Beware of the Scribes

We begin by correcting our understanding of God's desire towards piety. Father Aaron clarified for us that--contrary to what is commonly thought of today--the scribes and Pharisees were actually well respected in their time. And in our present time, we have people within the church who fit this same mold—who appear to be righteous and moral--but fail to show mercy and compassion to those who are struggling and in need. In our desire to be able to measure our own progress toward salvation, we often look for a “checklist” as a way for us to demonstrate that we are righteous. We ended the episode by stressing a biblical understanding of what Fr Aaron calls "hopeful giving." Our goal is to give from our first-fruits, trusting God will provide for our needs. In the end, if we are to follow the biblical teaching, we must follow the immeasurable and internal aspects of piety found in the Gospel, which in turn puts us in a position of requiring mercy before the Judgement Seat of Christ.