In the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the two leads were handsome, swashbuckling cowboys, even kind of heroic. They were portrayed by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, respectively. In real life, they were actually named Robert Parker and Alonzo Longabaugh, and they were thieves. They robbed trains and banks. They were bad people who stole real money from ordinary working people.
In the movie, The Sting, Newman and Redford return, this time as two handsome Depression Era rogues named Henry Gondorf and Johnny Hooker. These two con a fortune out of a murdering gang boss. We find ourselves cheering them on. After all, didn’t “the mark” deserve his comeuppance? But, that fictional story is based on the true story of brothers Fred and Charley Gondorf, a couple of real life grifters. They swindled anyone and everyone out of whatever money they could get. They were bad people who stole real money from ordinary working people.
No matter how you dress them up —no matter how you work to make them seem like good people— bad people are bad … and the things they do hurt real people. Contrary to the movies, most con artists are heartless criminals with no concern for anyone but themselves. Most will stoop to anything, including murder, to get what they want.
And that brings us to this week's selection from the Gospel of Mark where Jesus identifies a surprising con artist scam.
As students of the Law, Scribes dressed themselves in respectability. People trusted them to explain how to live a life approved by God. There were likely some good Scribes. But Jesus charged the group of them with something worse than criminal behavior: using their understanding of God's Law to swindle people. And not just any people. They were guilty of fleecing widows and their families out of the little they had, even to the point of homelessness. They were truly wolves in sheep’s clothing.
I know. It's really difficult to believe someone could stoop so low.
Remember, Judas loudly decried the "waste" of the expensive perfume used to anoint Jesus because it could have been sold and the money distributed to the poor. Scripture tells us he didn't mean it, that he just wanted the money placed in the ministry purse so he could embezzle it. That's a man personally selected by Jesus to be one of the original twelve … another wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Yes, sad as it is to contemplate, there are people among us who will swindle us out of our money; use God, Jesus, the Bible —whatever works— to move our property from our control to theirs. And they absolutely do not care if their "marks" are already impoverished or hurting from the loss of a loved one. All they care about is whether they can successfully scam the mark.
We have to be alert to these wolves … still. And we need wisdom to discern them from the real sheep. It's bad enough that these kinds of people walk our streets. It is far worse that they walk the aisles of our churches. They don't just "sting" their marks. They destroy them, wound their faith, and drive them away from God.
For most of those who have fallen prey to these wolves, there is only one consolation. Jesus promised: “These men will be punished most severely.”
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ARTWORK: The wolf in sheep’s clothing was well known to people is Jesus’ day because the Greeks borrowed the tale from the Sumerians. Link to Aesop’s Fables and the wolf in sheep’s clothing:
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Breakfast, scripture, fellowship, and laughter. How do you beat that combination? Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at Our Breakfast Place restaurant. We meet at 8:00 for about an hour. Or join us on Zoom.**
Enjoy the week!
Steve
**Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Psalm 127
1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
Proper 27 (32) (November 7, 2021)
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