"Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." Psalm 32: 1-2
Stop that seagull!"
My voice was barely audible over the beach winds and waves, but my gesturing caught the attention of a friend opposite me who nearly flung herself out of her beach chair onto the sand to retrieve a brown bag full of bagels being dragged toward the water by a very large and brazen seagull.
He had been standing next to her chair for an hour, sizing things up, waiting for a crumb to fall, darting forward at our slightest movements, and when he couldn’t stand it anymore he charged forward, grabbed the bagel bag and had it almost out of reach before we knew what happened.
And he had friends.
One of them stood directly in front of me, almost on my feet, in a stare-down the entire morning. He seemed experienced in his attempt to weaken my resolve, as if his beady little eyes would entice me to drop a morsel or two for his benefit.
But I stayed strong, and he called for reinforcements.
Bending his head forward between his legs, I thought he had a strange way of checking out what was behind him, but I soon learned it was the ordinary prelude to a volley of loud seagull honkings.
Almost immediately I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, and suddenly realized that we were now surrounded by seagulls who seemed to be putting great effort into acting nonchalant.
But we knew what they were up to.
With seagulls, there is no acting. Their motive is always obvious. It’s all about the food.
With people, motivation is not always so clear.
The inclination to use our wiles to get what we want is strong. But in those times, when we give in to the inclination, we put aside honesty, we compromise our integrity. When we resort to cunning and deviousness, embracing "the end justifies the means," we move away from Gospel values.
Catholic author C.S. Lewis put it this way: "Not to be, but to seem, virtuous – it is a formula whose utility we all discovered in the nursery."
That discovery often proves to be a great challenge to living a truly Christian life, and Scripture reinforces that "guile" is no path to God.
Dire warnings about the consequences of cunning behavior are repeated in Psalms and Proverbs, but in the Gospel of John there is a delightful, even humorous story, that reflects the importance for disciples to be "guile-less."
Jesus was gathering disciples. Andrew had already joined him when Jesus also found Philip and invited him to, "Follow me,"
Philip then found Nathaniel and extended the same invitation to follow Jesus "the son of Joseph from Nazareth."
Philip replied, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, he said of this new disciple, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"
I can imagine Jesus having a hearty laugh over the whole thing.
Jesus valued Nathaniel’s forthrightness because Jesus recognized that Nathaniel’s heart, and motives, were pure.
If we take the Gospel seriously, it is important for us, then, as disciples, to routinely examine our own hearts and motives to be certain our God will see the same thing in us.
