+ The 14th Sunday after Trinity +
Ezekiel 33.7-11; Psalm 119.33-40; Romans 13.8-end; Matthew 18.15-20
The Bible is pretty unsparing when it comes to fools.
Sapientia (Wisdom) from the 12th-century Stammheim Missal. Wisdom is the central figure, between the figures of Christ (above), Zechariah, father of John the Baptist and the patriarch Jacob (below), David and Abraham, Malachi and Balaam, Isaiah, and Daniel (to the left and right, respectively)
But by fools it never means the unintelligent. It’s not talking about people who aren’t intellectual, or clever. The word fool is a description of those who refuse to live according to the Commandments and reap the consequences of that.
And the worse kind of fool in the Bible is the one that gets called ‘the Scoffer’. This is someone who sneers at wise advice and is actively hostile to correction. This kind of fool will react to rebuke and correction with hostility and hatred.
The opposite of the fool in the Bible is the wise person, and wisdom is not just insight and understanding, it’s also the humble willingness to obey the Commandments. The Book of Proverbs (Ch 1:7) says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
As well as the fear of the Lord, the Bible describes the wise person as being one who welcomes correction. Unlike the fool, who is unable to bear criticism or reprimand, the wise person welcomes it as life-giving. Proverbs 9:8 says, Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
It’s good to take stock here. How do we react to a saying like that? Do we remember a time when we have reacted to a wise rebuke by welcoming it and loving the one who delivered it? How are we with criticism? Are we defensive when someone points out something we are saying or doing that needs attention and correction?
It’s a running theme through Scripture. The wise person loves God more than they love their reputation and their ego; they pursue righteousness and holiness as though their life depended on it. So when a wise rebuke or criticism comes along that instructs them and allows for their growth in the faith, they welcome it.
Now in our 1st reading Ezekiel is given the difficult job of becoming one of those wise rebukers or criticisers: So you, mortal (Son of Man), I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked ones, you shall surely die’, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life (Ezekiel 33:7-9).
What a job! It’s a bit of a poisoned chalice in Ezekiel’s case because God warns him early in his ministry that he is preaching to a rebellious, stubborn, hard hearted and impudent people. God describes them as "briers and thorns" and "scorpions". They mock Ezekiel and say that his prophecies come to nothing. They even go and listen to him as a form of entertainment so they can laugh at him, a bit like how we would laugh at a man wearing a sandwich board with ‘the End is Nigh’ written on it. A bit like how many of us (me included – which I now regret) laughed at Mary Whitehouse.
So our passage from Ezekiel is a beautiful illustration of the contrast between the wise and the foolish as laid out in the Book of Proverbs.
Now in case we think we are off the hook, the Gospel makes Ezekiel’s job our job too: ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector (Matthew 18:15-17).
Now for my money this is one of the most difficult responsibilities of the Christian. We are called to be honest with each other when we wrong each other. We are not called to grin and bear it, fester on it, bottle it up and get even by passive aggressive means (very tempting!). Neither are we called simply to avoid the person that criticises us (equally tempting!).
We have to exercise our judgement here of course because there’s a big difference between wise criticism and helpful correction, and the kind of careless criticism and correction that doesn’t lead anywhere good. Some of us correct and criticise for all the wrong reasons: maybe we have issues that need healing and we are touchy when certain buttons are pushed. People like that are always trying to change others rather than dealing with their own hang-ups.
The Gospel is very clear: we are to confront when someone sins against us, not because a certain person’s character and habits aren’t to our taste!
And we are given further guidance on this in today’s 2nd reading. Like many of St Paul’s teaching it sets a very high bar: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8-10).
So when someone transgresses and sins against us we are to tell each other the truth; criticise and correct if we have to but do it in love. In another letter St Paul makes it even more explicit when he describes the person who is growing into maturity in Christ as one who ‘speaks the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15).
We need God’s wisdom if we are going to start correcting each other. We need to know that our criticism comes from a place of love and that what we intend when we correct people is their growth and their wellbeing in the long run.
We need what the Buddhists call ‘skillful means’. Even if we possess wisdom, when we want to share it with other people we need to be patient, creative, and compassionate so they will be able to hear, accept, and act on what we have to share.
I’d like to finish by telling you one of my favourite stories. For my money this is an example of Christian ‘skillful means’ at its finest.
Years ago I heard a sermon preached by a man called John Mumford. He was the Pastor of a Putney Vineyard Church and he happens to be Marcus Mumford’s (of Mumford and Sons fame) father.
He told this story: One day, going back a few decades, a young Frenchman and his two friends spent the afternoon drinking in the cafés of Paris. On their way home, in the late afternoon, they walked past Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a Saturday, so the Church was open for Confessions, and the young man and his friends decided to go in and have a laugh.
So the first young man went in and, just for the fun of it, he spewed out a litany of the most horrific, obscene sins, while the old priest on the other side of the grill listened without saying a word. He knew what was going on. He knew the guys had come to scoff.
When the young man had exhausted his list of invented sinful horrors the old priest absolved him and gave him a penance. Normally that would mean saying a few prayers or in more serious cases an instruction to make restitution.
On this occasion the old priest said something like this: “For your penance my son I would like you to leave this confessional and go to the front of the Church. When you are there I want you to look up at the large crucifix hanging above the altar and I want you to say, Lord Jesus Christ I reject you! There’s no room for you in my life now and there never will be. Go in peace my son.”
Well the young man left the confessional pretty startled as you can imagine. He couldn’t bring himself to walk up the aisle and speak those words to Jesus on the crucifix and in that moment he realised that there was something in him that did care about Christ. There was something in him that didn’t want to offend him, let alone reject him.
That day a vocation was born in that young man and he ended up becoming a priest. And if I remember John Mumford’s sermon right, he ended up a Bishop.
Let us pray.
BCP Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comments
Post a Comment