Wise Innocence

I am embarrassed to admit that I have, on more than one occasion, chased birds. I have never caught a single bird, no matter how I tried. They always saw me coming. Big ones and little ones, they always outsmart me. On the other hand, I have caught snakes in the wild.

The Lord said to his disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 10.16-22

My personal experience with snakes and birds gives me a perspective on today’s Gospel lesson I wish to share. Just because God calls doves innocent doesn’t mean they aren’t wise. Doves are wise enough to know danger is lurking, especially when I am chasing them. They fly away.

Snakes bite back only after they have been cornered or captured, but they aren’t nearly as good as doves in getting out of the way of predators. Have you ever seen a snake carry away a bird? Birds seem to have the upper hand when it comes to snakes, but Christ wants us to learn from both.

“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” is a challenge to combine efforts rather than to choose one over the other. The only defense snakes have is to bite while birds just fly away. When combining the skills of both, we learn to get away before it’s too late. If we can’t, we fight.

We don’t fight like snakes. Instead of biting, we teach Christ. Instead of poison, we offer love and grace. We have been warned by God. The forces of evil will chase after us. We must learn to see them coming, like doves, and fly away to safety. It isn’t a sin to avoid getting caught.

Saint Paul and Saint Peter ‘got away’ from their captors as did Christ, until the right time. When the time was right, they were captured but continued to teach from prison. Some day we will be forced to preach to our captors. In the meantime, keep flying away to safety and teaching Christ.

Wise innocence is the key. We must always be ‘on the lookout’ for danger and ready to fly away. We must be ready to preach if caught. Learn to ‘read the room’ before you begin to preach. Even serpents don’t willingly enter danger. Doves may fly away, but they always land again.

Eventually we all get captured, either by evil or by death. Christ covers that too. “He who endures to the end will be saved.”