Throwing Rocks, Hiding Hands

Reflections on platitudes, sin, and mercy based on today's readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122824.cfm

Many will scoff at the use of platitudes, believing this expresses that they are intellectually “above” such drivel intended for the common folk. Platitudes, by definition, are used frequently and those who fancy themselves “above” these type of thoughts think that the quality of a thought is a product of its originality.

In reality, this desire for intellectual originality results in the most banal sort of unoriginality. Those obsessed with novelty don’t create anything new, they just revert to the mistakes of the past while fancying themselves wise and original.

This just goes to show that the rejection of platitudes is not a sign of a deep thinker so much as one with a shallow heart. A man rejects platitudes not because his mind is too bright but because his soul is too dark.

It is why the sayings we give children are really the most important sayings, yet most adults fail to live by these sayings as pride slowly convinces them that they are “above” such childishness. One of my favorite examples of this is the old saying (platitude perhaps), “don’t throw rocks and hide your hands!”

We might be quick to dismiss this because we intellectually understand that it is a call to accountability, and would prefer a more eloquent expression rather than this simple phrase. This desire for eloquence rather than substance is exactly how the devil gets at work on us intellectually: the devil being the most eloquent of all creatures.

Instead, one with a heart that understands how miserable of a job we do at being accountable will never forget such a phrase. One who understands from both the heart and the head is able to value what is being said more than how it is being said and values what is being said to the degree that it reveals truth about the meaning of life.

It is once one allows these simple expressions to not only interest them, but judge them, that the true depth of it is revealed. One realizes that the call to not “throw rocks and hide your hands” at its deepest level is simply a call to not “throw rocks”.

The more one meditates on what we do that could be considered “throwing rocks”, the realization emerges that the worst rocks we throw at others might be this air of superiority with which we carry as a result of our failure to be accountable. In other words, “hiding our hands” is the worst rock we can throw. This is the air of superiority of the Pharisee who goes up to the mountain to pray only to thank the Lord that he is not like these other sinners. Essentially saying, “Thank God for me!”

One who is accountable and has ceased throwing rocks is precisely one who recognizes their deep proclivity towards rock throwing. By exposing one’s hands (aka not hiding them) one simultaneously reveals themselves as a rock thrower and eliminates the potential for future rock throwing. In other words, the rock thrower loses his power to throw rocks once he is revealed as a rock thrower just as our sin loses its power over us as soon as we recognize it as such.

This is why so many recovery programs will say “the first step is admitting you have a problem.” Again, a “platitude” that is profoundly true: one that can challenge the heart as much as the head. And this is exactly the type of paradox that St John expresses today. It goes something like this:

We are all sinners. The sinners that are able to come into the “light” are those who are most deeply aware of their sins and those who remain in “darkness” do so precisely because they fail to take accountability for their sins.

In theory, most get this. In practice, it is a different story. We might say we recognize we are sinners, but then we see the sin of another and we are scandalized. No phrase reveals a soul that is unaware of their own sinfulness more than: “how could someone do that?”

To be mystified at the sin of another is not indicative of moral superiority, but demonstrates an inferior ability to understand matters of the heart. And the ability to understand matters of the heart emerges from that heart that is most aware of its own sinful condition.

For so long the Church has avoided talking about sin, and this is a great mistake. We should be careful in how we talk about it so that we do not shame others in their sin. But we should also always emphasize that to experience the mercy of God and be merciful to others one must have this deep recognition of sin.

Without a recognition of this, what many think is the experience of the mercy of God is really them believing that they have been excused by God rather than forgiven. Too many believe His mercy means that the wrongs we did were not actually wrong. They believe his mercy extinguishes the need for accountability.

But it is quite the opposite. When we are accountable, when we realize that we have accumulated a spiritual debt far beyond our ability to repay, then we are asking to be forgiven and not excused. And this is the experience of mercy: trusting that despite the deep reality of one’s position as a debtor, “the debt collector” is Good beyond our belief.

And without this recognition what we extend to others as “mercy” is really not us being humble and contrite but viewing ourselves as their Lord and Savior. To say we have not sinned but we forgive sinners is to say that we are Christ.

But all of this can really just be summed up in one simple platitude: “don’t throw rocks and hide your hands.”

Or in Christian terms, don’t be a sinner who fancies yourself a saint.