The St. Thomas More Society Scranton, Pennsylvania
2301 N. Washington Avenue
Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509
Mr. Eric L. Bergman, Executive Director
The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
March 20, 2005
The 5PM Service of Evening Prayer
Matthew 21:12-17
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
I have watched with interest this past week as the issue of steroids in Major League Baseball has been addressed by the highest levels of our government in Washington. Many people in the media have attributed Congress’ concern to the desire of politicians to deal with fluff, because the more substantial issues are so much more contentious and difficult to solve. In this instance, however, I have to give our senators credit, because they understand something about America that some in the media evidently do not. That is, Americans have big expectations when we shower praise on people, and the people we praise better demonstrate they’re worthy of our adulation. Elected officials understand that we want something out of our celebrities, because, of course, our praise got our congressmen into office. Critics can complain, but the show last week down in D.C. was a window into America’s soul.
Steroids in baseball is an issue for Congress because we as Americans are so fickle with our praise. What I mean is that our praise is conditional. For one, we expect some benefit from those we praise, such as a grand performance. Two, we do not wish our praise to cost us anything, even so much as a guilty conscience in the knowledge that we praised a cheater. And three, we want those we praise to be accountable to us, to do what we say when we say it, lest we turn our affections elsewhere, to those more pliable to our will. Steroids in baseball is being debated in this nation’s halls of power because our praise didn’t get us the benefit we’d perceived, we’re embarrassed we celebrated cheaters, and we are determined to get our entertainers back under our thumb. Mark my words: because baseball players live by our praise, they’ll do whatever we say we want them to.
Contrast the pliability of politicians and entertainers with the man we encounter in St. Matthew’s Gospel this evening. If you recall the lesson from this morning, Jesus has just entered Jerusalem. Throngs of people have surrounded him, showering him with songs of praise that clearly imply they expect him to be their savior. In the Temple Jesus revealed the first sign that he would not be the kind of savior they were asking for. Jesus had marched into Jerusalem and many thought that the time had come to rally behind a leader who would throw off from the Jews the yoke of Roman domination. They celebrated a nationalist hero that would make Israel strong again, strong as she had been under King David. But Jesus first visit was to the Temple.
Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, driving out the money -changers and those who sold the sacrificial animals, this action offended the religious authorities. Jesus couldn’t very well lead a rebellion if the chief priests and the scribes weren’t with him. Here we begin to see that for all the praise he had received Jesus didn’t very much care if people were with him, and we also begin to realize that not many would be. As if to emphasize this point Jesus didn’t stay long in the spotlight. Note how after he had been lauded as the savior all day long he did not stay in Jerusalem. Rather than stay with his fans, who had not yet turned against him, Jesus went back to Bethany to sleep. Tonight I’m going to talk about why he was impervious to his fans’ praises.
The first reason that the people’s praises did not affect Jesus was that Jesus wished to give them an eternal benefit. As I said before, we praise those who give us the benefit we desire. In the 1990’s, during what will historically be known as the steroid era in baseball, we praised those men who could hit home runs. Those who desired that adulation got on the juice so they could provide the benefit the people wanted. They risked their health and compromised their integrity so that the whim of the fans that praised them could be satisfied. Jesus was not concerned with giving the people what they wanted, particularly since that would have entailed giving them a temporary fix. They wanted to be saved from the Romans. He wanted to save them from sin. Jesus was impervious to praise because he had in mind the souls of the people praising him. As much as they demanded death, he refused to give it to them. In the end he gave his fans what they needed, not what they wanted.
The second reason the people’s praises did not affect Jesus was that he knew praising him would be costly. While the people imagined they were heralding an earthly king who could inspire awe by virtue of his might, Jesus knew that his week would end with his crucifixion. Those who were willing to praise him all the way to that end would be those who understood his purpose and were willing to suffer with him to achieve it. Jesus knew that his human creation is quite averse to suffering, that praise dries up just as quickly as it begins to cost those who praise. For instance, all of us know we live in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but during baseball season you’d think we lived in the Empire State, given all the New York Yankee flags, caps, shirts, and signs one sees around town. Geographically we should be Phillies fans. Our city even hosts their triple-A team. But fickle fans don’t go for a team that’s won just one World Series in more than a century playing ball. People don’t like praising losers. To make themselves feel like winners they want to praise those they perceive to be winners. So we shouldn’t expect discriminating promoters to praise a man who could’ve been king but instead got himself nailed to a tree. To praise a man like that one must be willing to pay the price.
The third reason the people’s praises did not affect Jesus was that he was not accountable to their praise. Jesus knew that the praises of the masses would be withdrawn as soon as he did not do what they expected him to, which was to become their warrior king in an uprising against their Roman rulers. He knew their adulation was conditional. He would only get it if he did what they wanted. Praise was not so important to Jesus, though, that he was willing to sell his soul to get it. For example, I am convinced that if baseball fans demanded that each player do a pirouette every time before stepping into the batter’s box the vast majority of players would happily oblige. After all, the biggest stars were willing to poison themselves for years for a paycheck and a pat on the back. How could one small effeminate gesture matter all that much? For the people to own him, their praise had to be more important to Jesus than his integrity, more important that fulfilling his mission of redemption and salvation. Reality television and daytime talk shows serve as ample evidence that millions of Americans will do just about anything, reveal any secret, to be famous for a fleeting moment. Jesus cared more about doing what was right than hearing people tell him he was right. The praises of others could not sway him one way or the other.
There’s a good reason for not caring about what people say about what we’re doing, and it goes to the root of the Gospel. Jesus knew that his sinful servants, without the Holy Spirit to guide them, will invariably have mixed motives. That is, they may well do what is good and right, but as often as not they are doing what is good and right for themselves. Without the Holy Spirit the most altruistic act can be just another means to self-fulfillment. If you doubt this, consider how secular fund-raisers motivate people to make contributions to the cause they’re trumpeting. They tell us that we’ll feel good giving, that giving is good for us, and that, after all, we benefit from their particular cause. Charity has been exposed for what it is to most people: buying a service, purchasing a commodity. ‘If you give something you should get something back’ is the mentality, and through all our giving we suffer a terrible spiritual emptiness for such selfishness.
Because this is true about us, because our loves are so disordered, Jesus shows us how we are to treat the accolades of others by basically ignoring them. But in the lesson from the Gospels this evening he also tells us what kind of praise is legitimate. After he healed the blind and the lame, thereby allowing them to rejoin the temple community, the children praised Jesus, which elicited the condemnation of the religious authorities. Jesus responded by saying “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise” (Mat. 21:16). We might imagine that Jesus is giving particular place to children, as they are less likely to look to benefit from their praises, don’t do cost/benefit analyses before they speak, and don’t usually try to control those they praise. But, alas, we must remember that children are sinful, too. Children can be as manipulative as gambling sports fans. No, Jesus is not saying that children are the only ones whose praise is worthy. Rather he is telling us to consider the source of the praise.
And if we look at the source of the children’s praise it is the Lord himself. “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise”. Praise to which we can adhere, praise that we can allow to spur us on, praise that encourages us in the midst of despair, such praise comes only from God. As Christians we must be very wary of receiving praise from those who do not believe, praise from those unlikely to have appealed to God to guide them in words and in their actions. If we are not careful we may find that those we thought were friends expect to benefit from us, are not willing to suffer to receive that benefit, and desire to hold us accountable to their will. To submit to such praises would be to make a deal with the devil, a deal Jesus was not willing to make, and thus a deal no follower of Christ can make.
We will be much better off if we seek instead to be accountable to God’s will. When Jesus took this path everyone thought it was the way of failure and assured oblivion. But God does not abandon his faithful servants. Instead He has our eternal destiny in mind, assuring us that if we don’t allow the praises of this world to distract us we will receive the everlasting notoriety we all long for.
Occasionally, such commitment to virtue can be found in even a baseball player. Known as the ‘Christian gentleman’ during his playing days Christy Matthewson was born just fifteen miles away from here in Factoryville. Though he was one of the best pitchers of his era and certainly the most well known he quit playing baseball when the United States entered World War I. He volunteered for service overseas, was gassed in a training accident, and died seven years later from his injuries. Before he died though he stayed close to baseball, and in his capacity as a commentator was the first person to indicate that he thought the 1919 World Series had been fixed. His was not a popular position at the time, but it turned out he was right. When after his death the Hall of Fame was founded Christy Matthewson was one of the five original inductees. People born long after he died still know whom he was and what he did, but I’m fairly certain the ‘Christian gentleman’ wouldn’t have cared much about that. Rather his focus was on our Lord’s desire for him and for his fellow man. In the manner of our Lord’s sacrifice may we also be so bold to ignore the opinions of the masses and offer ourselves, even our very lives, ` for Him who is truly praiseworthy.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.