Unmarked Tombs

The last couple years, Andrea and I had the birthday tradition of individually choosing verses of Scripture that would become a theme for that next year of our lives. The one catch is that the reference of the chosen verse must contain the sequence of numbers that coincides with our age for that year. So, for example, last year Andrea and I turned 33 and so I chose Luke 6:33 " And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that." A challenging concept for us, especially in the context where we too often see ourselves as "givers" to those who either cannot or will not repay. In reality, I think I learned (at least intellectually, I'm still working on learning it practically) that we "give" far less than we think we do, and we are "repaid" in ways that we either reject or take for granted (ways like respect we have neither earned nor deserved).

 

Turning over another year meant I dug through the Scriptures once again looking for all of the different references that have a 3 followed by a 4. Turns out I didn't have to look far, for when I reached Luke 11:43-44 I couldn't help but feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it." Not exactly a "pick-me-up", now is it?

 

The Pharisees loved the outward show of being respected within their society and looked up to as symbols of piety. As for me, I don't feel that I pursue, demand or wallow in outward respect, in fact, I tend to avoid those things and downplay them when they do arrive at my doorstep. But don't read into that some sort of selfless humility. Not at all. Pride makes itself at home inside of me without any trouble at all. For me it takes the form of, "Look at all that I have done, all that I have contributed, all the struggles/challenges/rainstorms/sicknesses/heartaches that I've gone through to serve the Lord…" Pride, in all its forms, is ugly! And so this year I want to make conscious efforts in identifying that sin and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, uprooting it where I can.

 

But I couldn't stop there, first of all, as I needed to add verse 44 in order to complete the 34 number sequence, but secondly as verse 44 contains the real heart of what convicted me: unmarked graves. The Jewish Law had/has great concern for ceremonial cleanliness. Without being ritually/ceremonially clean, a Jew could not enter into the temple complex, they could not gather with the community at the temple and participate in corporate worship of their God. Ceremonial cleanliness was a big deal and so everybody was careful to observe the laws which governed cleanliness as found in the Jewish Law. One such law, found in Numbers 19:11-22, stated that anyone who touched a corpse would be unclean for seven days and required to perform purification ceremonies on the third and seventh days in order to be restored to the community of Yahweh worship. Once again a big deal! Now, Jesus' accusation against the Pharisees compared them to "unmarked tombs", which people walk over without knowing it. In other words, whereas the Jewish people looked to the Pharisees for spiritual leadership, as symbols of piety, Jesus is saying that instead of a sanctifying effect on others, the Pharisees are actually having a defiling effect – causing innocent people to unknowingly come in contact with and be defiled by their hypocrisy. As I chewed on this verse a bit more, I was made aware of one area in which I also am like an unmarked tomb. But instead of hypocrisy, my corpse takes the form of a critical spirit.

 

We are surrounded by many different types of people in our lives. In one particular circle of relationships, I can identify one person who is often critical, judgmental, and doesn't hold back in speaking an honest opinion. I find it easy to join this person in critical slander of others. In that same circle of friends, there is another person whose speech and attitudes are seasoned with grace which rarely, if ever, speaks poorly of others. The first has a defiling effect on others, an unmarked tomb, as critical attitudes are highly contagious. On the contrary, the second has a sanctifying effect on his/her peers. When I asked myself which camp I would more often find myself in, the answer was obvious – I am no less an unmarked tomb when it comes to critical attitudes and words, than the Pharisees were with their hypocrisy. And thus, for the 34^th year of life God has given me, I have some heavy work cut out for me: mining for humility and sanctifying speech/attitudes. We'd appreciate your prayers as the Lord continues his sanctification process on us all.