Reflection - Motivation

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081816.cfm

Ezekiel 36:23-28
Matthew 22:1-14

Motivation is the driving force that spurs us toward a specific result---so says the dictionary. If you watch the participants in the Olympics, you might quickly and accurately conclude that they are highly motivated; but what exactly it is that motivates them is far less easy to identify. In real life, the presence of motivation can be observed; but the actual driving force is not so easily determined. What, for example, motivates the student to work for an 'A'? You never really work just for the letter grade. The 'A' is not something you can frame and hang on your wall. Well, I suppose you could, but it would look a bit silly. If that 'A' puffs up your self-esteem, it only does so as an indicator of something else, like your competence. For some, receiving an 'A' is nothing more than a sign of one's good judgement in selecting and paying a superior ghost writer.

I quit smoking about thirty years ago. I know I must have been motivated because it wasn't easy to quit. I had previously tried several times. So, when I look back and ask myself what motivated me to finally quit, a definitive answer eludes me. It could have been the persistent encouragement of my wife. It could have been the guilt from broken promises to quit that I had made to my kids. Maybe it was the fact that my father had recently died of lung cancer. Possibly it was found in the 'Stop Smoking' class that I was attending. 

After hearing the story that Jesus tells the people today, the focus of discussion is usually on the scribes and Pharisees and other Jews. They are represented in the tale by the ones who couldn't be bothered to attend the king's wedding feast for his son. At the first invitation, those invited simply refuse to come. Apparently, the king thinks his message wasn't clear, as he sends other servants with a more detailed message: ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ The result of the second invitation is worse than the result of the first. Some ignore the invitation. Others make flimsy excuses about pressing matters at farms or businesses. Still others actually kill the messengers.

The story is understood by most, if not all scholars, to be a description of the behavior of the Chosen People, and particularly their leaders, towards those whom God had sent in the past to invite them into His Kingdom. 

My interest this morning, however, is not in the shocking behavior of those on the king's guest list. Rather, it's in their lack of motivation to attend the wedding feast. In Dicken's Christmas Carol, two street acquaintances are ready to attend the funeral of a total stranger if only some food is served. But here, in Jesus' story, we're talking about a banquet --- and not just any banquet, but a royal wedding banquet, which may well have lasted a few days. Why would anyone ignore such an invite? What could possibly be more interesting at the farm or business?

There certainly is no indication that the excuses offered stemmed from some personal crisis. It was just their ordinary, day to day occupations which were preferred over the banquet. People are motivated to do intelligent things and we consider it normal. But, are people actually motivated to do stupid things or just lacking in the motivation to act intelligently?

When we read or hear this story from Jesus, our judgment is quick to shift into high gear. We mentally renew our criticism of the Jewish leadership. But, if we're fair in our assessment of their behavior, we have to admit that we're no different. I knew all the arguments about the dangers of smoking, but it did not make me quit. I knew my potential for diabetes, considering my high level of blood sugar; but I still continued eating all the sweet things that I liked.

An examination of my own behavior tells me that there are usually at least two elements in play when it comes to motivation. I am held to my present behavior by motivations to maintain the status quo. I am moved to change my present behavior by other motivations. The examples I referenced above should help make the point clear.

My sugar-high diet was motivated by the simple fact that I liked sweet things: pastries, candy, drinks, etc. It was maintained by a jumble of pseudo-medical beliefs: if I developed diabetes it would probably be just a function of growing older; diabetes wasn't all that serious; if I changed my diet sufficiently to avoid the disease, I wouldn't be allowed any sugar. All these contributed to maintaining the same sugar-high diet. Ultimately, my motivation shifted to 'change,' when certain things became clear: the dietician assured me that I only needed to modify the way I took in sugar and that other, low-level carbs could be eliminated in lieu of sugar; a couple of friends with diabetes were clear that I didn't want to deal with the disease; and finally, if I wanted to eat without cooking, a change in diet was going to happen. 

The situation with smoking was even simpler. As mentioned above, I had all the social pressures from my wife and children. I was sufficiently educated in the dangers of smoking. I was guilty of breaking promises to my children to quit. My father had died of lung cancer. None of these, nor all of them together, were sufficient to motivate me to quit. One evening I was thinking about what it was that kept me attached to cigarettes over and above the basic addiction to nicotine. With some reflection I realized that I had become accustomed to turning to cigarettes at all the high points and at all the low points in my life. I was treating cigarettes as a friend with whom I shared my life experience. When I awakened to the fact that "this cigarette is not my friend" the battle was over.

Now, not all motivations have their foundation in false premises as mine did in these two cases. Nevertheless, I would bet that when we persist in behaviors which are contrary to our knowledge or our sincerely held beliefs those motivations are based in false truths, thoughts that do not conform to reality. From the way I have directed this reflection, you might think that you have inadvertently wandered into a self-help group. But stay with me a moment longer.

Throughout the texts of Scripture God promises some amazing things. 

     "Behold, I will extend prosperity to Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream" (Isaiah 66:12)

     "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you."  (Isaiah 66:13)

     "On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of choice wines-of fat things full of marrow, of choice wines well refined." (Isaiah 25:6)

     "He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 25:8)

     "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (Matthew 6:31)

     "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:33)

     "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Matthew 21:22)

All of these promises and more are embraced in this morning's image of the banquet. 

     “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
     my calves and fattened cattle are killed,
     and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’

So, the question becomes: Why were the promises of God insufficient to effect a change in the orientation of the Jewish leadership? Correspondingly, why are these promises of God insufficient to effect a greater shift in my own orientation? These are motivational questions. 

•      I am convinced that I believe in God's truthfulness.
  
•      I am convinced that He keeps his promises.
  
•      I am convinced that his promises, his invitation to his banquet, is extended to me. 
  
•      I am convinced that I have a realistic, even if limited, understanding of what He desires of me.
  
•      I am convinced that my life could be better if I surrendered my life to the Lord.
  

Now, all I have to do is understand which 'false truths' keep me from a full, total, complete participation in the celebration right now.