You may have seen the BBC sitcom “Keeping up Appearances concerning the efforts of a lower-class woman to impress those she considers her social betters in order to be accepted by them. The comedy comes from her ostentatious efforts to be seen as upper class herself and her frequently being brought down to earth by the truth. It pokes fun at those who love to be seen as important, which is pretty much all of us I suppose. How about those who use social media to present the perfect image of themselves because they want others to think how well they are doing? Do you know anyone who attends their school reunion and gives an inflated account of their success? I still smile at lawyers who walk to court in full robes and wig rather than use the robing room at court. No chance of confusing them with other professionals is there!
Jesus is pointing out the same attitude in our reading today when He issues His warnings about the scribes. They love to parade around the Temple in their fine robes and have everyone marvel at their very long and loud public prayers. They demand to be respected by others and insist on being placed in the seats of honour at any public event. Yet this display is all for show. Externally they look very much the part of the pious and religious person, yet internally they are vain men who are stealing from the very people they are meant to protect. There’s nothing religious about their behaviour at all. It’s all for show and highly hypocritical. Jesus has already warned His followers not to be like that and this is a clear example of how not to behave.
How many churchgoers would fall into the same category? We all have in mind the caricature of someone putting on their Sunday best to go to church in order to look respectable while never letting the gospel touch their lives or inform their living. They are our scribes. How many people give the appearance of being a follower of Jesus yet never actually do any of the things that Jesus did? How many parents send their children to a religious school because it looks prestigious rather than doing so because they are seeking a Christian education for their child? If we are to be genuine about our calling as the church, we must be honest about ourselves. We must stop thinking we’re important and start serving our communities. We must witness to the gospel with our deeds, not simply our words. We must actually be Jesus to those around us otherwise we’re no better than the scribes. It’s a sad state of affairs if people only think you are a Christian because they see you going to church on a Sunday rather than seeing you model the life and love of Jesus throughout the rest of the week.