A reading from the Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 11, verses 37 to 44.

37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. 

38 The Pharisee was amazed to see that Jesus did not first wash before dinner. 

39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 

40 You fools! Did not the maker of the outside make the inside also? 

41 But give as alms those things that are within; and behold, everything will be clean for you. 

42 “Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, but you neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. 

43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. 

44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

Hi everyone, 

My name is David Deming, and I am the new Dean of Harvard College. I’m really honored to have the opportunity to give morning prayers here in Appleton Chapel, this beautiful sanctuary where so many members of our community come together to reflect on the wisdom of the Bible and to feel God’s love.

I’m the son of a preacher man. I grew up in and around Nashville, Tennessee, in small parsonages in towns like Spring Hill and Beech Grove. My dad was a Methodist, and later, United Church of Christ minister for many years. My mom worked at religious book publishing companies like the United Methodist Publishing House, Upper Room Ministries, and Pilgrim Press.

I grew up in the church. As an academic economist, I’ve been pretty far from the Church for a long time now, so it’s good, and even a little bit emotional, to be back now in this familiar place.

I’ve been thinking about the verses I read to you quite a lot as I begin my new role as dean - and as a leader at Harvard during such an important and momentous time. In Luke Chapter 11, verses 37 to 44, Jesus is sitting down for a meal with a Pharisee, one of many times he does so in the Gospel.

The Pharisee is shocked by the fact that Jesus doesn’t wash his hands before dinner. Jesus says, “look you’ve cleaned yourself outwardly, but that doesn’t mean you are clean inside.” He criticizes the Pharisees – NOT for washing and tithing and following other Godly practices, which he explicitly says you should still do, but for ONLY doing those things, and neglecting their deeper spiritual duties.

They hold tight to ritual and tradition as a way to protect themselves from reflecting on their inner virtue. Jesus is saying, “you wash, you tithe, you love to be honored in synagogues and respected in public, and you think that makes you holy and clean.”

BUT – you are like unmarked graves. And that’s the key part of this passage from the Book of Luke. In ancient Judaism, walking over a grave made a person ritually unclean. So, when Jesus says “you’re walking over an unmarked grave”, he’s saying they are unknowingly corrupt. Their rituals and routines and honored existences are a kind of spiritual crutch that protects them from making hard moral choices.

Harvard College has existed for nearly four centuries. We’ve graduated the world’s finest minds and future leaders. This university has given more lives in service of this country than all universities other than the service academies. To so many, Harvard is a proud symbol of truth, and of scientific and moral progress. And by some improbable turn of events, I have been entrusted with the sacred responsibility to steward the education of the next generation of citizens and citizen-leaders for society.

It’s enough to make anyone nervous, and maybe a little risk averse. It would be easy to do only what is expected of me and no more – to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, to love the seat of honor in the synagogues and being greeted with respect in the marketplaces.

But - here’s what I vow instead. I hope to lead with moral authority, not positional authority. I won’t use the trappings of the office to shield me from feedback, criticism, and self-reflection. I will try to do the right thing, even if it hurts. I will try to lift others up. I will let loose the goodness and love of my inner heart, even if it makes me feel vulnerable. I’ll do my best to remember that everyone, even the Dean of Harvard College, answers to a higher power.

Give as alms those things that are within; and behold, everything will be clean for you.

The Gospel of the Lord.