“You hypocrites! If you can interpret the portents of earth and sky, why can’t you interpret the present time?”
Who said this? Not some pulpit politician trying to get elected. Not some weather forecaster, trying to defend the forecasts made by his or her network—obviously more accurate than any other. Not some academic or clinician pretending to know more than anyone else, or some self-righteous preacher name-calling.
Jesus of Nazareth, as remembered and communicated in the New Testament gospels of Luke 12:46-59 and Matthew 16:2-3, said this. It’s pretty harsh, and it is preceded by a forceful denial of the common assumption—both then and now—that Jesus the Christ is a bringer of peace, a kingdom of it, no less. Apparently not. We are expected, I believe, to learn from this harsh teachings that WE are to create and work hard for Peace. Instead, we fight and murder each other, even within a family, over differing politics, religions, on and on. No true, lasting peace is ever had by means of war or warring language.
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So what is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is an ACTOR, a pretender, one who pretends to know and be sure of the facts and their correct meanings—and does not. Hypocrites only know things from their own point of view, as do actors on stage, as if life itself were a script.
The best wisdom over all time would suggest that our capacity to know is so imperfect that we cannot know anything alone. We can contribute our perspectives; then we listen to others, that’s all. Then with care and courtesy WE come to some decision, solution or conclusion that is a workable compromise toward a mutual gain.
So, we are first-class phonies—hypocrites—when we bloviate (I love that word) with certainty about all we think we know. We are “pulpiteers” full of opinions, few of which are tested by time or expertise. Even science, which many worship as inviolate and inerrant, does not have certain answers.
I too am a hypocrite. I think most high-gear hypocrisy comes from fear. Right now this world, this planet, lives with a lot of fear of its own demise. Sometimes I pretend to be calm and cool while my innards quiver.
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Ironically, it is the “weather” or climate, through which we can read the signs. It IS the sign of the present time. It is the “weather” that is demanding to be heard—water, fire, and wind. WE don’t, can’t, or won’t interpret the “portents" of earth and sky.” All created life depends on our willingness to stop arguing and start listening. Will we read the portents of our time in the weather itself?
I’m trying not follow the hypocritical temptation to soften Jesus’s proclamations, saying, oh the Bible is not literal, and oh, it’s more important to love and do good works, and oh, Jesus spoke for his own day not ours, etc.etc. Well, sometimes the Bible has something so applicable to say that, well, it must be taken at its word—literally.
When Jesus tells his friends he comes
that crisis might increase,
it must, it must be time to seek
a wider, deeper peace.
Michael Hudson, text for Hymn #680
(“O God our help in ages past…”)
