Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Jesus of Nazareth
I ended the Reflection last weekend by explaining that Jesus wanted his followers to act shrewdly but not shrewdly in the same way as the dishonest manager and his master were shrewd. Rather, Jesus wanted his followers to be Kingdom shrewd: to think and behave as shrewdly in the ways of the Kingdom of God as the manager and his master were in the ways of the world. This weekend, I will try to explain the essential difference.
The Greek word for shrewdly that Jesus used to describe the dishonest manager appears only once in the entire New Testament but the adjective is used a few times. It’s usually translated ‘wise’ but it can be used of people who are either honourable or crafty and we can only know which is meant from the context.
Jesus used the adjective ‘wise’ towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount, to describe those who acted on his teaching as building houses on rock, not sand. We will look at that passage in more detail later in this series. He also used it in the Parable of the Virgins, to describe the five virgins who were ready with their oil when the bridegroom came for his bride. This represents the wise Christians who are ready when Jesus returns for his church. He made a similar point when he used the word to describe the servants found doing their master’s work when the master returns from a journey. (See Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 25:1-13 and Luke 12:35-48).
Jesus also used the word 'wise' in the quotation at the start of today’s Reflection, when he sent his newly appointed apostles out on their first independent mission. In this, we begin to see the difference between being worldly wise and Kingdom shrewd.
Jesus gave his apostles a simple message, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’, and told them only to go into Jewish towns and villages where they were to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons. He told them to minister without payment, to take with them neither money nor a change of clothing but to accept local hospitality from ‘worthy’ people wherever they stayed.
Then he told them they would be as sheep among wolves, liable to unexpected attack at any time, and so they were to be both as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. We must not overlook the important qualification: not just wise but innocent - as innocent as doves!
Serpents are symbolic of the devil and doves of the Holy Spirit. The word 'innocent' is often translated as harmless but I think it might be better translated here as pure. The apostles were to be as wise as serpents but not have serpents' craftiness or capacity to poison; they were to be as pure as doves but not to be as vulnerable or helpless.
Even when arrested and taken before the authorities, the disciples weren’t to be anxious but to trust God to give them words to say: ‘For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you’. They would be hated and persecuted – but that was only to be expected because they would be treated just the same as their master himself was treated right up to the point of his execution. I commend to you Matthew 10, especially verses 5-20, to read and pray through.
Even when arrested and taken before the authorities, the disciples weren’t to be anxious but to trust God to give them words to say: ‘For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you’. They would be hated and persecuted – but that was only to be expected because they would be treated just the same as their master himself was treated right up to the point of his execution. I commend to you Matthew 10, especially verses 5-20, to read and pray through.
Christians are to be wise, as wise as anyone else in society – even as wise as the devil who, disguised as a serpent, deceived Eve and led her to sin. But we’re not to be wise in the same way; we are to be wise in the ways of the Kingdom of God. We are not to be crafty or poisonous, seeking our own benefit at the expense of others, but to be as innocent, harmless and pure as the Holy Spirit seeking the good of others and leading them to Jesus.
I often have the impression that Christians take from the Parable of the Dishonest Manager that they are to be as shrewd in the ways of society as they can be without actually slipping into dishonesty and sin. But as I hope to continue making clear in this series of Reflections, God’s ways are not just a less extravagant, more honest form of behaviour than is common among the people around us in capitalist, consumer societies. It's a different, completely different, way of life! It's a life based not on accumulating money or possessions, not on trusting money to get things and to get things done, but founded and built on loving God with our whole heart, soul, strength and mind and loving our neighbours as ourselves. To be both wise and pure is to be kingdom shrewd. We see the contrast in the society’s wisdom and heaven’s wisdom in something that James wrote.
‘Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.’ (James 3:13-18)
Jesus told a parable about an unjust judge to encourage his disciples to persevere in prayer (see Luke 18:1-8). The judge did not fear God or respect people but he gave justice to an aggrieved widow when her persistent badgering began to annoy him. Was Jesus saying that God is like that judge? Or did Jesus expect us to realise how just and loving God is in comparison to the unjust judge? Similarly, in commenting on the behaviour of the dishonest manager, Jesus was not suggesting that his own followers are to be like the manager. He does not want his followers to do good and to be generous only to receive something better in return.
What Jesus really wants is for us to do the right thing, and to do it cheerfully, because it is the right thing to do. To be shrewd in the ways of the Kingdom of God, even where money is involved. I think we will all be challenged by this concept next weekend, when we see just how easy Jesus said it is to sin by coveting.
© All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2014.
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