When my children were little they were enamored and fascinated with Transformers. Transformers were living, human-like robots with the unique ability to “blend in” to their surroundings by turning into vehicles or beasts. They especially like Optimus Prime, the Autobots leader, and Bumblebee. When not in robot form Optimus Prime was a semi-truck . . . Bumblebee was a Mustang-like sports car. Whenever trouble hit they “transformed” into the heroic fighters for justice and freedom against the Decepticons. They would play for hours with these toys flipping them back and forth between what they seemed to be and what they really were. Where I saw a semi-truck or sports car, they saw a heroic robot fighting for the good of humanity.
You’d think that at my age the days of Transformers would be long gone . . . but enter my grandson, Noah. Noah loves any sort of super hero, and has a special love for Transformers. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee still populate the world, especially as a grandparent . . . as a grandparent being constantly reminded that everything we see is not always what we think.
I guess that is the peril of perception.
We have all heard the saying . . . “Watch out for wolves in sheep clothing.” And we know what it means. The saying comes from a childhood story or parable about a wolf who dresses up and pretends to be a sheep in order to gobble them all up. Of course, once the wolf is betrayed as an imposter, we are told to “watch out for wolves in sheep clothing.”
Our reading this morning has Jesus giving such a warning to those who are gathered to listen to him teaching. Instead of wolves he is pointing out those leaders—in this case, the “teachers of the law”. He tells those who are listening to “watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. They devour widow’s houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.” Beware of wolves in sheep clothing, he says.
Perception—the way that we see things—plays a big role in our lives. It is not always easy to spot the wolves among us who are hiding behind sheep’s clothing. Sometimes we get fooled . . . duped!
Jesus emphasizes this point following his warning when he sits down
opposite of the place where offerings are deposited into the temple treasury. As he and those with him are watching they, witness people placing their offerings in . . . especially noticeable are the rich who seem to be putting in great sums of money. It is impressive. And, then, a poor widow comes up and places two small copper coins worth maybe a few cents into the offering receptacle. Not even worth acknowledging in the presence of the rich peoples offering; yet, Jesus points out the widow’s offering.
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
In the eyes of Jesus the actions of the widow are more impressive than those of the rich. I am not sure that the disciples and those with Jesus agreed until he pointed it out. I think that those with Jesus were more impressed with what the rich were throwing in and considered them to be more important and vital in comparison to the poor widow. At least that was their perception.
Years ago, there was a church that I knew that had quite a few wealthy families within its congregation. Now, by wealthy I am talking about millionaire type of wealthy of which the congregation probably had six or seven of those families. And, yes, they were all the biggest contributors to the church giving thousands of dollars to the church on an annual basis. The congregation knew it and the community knew it. But the truth of the matter was they were not the biggest contributors when it came to the practice of tithing . . . no, they were far from being the biggest contributors. When their offering was put against their wealth none of them were donating more than one percent toward their tithe. Yet, they were lauded among the congregants and community as generous people.
Yet sitting among them in the pews of the church were others who gave ten, fifteen, and even more of their wealth to the offering on a weekly basis. True those offerings were not as impressive as the thousands being thrown into the offering plate as those wealthy families; but, they were giving everything that they could and had. They were giving out of their faith and love for God. It was not a “contribution” or “tax write off” . . . it was a love gift . . . a way that the faithful live.
Sometimes our perceptions are wrong. Where we see a semi-truck sitting along the highway there might be a robot hiding. Where we see sheep there might be a wolf. We all know that not everything is as it seems to be; and, yet, we get fooled.
Jesus wants the faithful to become more aware . . . more conscious . . . of what we are seeing. In that awareness he wants us to be inquisitive of what we are seeing . . . to get down to the reality and truth of what we are see. He wants us to watch out for those “sheep in wolf’s clothing.” After all, not everything is as it seems.
Too often we get duped by our perceptions . . . duped by what we see or think we see. How often have we been disappointed to learn that this person or that person was not who he or she really was? Especially when it comes to first impressions. For example, take entertainers. Both Dana and I really loved the music of Don McClean. We especially loved his song American Pie. Our perception of him was that he was a nice person . . . a kind person . . . someone we’d love to have as a friend. At least that was what we thought.
Then we had the opportunity to see him perform in an intimate setting . . . a small nightclub. Prior to the show starting he came out to do a sound check . . . nothing was working the way that he wanted. He belittled and swore at his soundperson. It was embarrassing to witness. In that moment both of our perceptions of this person came crashing down. Then, years later, he read in the newspapers of the domestic violence he committed towards the women in his life. We were crushed. What we thought and what was really there were two different things.
I think we get the point. We need to be careful. We need to be observant. We need to journey through life with our eyes open. We need to be realistic. We are living in a day and age when there can be a lot of peril in our perceptions . . . it is all around us. In the organizations we belong to, in the politics we endorse, and even in religion. Things are not always as they seem. Be careful. Don’t get duped. Watch out for the perils of perception. Sometimes the most important, most vital, most relevant is the thing we least expect . . . for example, a poor widow, two very small copper coins, and a love to give one’s all to God. Amen.
Sometimes our wrong perceptions need an eye opening. Thank you, John.
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