Sanctified or Sanctimonious
After Pentecost • Sermon • Submitted
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Tradition
Tradition
Traditions are often an attempt to either protect us from something that can harm us or keep us in the place where we are most likely to do well. Not all traditions are so characterized, and some are nothing more than outmoded responses to situations that no longer exist. Nevertheless, this old saying remains true: “Never tear down a fence until you find out why it was built.”
Keywords: Church; Tradition
“The seven last words” of a dying church are: “We never did it that way before!”
1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
What is going on here? Were the residents of Galilee in the midst of a pandemic, and the Scribes and Pharisees concerned about preventing the spread of a virus? Did Jesus and the 12 look like a bunch of homeless wanderers, filthy with road dust, or lacking in proper home training? Of course not! But let’s be honest, we know that isn’t the reason for this concern because we have heard this passage of Scripture before, we have seen these confrontations before. We know how this story plays out already. I could wrap this up by saying “Tradition - Bad! Jesus - Good!” It would save us a bunch of time on this Sunday, right?
It isn’t that simple; nothing in life is that simple. As bad as post-modern Americans despise anything older than their birthday, or worse, than their Twitter feed and Tik-Tok accounts, not everything that was invented in their lifetimes is the essence of “good, right, and salutary.” Don’t worry, I’m not about to go off on a “Get off my lawn” tangent. After all, I like some of these modern conveniences. My cell phone’s capabilities means that I don’t have to lug around my laptop to every meeting, and a briefcase with a big study bible is no longer standard equipment for preachers and those who want to become one.
Of course, that also means that we can no longer determine the depth of your spirituality by the size and price of your study Bible, since all of that sort of material can be accessed by your ubiquitous smart phone. In fact, I suspect that it’s hard to find a person who carries a brief case anymore. A backpack is much more versatile, and it keeps your hands free.
What do we do that we no longer know why we do it, but we have found no reason to reconsider it?
Secondly, does God have us doing things, not as a benefit to us or to our neighbor, but just to prove that we are good Christians? When are we being “sanctified” and when are we being “sanctimonious?”
For starters, here’s some definitions:
sanctify /ˈsaŋ(k)tɪfʌɪ/
■ verb (sanctifies, sanctifying, sanctified)[1] consecrate. [2]make legitimate or binding by religious sanction. [3] free from sin.
—DERIVATIVES sanctification noun sanctifier noun
—ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French saintifier (influenced later by sanctifier), from ecclesiastical Latin sanctificare, from Latin sanctus ‘holy’.
sanctimonious /ˌsaŋ(k)tɪˈməʊnɪəs/
■ adjective derogatory making a show of being morally superior.
—DERIVATIVES sanctimoniously adverb sanctimoniousness noun sanctimony /ˈsaŋ(k)tɪməni/ noun
—ORIGIN 17th century: from Latin sanctimonia ‘sanctity’ (from sanctus ‘holy’) + -OUS.
Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
How can you tell which is which? Both have their roots from Latin sanctus ‘holy’. “Holy” is an adjective - it describes something that is “set apart” The result of being “set apart” can be experienced as a positive or as a negative. In the positive, that which is set apart is understood as “special,” to be treated with respect. In the negative sense, that which is “set apart” is targeted for destruction, largely because its destruction is an element in the larger setting apart of something for special use.
If, in your talking about holiness, those around you are described in terms of their relative lack of “spirituality” or “purity,” compared to you, you might be sanctimonious. If, as you survey yourself, you feel an overall sense of satisfaction with your progress, you might be sanctimonious. If when someone compliments you, you feel the need to forcefully deny that you played any role at all in the situation, but rather God acted like Gepetto to your Pinocchio, you might be sanctimonious.
If you look at God as the source of your goodness, and accept it as the simple reality of Him being the Creator and you being His creation, feeling no need to devalue yourself in the process, you are sanctified. If you appreciate the reality of Christ as your Savior, giving to you the Holy Spirit as the token and seal of your relationship to Him, and recognize that He is working in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure, without fanfare but in the same way that He works all things to the praise of His glorious grace, you are sanctified.
In reality, as opposed to fantasy, there is only one Entity who is, by nature, Sanctus - God, as He has revealed Himself to be in the Scriptures. Everything else is only Sanctus because it exists in a relationship with the One who is sanctus in Himself. It is for this reason that the words associated with sanctus are reflective of the need for someone, greater than you, to make you “holy.”
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
Jesus takes the words of Isaiah the Prophet and applies them to this situation. These words are also found in our First Reading today; let’s revisit them:
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.” 13 And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, 14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
A sealed book - the Bible speaks of such a thing as a book or a scroll that was sealed until a later time, when the proper person would arrive who has authority to unseal and read the writing. Initially, to not break the seal was a sign of reverence for the contents. This holds true unless you are told by someone with authority to loose the seals and read the scroll. At that point, you have authority, and even a responsibility, to do what you could not do before - read the book.
When we resist God’s will to hide His Word in our hearts, by not listening, not reading, not taking note, and not taking it to heart, we set ourselves up for sins over which we should be triumphant. The Bible declares that there is nothing that can bring us into defeat because we are in Christ:
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
God’s Word makes these exceeding great and precious promises, but unless we meditate upon them in our personal devotions and hear them in corporate worship and Bible study, we won’t internalize them, and we give place to the devil as he tempts us to doubt God’s love for us. He will make use of the circumstances that he brings about for our ruin to tell us that God is failing to care for us.
When we try to replace God’s revealed will with human traditions and earthly wisdom, we end up out of God’s will, on a way that seems right but whose end leads to death.
The Law of God defines how an orderly and harmonious community operates under God’s direction. It also establishes the boundaries of the community of God, outside of which, one is operating under the rule of Satan. Other than perfect obedience, the only way to experience the harmony and order of the Kingdom of God is by grace through faith.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
If it is of grace through faith, then we cannot receive any credit for the results, we can only give thanks for God’s gift. It’s a mystery - not so much how God did it, as much as why?
Why does God love us, such that He created us for a relationship with Him no other living thing in creation shares, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral. God does not claim to love either the angels above or the demons below. But He does declare His love for sinners - for us. In Word and Act, God shows His love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He comes to us, and allows us to accept or reject His gifts, to receive or reject his grace, to trust in or despise His mercy.
To embrace Christ Crucified for you is to be a saint. To claim to have purified yourself is to be sanctimonious. The former has peace with God, while the latter does not even have peace within.
3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.