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For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:20)
It is easy to be a Pharisee because it is easy to be selfish. Love of self, not the love of God, constrains a Pharisee to lead a strict moral life and to do good. His tribe has multiplied exceedingly in our times and waxed great in the Christian world. You will find him even in the evangelical churches which teach salvation by grace alone. He conforms his outward life to God's holy Commandments, observes Sunday by going to church, comes to the Sacrament, reads his Bible, prays and helps the poor; and for all this he expects God to reward him with the bliss of heaven.
How about us? Let us examine our ways and make very sure why we follow righteousness and lead a Christian life. Though it is easy to be a Pharisee on account of the natural selfishness of the human heart, it is not wise nor safe to be one.
This selfish righteousness of the Pharisee, be it ever so subtle, excludes men from heaven. True Christian righteousness far exceeds the righteousness of both the ancient and the modern Pharisee. In what way? The answer is: It does not proceed from love of self, but from humble, grateful love of the merciful God in heaven and from the unselfish love of your neighbor. Hence Scripture says: "...love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans 13:10).
Again, Christian righteousness does not keep the Law of God for the purpose of meriting heaven. It knows how deficient it is and builds its hope of heaven only on Jesus' blood and righteousness. But it is very zealous in striving to obey God's holy Law, for it knows how earnestly its God and Father in heaven demands it. As loving and obedient children of God, Christians follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
I know that sin and guilt combine
To reign o'er every thought of mine
And turn from good to ill;
I know that when I try to be
Upright and just and true to Thee,
I am a sinner still.
In Christ alone my trust I place,
Come boldly to Thy throne of grace
And there commune with Thee.
Salvation sure, O Lord, is mine,
And, all unworthy, I am Thine,
For Jesus died for me.
Benediction
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Amen.
[devotion text by Rev. F. W. Herzberger (1920) -
from the Family Altar - CPH (1957 edition)]
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