Partiality in Instruction

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary prompt us to reflect on our motivations for the acts we do as Christians and as people. Our humanity and ego often demand that we show personal gain from the things that we do. The priests who Malachi exposes in the first reading are keeping the high valued animals for themselves and bringing the lame and blemished animals to be sacrificed to the Lord.  The act of giving our best in and for our relationship with God requires authenticity. We convince ourselves that we deserve a bit and that it is all the same to God if we show some devotion. The instruction we are giving to others, in this way, is false and potentially very damaging. The desire of Paul as he shares his actions among the Thessalonians is that they accept the Word and loving attention given them not as human action but as the Word and love of God. How can broken humans be in a relationship of quiet trust with God as echoed in the refrain of the psalm "In you, O Lord, I have found my peace"? In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus observes the shallow practice of the Pharisees of the many Laws they instruct others to follow. He advises us that we need humility to avoid the hypocrisy of not practicing what we preach and a servants attitude to direct our instruction and action in the Church to others and not for our personal gain.