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Have you ever noticed that passages of literature, that you think you understand, and then come to understand that you don't understand, can be some of the most difficult to try to understand. Case in point, the poem by Robert Frost entitled, The Mending Wall. Any that know that poem know that there is a phrase in that poem that says, "Good fences make good neighbors". People who quote that phrase usually want to build walls between themselves and other people, and they quote the poet to support their point of view. But even a superficial reading of the poem, in its context and fulness, reveals that that is not what the poet is saying at all! Those are the words of a next door neighbor, a kind of boorish lowt, who never had an original thought in his life! He's quoting what somebody else has told him, and he says, "good fences make good neighbors!" But Robert Frost begins the poem by saying, "something there is that doesn't like a wall", and yet every springtime he and his neighbor would erect the stone wall between their properties, only to have nature tear it down over the long winter, only to erect it again in spring. So when you go back to read that poem, if you know that line it can confuse you. Because when you think you understand something, only to find that you don't understand it, it can only make it alot harder to understand! We come to that with some of the sentences that Jesus spoke. Case in point is one of his sayings, tucked away in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, that says, "Do not give what is sacred to dogs, and do not throw your pearls to pigs, if you do they may trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces!" (Matt. 7:5-6). Now that's a diffucult statement to understand. We have three dogs. I have never thought of giving them something sacred. I'm not even sure what would be something sacred that I could give to them. I just give them "Kibbles and Bits!" I would, never in a million years, think of taking Bonna's pearl necklace, taking it to a hog farm, going out to the feed lot, breaking the string, and casting those lovely white pearls all over the hog lot, just to see what the pigs would do with them! I am not really sure what Jesus is talking about. Then to make matters worse, it is stuck right in the middle of a passage where Jesus warns us not to try to "remove a speck out of another's eye, while we have a beam in our own eye" and then tells us, "not to be judgmental of others, for with whatever measure we judge others, that will then, in turn be used on us when we are judged by others". It isn't really too hard, at least on the surface to understand what Jesus is saying. When Jesus is talking about "dogs", He is not talking about puppy dogs that jump up in your lap, wag their tails, and lick your face. He was talking about wild, scavenger dogs, that ran in packs in his day. They were mangy animals. They were a menace to first century society. When He spoke of not giving sacred things to dogs, He was talking about meat that was offered in the Temple as a sacrifice to God. Part of the sacrifice was given to the worshipper, part to the priest, and part was burned on the altar. Not all of it was consumed. What did you do with what remained? Now if a farmer had a cow, that was struck by lightning, he might drag it out to the side of his property, and leave it for the wild coyotes, dogs, or jackals to come by and dispose of it for him. But it didn't quite seem right to do that with meat that had been offered to God! It is similar to the question of what should we do with old Bibles that are worn and torn. It doesn't seem right to burn them; or to bury them; and certainly not to throw them away. I have several old copies of the Scofield Bible; the Thompson Reference; the Criswell Study Bible; the Ryrie Study Bible. All setting on the shelves, like retired soldiers, at a old folks home. I don't know what to do with them. I guess Bonna and I will leave them where they are, and let Justin and Joshua decide what to do with them after we are gone! Then too He talked about "giving pearls to pigs". What little I know about pigs, I learned while I pastored in Nebo, Illinois, Pike county, the hog capital of the world, they tell me! One thing you learned about pigs is that they were always hungry. If you came to give them grain, and they rushed you fighting over their supper, and found that it was a bunch of pearls, they would not be impressed. They would stomp them in the mud, and rush you for the "real thing!", their slop or grain! Young farm boys have been injured and trampled by hogs! It's kind of like being warned not to feed the bears in Yellowstone Park. Why? If you feed them, and they don't like the menu, they will turn on you, and do you harm. Again, what did Jesus mean? If you study the context, what Jesus is warning about is this-You and I have sacred things we have dedicated to God in our worship. We have given Him our lives, and in front of the world we have vowed that we are not our own, we will live for Him. We have precious pearls, testimonies of something beautiful, made from an injury to the oyster. We have precious redemption that comes from the wounds of Calvary. If we sin willfully, after giving our sacred vows to God, to live for Him, and walk away from the new life that we have as the Pearl of Great Price from Calvary. We have a beam in our eye. As we try to be an example to those in the world, and point out the specks in their eyes, (sins in their lives), our sin in full view to them, causes us to "give sacred things" to those who have no regard to them. To cast "precious pearls" to those who see no value of Calvary. They will then turn in criticism to us, and "tear us to pieces, trampling under their feet the precious blood of the Lamb, that we 'say' we hold dear, but our lives tell a different story!" Ask Jim Bakker. Ask Jimmy Swaggart. Ask Ted Haggart. Dogs, wicked men and women, had no mercy upon them when they fell. Their sacred testimony trampled underfoot. That is why in the context Jesus warned, "pray deliver us from the wicked one". If he snares us, and we fall into sin, he "lets the dogs out! They will chew us up and spit us out! Remember the song "Who let the dogs out"? Rolling Stone magazine voted it the 3rd most annoying song of all time. Jesus was saying, be careful. Keep your sacred vows to me. Hold on to that precious pearl of redemption, that new life that is yours as a result of his wounds of Calvary. There are wild dogs, and wild boars in our neighborhoods. When they see us fall, they are ready to pounce on our sacred testimonies, and tear us to pieces, in sight of all. That too is why Jesus said, "keep on praying, keep on seeking, keep on knocking", keep on keeping the faith. Or you and I just might be the ones who let the dogs out! |
