Know Your Honor – 2/08/09

What do Tom Daschle and Michael Phelps have in common? I imagine an Olympic swimmer and a US politician are not often mentioned in the same sentence but, unfortunately, we have that opportunity this morning. Each of them have experienced a sort of fall of grace in the last few days. Tom Daschle, as many of you may have heard, withdrew his nomination for one of the President’s cabinet positions. In all of the digging around that has to be done, it turned out that he forgot to pay a good portion of the taxes he owed. One of the most frustrating things about this is that he is a democrat; one of the guys who says that tax-payer supported, government programs are necessary for our welfare. To not pay taxes is a bit hypocritical to say the least. Magnifying the whole thing was that he wasn’t the only one.

Three other of the President’s nominee’s have come under scrutiny for not watching their finances closely enough. Two of them have resigned. Somehow the guy who is put in charge of all the money is the one whose appointment was confirmed. This is all very disappointing if you ask me. We have a President who says that he is going to change the way Washington works by setting higher standards. But now it seems as if no one can live up to higher standards. Again, the frustrating thing is that so many politicians will stand behind microphones or appear on TV calling for virtue and sacrifice, but do just the opposite behind closed doors. Republicans and Democrats alike have been caught in sexual scandals and financial scandals and these latest are only a continuation of the same sad story. Just as sad, however, is the latest chapter in the story of Michael Phelps.

You may have heard that the swimmer was caught in a photo with a pipe in his hand, and not just any pipe. It was one used to smoke marijuana. Now, by most accounts, those who have reported on him, those who know him, Michael Phelps is a good guy and not one to put on a false face. By most accounts he made a stupid mistake. Many people described it as a momentary lapse in judgment. That may be, but we should take note that it came after his intense training was over, after his success, and after he had signed many millions of dollars worth of contracts. What’s aggravating about this story is that Michael was becoming a spokesman, a figurehead, a role model for hard work, focus, and determination. Somewhere along the way he forgot what got him there. Now, to many people, he’s a kind of hypocrite.

We could come up with a long list of politicians, athletes, actors, Wall Street executives and even preachers who, when they achieve a certain level of success or notoriety, fall from their perch because of something in their past. Certainly, we all have a past, but what many of these stories have in common is that the scandals happen after a certain level of success has been achieved. Tom Daschle, for example, didn’t forget to pay taxes until he was making millions as a consultant for health care companies. On the one hand, people in the public aren’t given much of a break. We all have a past. On the other hand, people in the public eye should know that they are going to be scrutinized. What nags us about this is that people seem to be taking advantage of their position. Power and prestige aren’t license to be above the law. Power corrupts, they say, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is something about fame and fortune that goes to our heads and turns them to mush.

It seems that God was aware of as much when he warned the Israelites about the Promised Land. “Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God.” We should hear echoes of the garden of Eden here, where every creature was commanded to be fruitful and multiply. God certainly remembers the garden and those moments when Adam and Eve forgot who put them there and took too much for themselves. God’s people are about to reenter the garden, so to speak, God is warning them not to reach for that apple.

In fact, God reminds them how they got there in the first place. They once were slaves in the land of Egypt. They would not have gotten out without the hand of the Lord. They wandered 40 years through an arid wilderness and wasteland filled with snakes and scorpions. They would not have made it without the Lord as their shield and guide. It was the Lord who brought water from a rock when they were thirsty and wanted to return to Egypt. It was the Lord who sent manna from heaven when they were hungry and wanted to go back to slavery. All of this was to humble them and to test them and, in the end, to do them good. All of it was meant to show them what it meant to fear the Lord, to hope in his steadfast love, to walk in faith. God’s warning was that the people should not say to themselves, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” As they crossed into the Promised Land they were to remember that it was the Lord who gave them power to get wealth.

Perhaps they did for a time as Israel became a powerful and wealthy nation under David and Solomon, but even those two were compromised and often hypocritical in their leadership; corrupted by their power. Israel’s leaders often were and the prophets were not able to do much against the machine that had been created. God would remove them from the garden again and send them into exile and bring them back to their land again. There was renewed loyalty and faithfulness as the homes and cities were rebuilt, but by the time Jesus has come there was corruption and hypocrisy throughout the land. The people against whom Jesus directed his words were religious leaders to be sure, but they were also political leaders and social leaders; all wrapped into one package. Jesus saw the hypocrisy in all of them.

Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses seat; therefore, do whatever the teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” Instead, Jesus goes on to say, they preach these sermons with calls that are difficult to follow but they don’t do it themselves; unless, of course, someone is watching. When the cameras are rolling, they put on their best garments and widest grins. If they get the best seat at the table, they’ll put on a good show for all to see. If you see them in public, you better call them rabbi because they want everyone else to know how much they are respected and how great a following they have. Many of them were hypocrites.

Jesus goes off on a laundry list of accusations against the leaders of the day. The words are vivid and biting. Many of them are familiar to our own experience in religious circles. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” he says, “you cross land and sea to make a single convert, and you make a new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Jesus warns, “for you tithe expensive herbs and spices, but have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.” If anyone ever needs proof from you that justice is part of Jesus’ mission, just point them to those words. “It is these you ought to have practiced,” Jesus said.

He also said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Perhaps this one strikes us most familiar. We’ve all encountered pastors or teachers or leaders of various kinds that look like they fit the part, but behind the scenes take on a different role. We’ve all seen churches that are beautiful in their architecture and design, but have people inside that are cold and ugly. We are all aware of our own hypocrisy in various ways and times. It is difficult to walk the talk.

That’s why Jesus has special warnings for those who take titles, like rabbi, like teacher, like Father, like instructor, like Senator or President. There is one teacher and we are all students. There is one Father and he is in heaven. There is one instructor and he is called the Messiah. It’s not that these roles and these titles are bad, it’s what they do to us. Like the wealth and power that God talked about in Deuteronomy, titles and positions corrupt us to the point that we forget about the One on whose power we are supposed to rely. There is just something in human nature that seems to prevent us from being able to hold onto our virtue and reach for power and influence at the same time. Again, it’s not that power and influence are bad. They’re just dangerous; dangerous for everyone except Jesus.

Jesus is the only one who was holy enough to direct his power and influence in the proper direction. When the scribes and Pharisees would use theirs to draw attention to themselves and call servants to their feet, Jesus would use his to draw attention to God and to be a servant at our feet. He would go so far as to wash the feet of his students saying to them, “If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Good luck finding many scribes or Pharisees, many Senators or Representatives, Pastors or teachers who will go so far. Jesus transformed what it means to be great when he said, “The greatest among you will be your servant.”

The real problem with the recent stories about Tom Daschle and other hypocritical politicians is that they set the tone for future politicians. Because they are in the limelight young men and women who aspire to politics will take their cues from them, will be seduced by the same offers and take the same shortcuts. The real problem with the recent story about Michael Phelps and all the other hypocritical athletes is that they set the tone for future athletes. Because they are in the spotlight, boys and girls who aspire to great things in sports will take their cues from them, will be seduced by the same offers and take the same shortcuts; whether its marijuana or steroids. As long as the spotlight is focused on them, the world will think that honor is found in fame and fortune, in power or prestige.

It’s all the more reason that we, as followers of Jesus, must take our cues from him. Jesus must be the one who is lifted up into the spotlight and the one to whom people look to as they aspire in life. Jesus is the one who will show them that real honor is found in the weightier matters like justice and mercy and faith. He is the only one who will show them that real honor is found in humility, in service, in washing feet, and the care of the least of these. Real honor is found in humility and there will never be justice without it. I know, I know, there’s not much money in it and it all sounds like kind of a drag. That’s the point. Consider that it’s sort of like the wilderness experience that God’s people experienced in the Old Testament. This call to service is meant to humble us and to test us but, in the end, to do us good. All of it is meant to show us what it means to fear the Lord, to hope in his steadfast love, to walk in faith. Eventually you get to the Promised Land.

Paul says it this way: we have been buried with Christ by baptism into death , so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Death seems an odd way to get to new life but, like the wilderness, it’s God’s way to get us to the Promised Land. There is evidence all around us that striving for the wealth of heaven by our own power, like reaching for the apple, only leads to a fall. It sets us up for all kinds of hypocrisy. In this life we are students, we are servants, lifted up only by the glory of our Father. Somehow the life we all long for will be born out of the life that is laid down. Somehow the life we all want comes to us when we give life away.

“All who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Jesus would show us this not only by washing feet, but by laying down is life on the cross to be raised on the third day and seated at the right hand of his Father in heaven. The thing he showed us is that God’s promises can never be grasped like the apple in the garden, they can only be given as a gift. We have a Father in heaven who longs to keep those promises, to give those gifts. The good news is that God doesn’t care about how much power comes with the position we hold. God doesn’t care how fast we can swim. God only cares about how much we will serve and that doesn’t cost a dime. God wants us to make it to the Promised Land. God wants us eat our fill. God wants us to have new life. We just have to trust that God will give it to us. The Psalmist says, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people, he adorns the humble with victory.” Amen.