Reflection on Matthew 9:35-10:8

Jesus instructs us to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

When I was in grade school, I took that “wise as serpents” statement to heart.  I had a friend who was tormented by a crafty and sly bully who would talk terribly about my friend behind her back, but would be kind and generous to her to her face.  It was horrible.  She would just finish a compliment concerning my friend’s hair, and as soon as my friend walked away the bully would make fun of her looks to those who were close enough to hear. 

My heart ached knowing that the one who was ruining her life was also the very person that my friend trusted.  Because of the covert attacks, the class started to turn on my friend.  She was meek, but wonderful.  This could not continue.  So, I came up with a wise plan.

I started a game of hide and go seek; my friend had to count to one hundred with her face buried against one side of the corner of the school.  On the other side of the corner, I would ask the bully what she thought of my friend. 

Guess what?  The plan worked brilliantly.  My friend heard the painful truth and turned against her previously unknown bully.  Those gathered around to see the exchange followed my lead and also turned on the bully; her insidious meanness exposed. 

The bully dropped in school yard social rank, and was relegated to playing alone in a dark corner of the school building during recess.  It was a fitting end to the story, except that these stories do not end.  They continue on, unlike the movies.

The dark corner of the school is where she stayed, defeated and alone. 

I had successfully been as wise as a serpent in dealing with the cruel world, and this cruel person in particular.  I had even successfully carried out a campaign of justice.  There is something truly holy in that.  Then, why do I still see her lonely, depressed face each time she is brought to the forefront of my memory?  Her face haunts me. 

I want to confess something to you.  I want to confess that, though I stuck up for the lowly, just as Jesus expects, I also completely ignored the other half of his ministry.  In fact, I totally ignored the other half of Jesus’ sentence. 

Jesus instructed us to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”  It is one thing to expose injustice and bring back to balance what has been unbalanced.  It is quite another to show hate for others just as they have shown hate for us. 

Yes, be wise as a serpent, but be innocent as a dove as you go out into the world.  Do expose the injustice, but do not become the evil that you are trying to eradicate.  After-all, the entire reason that Jesus sends his apostles to minster to others is because Jesus looks out at the crowds and has compassion on them.  They are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd,” Jesus explains. 

And, yes, my friend was harassed and helpless.  She needed someone to stand up for her and minister to her.  But, since I forgot to be innocent as a dove, I just transferred the title of “harassed and helpless” from one person to another.  And, I think that is why her face still haunts me.

I confess to you that I loved my neighbor and hated my enemy. 

This is not what Jesus teaches.  Instead, in Matthew 5:44 he says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  When you do that, you are clearly following in the footsteps of the Lord.  When you do that, you are clearly a child of your Father in heaven.  Our heavenly Father does not strive to create enemies, Jesus reminds us.  God makes his sun rise on both “the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”  Both were created with God’s hands. 

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?”  Everyone on the planet loves their friends.  In addition to their friends, followers of Jesus love those sheep who wander without a shepherd.  Followers of Jesus remain wise as they minister to these people, but are also “innocent as a dove.” Jesus actually cares about these sheep that have no shepherd. 

Even after the bully’s sin was exposed, and after she was brought low…as she needed to be…I could have joined her in the lonely corner of the school.  I could have prayed for her and played with her.  I could have returned love for hate.  I could have allowed myself to be sent out by Jesus to this newly “harassed and helpless” person. 

If she did not accept me, fine.  I could have just shaken the dust off of my shoes as Jesus instructs.  I am not asked by Jesus to carry other people’s issues around with me.  Jesus invites me to let my peace return to me if rejected.  Perhaps, it just was not the right time for her to learn love; only God knows the right time of things. 

I cannot make someone be loved who does not want it, but I could have at least tried to show her love in the first place.  And, that is where I fell short.  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

After-all, the dirt shook from Jesus’ feet as he was lifted off the ground and raised up in the air on the cross.  “Father, forgive them,” echoed from his lips. 

Hatred and resentment were not Jesus’ last thoughts as his life slowly slipped away.  His love for the world did not die with him.  Love does not die.  His love continued to the point of death and beyond death…beyond the grave.  Somehow, in some way, love is how this world is redeemed.  Love is what carries us to the end of time. 

God is love.  We can never forget that.

So, I allow her lonely face to haunt me.  It is OK.  It is supposed to.  I suspect that she has had a full, wonderful life following that childhood event. 

But, I hold the memory as a reminder that following Christ is not just about being wise as a serpent as we minister to an unjust world; it is also about acting in a way that is innocent as a dove.  Some of us would call that integrity.  I would call it, following the one who loves us all: Jesus Christ our Lord.