2nd Friday of Advent (December 12). Sheep among wolves

Prepare to Listen.  Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
 
Prayerfully Read Matthew 10:16-23
16“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.  17Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, 18and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles.  19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, 20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  21Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  23When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
Christians, said Jesus, are sheep among wolves.  Is that how you see yourself as a Christian in the world today?
 
I’m sending you into the midst of wolves, says Jesus.  Beware of them.  His list of what to expect is shocking—handed over to religious leaders, flogged in churches, dragged before political rulers.  We want to protest: We didn’t sign up for this!  But he told us to expect it.  We shouldn’t be surprised.  It’s what happened to the first disciples and continues to happen to many Christians around the world.  The fact that in most of the Western world this doesn’t happen and we don’t expect it to, has N. T. Wright wondering, “Is this a sign that Christianity in the West has somehow compromised itself?”[1]  What do you think?
 
Perhaps we’ve forgotten, or ignore, Jesus’ warning to disciples—you’re sheep among wolves.  We’ve all seen and heard about Christians who behave like wolves rather than sheep.  They resort to violence, destroy property and even murder those who hinder or disagree with them.  They behave like wolves among sheep.  Think of the January 6 rioters, or protestors outside abortion clinics.  Sheep are a symbol of gentleness, humility, the opposite of bullying and violence.  But many reject being sheep-like, preferring the strong wolf-like image.
 
Jesus then added two more creatures.  He said, “Be wise [shrewd] as serpents and innocent as doves.”  We need to be both, as Wright suggests, writing, “Without innocence, shrewdness becomes manipulative; without shrewdness, innocence becomes naivety.”[2]  Neither image reflects violence.  Both reflect gentleness and humility.
 
Following Jesus means taking the unpopular way of being a sheep not a wolf.  How can you live today as a sheep rather than a wolf?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, help me be a sheep, not a wolf, and help me be both a wise serpent and an innocent dove.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Be a sheep, not a wolf.
[1] Matthew for Everyone, Part I.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.  2004, p. 116.
[2] Ibid, p. 117.