ON DOING THE RIGHT THING
EVEN IF NOBODY IS WATCHING
Mark 1:21-28, 12:38-40
Sermon presented on February 1, 2009
Jesus and the disciples entered the synagogue in Capernaum. Capernaum was a Roman military post along a major highway, so a fairly important city with a diverse population, probably of about 2,000. In 1969 archaeologists working at Capernaum began to unearth walls of a first century synagogue, buried beneath the remains of a larger 4th century synagogue. It’s thought that these lower level remains are from the actual synagogue where Jesus taught. In Bible times all men were invited to participate in the reading and interpretation of Scripture, so there was nothing exceptional about Jesus speaking on this occasion. He was no doubt regarded as a faithful and capable member of the congregation, and in teaching he was conforming to the normal religious life of the people.
But though this Sabbath day service began as something ordinary, it turned into something extraordinary, instead. Scripture doesn’t report what Jesus said. There’s no mention of content. Rather, it is written: [The people] “were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as one of the scribes.”
Now, our sympathies may go-out to any scribes who happened to be there at the time. They hadn’t said or done anything that day. Has this ever happened to you – you’re someplace, quietly minding your own business, and suddenly you’re busted?
I was at a Super Bowl Party once, watching the game. Alot of people were milling around the outskirts of the room, not interested in the game at all, but chatting while waiting for the commercials. I was vaguely aware that a group to my right, and little behind me, was debating whether or not you have to go to church to be a Christian. This topic is of some interest to me, but not as much as the game, so I ignored it. Until a woman said, in a shrill voice I couldn’t ignore, or pretend to ignore: “It’s the preachers these days, all they ever do is ask for money.” Suddenly there’s silence in the room, an awkward silence, as everyone looks at me. And I’m thinking: what did I do? Lady, I don’t want your money. I just want to watch the game.
So, we may imagine the scribes in the synagogue that day – listening to Jesus teach, perhaps; or planning their own lessons, because experts believe that in Jesus’ time scribes were not mere copyists, as the name suggests, but scholars of religion and law; or perhaps they were doing crossword puzzles, or texting one another, or whatever, who knows. But on this day, anyway, they’ve neither said nor done anything offensive. Suddenly, there’s this silence in the room, an awkward silence, as people look to Jesus, then over to them, and exclaim: this man from Galilee teaches “as one having authority, and not as one of the scribes.” And if I’m a scribe, I’m thinking: what did I do?
We have to look elsewhere in the Gospel to answer that question. One of those elsewheres is Mark, Chapter 12, verses 38-40, where it is written that Jesus said:
Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long
robes, and to be greeted with the respect in the marketplaces,
and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of
honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses, and for
the sake of appearance they say long prayers.
Here lies the crucial criticism of the scribes: that they act “for the sake of appearance.” What matters most to them is that others are watching them. They walk-around all the time, drawing attention to themselves. They strut and preen in elegant, expensive clothes; the phrase “long robes” doesn’t refer to the length, really, but to the extravagant abundance of rich flowing fabrics. They grab the best seats, right down front, not only in the synagogue, but at private meals and parties, as well; it doesn’t matter what the occasion is, they regard themselves as celebrities, always claiming the center of attention. The clown in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night could have been addressing the scribes when he tells Malvolio: “Leave thy vain bibble babble.” The scribes also leveraged their status to squeeze money from people. And Jesus’ final criticism of the scribes is that they pray long prayers, not because they have a lot of to say to God, nor because they want to be open to hearing what God reveals to them, but “for the sake of appearance,” they just want everybody to watch them, and to be impressed by their holiness. They speak “presumptuously,” as is written of the false prophets in the Book of Deuteronomy.
So, then, back to the story: the people in the synagogue that day were astonished, not by the content of Jesus’ teaching, but by his integrity. “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Whereas they were arrogant and vain, he was humble and self-giving. Whereas they wanted attention, he re-directed peoples’ attention to God. And whereas they were always performing, pitching all they did to the crowd, he taught the sublime truth – and lived it, as well – that what matters most is doing the right thing even if nobody is watching.
In fact, this may be seen as the very definition of integrity: what we do when nobody is watching. When we’re trying to impress others there are various ways our actions may be affected, all bad. Like the scribes, we may act full of ourselves in order to disguise the emptiness inside. We may say what’s clever and pointed rather than what’s truthful and kind. We may be so in love with ourselves that there’s no room for anyone else, so vain we think the love song is about us. Or the opposite may occur, as well: we may act sweet, charitable and generous of spirit when others are watching, but then do quite the opposite in private, when nobody is watching, the hypocrisy Jesus so often denounced as an enemy of true discipleship. No, what matters most is that there be a seamless continuity between our inner and outer lives, between what we say and what we do, between our faith and our life. This is the quality of character the people saw in Jesus that day. It was so unusual, and so compelling, that they were “astounded.”
What happened next astounded them, as well. A man with an unclean spirit entered the synagogue. What this man’s exact problem was, we cannot know; apparently it was some mix of physical, psychological and of course spiritual afflictions. Jesus healed the suffering man. This electrified everyone. “They were all amazed,” it is written. But notice, again, that what most touched and transformed the people was not the miracle itself, anymore than what had astonished them earlier was the content of his teaching. Rather, they’re amazed that Jesus acted “with authority,” that is, with more than just power, but with integrity, as well, and holy purpose, and transparent honesty and holiness.
Writer John Updike died on Tuesday. At his best, Updike was an artful story-teller and essayist, usually taking with great seriousness the role of religion in the lives of his characters. Updike wrote: “Truth should not be forced. It should simply manifest itself.” I thought of his comment this week, in relation to the text before us today. The difference between the scribes and Jesus was that they were forcing people to pay attention – to them, to their words, to their rules and requirements; whereas in Jesus the truth simply manifested itself.
As we come to the Lord’s Table, let us respond to Christ’s invitation in a spirit of humility and holiness, praying for grace to be people of integrity, that we would not be multiple selves — an outer self and an inner self, a public self and a private self, a normal self and a religious self – but one self (body, mind and spirit), with Christ at the center, fully devoted to Him.
