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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

September 9, 2022

The Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: Come let us adore him.

Reading: Luke 6:39-42

He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, “Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

“Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive.” The quote is from Sir Walter Scott’s epic poem, Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. Published in 1808, it tells the tale of how one of Henry VIII’s courtiers, Lord Marmion, pursues his lust for a rich woman, Clara Clare. He and his mistress, a delinquent nun, Constance De Beverley, devise a scheme to implicate Clara’s fiancé in treason. It becomes chaotic and although Marmion appears to have won, by defeating Clara’s fiancé in a duel, Clara retires to a convent rather than suffer his attentions. The quoted line conveys this warning: when one lies or acts dishonestly one initiates problems and builds a domino structure of complications which eventually runs out of control. This is a beautifully expressed aphorism that uses just a few words to describe one life experience so perfectly, and is so true. It has endured.

What is the effect of all this? As human beings we have the tendency to be easily caught up or carried away, We are so easily given to follow the latest fashions, trends, and thinking of the world. And once so carried away, we are ensnared by our error and to some degree cut off from the truth. Our involvement in deception can be expressed in three different ways: 1) We are sometimes the victim of deception; 2) We can be among those who deceive. This refers to something deeper than lying. The deception here involves misleading other people. 3) There is a middle ground between being a victim and a victimizer. It is that middle ground where we connive in deception. When deceivers speak to us, not only do we fail to rebuke them for their deception, we perk up our ears and in effect say, “Tell me more.”

Clearly, Jesus’ question is rhetorical. The obvious answers are, “No, a blind person cannot guide another blind person. Yes, both will fall into the pit. One absurdity is exposed by another. The one who guides, the teacher, needs to have clear vision. Since the pupil, the one led, is dependent upon the teacher or leader, the clear vision of the leader or teacher is all the more important. Moreover Jesus is purposefully hyperbolical. What Jesus is pointing to, though, is those whom he calls out as being hypocrites are deliberately giving a false impression. While this may refer to false prophets and/or the Pharisees, here Jesus is referring to men who are deceived about their own condition. They have conveniently, if not intentionally, excused themselves from the practice of honest self-evaluation and serious self-improvement. The few who overcome their faults develop the insight and ability to assist others. Jesus does not discourage us from forming moral judgments about the human condition, but to proscribe attempts to criticize others without undergoing the same rigorous scrutiny of oneself. There is a distinct possibility that we live with distorted views of ourselves, others and the world that may make us strangers to ourselves and blind to the nature of our significant moral engagements

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory

   for ever and ever. Amen.