As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
Glory
be to Jesus Christ!
We all know the common adage that if you
tell a child not to do something, that is the very thing they will do. It is easy
to put God in that position in the Genesis story about the Tree of Good and
Evil in the garden of paradise. However, Richard Rohr offers an intriguing interpretation on the Genesis
creation story (2:17) of God prohibiting Adam and Eve from eating fruit from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rohr does not see this prohibition
as God laying down a law and then acting as a cop to enforce it. Instead he
interprets good and evil as a symbol of an approach to life. If we look at life
through this lens of good and evil, we begin to think that way: good and evil,
right and wrong, win or lose, friend or foe, us and them, in other words, the
imprint on our minds is that of dualist thinking. We introduce evil into our
thinking. Therein lies our death in paradise, because everything in paradise is
good. Once evil is brought in, paradise is lost.
You may have noticed that this morning's
readings are all about stubborn people. People who will not listen to God. God
appoints Ezechiel a prophet and then sends him on a mission to people he knows
will not listen to him. St. Paul laments that his people, the chosen people,
will not listen to God. He wishes that he could switch places with them, that
he could be the one disconnected from Christ so that the rest of his people
would be receptive to the good news.
Jesus was frustrated with what he calls,
"this generation," because they refused to listen. No matter what he
did it was not enough. The signs he gave were the good works he performed. They
demanded different signs. They wanted proof according to their long-held
beliefs. This is not listening. In his frustration Jesus says the people of
Nineveh will condemn this generation because they listened to Jonah and
repented but this generation won't listen to something even greater. The only
sign they will get will be Jonah whose 3 days in the whale prefigures Christ's
death and resurrection.
But of course this passage isn't a
history lesson, it's a commentary on our very human tendency to flinch when
Christ's teachings mean we have to change our attitudes and actions. When we
have to let go of what we want, and do what is
better. The Gospel message is about life, how we are to live it and to what
end. The story of the tree in Genesis tells us that we human beings are the
one's who introduced evil into the world. We have to change. And that's not a
bad thing that's a good thing. It's not something to resist, it's something to
embrace.
Jesus tells us that we can discern
whether a tree is good or bad by its fruit. His point is not about fruit trees,
it is about us. So what can we do to cultivate the good and avoid the snare of
evil? First, we need to find the source of good and evil. Jesus says it is
within us. And our words and actions reveal it. And our thoughts are the main
source of our words and actions.
One can fill many library shelves with
books about meditation, contemplation and reflection. These references can take
a spiritual or a secular self-help approach. But all of them are going to
include the need to take the time and space to examine one's inner world. This
inward gaze will show us the dwelling place of good and evil, but also the
kingdom of God. Touching this place within each of us is within our grasp.
Taking time to be quiet and listen for God's voice is an essential first step.
This is what Jesus points to in today's gospel passage. The people of Nineveh
listened, the Queen of the South came to Solomon to listen. We too need to take
time to listen.
