Then What?

November 10, 2002

Matthew 26:6-16

It says in the Gospel of Luke that Satan entered the heart of Judas and that is why he betrayed his friend. In the Gospel of John it is suggested that it was God’s will that Jesus be betrayed and that Judas was acting because God was in control of the whole event. But nonetheless, according to John, Judas is condemned for his actions. I don’t believe either of these explanations. I don’t actually believe in Satan. I don’t think that there is a being going around encouraging us to do bad things. What we have is freedom and that is God given and it often is temptation enough. The devil is a bit of mythology that points to the idea that evil seems to have a life of its own. But it really doesn’t beyond human propensity to make poor choices.

The explanation for the actions of Judas in the Gospel of Matthew is much more plausible to my mind. In the passage read for today we get the idea that Judas made a poor choice, a tragic choice but for a good reason. And that is how I think much of the evil in the world comes to be. Good people make terrible choices for what they think are justifiable reasons. Yes there are those people who just seem to be wired wrong and have an evil streak in them but I believe for the most part most people are like you and like me and have the best intentions in mind. But it is not easy to make sound decisions.

I saw a movie the other night called Bowling for Columbine. It was made by Michael Moore. It is a documentary that tries to answer the question why we have over eleven thousand gun deaths in this country every year. The question is most pertinent when that figure is compared to other comparable countries in Europe and other countries like Canada, Australia, and Japan. None of those countries have more than a couple hundred gun deaths a year. Most of them have far less than a couple hundred but we have over eleven thousand. That is the question that this movie tries to address, why so much killing with guns?

Anyway, at one point in the movie, Michael Moore, the maker of the movie is interviewing some militia men from Michigan. He asks them what kind of guns they own. One of the young men has an M-16 which is not a hunting rifle. It of course has only one use and it is not shooting animals. His answer to why he owned that gun was that he wanted to protect his family. It is something that every one of us wants to do. It is a universal good. Who would not agree with a father who thought it was important to protect his family. And this is where our freedom and our ability to choose comes in. Is an M-16 a good idea for protection? The debate goes on and on but I don’t think so and the evil that can come from that gun is immense. I would say that it is an extremely poor choice and if I were in charge I would not allow assault rifles to be sold to anyone because at this point our freedom to choose gets a little too dangerous. It is a poor choice even for the best of reasons.

But many poor choices are made not for bad reasons but for good ones. Judas made a bad choice but it was for a good reason. Judas seems to have wanted to give money to the poor; at least that is what the Gospel of Matthew indicates. There is nothing wrong with giving to the poor. It is of utmost importance, the Bible tells us so as does good sense. Jesus seemed to have forgotten that. And he allowed a woman to treat him with expensive oil. That money could have, or perhaps should have been given to the poor. But Jesus doesn’t think so. He defends her actions. For some reason this seems to be the last straw for Judas. I think that the ministry had been going the wrong way according to Judas for some time. And for him this was it. This was the proof that Jesus had sold out his ideals and for Judas this meant he had to be stopped. He makes a bad choice for a good reason.

For Judas it must have seemed that he had little choice but bring in the authorities. They would know what to do. Judas probably did not think of it as a betrayal at all. He was the one doing the right thing. On principle he turned on his friend.

How do we decide such things? How do we make good decisions in the midst of inconclusive evidence and mixed emotions?

There is a great story I just read from the life of St. Francis that poses the same question. St. Francis had a life long dream. It seemed that he wanted to participate in a crusade. I know it seems odd for a man of peace but he did. In his younger years he actually went on a Crusade as a knight to do battle but was stopped by sickness. He seems to have been drawn by the idea of doing something extraordinary for the Kingdom of God. In his life he did many extraordinary things for the kingdom. His poverty and the service to the poor have been an inspiration to many faithful since and have inspired some of humanities best impulses. Mother Teresa who worked in poorest sections of Calcutta India was very much influenced by his life and work. But for St. Francis his labor was not enough. He wanted to do more and a crusade was just the thing he felt he needed to do.

The fifth Crusade was ordered by Pope Innocent III and then it was encouraged by the succeeding pope Honorius III. The year was 1218. The Crusade was against the Muslims in Egypt. The plan was to defeat the infidel in their stronghold, that happened to be closer to Christian territories (which made for easier access to supplies and reinforcements), and that would loosen their hold on Jerusalem.

Francis traveled to Egypt in the spring of 1219 the Crusaders were massed outside a Muslim fort on the Nile. They were well fortified and had defended this fortress for a year. The crusade had stalled here way too long and the Vatican sent a new general to bring Christian victory. Evidently he was not the man for the job. He was a Spanish Cardinal named Pelagio Galvani. His most apparent trait was his inflexibility and stubbornness. It would be his undoing.

When Francis arrived he found a very bad situation. The Crusaders could not conquer. They were dying of many diseases and Francis was horrified to find they were not upholding any kind of Christian virtue that he knew. It was not, to Francis, a Christian Crusade at all. But Francis served the Crusaders because that was the kind of man he was. He treated the sick and encouraged all to pray and be of good spirit. The break came when the Muslim sultan al-Kamil inexplicably made a generous offer. “If hostilities ceased forthwith, he would turn over the relics of the true cross and the kingdom of Jerusalem, with the exception of areas commanding the desert roads to Egypt,; he also offered 30-year truce, by which time, he added, all other considerations could certainly be negotiated. In exchange, he asked the Crusaders to abandon Egypt.”

Historians agree it was a generous offer. Everyone except Cardinal Pelagio wanted to accept it. So they did not accept the offer and the Crusaders went on the attack and were crushed. Thousands more died. Inexplicably the Muslims offered even a netter deal. Again the Cardinal refused. But before more mayhem could claim even more lives Francis intervened. Ho could not stand the thought of more death in what seemed to be a lost cause. He had a solution. He would go and convert the Sultan and that would end hostilities. Now there is a poor choice made for good reasons. No one thought it was a good idea and no one thought it could work. But Francis was steadfast and eventually accompanied by only another Franciscan he went to convert his enemy and so save his friends. He had faith and hope few other people will ever know. You may not know this but trying to convert a Muslim is punishable by death. Francis knew this but he went anyway.

Francis did as he said. The advisors of the Sultan ordered him killed. But the Sultan was a devout man and saw that Francis too was a pious man. The Sultan did something noble against the law of his land. He decided that Francis had come with the very best intentions. The best thing that a Christian could do was to bring someone to Christ. He understood the Christian perspective. And Francis was trying to bring peace as was the Sultan. The Sultan extended every generosity to Francis. Francis was the Sultan’s guest for about a week and then was given safe passage to the holy land.

Cardinal Pelagio never did quit the Crusade and it ended very badly for him and the Christian forces. He held to his convictions. I think the outcome would have been different if he had listened to his God.