Kirkepiscatoid

23Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ²“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; ³therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.

⁴They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. ⁵They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. ⁶They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

⁸But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. ⁹And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. ¹⁰Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Interestingly enough, the rest of Matthew 23 becomes even more of a "cuss-out". But in Wallace's sermon on Sunday, he used this text to outline the difference between "good religion" and "bad religion." This is something that seems very real to me on the eve of the U.S. election day.

"Good religion" does not lay heavy burdens on people and then leave them to their own devices and foibles.

"Good religion" is often done behind the scenes and sometimes the only person who knows it is the benefactor and God.

"Good religion" has a humility about it where the "good person" is incredibly quick to point out the aid given by others or that what happened was simply the grace of God, not them.

I have been getting on average 15 robo-calls a night (nothing like living in a battleground state). They are not all national ones, though, some are state races. The one that really gets my goat is the opponent of Rebecca McClanahan, who is our state representative. This fine woman is literally a saint. She and her husband have been fixtures in the community here in Kirksville for 30 years. She and her husband have been foster parents and adopted a child. She was on the nursing faculty at Truman State for several years. Her dad is a minister of the Gospel (a fundamentalist one at that--yet I love this man because he came out in favor of embryonic stem cell research during a nasty ballot initiative two years ago)

Yet her opponent, thanks to some help from the Missouri GOP, has been running ads that says she "celebrates abortion". (Since when does supporting the right to choose equal "celebrating abortion?") Meanwhile, her opponent trades heavily on the 5 G's--God, Guts, Guns, Gays, and Gestation. There is nothing that galls me (as a responsible gun owner who does not have much of an issue with present gun control laws) more than this guy plastering himself all over the TV and newspapers in the typical "Fat white guy out shooting or hunting" poses. I am amazed at how these modern-day Pharisees can take someone who is a decent human being and paint her as the Antichrist with not even a blink of an eye.

So when I was listening to the Gospel reading and the sermon yesterday, I have to admit my thoughts were on the screw job Rebecca has been been getting by her opponent and the modern day Pharisees that proceed to tell us what "good religion" is, all the while practicing "bad religion". I never pray for outcomes, but I pray for the best of all of us to prevail, or for "right to be done." If you'd remember the 2nd district of the Missouri House, I'd be much obliged.