What happens when
leaders abuse their power?
In the time of the
prophet Malachi, the priests who were charged with providing moral guidance to
the people were failing miserably, actively misleading the people and causing
them to stray. Rather than give glory to the Lord’s name as instructed, the priests violated the covenant of their fathers. But most importantly, they turned aside from God’s way, and for this they risk severe punishment. Unlike the psalmist in Psalm 131, whose eyes are not haughty, the priests have busied themselves with great things, cultivating an inflated sense of
self-importance. The psalmist, on the
other hand, is not self-centered; he is humble, as a child on its mother’s lap, trusting in God, who gives us all we
need, and giving himself to the Lord in return.
Jesus has a
message similar to that of Malachi for the scribes and Pharisees of his
day. Theirs is a politics of spectacle,
an authority structure grounded in arrogance.
They love places of honor at
banquets, Jesus says; they widen
their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels, both signs that their hearts are
more turned to their own self-importance than they are open to the Lord. The scribes and Pharisees misunderstand the essence
of leadership; they abuse their position, and therefore, Jesus says, the
disciples must not follow their example. It is the opposite of the situation in Paul’s
Letter to the Thessalonians, where, like the psalmist, the people of the city
have opened their hearts to the good news, putting their faith in the divine
word, receiving the word of God from
Paul and his fellow preachers. That word
has taken root; it is already bearing fruit; they are humbled before that word, which
is now at work in they who believe.
Like the psalmist,
like the Thessalonians, we all need an open heart, that we might be constantly fed
by our relationship with the Lord, who, like Paul, cares for us as a nursing mother cares for her children. Rather than imitate leaders who abuse their
power, we must humble ourselves,
being gentle among all, so that we
might truly be church, the embodiment of love for God’s people, a love
available to us only if we open our hearts to God.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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