The Lord said: “Woe to you Pharisees!… You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” (Luke 11:42).
Back in the day, I would often go with friends to the movie theatre. I am forever fascinated by the movie previews they select. I always think that the folks in marketing select the previews based on who they think is about to watch the feature movie. I remember going to watch a movie, “The Martian” which was about a US astronaut who is left behind, stranded on Mars. It is a science fiction story of the heroic human condition in the face of adversity. It was funny, entertaining, thrilling and just a great movie. I have seen it several times. But what perplexed me a bit were the previews. Usually they are thematically related to the movie you are about to see. But that day, they were almost all previews of upcoming horror movies. Maybe it was the proximity to Halloween.
Let me say this categorically: not for all the tea in China would I watch a horror movie. Even at my age they would still induce nightmares. It has been 52 years and even thinking about “The Exorcist” can still send me into cold sweats. Freddy can stay on Elm Street with all the rest of his nightmarish fellow fiends.
One of the staples of horror movies are the graves, seen and unseen. Isn’t there always something scary and creepy reaching out from the grave? The ghostly hand seeking to pull you in, the creature of darkness that wants to eat your face, or some other horrific denizen of hell’s half acre bringing all manner of woe into your life. What comes out the graves in these movies are never for the benefit of the living or for the betterment of humankind. They just want to pull you into the misery, stench, and rotting wretchedness of life in the grave.
Bitterness, disappointment, anger, sarcasm, and gossip are much like these graves. They may remain hidden from others, buried beneath polite words or religious observance, but they quietly poison the soul. These uncharitable intentions do not just affect our relationships—they distort our vision, harden our hearts, and separate us from the life of grace. They also have a way to become like a hand which reaches out of the grave of our souls and begins to drag others into the darkness.
When we harbor these feelings, we become like the unmarked graves Jesus warns about: we carry death within us, and we risk spreading that death to others through our words and actions. The call of Luke 11 is not merely to avoid hypocrisy, but to allow the light of Christ to expose and heal what lies buried. Only then can we become vessels of life, not death—witnesses of mercy, not judgment.
Just like vampires who are destroyed by the light of day, we all need to unearth bitterness and its unholy companions and expose them to the light of Christ. We can do that by setting aside time each evening to prayerfully reflect on your thoughts, words, and actions.
“Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my thoughts. See if there is a wicked path in me” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Where did I speak or act from a place of resentment or pride? Did I harbor judgment, sarcasm, or gossip in my heart or speech? Invite the Holy Spirit to illuminate these areas—not to shame, but to show us our brokenness in need of healing. We are assured that God responds to the humble
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh“. (Ez 36:26)
God’s plan is to not leave us in our brokenness but to always show us the path away from the darkness of the grave to the new dawn of Life.
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