What’s the first thing you think of when I say the word: “cheers?” A few of you, caught up in high school football, might think of pep rallies and cheerleaders. A couple of you may have thought of “happiness.” But I bet most of you had an immediate impression of a bar in Boston or the TV program based upon the characters who go there. The “hero” of that program (and I use that term, “hero,” loosely) is Sam Malone, a bartender played by Ted Danson.
How many of you saw the Emmy Awards several weeks ago when he received an award for his performance? Or, perhaps, you saw a photograph of him in the newspaper. There were a lot of surprised people. It’s not every day you see an actor who portrays a handsome womanizer allowing himself to be seen with thinning hair and wearing glasses. (It’s nice to know there are other men who have some of the same characteristics I have!)
The question now is: How do I get from Ted Danson and Cheers to today’s Gospel Reading? It may be a stretch, even for me. But not really. I think most of you would agree, in real life he doesn’t look at all like what he portrays on TV. Ted Danson is a true actor. Well, the Greek word for “actor” is Hypocrite, and I believe being a “hypocrite” has a great deal to do with today’s Gospel Reading.
Here we have the classic story of the elder son who says one thing to please his father and then goes off and forgets all about what he has promised. Then there is the younger son who feels put-upon, as do most younger kids in the family, and who refuses to do what is asked of him, but then, realizing he does have a responsibility, goes off and does what he knows his father wants him to do. The focus for today’s reflection is a very simple one: Am I the elder child, or the younger one? Just what kind of a hypocrite am I? What sort of roles do I play with others, with myself, and with God?
To begin today’s reflection, perhaps we need to take a closer look at what has happened just before the section of Matthew’s Gospel we heard today. Once again, it’s like coming into the middle of a TV drama and wondering who all of the characters might be. Today’s reading comes from near the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus has just thrown out the money changers from the temple. The priests and elders are understandably upset with him and ask him on what authority he has done not only this but, also, on what authority has he taught what he has been teaching every day in the temple area for the past week.
Jesus, as you might remember, did not answer the priests and elders, but, rather, asked them a question about the authority of John the Baptist. You may also recall the priests and elders refused to answer him, and Jesus, in turn, refused to answer them. Instead, he told them today’s story about the two sons. At the end of his story, he asked them, as you heard, which son really did the father’s will? Reluctantly, they had to agree it was the younger son. It was then Jesus told them that it was the tax collectors, who collaborated with the hated Romans, and the prostitutes, who sold their bodies but who repented and changed their ways, it was these people, not the learned priests and elders, who would enter God’s Kingdom and obtain salvation. Obviously, the priests and elders didn’t like either the story or the interpretation Jesus gave them.
What about you? Most of us would like to think we are like the younger son, we grouse a bit, but we do what God wants us to do. This is exactly what the priests and elders thought was true for them. When they heard the story, they thought they had been acting like the younger son, not the elder one. After all, they followed all of the 613 laws proscribed by Moses. They participated in the temple sacrifices. They performed every jot and tittle of what was expected of them. Don’t you and I do the same thing? Don’t we do what is expected of us, even when we might complain about doing it?
Now, here’s another quiz for you. You’re driving out in the country on one of the state highways. The traffic is relatively light. The speed limit is the usual 55 miles per hour1. The question: do you set your cruise control at 55 or 65? If you set it at 65, do you tell yourself it’s OK, the road is perfectly safe, no one’s around, why not drive at a comfortable 65 instead of poking along at 55? Who’s going to get hurt? There’s no patrol car ‘way out here. Besides, it’s a silly law anyway. You tell yourself: I’m not being a hypocrite, really. What I’m doing is perfectly justified.
And that is the nature of hypocrisy. A hypocrite does not do what he believes is wrong. A hypocrite justifies what is done as being right, even though an external critic might think otherwise. A hypocrite sees no reason to change. The priests and elders saw no reason to change. They thought the tax collectors and prostitutes, who were conducting prosperous businesses, needed to change.
To change, to repent. Each one of us has a need to change, to repent. But I cannot tell you what you need to change and you cannot tell me what I must change. Because if you do try to tell me, and if I am not ready to admit it, I will argue back and tell you exactly why it is right for me to do what I have been doing.
No, you cannot tell me what I must change, it is only God who can whisper to me what needs to be changed in my life. It is in prayer with him that Jesus is able to speak to my heart and gently guide me to new insights and to new paths. It is with the grace of the Holy Spirit that I can acknowledge what has been harmful to me and to others.
Each one of us is an actor. We play public roles and live private lives. We each say one thing to please those around us and, when alone, we do the exact opposite. In the business world, in school, with our friends in public, we each put on a different performance from the one we may display when we are with our families or when we are alone. We are each a hypocrite, an actor.
In ancient times, plays were given for special religious occasions: like the Olympic games. And the actors were judged and awarded prizes depending upon their performance. The Greek word for judge is related to our word, “critic.” Since the prefix “hypo-” means “under,” someone who is “under judgement” is, indeed, a “hypo-crite,” an actor. However, only you and I as individuals know just how good we are as actors. We each know what needs to be changed; where the mask hides the reality underneath. We each know when we say “yes” to God the Father but then, when we think no one is watching, do something else. Each one of us needs to be self-critical.
Yet, when I say there is a need to be self-critical, I hasten to add being “self-critical” does not mean to be “self-punishing.” The ancient critics who judged the plays in Greece awarded prizes, not punishment. To be a “self-critic” is to look at one’s self honestly, to use criteria or measurements which are based upon reality and not just upon what I, personally, happen to think is right. To be a “self-critic” is to try to learn what God the Father is asking me to do and to be, rather than going off and doing what I, personally, think is best.
In today’s Gospel Reading, we heard you do not enter the kingdom of God because of “who are,” priest or elder, tax collector or prostitute. It is not what you merely say you will do in order to follow the instructions of God. Rather, it is the willingness to look honestly at one’s self and have an openness to change what needs to be changed, that enables each one of us to enter the Kingdom of God.
Each one of us is being told it’s OK to take off the stage make-up, to put aside the hairpiece and to wear glasses to see where we are going. Ted Danson received an Emmy award. Each one of us is going for our own prize in the Kingdom of God. To each one of us in this contest and on our journey: Cheers!
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary; September 30, 1990
Ezek 18:25-38; Phil 2:1-11; Mt 21:28-32
- In 1990 the speed limits had been reduced for “safety” reasons and to “save” on gas. These values would be increased for today’s drivers, since 65 mph is now legal on state highways and drivers on most of the Interstate routes in Texas would never consider going less than 70.