Pearls and Pigs

“Do not give to dogs what s sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6

What did Jesus really mean? Could he be saying that some people just aren’t worth reaching out to or trying to help?

Did Jesus’ comments about pearls and pigs have anything at all to do with a low or contemptuous view of the “pigs” – or any of the people that someone may thinks fit the role of “pig”?

How can we know?

Let’s look first at the traditional interpretation of this comment; that there are simply some people who are not worthy of hearing treasured wisdom. They are so lost and so thick headed that we need not waste time offering our “pearls” of wisdom and insight to them; “let them go … don’t waste your time!”

It implies that some have attained or possess an understanding or treasure of great value and that they must guard it so that unqualified or unworthy people don’t have to opportunity to reject or defile it.

What a strange message coming from the one who said, “I have not come for the healthy but for the sick…” A bizarre twist from the compassionate one who was often rebuked for eating and associating with the lowest and most reviled members of society.

Jesus was willing to withstand the scorn and contempt of the ruling religious elite. He was willing to touch the leper and be touched by the prostitute. He spent so much time making himself available to the needy that there were moments in which he could not even take time to eat. How could he condemn certain people as “pigs”! How could one of such compassion recommend to his disciples that they not waste time in ministering spirituality to certain people?

Could he really have had that in mind? Is it in his nature? What does a good read of the passage this parable is drawn from shows us about judgment and condemnation? Were they his prescription?

A quick look back to previous chapters of the Sermon on the Mount reveal that Jesus condemned distain for others. In Matthew 5:21-22 as he elaborates on what it really means to be a person who reflects God’s character in the world.

He says; “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment’. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother ‘Raca’ (an Aramaic language term of contempt) is answerable to the Sanhedrin (court of law). But anyone who says ‘you fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

He was clear about our natural bent to ignore our own faults and magnify those of others; “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ….” Matthew 7:3

But about the pigs and pearls then; what did he mean?

Reader – please jot down your thoughts and reactions! What’s up with the pearls and pigs??

Hope

There are some people I know who I don’t understand. I look at what they have to face and I can’t imagine how they manage to get out of bed every morning. I know someone who has an adopted child with fetal alcohol syndrome whose behavior would challenge the collective efforts of a psychiatrist, a UN peacekeeper and a wrestler.

I know or know about a lot of people who help me keep some perspective on the hardships I encounter in life. Those who face the daily, seemingly insurmountable pain and frustration of chronic stress and exhaustion. They care for the mentally or physically broken or work multiple jobs to make up for an absent spouse … we all know that the lists of their lives are as endless as history.

I don’t really need them though. I find myself wrestling with hope even in my warm house, my empty nest, my restless mind. Some of the most hopeless of all people seem to have the most reason to be hopeful – or at least grateful – the rich, the privileged, the “lucky” ones whose seemingly protected lives we envy.

Hope is the fuel that powers mankind. We cannot live without it, we cannot dream or plan or stand without it. But it is fragile; its loss unbearable. Without it, we face inertia – we see no solutions, we wait for an end and see nothing beyond it.

Creativity thrives on hope. It is the lifeblood of art and science and love. Even the darkest expressions of the human mind are recorded as music or writing or art in the hope of a resonance or an answer.

Hope is the cornerstone of a healthy mind. It gives is motivation, it helps us look forward, it encourages us when we feel lost or desperate or without solutions.

Much is made of hope by some – and hope is much reviled by others. When we speak of a hope in God or a hope in the next life, we may face the scorn of the pragmatist or even the judgment of the believer. These are the voices of “anti-hope”. The voices of those who think they see better and know more fully.

Job was a man who had to face the darkness of loss and confusion and in the midst of it, the voices of anti-hope. Those who could not accept the possibility that his suffering was not due to some fault in himself criticized him. They looked for, and then even began to make up “reasons” for why these terrible things had happened to him.

As Job noted with great insight, “you look for fault in me so that you can feel safe and not be afraid that these things could happen to you as well!”

Many people are “anti-hope”

Job’s friends thought that he was arrogant because he trusted (hoped) in God’s goodness rather than the doctrine of the experts of his time. He knew that he had moral failings – but he also knew that God forgave him and that God wasn’t the kind of person who would punish him for sins already forgiven. The friends couldn’t imagine a God who wasn’t all about “payback”

For the needy, hope is the final option, the ultimate response. Some will say “hope is ignorant; burying your head in the sand”.

For sons, it is the central issue of prayer and of reaching out to God.

In the book of Hebrews we find the classic definition of faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe
that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him.

What pleases God here is hope – that we hope deeply in who he is and that, as a result, we realize that it is worth our time to turn to him for help or guidance or reassurance no matter what is going on.

Whether we are sick or alone or guilty or happy or curious or doubtful – it really doesn’t matter. The faith that pleases God is the assurance that he can and wants to help and walk with us at any moment – there are no prerequisites or demands to fulfill.

That is what annoys the people of anti-hope. They think that it is ridiculous to believe that God would take us as we are and where we are.

God says otherwise – the faith that pleases him is the confidence (hope) that causes us to “earnestly seek him”. He will always “reward” – respond to – seeking.


There are a lot of perspectives we can hang on to

when we are suffering or despairing.

One perspective is from Angelo. He was a Latino teenager in the movie Stand and Deliver. It was about the hopelessness of growing up in an LA Latino ghetto and the math teacher who really thought that these kids could be somebody.

When they had worked hard together for change and things were going good, some anti-hope types showed up and accused them of cheating on their tests for college entrance – after all, no one form this neighborhood gets into college!

Angelo is sitting in a car at night smoking and looking up at the stars. He says, “Maybe the stars don’t even exist anymore.” The math teacher had told them that it takes 1,000 years for their light to reach us. Angelo wonders, “Maybe God already pulled the plug and we just don’t know it yet…” Angelo sees the star and chooses despair.

Another perspective comes from someone who looks at an impossible task under impossible conditions and is pulled towards despair.

Sam Gamgi from the Lord of the Rings is in Mordor. He and Frodo are near the end of their journey and there are too many dangers and not enough time to finish their job.

Dark clouds cover the earth day and night. There is an evil presence and a blanket of hopelessness has settled on them. Sam looks around and looks up.

Suddenly there is a brief gap in the cloud cover and Sam sees a star – he sees and realizes that it is untouched by this present evil; the clouds overhead have hidden but not changed the reality that the stars and the heavens – and the presence of God are unshakable. Sam sees the star and chooses hope.

The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:15 that we who hope are like stars …

Do everything without complaining or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine
like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…

What are we hoping FOR?

That we will be rescued.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:19-23


That we will be rewarded

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work
and the love you have shown him
as you have helped his people
and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10

"Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40


And now, dear children, continue in him,
so that when he appears we may be confident
and unashamed before him at his coming. 1 John 2:28

We will be restored

One day we will be restored to the original design God made us for and we will live in a relationship with God of total acceptance and security.

C.S. Lewis spoke of human beings as “Magnificent Ruins”. Think of the ruins of Greek buildings from past millennia – we can still see the columns and portions of walls or foundations – but we cannot tell if they were markets or courthouses or temples or libraries. They have been distorted beyond recognition of their real purpose.

One day, each of us – each magnificent ruin – will be restored to our original design and purpose – and be as beautiful in comparison as a ruin is to its former glory.



The hopeful person

Sees the star – takes the perspective that the heavens are unchanging and that life obscures reality.

Longs for heaven – knows that she can’t get lost on the way because Jesus had gone before us to prepare a home. John 14:1

Trusts in the father - knows he is accepted by a good and trustworthy God.