Prone to Puffery
AM Psalm 55 • PM Psalm 138, 139:1-17(18-23)
Gen. 41:1-13 • 1 Cor. 4:1-7 • Mark 2:23-3:6
We humans are prone to puffery. After all, our Creator has given us stewardship over the entire earth. We certainly are the most dominant of species and likely the most intelligent. We have built great centers of learning where we can earn degrees, manifestations of mastery of a certain subject matter. We love to prognosticate and to interpret, to boast even.
However, today’s readings from the Old Testament, the Epistles, and the Gospel all warn against these egotistical tendencies.
The passage from Genesis 41 is a familiar one. Pharaoh has experienced two troubling dreams. In the first, he witnesses seven cows, “fat and sleek,” emerge from the Nile to feed in the reed grass. But they are soon followed by seven others, “poor, very ugly and thin,” who set upon the fat cows and devour them. The second dream is similar: seven ears of grain, “full and good,” flourish on a stalk. But they are followed by seven “withered, thin and blighted’ ears that “swallow up the good ears.” You know the rest of the story: not one of the Pharaoh’s magicians or wise men can interpret the dreams, so Pharaoh sends for Joseph, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard and known for his ability to interpret dreams. Joseph delivers: he successfully predicts seven years of great plenty followed by seven years of great famine and advises Pharaoh to set aside grain in the years of plenty. Joseph is richly rewarded and named overseer of the house of Pharaoh. But what is important is Joseph’s attribution: “It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”
Next, we find Paul ministering to the Corinthians, Hellenistic Christians, many of whom claim exalted spiritual status by virtue of their wisdom, “a spiritualized form of classical Greek aristocratic values” (The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition). In Paul’s words, they are ”puffed up,” prone to boasting of special spiritual powers, and Paul takes them to task. “Therefore do not promise judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” He further cautions them to adhere to the saying, “Nothing beyond what is written.”
Which is exactly what the Pharisees fail to do in our passage from Mark. Jesus and his disciples are hungry, so they grab handfuls of grain while walking through a field, which, on its face, is innocent, even opportune. The problem is that they have done this on the Sabbath! The ever-watchful Pharisees are witnesses to this act, which they have interpreted as unlawful on the Sabbath. This is followed by an act even more heinous, for Jesus, on that same Sabbath, in the Synagogue, restores a man’s withered hand. You are, no doubt, familiar with Jesus’ reply to his accusers: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Hearing this, the Pharisees “went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.”
A look at the Old Testament scriptures regarding the Sabbath reveals that the Pharisees, puffed up beyond what is written, have mandated their own dark and narrow interpretation of the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-10, Isaiah 58: 13-14 (which calls for making the Sabbath a “delight”), and Hosea 6:6 do not support this stifling view of the Sabbath, nor does Jesus.
If we can learn to deflate our puffery and check our egos, we can better allow for the compassion and truth of Christ to emerge.
Written by Grimsley Graham
A retired teacher, Grimsley actively participates in adult formation and food distribution projects at St. Paul’s.