URC Daily Devotion 2 March 2026

St Matthew 23: 13 – 22
 
‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
 
‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.”  You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred?  And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.”  How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.
 
Reflection
Look: I’m a Children and Youth Development Officer. And I’m a Woke Lefty Liberal to boot. You already know what position I’m taking on this passage.

You can guess the questions I’m going to be asking; the thinly veiled accusations, posed as reflections, that are intended to make you feel guilty about how your actions and practices act as a barrier rather than an encouragement to children and young people coming close to Jesus and developing a personal relationship with the God whom we all worship and serve.

You’ll assume I’m probably going to bang on about how much time and effort you spend making your church buildings fit for purpose – but that purpose doesn’t seem to include bringing children and young people closer to the Kingdom.

The chances are, you’ll reckon, I’ll mention, in a passive-aggressive way, the number of meetings you have to make you feel that you’re busy doing God’s mission but then I’ll wonder how often children and young people feature on those agendas and, if by chance they do, how high up the agenda they are.

And, of course, you’ll be right.

I’m a Children & Youth Development Officer. It’s my job to ask these questions and make these points. So consider them asked and made.

The only question remaining is: are you able to put me in my place by responding positively? I hope you can. For everyone’s sake.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You call out the hypocrisy that hides behind empty words
and remind us that faith is more than appearances.
Forgive us when we focus on looking good
instead of truly following You.
Fill our hearts with honesty,
our words with truth,
and our actions with love that reflects Your kingdom.
Help us to live with integrity,
so that what we say matches how we live. Amen