That's Right!

 

Romans 4:13-25 (CJB)

¹³ For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces. ¹⁴ For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless^{. 15} For what law brings is punishment. But where there is no law, there is also no violation. ¹⁶ The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God’s free gift, a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avraham had — Avraham avinu for all of us.

For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless.

Why do some folks who call themselves Christians fail to read the plainest words written in Scripture? It’s right there on the page! Trust produces righteousness, not adherence to rules and regulations and sterile formulas. I’m not good at chapter and verse, but I do know that there are many stories in the gospels about Jesus breaking the Law to make a point. Some people got his point and it made them happy, but the ones who held to the Law and refused to trust were the ones who ended up killing him. I can’t help feeling that holding on to the idea of ‘punishment for transgression’ is tantamount to killing Christ all over again. To me, it feels like a kind of blasphemy. It denies God’s grace, and insists on paying for what God is offering for free. I had a friend once who would do that, even down to the penny. She wasn’t comfortable with any sort of gift, and would make a big deal out of it, insisting that I tell her exactly how much she ‘owed’ me— when I hadn’t even thought of it, and couldn’t remember the amount. I’m not talking about lots of money here, either, I’m talking about pocket change. I never understood why that bothered me so much, or why it made me sad, but I think I get it now. It showed that she didn’t trust me, and wouldn’t allow me to trust her. It was as if she didn’t trust herself, either. I see now, how that makes useless the promise that lies buried in God’s love for us, and our love for one another.

 

Matthew 21:23-32

²³ He went into the Temple area; and as he was teaching, the head cohanim and the elders of the people approached him and demanded, “What s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? And who gave you this s’mikhah?” ²⁴ Yeshua answered, “I too will ask you a question. If you answer it, then I will tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. ²⁵ The immersion of Yochanan — where did it come from? From Heaven or from a human source?” They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From Heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From a human source,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard Yochanan as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Yeshua, “We don’t know.” And he replied, “Then I won’t tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. ²⁸ “But give me your opinion: a man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered, ‘I don’t want to’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The father went to his other son and said the same thing. This one answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he didn’t go. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they replied. “That’s right!” Yeshua said to them. “I tell you that the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you! ³² For Yochanan came to you showing the path to righteousness, and you wouldn’t trust him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes trusted him; but you, even after you saw this, didn’t change your minds later and trust him.

“That’s right!”

Jesus led those old fogies right into a minefield of cognitive dissonance, with no way out. Then he gave them a way out based on their own opinion: “What matters is what you do, not what you say.” He showed them that the only escape from that  “I don’t know” minefield was to change their minds. They would have to choose whether to maintain their own status (being afraid of what the people would think of them) or to change their minds and accept that John’s baptism was indeed from Heaven. They couldn’t handle it, and tried so hard to stay sitting on the fence. But Jesus knocked them off balance by tricking them into answering another question. When Jesus laughed, “That’s right!” into their shocked faces, it must have been so disconcerting for them! He even told them that they still have the chance to “change their minds later.” So, why is it so hard for status-holding people to change their minds? I’m not sure, myself, because I’ve never really held any status. But I see it all around me. I see how hard and painful it is for them. I feel for them, and I want to help them find a way to be at peace. I can’t help thinking that the essence of the Good News is just that: “Learn to change your minds.” I think it’s a terrible mistake that the word “repent” has become the default meaning for the word “metanoia.”

(“Metanoia” literally means “beyond mind” or “above mind” or “after mind” and in classical Greek it meant to change one’s mind about someone or something. Compare it with “paranoia” which means “beside mind” or “against mind.”)

 

Today’s readings are all about trust and freedom—

 

If changing our minds lets us understand how trust works,

we’d better change our minds!

 

If changing our minds makes us free to give and receive,

we’d better change our minds!

 

That’s right!

 

(Old Man Zen does a pratfall and says, “Hey, give me a hand up, willya?”)