What Everyone Hopes They Don’t Have in Common with a Parrot
Have you ever had a fun game of mocking someone else go well?
Galatians 6 says: 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
I think that parrots get away with murder. They repeat what you say, in that mocking tone, and nobody turns them into a Thanksgiving side dish. Must be nice.
On Sunday we talked about the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts chapter 5. Their attempt to hide part of the proceeds of a sale of a piece of land was an open mockery of what the early church was trying to do in helping those in need. It was an open mockery of God’s wish that we should be concerned with raising others up. It was an open mockery of God’s work of salvation in Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. And, it was an open mockery of God Himself, testing the omniscience of the Almighty.
So, how did that fun game of mockery turn out for you? Was it fun humiliating your friend? Was it fun watching others do it while you stood cowering in the background, too cool to do the right thing? Was it fun to mock someone behind their back, afraid to say it to their face? Was it fun to feel the shame of participating in such cowardly behavior?
Yeah, I’ve done that. Mocking, taunting, whatever you want to call it, the rush we feel when we’re in control soon turns to revulsion if we have a conscience. That is the Holy Spirit giving you the chance to make things right. That is God calling you to account for being the parrot and so much more.
St. Paul, as he’s writing to Galatians, starkly states what we have just seen in the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Ananias and Sapphira were deceived. Peter says almost exactly that to them in Acts chapter 5: why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit…how is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? They fell into deception by the will of their own hearts. Satan stretched the level of their sin by tempting them with the possibility that they could have something they were unworthy of: the joy and praise of the other believers. Had they succeeded it would have been unworthy praise that may have led to further acts of deception and evil.
God is not mocked. God may be mocked in this life by people who despise His will and His works, but the eternal consequences will not be escaped. And that should give all people reason to pause.
But St. Paul’s words go so much farther than that. There is value in thinking of more than just the next life. What if you took these words to heart in this life, and made them work to your advantage and to the advantage of the Kingdom of God? What if you planted only good words, what would grow? What if you planted a firm crop of intervening and doing the right thing, and you were known for doing the right thing? What would grow? Would people seek you out? Would people learn to value you? Would people speak of you in mocking tones or have the highest praise? What if you scattered the seed of encouragement, would you not see encouragement grow?
But we want to see valuable stuff grow and prosper even when we plant weeds. We think the weeds will spiritually turn into dandelion fields and a beautiful bouquet of roses. It doesn’t work that way. If you plant weeds, expecting that you’ll be able to get some roses for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, you’re going to be at a flower shop buying what someone else toiled to create. But we know that in God’s economy, that doesn’t work. We’ve got to invest the time with the right starting point.
Instead of trying to do everything you can to get around the finer points of God’s Word, why not start with the philosophy: today I’m not going to mock God. What would life look like? What wouldn’t you do? What would you do? What wouldn’t you try to hide? What could you do with that extra integrity?
The grace of Christ is worth that investment in integrity and what is good. What you put out into the world is what is going to grow. What do you want that to be? May it be something the Kingdom of God is blessed by, and not something that Christ already died for. Amen.
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