RBWords

     The three scriptures for this Sunday all point to something that was and is of central importance to Jewish life - the Law of Moses.  The passage from Deuteronomy is virtually a hymn of praise for this covenant.  But the passages from the Letter of James and the Gospel According to Mark point to what can happen when the law disappears from the intentions and hearts of its observers and becomes an instrument of oppression.  Jesus' took dead aim at this in his criticism of the scribes, Pharisees and other religious leadership of his time.  The "widows and orphans" represented the most vulnerable persons in the Jewish community.  When these and other vulnerable persons were ignored or taken advantage of by the use of formal observances in the law, then the whole purpose of the law, summed up in love of God and neighbor, was frustrated.  In our own day, we might use the term "technicalities" to describe what happens when justice is frustrated by procedures and rules that are misused for whatever reason.

     It is clear that Jesus' criticism amounted to an attack on a whole "system" that had grown up around the Law of Moses which was being manipulated to benefit a particular class of people.  Values such as mercy and compassion were being sacrificed to legalisms.  In a church like our own, with its very rich traditions and complex canonical structures, it is easy to become focused on formalisms to the point that mercy and compassion are forgotten.  This problem is an old one.  The great prophets of the Old Testament denounced worship that had no roots in justice, love and mercy.  Church law and observances should always be expressions of those values and not a means of frustrating them.  AMEN