“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Matthew 23:23 (From the Gospel of the Bridegroom Service on Holy Monday Evening)
One day, when my son was about seven years old, we were driving somewhere and from the backseat, my son asked me, “Daddy, if the speed limit sign says “55” why are you driving ’65’?” Wow! How could I answer that question? If I said, “Son, that is just a guideline,” then when I tried to enforce a rule at home, he could give me the same answer, “That’s just a guideline.” Or I could say, “That’s just a suggestion, no one really does that.” Except then, how could I enforce getting homework done? So, I politely thanked my son for bringing this to my attention and I pay careful attention to drive the speed limit, at least, hypocritically, when he is in the car.
Now, I confess that the reason I obey the traffic laws has nothing to do with my concern for the other drivers on the road. I don’t want to pay for a ticket and I don’t want to damage my car. Truth be told, I wish all other drivers stayed home and I had the road all to myself.
I guess if Jesus were to critique my driving, He would say that I am an “Old Testament” driver and maybe most of us are. For the New Testament driver cares more for the other drivers on the road. He is eager to let people change lanes in front of him. How many of us do that? The New Testament driver also maintains a safe driving distance and follows all the rules out of a genuine concern for the other drivers on the road, rather than because they are the rules. He has in his consciousness, a strong desire for everyone to get home in one piece.
There are many people who live according to the letter of the Law and have lost its spirit. Such were the Pharisees and Priests of the Temple. Jesus ridiculed them for their hypocrisy. They had made themselves gods and along with that had ruled with an iron hand. In Matthew 23 :2-4, Jesus said to them and the multitudes, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders.”
One of the “traps” in the Orthodox Church is that we are so “ritual heavy.” Many people think that lighting a candle will get you into the Kingdom of Heaven or checking food for ingredients to make sure it doesn’t contain any oil or dairy during the fasting periods. Every year, people will call the office asking what time Communion is offered on Holy Saturday, rather than asking what time the service starts. We can easily become focused on rituals and not faith, on form rather than substance.
Rituals help provide consistency and comfort to us. They are aids in expressing our faith, but we don’t worship fasting, icons, vestments, or hymns sung in the right key. We worship Christ. He is at the center of everything.
If anything, Old Testament Christianity is very “comfortable.” Imagine going to college and you have the opportunity to take one of two different classes-one that has a syllabus that tells you day by day what is expected and that’s what you’ll be graded on. The other says, “You’ll be graded by how much you learn and how much you love the class;’ but doesn’t offer a syllabus. Which class would you take? Most people would probably sign up for the first one.
I recently met with our women’s Bible study group. We sat in a circle, had nice discussion, people eagerly shared feelings and stories, some even shed a few tears. It was very nice, comforting and supportive. I mentioned to the group, what would happen if we brought a group of violent gang members into the church and told them to have a Bible study group that would also function as a spiritual support group. Obviously, they would be nowhere near able to do this. First, we’d have to make some rules to keep everyone safe. We might even have to phrase the rules using profanity and slang, if that’s the language they understand. We wouldn’t worry initially about what they were learning. We’d be preoccupied with keeping everyone safe and we’d be focused on rules and safety. That, however, would not be the end goal. The end goal would be studying God’s word in an encouraging and supportive environment and care would have to be taken to not lose sight of that goal while bringing them around to a more peaceful way of thinking.
Many of us are still stuck in Old Testament Christianity. We’re all about rules and fairness, and we often forget about love and mercy. We still live in more of the “eye for an eye” mentality (Exod. 21:24) rather than the “forgive seventy times seven” mentality (Matt. 18:22). People are hesitant to admit wrong and ask forgiveness for fear of retribution or litigation. This is why we don’t forgive as easily as we once did.
Christ shows us the ultimate example of mercy when He forgave those who crucified Him. So, while we don’t necessarily need rules, in our churches and in society, we definitely need to show more mercy and have more faith and love. We cannot neglect these.
The Old Testament was all about rules. The New Testament is all about love.
The Bridegroom, surpassing all in comeliness, has called us to the spiritual wedding Feast. Through sharing in Your sufferings, remove the blotched raiment of my sins, and adorning me with a robe of glory of Your comeliness, make me a radiant guest of Your Kingdom, as a Merciful God. (From the Aposticha of the Bridegroom Service of Holy Monday Night, Trans. by Fr. George Papadeas)
Live a New Testament Christianity today!
~Father Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, THE ROAD BACK TO CHRIST: REFLECTIONS on LENT, HOLY WEEK and the RESURRECTION
