Who(m) Have I Hindered?

Matthew 23:13-26

What I love about the season of Advent is that it challenges us to examine ourselves and recognize the need we have for the coming of Christ. It pushes us beyond the trite and traditional -way beyond the commercial - emphases of the world around us. Occasionally, it asks us questions that stun us, such as the one the arises from the reading of our text today: Who have I hindered? (My cousin reminded me that grammatically this should read "whom" but that is not what I would say if I were talking to myself.)

Jesus in this passage offers the most strident condemnation of the religious leaders in his community, charging them with locking others out of the kingdom of heaven even as they themselves refuse to enter. It's not surprising that he accuses them of stubbornly refusing to live in the reality of God 's reign. After all, they have consistently rejected Jesus and his teaching. What is stunning is Jesus' statement that they "lock people out of the kingdom of heaven." Because they are leaders and teachers, when they refuse to enter the kingdom, they also keep others out. Their wrong has communal, not just personal implications and consequences. Jesus continues that their unbelief is virulent as they make converts of their way, actually converting others to the hell they are destined for.

Especially around the Martin Luther King holiday many soloists will strike up one of Dr. King's favorite hymns "If I Can Help Somebody." That hymn reminds us of our responsibility to assist others in finding the right way. Today, the scripture calls us to examine whether we have made converts in the other direction. When and where have our personal failings had communal consequences? Where has our hypocrisy, inconsistency, stubbornness, and wrongheadedness caused someone else to fall? Yes, I want to know whom I have helped, but I'm afraid to ask whom I have hindered. Lord, have mercy.