Defeating the Inner Hypocrite
June 7, 2015
Corpus Christi
First Reading: Exodus 24:3-8
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060715.cfm
Nobody likes a hypocrite, a person who says one thing and does another. But often I wonder if our disgust at hypocrisy reflects something about ourselves. Maybe we can’t stand hypocrites because they remind us about what we can’t stand about our very selves. We make commitments we can’t keep, resolutions to exercise that go unfulfilled, promises to ourselves about waking up earlier, getting more organized, checking things off the to-do list. So many of our promises to ourselves end up deferred and eventually, forgotten. One of the ways that we combat the hypocrite within is by making firm, loud, public commitments that will help us to shy away from the cliff of duplicity when we are tempted to slip. In this Sunday’s first reading, the ancient Israelites face a similar moment of commitment.
Making a Pact
The Exodus generation witnessed God’s saving work at the Red Sea and received the law at Mt. Sinai. Yet they were terrified of God, so Moses acts as their representative on the mountain. At this point, Exodus 24, the people have already obtained the Ten Commandments and many other laws. In order to validate their formal reception of God’s law and covenant, they have a unique sacred ceremony, part of which is described in this reading. Our reading begins and ends with an expression of commitment on the part of the Israelites. They promise: “All the words which the LORD has spoken we will do” (Exod 24:3 RSV). After the ceremony, they re-affirm their promise.
Oath of Obedience
Through this oath of obedience the Israelites take a firm and public stand against hypocrisy. They recognize what God has done for them and they want to reciprocate, to give back in the only way they can: obedience. They cannot save themselves from the Egyptians or conquer the promised land or write their own law—they receive these things as gifts from God, who is able to do them. When God gives us gifts, we have trouble giving back, not because we don’t want to, but because God doesn’t need anything we have to offer. Yet we can offer our very selves, which is what he is really after. The Israelites promise obedience to his law, to the covenant that he makes with them.
Memorials and Sacrifices
After the people’s initial oath and Moses’ writing down of the covenant laws, Moses sets up twelve stone pillars at the base of the mountain. These stellae function as a permanent reminder of the covenant promises that were sworn on that day, along with the written document he had prepared. They remind me of a wedding ring or baptismal candle, something that we keep in order to remind us of a commitment made long ago. Stone pillars were a common religious object in the ancient Near East and many different kinds of them have been found by archaeologists. Some have writing or decoration, while others are plain. We don’t know what Moses’ stellae looked like, but their memorial purpose is clear enough.
The sacrifices that accompany the oath serve to seal the covenant. Earlier in Exodus, Moses had pleaded with Pharaoh many times to let the people go so they could offer sacrifice to God. This moment in Exodus 24 is the climactic sacrifice, which Moses’ requests anticipate. The only previous sacrifices were on Passover (still in Egypt) and with Jethro (Exod 18:12). Biblical covenants are typically confirmed with a bloody sacrifice, “and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22 RSV).
A Mysterious Consecration
While sacrificial rituals are common in the Bible, this is one of only two times that the blood of the sacrificed animal is actually sprinkled on the people participating in the rite. The other similar episode is the consecration of the Levitical priests (Lev 8:30, anticipated by Exod 29:21). In our reading from Exodus 24, the people are consecrated as “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6) as God had promised them. The sprinkling of blood could make us think of the boys’ ritual of becoming “blood brothers” by mixing the participants’ blood. And in fact, the blood is sprinkled both on the people and on the altar, which stands in for God in the ceremony. The blood also emphasizes the gravity of the ritual—it is an oath unto death. The participants imply by their action that if one was to violate the agreement, that his fate would be similar to that of the sacrificed animals. So the blood-sprinkling ritual confirms the covenantal commitment and serves to consecrate the people, to make them holy.
Defeating the Inner Hypocrite
The Lectionary offers us this reading about an ancient blood ritual on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, the Second Reading from Hebrews 9 reflects back on this episode in Exodus to explain Christ’s atoning death. While Moses sanctified the copies of heavenly things with the blood of animals (Heb 9:19-23), Jesus sanctifies us and the heavenly sanctuary with his very own blood (19:24). It takes more than a promise to defeat one’s inner hypocrite. We need God’s help. No matter how many oaths we profess or how much we protest our sincerity, our will is weak. We need God’s mercy, his consecration, his forgiveness, in order to conquer our own selves. Fortunately, his help was not limited to the ancient Israelites, but is available to us, through the New Moses, who happens to be the most hypocrisy-free person we’ll ever meet.
