness. If they do, they will bear real fruit. If they don’t, we won’t be any better of than the Pharisees.