Identifying Ducks

The Rev. Joseph Winston

August 22, 2010

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.1
There is a phrase that tells you something is not quite right. Maybe you have
heard it, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it
probably is a duck.” (That is a mouthful.) The first recorded reference to a sentence
like this was sixty years ago.2 The USA was in the middle of the Cold War with
the former USSR and its satellite nations. This country was concerned about the
march of Communism across the globe and especially to countries that are near to
us. Guatemala was one of those nations. At that time, Guatemala possessed most
if not all of the characteristics of a Communist country but kept insisting that
she was not. The ambassador from the United States could not stand the obvious
difference between the official stance given by Guatemala and what he actually
saw on the ground. No matter how much Guatemala denied it, in the ambassador’s
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.
2
Anonymous, Duck test, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test.

1
eyes Guatemala was Communist.
Perhaps you have experienced the reality that sometimes things do not add up.
It is time to make the trip to the grocery store so you can fill your pantry
up with all the needed supplies. As you walk down the crowded aisle, a sign
catches your fancy. Is says, “New and improved!” You pick up the advertised item
and look it over. Normally, you would not give this brand a second chance. It
does not meet your idea of quality. “Maybe,” you think to yourself, “they actually
have changed.” “If they have, then I can do all my shopping here.” So, you toss
the product into the basket, pay for it, and take it home where you put it on the
shelf for another day. The time finally comes when you need to use the “new and
improved” product. You take it from its place and give it to your family. By the
looks on their faces, you know that “new and improved” really does not mean that
the product is any better than before. It still is bad as ever. All that has changed is
the packaging.
You can find many other examples where people or organizations try to pull
a fast one. There is a well-known quarterback in the NFL that says he will retire
after this season. Sure Brett, whatever you say. States such as Texas like to tell
you that the annual inspection sticker on your car helps improve safety and lower
emissions because an authorized facility carefully checks that the car meets the
state’s approval. Even if you take your car to a reputable inspection station, all that
the examination proves is that the car passes all the tests at that specific moment.
After that time, who knows what will happen? We have all seen cars with current
inspection stickers that have burned out lights or spewing blue smoke out the

2
tailpipe. This fee is just another way for the state to take some of your hard earned
money and put it in their accounts.
Today’s Gospel lesson about Jesus healing a woman on Saturday that could
not stand up straight on her own contains what has become a classic example
of, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it
probably is a duck.”3 A typical version preached in churches around this country
might sound something like this. Jesus gave these women her life back on the
Sabbath. This means that healing is more important than the Law is. No matter
what the situation might be, you go and help others just like Jesus did.
At its heart, a message like this one seems to proclaim complete and total
freedom from the strict demands that the Law places on our lives. After all, this
appears to be exactly what we want for our lives. With the Law nicely out of the
way, we now no longer have to follow any of its rules. The sick can be healed
on Saturday or any other day of the week and no one can complain. Women and
men can join together in worship rather than being separated into two distinct and
different groups. We believe that we are free to do what we want instead of always
being told to do this or that.
To reach this place of nirvana, a perfect world without pain and suffering, a
utopia where all are equal, we all must do one thing. (That is not too much to
ask, is it?) We are responsible for taking care of our neighbors. Feed them. Clothe
them. Help them. Give them whatever they need and soon the world will be a
3
A word that is unstranslated in the NRSV version of Luke 13:11 is ἀσθένεια. Asthenia is a
medical condition that is seen when a person does not have enough energy or is weaker than to be
expected.

3
better place.
Carefully listen once again to the last few sentences. “We are responsible for
taking care of our neighbors. Feed them. Clothe them. Help them. Give them
whatever they need and soon the world will be a better place.”
Notice what has happened in the so-called “Good News”. We have not elimi-
nated in the least the Law from our lives. It still is there with all of its old require-
ments. You must assist your neighbors or they will not have enough. It is your
duty to put food on their tables or they will be hungry. Your task is placing clothes
on their backs. Otherwise, they will be naked. You need to come to their service.
If you do not, they will suffer.
As always, there is a judge deciding if we have kept what the Law demands.
In this instance, the name of the highest court in the land is the world. They are
the ones who will make the ultimate decision if we live or die. This makes perfect
sense. We promised to make the world better than before.
In every case heard in this court, there has only been one verdict: guilty. From
what you know about the state of world right outside these doors, I think you
would agree. No one at all can do what their neighbors require. Justice demands
punishment for all that promise on thing and do another. The judge agrees and
gives everyone that shows up in court the death penalty.
Stare at the bench long enough and you will see God. As the one who is in
charge of everything, it is only proper that God be here as the final judge. Here
are the charges spoken against us. We have failed to live up to our own laws and
also have completely ignored the benefits that Jesus brings to us free of charge.

4
Because of our actions, we deserve to die. We took our made-up story, hook,
line, and sinker, that somehow our self contrived law would save us rather than
realizing that “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck,
then it probably is a duck.”
The Law can never save us. That is understandable. Its function in this world
lies elsewhere. There is One who completely keeps all of the Law’s requirements.
There is One who will stand in for the punishment you rightly deserve. There is
One who will argue your case in the supreme court. His name is Jesus.
That is what makes today’s lesson the Good News. Jesus comes and saves the
woman.4 Anything less than that one amazing fact is not the Good News.
Do not be tempted by what others may offer you. Someone might bring you
a wise teacher that understands all of your problems and has solutions for all of
them. Other could try to sway you with a new law that takes the place of the old
one. Jesus is much more than a sage that can answer all of your questions or a
man who sets aside the requirements of the Law.5 Jesus is your Savior.
How that plays out in your life completely depends on who you are. For the
woman in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus came and freed the woman from her con-
4
The Greek in Luke 13:12 reads, “γύναι ἀπολέλυσαι τῆς ἀσθενείας σου.” The Greek second
person perfect passive indicative singular ἀπολέλυσαι (Translated by the NRSV as, “are set free.”)
indicates that God is responsible for the action. Luke Timothy Johnson; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.,
editor, The Gospel of Luke, Volume 3, Sacra Pagina, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 212.
5
Make no mistake; Jesus is not eliminating any of the requirements of the Law. You can hear
this in His own Words, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the law
to become void (Luke 16:17).” Instead of removing the Law, today’s Gospel lesson shows us that
God has a different emphases. First and foremost, God’s concern is for authentic life: one that is
lived in relationship with God and in community with the rest of creation. Order in this world is
achieved through the following God’s Law.

5
dition. This is Jesus living the life He promised in the synagogue. He said,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus continues the same work in the world today. He brings you the authentic
Good News that God loves you and not some made up law that you can never
completely keep. He frees you from whatever prison you find yourself in and He
does not place you in a new jail. He shows you how love works in the world and
never forces you to return that love. He removes the weight from your shoulders
and does not burden you with a new way of life.
Somehow, we know not everything in the world is all right. We hear people
say one thing and then do something else altogether. We watch those who would
protect us instead take from us. Even the Church is not immune from this problem.
Jesus is removed from our lives and in His place, we have a new law that we can
never keep. To all those people and groups that would try to pull the wool over our
eyes, simple say to them, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks
like a duck, then it probably is a duck.”
There is a deep fear in the Church that we will not follow Christ’s example and
help our neighbors. Perhaps that explains why the Church acts like it does. You

6
take care of your neighbor not because you must but because the most important
question in your life has already been answered for you. Jesus put you here on
earth and He loves you just as you are. There is nothing that you need to do at all.
With that common concern out of the way, you now have free time and resources
on your hand. Because of Jesus, you no longer have to justify your existance here
on earth to anyone anymore.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”6

References

Anonymous, Duck test, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test,

Last accessed on August 20, 2010.

Johnson, Luke Timothy; Harrington, S.J., Daniel J., editor, The Gospel of Luke,
Volume 3, Sacra Pagina, (The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1991).

6
Philippians 4:7.