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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

October 4, 2023

Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Reading - Matthew 7:15-20

‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.



Meditation - Winnie Smith

In my bedroom at my parents’ house is a child-sized stuffed wolf in sheep’s clothing. It sits upright in an armchair, with a long sharp snout and menacing eyes, cloaked in a soft, cream-colored jacket of sheep’s wool. It’s a funny stuffed animal - one that amuses adults but probably frightens most children. As a kid I always found it a little creepy, but I also never wanted to get rid of it.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing is something that seems friendly but is, in fact, hostile. It is an idea based on stereotypes. To hear the words from Matthew’s gospel today means to give in to the idea of judging a book by its cover, of favoring a snap judgment above actually knowing someone. It is really the antithesis of everything Jesus tries to teach. His ministry is one of presence, of seeing the person in front of him, of authenticity and recognizing the humanity of all. So how is that same Jesus preaching this line about false prophets dressed in sheep’s clothing?

Jesus says that a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. How are we to determine the good tree from the bad tree except by their fruits? And if that holds, then how are we to judge on the surface, by what we see, rather than by what we learn from and of the fruit? We just can’t. That is the message I think Jesus is trying to get across in today’s reading. Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing, yes, but also know that you will have to do a bit of work to determine who the wolves are. They may not present themselves as threatening, but can prove to be so, and vice versa. Rather than judge them on the surface, I think Jesus is telling us to get to know people. See who is in front of us. And then determine if their intentions are good or bad, and how to proceed.

When I was little, I used to pull the sheep’s hood back off the head of that stuffed wolf, revealing its gray fur and a much less threatening animal. I don’t know exactly what shifted when I did that, but it put me at ease. Maybe that action forced me to realize that this stuffed animal wasn’t a threat, but really just an intimidating animal pretending to be much gentler - it was a figure disguising himself as something else because his real identity carried too much baggage. The wolf was doing what each of us does all the time: editing and changing what we say and how we look to fit the molds we have created for one another.

I realize that a wolf is a threat to a sheep. But the point still holds, I think. We all disguise and change our appearance to fit some prescribed norm in our heads. And what we are most called to do is to present our authentic selves to the world and to recognize everyone else’s authentic self. Only when we do that and when we truly see each other can we know each other. And only when we really get to know one another can we see the good in one another - the fruit that we bear.

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those

        who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

    and the power, and the glory,

    for ever and ever. Amen.