We all have
a reputation, an image that other people connect with us. Hopefully
our reputation is accurate, that is, it matches who we really are and
not just on a misunderstanding or a bad first impression. Whether we
like it or not, it is very hard for a person to shake their
reputation; it's hard to change a person's impression or opinion of
us.
The other
day I was watching a TV program about the notorious outlaw, Billy the
Kid. A major premise of the program was that the historians wanted
to separate all the legends associated with “The Kid” from the
actual facts. Even in the late 1800's when there wasn't television
or radio available to give up to the minute newscasts, Billy quickly
developed a reputation for being a ruthless killer and horse rustler.
The historians on the program tried to show there was more to the
story than just that. They explained that Billy was an orphan. That
fact, along with his boyish good looks secured him the nickname, “The
Kid”. While still a teenager, Billy was hired as a ranch hand, his
employer becoming a father figure for him. Lincoln County, New
Mexico, where Billy lived, was immersed in a war between two
factions, each fighting for a monopoly on cattle and commerce.
Billy's employer was a leader for one the factions. One day he was
gunned down by a group of men under the payroll of the other faction.
These assassins included the local sheriff and a deputy. Billy and
several other ranch hands vowed to avenge their former employer and
eventually killed the corrupt sheriff and his deputy. From that
moment on, Billy and his gang were on the run as wanted men.
Now, I want
to be clear, I am in no way trying to justify or defend Billy the
Kid's crimes. I agree with the history books that what he did was
wrong. I do want to point out, however, that there is a big
difference from simply saying that he was an outlaw who killed
lawmen, as was his reputation in all the legends about him, to
reading the facts that he was an orphan who was seeking justice for
the wrongful death of a father figure who was killed by a corrupt
sheriff and his deputy. To the newspapers of the day and other
lawmen it didn't matter if the lawmen who were killed were crooked or
if there was anything shady about them. It didn't matter that Billy
had grown up without parents and had just lost someone very close to
him. He had killed two lawmen. That was his reputation. That was
what he was hunted down for.
Here on
earth, once we have established our reputation it is very hard for us
to shake free of that. It is possible to do it, but it takes a lot
of work. The reason it is so hard to change one's reputation is
perhaps because we human beings have a habit for remembering the
strangest things about the people we meet. I find it all very
strange. We can easily forget were we last put down our car keys or
cell phone, but we can remember for the longest time a nice gesture
that a person did for us. It seems even easier to remember the
negative things, like when a person is rude to us or refuses to help
when we really needed it. Our reputations follow us for a long time
and stay the same even if we have changed a matured over time.
Fortunately
for us, our reputation with God is much different. God knows us even
better than we know ourselves. He knows whether we are trying to do
His will or whether we are only looking to do things that make
ourselves happy. He knows when we make a conversion in our hearts to
repent of our past sins and to refocus on the Gospels. We don't have
to worry about whether our reputation with God is accurate or not.
In fact, we may even wish at times that God didn't know us quite as
well as He does what with all the mistakes that we know we have made.
Overall, however, the fact that God knows us that well is really a
good thing. When we finally make the decision to leave sin behind
and make a conversion of heart to the Gospel we don't have to spend a
bunch of time convincing God that this is really who I am now, like
when we try to convince our friends or family that we have changed
somehow. No matter what our reputation was in past, God knows when
we really mean to make that true conversion.
The readings
today are really about making that conversion of heart, choosing to
turn away from sin and follow the will of God. The first reading
from the Prophet Ezekiel follows a similar theme that we heard from
last week. You may recall last week that I talked about how we might
be tempted to say that God's ways are unfair because His ways are not
our ways. Part of that includes the fact that God is so willing to
forgive us and accept us where we are at. Here again, Ezekiel speaks
about how people say that God is unfair. But God points out that it
is human ways that are unfair, not God's ways. He goes on to say
that when we turn from a virtuous life to one of sin and we die, it
is for those sins that we die, not because of some weird rule that
God came up with. Likewise, when we turn from a sinful life to a
virtuous life, it is because of those virtues that we gain eternal
life, not because of a strange rule or because God plays favorites.
The lesson here is that God doesn't judge us by our reputation or by
our past. He looks at our life as a whole: are we striving to live
that virtuous life; are we seeking forgiveness when we have sinned.
The Gospel
continues along that same train of thought. Jesus gives a parable of
two sons. One says he is going to do something but doesn't. The
other says he won't but eventually does. The blessings go to the one
who finally does the task that the father put before them. In the
grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter so much who said
early on, I'm going to do this or do that. It doesn't matter who
said from early on, I'm going to be a Christian or I'm going to be a
priest or in a religious community or I'm just going to do my own
thing, forget about the rest of you. What matters is who actually
went through with it and chose to follow God's will (whatever that
might be). Don't worry about the past. Just worry about doing God's
will today.
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