It is not those who say to me, Lord, Lord… (Mt 7:21)
“Undeniably, those who wilfully shut out God from their hearts and try to dodge religious questions are not following the dictates of their consciences, and hence are not free of blame; yet believers themselves frequently bear some responsibility for this situation. For, taken as a whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and religion” (Gaudium et Spes, no.19).
This was a very courageous yet humble statement from the Church during the 2nd Vatican Council in 1965.
Religion and Spirituality
The secular movements of the 1960’s (including atheism) that were generally reactionary are taking yet another form today. In the recent years, particularly in the West, there is a rise of a ‘Spirituality’ movement that recognises the spiritual nature of human beings and believes in the existence of ‘a Greater Power’. However, this type of Spirituality is increasingly contrasted against religion and is even considered superior to institutional religions. In short, we still see a rebellion against organised religion. Why is organised religion considered bad?
In the gospel reading of today, Jesus is clearly drawing a line between two types of religion: one, a religion of “those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord…,” and two, a religion of “the person who does the will of my Father”. Jesus goes on to describe the first type of religion as being based on prophesying in his name, casting out demons in his name, working many miracles in his name. This religion is characterised by external practices which may even be extraordinary, but whose fruits are not discernible in real expressions of wellbeing. He disowns this type of religion with very strong words: “I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men” (Mt 7:23). The second type of followers are those who listen to “these words of mine and act on them” (Mt 7:24); they will be like sensible people who build their house on rock. Though this type of religion is based on interiority of life (doing the will of God), their faith is discernible in fruits of resilience and strength of character, particularly in moments of floods and gale. “You will be able to tell them by their fruits” (Mt 7:16).
This seems to be the act of ‘bringing down the gavel’ as Jesus finishes his so called ‘Sermon on the Mount’. What we continue to read from Matthew is:
“Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, unlike their own scribes. After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him” (Mt 7:28-29, 8:1). Why is the Sermon on the Mount that started with promises of blessing (Blessed are you…Mt 5:3) now ending with a warning of disaster (“… and it fell, and what a fall it had” (Mt 7:27) – the last phrase of today’s gospel text)?
Moses and Jesus: Extrinsic Religion and Intrinsic Religion
It is interesting to note this contrast in the light of what Jesus has been attempting to propose in his Sermon on the Mount. We have said that Matthew wants to present Jesus as the new Moses. This is even more straightforward in the Gospel of John. Though John the Evangelist does not have the narration of the Sermon on the Mount in his Gospel, he encapsulates the core of the Sermon in his Prologue: “Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received — one gift replacing another, for the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ” (Jn 1:16-17; the word ‘gift’ in verse 16 also could be read as ‘grace’ or ‘blessing’; but Jesus promises not only grace but also truth). The Law of Moses (Torah) gives rise to a religion of exteriority and a nation of order. Whereas, the religion based on grace and truth is a spirituality of interiority that is witnessed to by a community.
Let me try to illustrate this with an insight from a secular author. Gordon Allport, an American psychologist, spoke about two types of religion: intrinsic religion and extrinsic religion. Initially, he had used the terms, ‘mature religion and immature religion’. But since these terms are value-laden his later writings adopted the terms: ‘intrinsic religion and extrinsic religion’. According to Allport, ‘the mature religious sentiment’ is characterised by a reflective faith; a willingness to constantly challenge oneself towards transformation of character; a coherent belief system that is also humbly tentative and heuristic; and a faith that just knows ‘God IS’. I tend to think that it is this type of religious spirituality that Jesus is inviting us to in the gospel of today. Jesus describes the followers of this religious spirituality as those who do the will of my Father in Heaven.
This theme is further affirmed by the 2nd reading of today from the Letter to the Romans (3:21): “God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law….” St Paul continues, “a man is justified by faith and not by doing something the Law tells him to do” (Rom 3:28).
Doing the will of the Father
We are easily tempted to moralise the teachings of Jesus. Doing the will of the Father can be simplistically rendered as doing ‘good’, obeying some laws, and following some procedures. To me, firstly, this approach seems to imply an arrogance that we know what the will of God is; it assumes that the will of God is static and fixed; it puts the Father into a box. Secondly, this would be again watering down the teaching of Jesus. It could reduce our Christian faith and life to some extrinsic measurable entities. When religion is reduced to exteriorities then there is a greater risk of hypocrisy. Such a religion does not inspire. On the contrary, it could generate rebellion against religion. Sure, a tree is known by its fruits. But the tree does not focus on its fruits. The fruits are the outcome of a process that begins at the roots! In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is inviting us to focus on the roots.
That is why I like the expression of Allport that a mature faith – intrinsic religion – is a heuristic faith. It is always searching. It is humbly tentative. It is constantly open to grace and truth. This calls for a spirituality of discernment. It would be meaningful to develop the theme of discernment on another occasion. For now, let me conclude by pointing out to how we can probably begin to do the will of the father. To begin with, we can make our own the sentiments of the Responsorial Psalm of the liturgy of today (Ps 30):
In you, O Lord, I take refuge….
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold,
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
In other words, the Word of God today invites us to open up ourselves to the saving grace of God.