I am a baseball fan. When I was younger I was, like my Grandfather, a huge New York Yankees fan. I was on the edge of my seat whenever Mickey Mantle got up to the plate. Unfortunately, I caught the Mick in the tail end of his career but he was still spell binding to watch. They were a pretty awful team in the late 60s and early 70s but finally gave me the title I desperately wanted in 1977. It was especially sweet because I was in the dorms at Southern Illinois University and the guys on my floor were serious Yankee haters. Later, after I moved to Illinois, I started following the Chicago Cubs. I have something about pulling for losers I guess. But the North Siders gave us a long awaited (100 years to be exact) title in 2018.
Now there were big differences between those two teams…the Yankees and the Cubs. The Yankees were a team of superstars. There were plenty of ego to go around. Starting Pitcher Catfish Hunter. Catcher Thurman Munson. Graig Nettles. And, of course, Reggie Jackson. All managed by Billy Martin. A small man but there was not enough room in the dugout for him and Jackson. The 2018 Cubs? They were a team in the truest sense of the word. No one player stood out heads and shoulders above the rest. With Joe Maddon as manager, the Cubs moved together as a unit. Where the Yankee team was about individual spotlight, sparking some dissention between teammates, the Cubs team had one focus. Winning the World Series.
Jealousy and envy can cause some bizarre behaviors. Sticking to baseball comparisons, Cap Anson was the manager of the Cubs in the early part of the 20th century. He had a reputation of having a large number of pitchers on his roster. And this created rivalries amongst the players as they were vying for jobs on the team. One of those pitchers was Walter Thornton. Thornton was a favorite of Anson because not only could he pitch but he was a very good hitter. Giving him an advantage over his rivals. The rest of the pitching staff were so jealous of Thornton that one day they got into his locker, found all his bats and proceeded to cut them in half with a saw. Rather than focus on improving their own abilities, they elected to cut down, somewhat literally, their opponent on the team.
We see the evils of comparing yourself to others in the Bible as well. The famous Genesis tale of Cain and Abel. Where Cain murders his brother because he was more favored by God. King Saul, Israel’s first King, wanted to kill David because the people cheered David’s military exploits over Saul’s. And today we see the comparison conundrum work its way into the lives of Jesus’ disciples. In today’s Gospel Jesus had just informed Peter of the type of death he would face (crucifixion). Peter then sees John following them and he asks Jesus whether John will experience the same type of death. Jesus alludes that he may have John escape martyrdom. Which, in fact, does become the only apostle to die a natural death. Jesus then rebukes Peter and asks him what concern is it of his what Jesus decides to do in terms of the deaths of the rest of the apostles. He admonishes Peter to “Follow Me”. In other words, stop worrying about what other people will do or not do. Just focus on yourself and your relationship with ME.
This reading reminds me of the parable of the vineyard owner who goes out and hires workers at various times throughout the day but pays each worker the same regardless of when they started. One worker complains and the owner asks if he is not allowed to spend his money as he likes. He has treated the earlier hired workers fairly in that he gave them what he had promised. Don’t we all tend to do the same? We cast our eyes on the fortunes of others and then compare them to ourselves to see how we measure up. Whether it is money, fame or even a seemingly more mature faith life. We sometimes fail to see that God has given each of us a unique set of gifts that we can use to benefit the kingdom. Or we can be so busy comparing our attributes to those of another that we fail to use the talents God has given us.
One of the pastors that I have had over the years had an expression regarding comparing ourselves to others. He would say:
If you compare, you despair
And the parish that he was pastor at? Corpus Christi…the body of Christ. Where each part of the body has a purpose unique to itself. If the eye wanted to be a foot, how would the body see? And if the ear longed to be a hand, how would the body hear? We are the body of Christ. Each with talents that are vital to the community. Let us be the Cubs in a world full of Yankees (sorry Grandpa) and not spend our time sawing the bats of others in two.
