Saturday, November 4, 2017

“Separation of Religion and Faith” (Matthew 23:1-12)


You have probably heard it before, but “you can put lipstick on a pig, and it is still a pig.”  Variations of the saying go all the way back to the mid-16th century when the famous proverb was, “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.”  No matter when or how the proverb was stated, the meaning was the same . . . no matter how much you attempt to dress something or someone up, they are still whatever they are.  

This understanding of portraying one’s self as something other than what one really manifests is easily older than the “pig with lipstick” proverb.  I am pretty sure that is what Jesus is implying in his words this morning when he states this about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees: “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels of their prayer shawls long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues, they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’”

Jesus might as well had said, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.”

In our reading this morning Jesus pronounces a pretty scathing commentary on the so-called important people of the Jewish society . . . the teachers of the law and Pharisees.  Mincing no words, Jesus is saying that these people and the image that they project out to others is nothing more than “lipstick on a pig”.

In this passage Jesus is confronting an old conflict between what one says and what one does.  He bluntly proclaims that these teachers of the law and Pharisees “. . . do not practice what they preach.”    There is no congruency between their words and their actions.  What they teach and preach is nowhere close to what they do in their daily lives.


I would define “religion” as a belief system that most of us carry around in our minds . . . a set of rules, mandates, and standards about what we believe.  It is a “head” thing.  I would define “faith” was the actions that one takes on behalf of those beliefs we carry around in our heads.  Faith is a heart thing that dictates action . . . it is the way that we actually live our lives.  For example, we don’t only believe in love, we live in love with our actions showing that love to others.  It is more than words, it is action.

The teachers of the law and Pharisees separated their “religion” from their “faith”.  The words that they taught and preached . . . as sound as they were . . . were nothing when it came to the way that they lived their lives.  They put on a good show, and that was all that it was . . . a pig in lipstick.

And, everyone knew it.

I do not think that Jesus is saying anything that the people were not already thinking.  He just said it out loud so that everybody could hear it . . . including the teachers of the law and Pharisees.  He pointed out the hypocrisy of the whole matter . . . specifically stating the demand of these leaders for the people to practice what they taught and preached.  Jesus had no problem with what they taught or preached . . . he had a problem with the fact that they did not live up to what they taught and preached.  They practiced religion, but did not have faith.

To this Jesus was the angriest and most disappointed . . . to burden others with a religion that they themselves were not even willing to practice themselves.  Jesus tells those who are listening to him, “. . . do not practice what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”    

As we can see from our reading this morning, this problem of pigs running around in lipstick is nothing new.  Yet, we seem to be living in an age in which there seems to be an abundance of pigs running around in lipstick.  Though this is not something new, maybe we are just more aware of it thanks to the age of technology.  It seems to be everywhere thanks to newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and social media we find on our phones and computers.  There does not seem to be any realm that is not touched by this separation of religion and faith . . . we see it with celebrities, politicians, athletes, actors, media moguls, and even within the “church” itself.  It seems as if there is a not a day in which we don’t learn about some new pig with lipstick . . . that we learn about someone whose image and words do not jive with his or her life actions.

With each new report . . . with each new individual charged with this hypocrisy . . . we shake our heads in disappointment, sadness, and disbelief.  These are the people we admire . . . the people we trust . . . the people we hold in esteem . . . the people, who deep down inside us we want to be like.  They have been caught in a lie . . . their words do not stack up to their actions.  Their actions betray them.

I guess, in a way, this is a wake up call to all of us.  It is a wake up call for us to consider our own lives . . . to consider the words that we speak . . . to consider the actions we take.  Are they one and the same?  Or, are they incongruent?  Are our actions betraying our words?

Well, if we are going to be honest with ourselves, I think that we have all separated our religion from our faith at certain points in our lives.  I think that it is only human nature that this happens.  And, I think that it is good to remind ourselves to consider our words and actions every so often to keep ourselves on track.  That is what Jesus is telling us this morning in our reading, “. . . do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”  

The journey of faith is a movement from the head to the heart . . . and, from the heart one lives out his or her life.  The journey of faith is a movement from words to action . . . the words that are spoken are lived out in such a way that in reality, no words are needed.  The journey of faith is a melding of religion and action until it becomes faith.  With faith, no words are needed . . . it is just the way that one lives life.

So, as I have been saying, it is good for us to consider whether or not we are living up to the words we proclaim as the followers of Jesus . . . that our actions are not betraying our words.  Thus if we proclaim that we love all people . . . well, we better love all people.  If we proclaim that all are welcome in this building and at this table . . . then we better be making room for everybody.  In other words, we better not be dressing up our words with fancy lipstick and projecting an image; no, we better be living up to the words we speak and say that we believe.  Trust me, people know a pig even when it has lipstick on.  We do not want to be betrayed by our actions.  The hymn tells us that others will know that we are the followers of Jesus by the way that we love . . . not by the words that we speak.

Now, remember, Jesus is just saying . . .  because it is something Jesus is saying, we should consider it.  Let us be a people of action, not words.  May we continue to strive to be a people of faith, not a people of religion.  Amen.

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