Matthew 7:13-21
Sep 30, 2009
Madeline Hoffman
A little over a year ago, on a hot August morning, a friend came to help me clear cedar and dead limbs from my property. If you're not familiar with cedar trees, they tend to choke out everything around them. Now, honestly, I love cedar trees, I think they're beautiful and they smell great - my mom used cedar branches to decorate our house every Christmas, so they smell like Christmas to me. But, as I found out after moving onto some land covered in oak and cedar, the cedar will take over, stealing the life from the oaks, and the oaks will die.
The cedars are somewhat like the ravenous wolves, those false prophets Jesus talks about in our story today - They look good, but they devour everything in their path. The cedars, despite their appearance, are destructive when they are growing close to other trees. They are the wolves in sheep's clothing among trees.
As we were cutting down and clearing those cedars, we kept two huge fires burning all day long, burning the bad trees, leaving the good and fruitful ones. At the end of the day we sat, exhausted, watching the fires burn down and surveying the result of our labor. We had not gotten quite all the cedar but as I sat there, I realized that for the first time, I could clearly see most of the land surrounding my house through the oaks that were left. It was then that I realized that clearing those cedars, those ravenous, bad trees, allowed me to see the light shining through the rest, and the true beauty of the land beyond.
It occurred to me that there are many cedar trees in our lives in many different forms - those wolves in sheep's clothing. As I thought about the wolves I've encountered in my life I couldn't help but admit that I've let a few devour me before recognizing them for what they were.
By recognizing those wolves - those things that distract us from living the life to which Jesus has called us - and removing them from our path, we can continue down the narrow path that Jesus speaks of - the path to life. And so I began a period of taking inventory and trying to weed out those things, and people, that do not contribute to or keep me on that narrow path.
Joan Chittister, in her commentary on the prologue to the Rule of Benedict writes this:
"Who of us has not been failed by all the other things beside God - money, status, security, work, people - that we have clung to and been disappointed by in our cleaving.
Whose life has not been warped by a series of twisted hopes, the roots of which were sunk in the shale of the false promises and empty treasures that could not satisfy?
Benedict is begging us here to realize that God is the only lifeline that life guarantees us. We have been loved to life by God, and now we must love God back with our whole lives or forever live a living death."
Chittister reiterates here the many forms those wolves can take - all those things of this world that temp us. If we give in to those things, or to people, that would lead us in directions that take us away from our walk with God, then we move away from the narrow gate. We take a look through the wide gate, at the easy road, the road that takes us away from God, away from what is good and right, away from the road that leads to light and life.
The narrowness of that gate is the discipline of Christian living. Things like self-denial, forgiveness of others, monogamy, honesty and many other principles that guide us as Christians away from those base instincts that would have us take the easy road.
Those who choose the easy road, those who would deceive us as false teachers, disguise themselves - sometimes very well. Jesus warns the disciples, and us, that we'll know these false teachers by the results they get - they will bring discord and division into our churches, they will eventually tear down and not build up our ministries - they will not bear good fruit. They are inevitably exposed by the results of their efforts no matter how charming they appear to be, how seemingly great their piety, how well connected, intelligent or distinguished. Their efforts will divide and not unite, they are those that say they follow the Word of Jesus, but follow their own desires instead.
We've heard this lesson more than once in the last few weeks. Last Thursday, Bishop Dena Harrison, shared some instructions given to our trustees recently. Those instructions were to be Prudent and Bold. At first that sounded contradictory - to be careful and cautious, but brave and daring and courageous ? But in our lesson today, if we take Jesus' words to heart, we have to be prudent as we boldly spread his message. Careful that we recognize the wolves, those false prophets, for whom and what they are and then we have to be bold - bold enough to call them by name, for what they are, and remove them from our path and continue on that narrow path.
Many of us have recently taken a series of classes called Safeguarding God's People and Safeguarding God's Children. In these classes we learn this same lesson - that there are false teachers, wolves in sheep's clothing, in and around our churches and in our communities. These are people who may appear charismatic and helpful and get involved in many ministries, but have their own agendas, their own, sometimes unspeakable, motives.
The church becomes for them a hunting ground and they may appear as ministers, church leaders, teachers, youth directors or volunteers in our communities - someone others trust because of their position in the church.
Like the cedar trees, growing close to the oaks they will eventually destroy, they may position themselves to work with the most vulnerable in our church and in our communities and grow close to them.
We are again called to be prudent, to watch and be bold in protecting those who may be unable to protect themselves. In the Safeguarding training, we are given guidelines to use in our ministries, to recognize those among us who are may not be genuine and to take precautionary, as well as reactionary, measures to protect our communities of faith.
These people who would do harm are the ones Jesus warns us about who will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The ones who say "Lord, Lord", but do not do his will.
We are called not to be hearers, but doers of the Word. But, those who are false do not fail because of inactivity, but by their indulgence in the wrong activities. They are doers, but not doers of the Word. They not only deceive, but are themselves deceived in thinking they too are on that narrow path that leads to life. Their failure is in doing their own will instead of God's will.
None of us are here in this place today because we chose the easy road. We have all chosen that narrow gate, the hard road, we are among the few that find the road that leads to life.
We are called to be the sheep, not wolves, and to guide others in their walk with God...to help them recognize the wolves in their lives and to join with us on our walk through the narrow gate....to join us on the path that leads to life.
We can look around this room today and see people who have done that for us, and will continue to do that for us - our families and friends, our church families, teachers, mentors, and guides.
Today, Jesus gives us a wakeup call...
He is calling us to watch out for the false prophets, the wolves, in our lives. Just like those cedar trees, choking out everything around them, there are people and things we encounter that will choke out everything and everyone around them.
So we need to ask - where are the wolves in our lives today? And.............Will we recognize them?
[Note: What we call "cedar" here in Texas is really a type of juniper that does choke out everything growing around it. Not, as some pointed out, to be confused with the "cedars of Lebanon".]
