March 2: “Woe to You Hypocrites!”
♫ Music:
Day 14 - Tuesday, March 2
Title: “WOE TO YOU HYPOCRITES!”
Scripture: Matthew 23:23-27, 37-39
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Poetry:
A Farewell to False Love
by Sir Walter Raleigh
Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies,
A mortal foe and enemy to rest,
An envious boy, from whom all cares arise,
A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed,
A way of error, a temple full of treason,
In all effects contrary unto reason.
A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers,
Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose,
A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers
As moisture lend to every grief that grows;
A school of guile, a net of deep deceit,
A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait.
A fortress foiled, which reason did defend,
A siren song, a fever of the mind,
A maze wherein affection finds no end,
A raging cloud that runs before the wind,
A substance like the shadow of the sun,
A goal of grief for which the wisest run.
A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear,
A path that leads to peril and mishap,
A true retreat of sorrow and despair,
An idle boy that sleeps in pleasure's lap,
A deep mistrust of that which certain seems,
A hope of that which reason doubtful deems.
Sith then thy trains my younger years betrayed,
And for my faith ingratitude I find;
And sith repentance hath my wrongs bewrayed,
Whose course was ever contrary to kind:
False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu!
Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew.
WOE TO YOU, HYPOCRITES!
“The only person not guilty of being a hypocrite is the one who admits to being one.” I thought I was terribly clever back in grade school when I came up with this retort. I cannot remember what debate I was trying to win at the time, but the reasoning behind the statement still holds true: we are all hypocrites at some point.
I was worried my writing today would make me a hypocrite, calling out other Christians for being judgmental. But today’s poem encourages me to begin in a spirit of self-examination. It describes the negative aspects that come to an end when a false love dies. The narrative is unforgiving, calling out all the faults of the other. The hurt is great, because the object of admiration was false, not worthy of the love heaped upon it. Where am I placing my faith and love—in man, or in Christ?
The verses selected for today are often used in fiery sermons, meant to convict the congregation of their wrongdoings. Look instead at the motivation behind these words. Have you ever loved someone so much, that when they have done something you see as unwise, you react with anger and frustration? It hurts because you care. “Woe to you.” Sadness. Then Christ describes His desire to gather Jerusalem’s children together as a hen gathers her chicks. The emotional life here is not just simply anger, but a desire to protect one’s own. It is the selfless love of a parent, one that makes Christ a more than worthy investment of our love. But if we only look at the surface of the reaction, we shame and guilt ourselves, completely missing the point underneath.
Hirst’s For the Love of God presents a human skull covered in diamonds. Death is ever present, but the piece is adorned with gemstones we associate with beauty and wealth. The same stones associated with a cutthroat industry with a well-known history of ethical issues. The second piece is Christopher Wool’s Hypocrite, which also creates striking imagery through spacing and print, inviting the audience to look past the immediate meaning of a word, to the interpretation of the graphic itself. Both pieces juxtapose contrasting ideas, just as Christ did. You may look one way to the world, but what is happening in your heart?
In A Tale of Three Kings, author Gene Edwards draws comparisons between the Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. In the Christian tradition, we tend to have more positive connotations attached to King David than we do Saul. In storytelling, we as human beings project our identities onto the main characters. Edwards makes the point that everyone sees themselves as a David overcoming a Saul. How often do we stop to ask ourselves, “Am I Saul?”
Prayer:
Father, have mercy on me. If I have a plank in my eye, I may not even be able to see it. Help me to continue the process of renewing my heart and mind. Uncover the areas in which I may be judgmental or accusatory of others. Help me to examine my motives and surrender my being to you. Please, Father, help me to be more loving to others.
Amen.
Zachary Bortot
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Artistic Director of the Theatre Program
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork #1:
For the Love of God
Damien Hirst
2007
Platinum cast of human skull encrusted with 8,601
flawless diamonds, human teeth, Skull Star Diamond
Private Collection
For the Love of God is a sculpture produced by contemporary artist Damien Hirst in 2007. It consists of a platinum cast of an eighteenth-century human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, including a pear-shaped pink diamond located in the forehead that is known as the “Skull Star Diamond.” The skull’s teeth are human and were purchased by Hirst in London. The artwork is a memento mori, meant to remind the viewer of his or her mortality. In 2007, art historian Rudi Fuchs described the work as “out of this world, celestial almost. It proclaims victory over decay. At the same time it represents death as something infinitely more relentless.” Costing 14 million pounds to produce, the work was placed on its inaugural display at the White Cube Gallery in London in the exhibition Beyond Belief, with an asking price of 50 million pounds. In 2007 Hirst claimed that an anonymous investment consortium bought the piece for the full asking price in cash, leaving no paper trail. The consortium that bought the piece included Hirst himself and led some to question to what extent the announcement of the sale was some kind of media art performance, especially as the “sale” continues to be in question.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God
About the Artist #1:
Damien Hirst (b. 1965) is a British conceptual artist known for his controversial take on beauty and found-art objects. Hirst was part of the Young British Artists movement that rose to prominence in the early 1990s. “I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds,” he reflected. “Any artist's big fear is being ignored, so if you get debate, that’s great.” As a student at Goldsmiths College in London, his work caught the eye of the collector and gallerist Charles Saatchi, who became an early patron. Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)—a large vitrine containing an Australian tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde—was financed by Saatchi and helped to launch the artist’s career. Hirst went on to win the coveted Turner Prize in 1995. In 2012, he showed what went on to be one of his most controversial works in decades, the installation In and Out of Love, which consisted of two white windowless rooms in which over 9,000 butterflies flitted around and died. The artist lives and works in London, United Kingdom. His works are held in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London; the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.; and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/damien-hirst/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst
About the Artwork #2
Hypocrite
Edition of 350
Christopher Wool
1989
Ink on smooth woven paper
23 x 16 in.
“Hypocrite” comes from the Greek word hypokrites which means “an actor” or “stage player” and took on a meaning that refers to a person wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they are not. During his ministry, Jesus had many encounters with the Pharisees, the influential religious leaders of that time. Well-versed in the Scriptures and zealous about following the Law (Acts 26:5), the Pharisees often displayed a lack of compassion and were outwardly and overly demonstrative of their piety (Matthew 23:5–7; Luke 18:11). Jesus denounced their behavior in no uncertain terms, rebuking their spiritual blindness, ritualism, and wickedness. Artist Christopher Wool is best known for his paintings of large, black, stenciled letters on white canvases, which he began to create in the late 1980s, reportedly after having seen graffiti on a brand-new white truck. By his purposeful spacing of the word, the artist forces the viewer to purposely reflect on the word.
https://guyhepner.com/product/hypocrite-black-book-by-christopher-wool/
About the Artist #2:
Christopher Wool (b. 1955) is an American artist. Since the 1980s, Wool’s art has incorporated issues surrounding post-conceptual ideas. He lives and works in New York City, together with his wife and fellow painter Charline von Heyl. Wool is best known for his paintings of large, black, stenciled letters on white canvases which he began to create in the late 1980s, reportedly after seeing graffiti on a brand-new white truck. Using a system of alliteration, with the words often broken up by a grid system, or with the vowels removed, Wool’s word paintings often demand reading aloud to make sense. From the early 1990s through the present, silkscreen has been a primary tool in Wool’s practice. In his abstract paintings Wool brings together figures and the disfigured, drawing and painting, casual impulses and well-thought-out ideas. His work may be found in museums around the world including: Museum of Fine Art, Boston; Art Institute of Chicago; Tate Modern, London; Eli Broad Family Foundation, Los Angeles; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100402052443/http://wool735.com/cw/images/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Wool
About the Music:
“Lord, Have Mercy” from the album Beautiful Beyond
Lyrics: (no translation available)
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
About the Composer/Lyricist:
Traditional (from the Mass)
The Kyrie Eleison, a transliteration from the Greek for “Lord, have mercy,” is one of the oldest and most common prayers of Christianity. Traced as far back as the Psalms, the phrase is also said several times by those crying out to Jesus for healing in the Gospels, as well as by the despised tax collector in the parable in Luke, who cries out “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.” The prayer is simultaneously a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgment of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. Musical settings of the prayer have been sung in churches throughout history and around the world, in styles ranging from Gregorian chant to folk.
About the Performers:
The Tewa Women’s Choir from the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo has kept the Tewa language alive by performing traditional and social songs in public venues. Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo people, mostly in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico and in Arizona. The Tewa Indian Women’s Choir, formerly under the direction of the late Sr. Ann Szabo, has been providing Christian-based music and song in both English and their native Tewa language at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo for over forty years. Many of the members are now in their seventies and eighties. The women often accompany themselves with native bells and rattles. Susan Roller Whittington joined the choir as their current director in August 2011.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/1687389921294634/
About the Poet:
Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1552–1618) was a landed English gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well-known for popularizing tobacco in England. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era. Raleigh was instrumental in the English colonization of North America. In 1594, Raleigh heard of a “City of Gold” in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of “El Dorado.” After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower of London for being involved in a plot against King James I. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and the 1604 peace treaty with Spain. Raleigh returned to England where he was arrested and executed in 1618. Raleigh's poetry is written in the relatively straightforward, unornamented mode known as the plain style. C. S. Lewis considered Raleigh one of the era’s “silver poets,” a group of writers who resisted the Italian Renaissance influence of dense classical reference and elaborate poetic devices. His writing contains strong personal treatments of themes such as love, loss, beauty, and time. Most of his poems are short lyrics that were inspired by actual events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh
About the Devotion Author:
Zachary Bortot
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Artistic Director of the Theatre Program
Biola University
Professor Zachary Bortot is the Artistic Director of Biola University’s Theatre Program. He last appeared as Horatio in CBU’s The Courtyard Shakespeare Festival’s production of Hamlet. Last season for Biola he directed Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky and served as a producer for The Last Five Years and The Music Man. His professional interests include immersive theatre, Theatre of Cruelty, and the use of augmented and virtual reality in theatrical performance. He has a passion for enabling other performance artists to explore the creative vocational endeavors to which the Master Artist has called them.