Saying the Wrong Thing; Doing the Right Thing
Rev. J.A. Reid
A Holy man had a parrot and the parrot would to say to everybody, “Watch out for the trap. Don’t sit on the trap.” Of course he meant illusions of the world, the trap of greed, power, prestige, possessiveness, the trap of anger and violence. So he used to say to his disciples, “Watch out for the trap. Don’t sit on the trap.” By and by the parrot also learned it. So whenever the Holy man would say it, the parrot would also repeat it, even louder. And the parrot would say, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!” And everybody enjoyed it. One day by mistake, the cage of the parrot was left open, and he flew out of it. Everybody had started to love the parrot, so the Holy man and his disciples, they all went all over the forest to search for him. When they were reaching deeper and deeper into the forest they heard the parrot saying, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!” So they were very happy that he was there. So, following the direction of his voice, they reached there. And what did they see? They could not believe it: he was sitting on a trap with his legs caught. He was trapped – sitting on the trap he was continuously repeating, “Watch out for the trap! Don’t sit on the trap!”
Sometimes in life we keep on repeating things with our mind that we don’t believe or know in our heart. Like the parrot we say things from our head but our heart is not there. In other words, if we are being blessed we find ourselves saying the wrong thing yet doing the right thing. What I am saying is even though we say what is wrong, we do what is right.
There are several ways to assure that we eventually do the right thing. One – by not living our life as a hypocrite; two – by not committing what I call spiritual suicide and three by making sure our “No” is authentic but doing the right thing anyway.
Here is what I see. Many of us claim to know the right way but like the parrot in our story, we say “yes” to the Lord but do what we want to do. Here is where we may fail. If we don’t learn how to be authentic in what we say and do we will miss heaven here on earth and in the world to come.
There are three ways to assure we eventually do the right thing. Spike Lee, the well-known African-American producer and director’s third movie was entitled: “Do the Right Thing.” In the movie he highlights the many injustices in our society that outrage us and could justify violence. He poses an important question, what is the right thing to do in many of these situations we find ourselves? His quotes Malcolm X and MLK Jr. in the closing sequence which leads me to ask, what is the right path to the Lord? Will that path get me to Heaven? In other words, am I saying what’s right and doing what’s wrong? In the turning over the tables in the Temple, we see Jesus in full rebellion. He had gone into the Temple (church) and overturned tables and the seats of the money-changers and sellers of doves during the feast of the Passover. The money was used to pay the clerics and the doves were used as sacrifices that ultimately benefited the high priest. They quickly question Him about His authority to do these things and His answer was the parable of the two sons. If you recall from the Bible, one son, when asked by the father to go to work in the vineyard said an authentic “No” but later changed his mind. The other son when asked to do the same thing gave a hypocritical “Yes” and did not go. Jesus’ pointed question to the priest was who had done the will of the father? Naturally they answered the first son. And here is where Jesus’ condemnation came clear. He said that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom of Heaven before the so-called religious people. In other words, saying the right thing does not necessary mean we do it! Sometimes saying the wrong thing ultimately leads us to do the right thing.
There are three ways to assure that we eventually do the right thing – first by not being a hypocrite. In each of us there are three possibilities of doing the right thing but they are hidden. We can be like the priest in the Bible parable and give a false “yes” while having no intention of actually doing the right thing. Many of us are religious we say. Indeed some of us claim to be biblical scholars and versed in the Word. We go on accumulating much pious knowledge and devout information. But we miss the message of Jesus because of our “false yes.” We really are hypocrites; because we say one thing do another. Like the slaves of old who said, “Y’sir boss,” but they had no intention of doing what they said.
Many of us are like the second son who “answered and said, I go, Sir: and went not.” We have to stop living our life in a hypocritical way.
Second, we are assured of eventually doing the right thing by staying away from the spiritual suicide of the “True No.” Many of us say no to anything and we mean it, even when our eternal life hangs in the balance. When we say no and cling to it no matter what, we commit spiritual suicide especially when it comes to our soul salvation. Some of us live in “No!” It’s like that commercial on TV where the man ask does anybody want any cash and then he looks at the baby and the baby says, “No,” and throws a fire extinguisher at him. Some of us enjoy saying NO! When it comes to belief in God we doubters, even though we confess yes, we believe with our mouth.
Finally, we are assured of doing the right thing by making our “No” an authentic “No” that comes from the heart but continue to search until we find God and do the right thing. The first son said an emphatic NO but afterward he repented and went. Say an authentic no and go on praying. An authentic “no” is not the end – just the beginning, the first step. “Yes” to God, has to be born in us from the heart. If we allow it, it will be born.
