Our Hearts’ Desires

I completed my PhD in the middle of the school year, and frequently afterwards I was asked, “Are you going to walk?” This is academia-speak for, “Are you planning to participate in graduation ceremonies in May?” Often, any hesitance in my response was greeted with a wholehearted, “Oh, you should! You’ve earned it!” Of course, to participate in graduation, I would need a robe—and not just any robe: an approved-gold-with-black-doctoral-stripes-and-the-university-logo robe. Academic robes are not cheap, even to rent for a day; and the higher the degree you’ve earned, the more expensive they are. For many of us, though, donning robes and hoods is a precious moment that completes the arduous academic journey we’ve taken.

The scribes in this Mark text were scholars of the law, and their robes and privileged seats were marks of honor. But Jesus points out that with honor and privilege can come detachment—a sense of no longer being interconnected with others because of achievements or knowledge. When we become distanced or disconnected from other people, we begin to make excuses for the privileges afforded to some and not others, and to justify benefits for some at the expense of the rest. For the scribes, the biting critique is that they enact their duties for appearances rather than out of devotion to God. They have lost sight of the very purpose of their study.

Graduations are one of the rare times many of us wear robes. The fancy garb, the ceremony, and the general (and musical) pomp and circumstance are all part of a grand celebration of accomplishment. It is not wrong to honor hard work and academic success. But this text from Mark suggests that our love of the trappings of honor and ceremony can become distorted into forms of hierarchy and segregation that stand against love of God and our neighbors.