Proper 21 - Year APentecost 16
Matthew 21:28-32
What
has candidate X done? Has he read a few more books on the subject?
His bright young intern has brought along the latest research on the
topic to the morning meeting. Candidate X has talked to his
constituents and realized the economic and political consequences of
Proposition Ten. His changing opinions have even strained his relations
with members of his own party. A good Democrat or a good Republican
would be the sort to believe in something like Proposition Ten.
Candidate X, though, has changed his mind. He now believes Proposition
Ten to be a complete dog. It should be opposed.
Matthew 21:28-32
In Sunday's Gospel reading
Jesus explains that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are getting
into heaven before the Pharisees and the Scribes because they have seen
the light and changed their ways.
I
was staying with former parishioners from Montreal in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. They were out and I was reading a book. A campaign robocall
came in on the telephone and was picked up by the answering machine. An
election of some sort was going on. The candidate's recorded message
was clear about the shortcomings of his opponent. There were the usual
over-the-top assaults on character but I particularly remember that
opposing Candidate X had also offended by "flip-flopping" on Proposition
Ten or Twelve or something. I have no idea what the issue was but it
was clear that flip-flopping, in itself, was a very bad thing.
Flip-flop.
Verb. Je flip-flop, vous flip-floppez, il faut que nous
flip-floppions. Once upon a time, Candidate X had an opinion. Now he
has another. He is not the man he was before. I, on the other hand,
have not changed my mind. Vote for me.
What
has candidate X done? Has he read a few more books on the subject?
His bright young intern has brought along the latest research on the
topic to the morning meeting. Candidate X has talked to his
constituents and realized the economic and political consequences of
Proposition Ten. His changing opinions have even strained his relations
with members of his own party. A good Democrat or a good Republican
would be the sort to believe in something like Proposition Ten.
Candidate X, though, has changed his mind. He now believes Proposition
Ten to be a complete dog. It should be opposed.
Bring
on the flip-flopper, I say. There's someone I can trust. Where did we
get this belief in the immutability of opinion or in the goodness of
people behaving like Newtonian solids traveling through space in
never-ending straight lines? Biographers are forever trying to present
consistent pictures of their subjects. The greatness of the man and
woman was somehow present in embryo from the earliest years. In the
words of Dylan Thomas
The oak is felled in the acorn
and the hawk in the egg kills the wren.
You
have the right to change your mind. Jesus is asking men and women to
change their minds. Evidence of such would be that you no longer do
quite so well as the men and women you were before. Your opponents will
have a heyday. Your wineskin no longer fits. Those who love you will
worry. Your children may regard you with uncertainty. But it is no
weakness on your part. It may be your greatest strength and the source
of your (and others') liberation.
Why have you not changed your mind? Are you simply not listening?
