Proper 21A

Another tough week on the stage of our national scene. How severe is the economic crisis? What will that mean for us and our financial security? How should the crisis be resolved? What plan will work? Add to these questions the rapid movement toward election day, when we will select who will serve us in the Michigan Legislature, the Congress and the White House. Whom should we choose? Can we believe anything that the political advertisements tell us about them?

We’ve come here before the Lord in solidarity with one another seeking wisdom for living, and we are presented from the Gospel of Matthew this Parable of the Two Sons as the Word of the Lord. What does the Spirit wish to teach us today?

Let’s look at the Gospel. First we have the question to Jesus, who has entered Jerusalem and is teaching in the Temple courtyard, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Mt 21:23) Jesus was not only teaching, he had, as Matthew reported earlier in this chapter, overturned the tables of the money changers when he first entered the Temple, an action which caused no little stir for it not only upset the money exchange for that day, but it also was seen as a judgment against the program of the Temple operating under the authority of the chief priests. Jesus was popular with the people, we are told, so rather than arrest him directly, “the chief priests and the elders of the people” came to him and asked this question hoping for an answer that would allow them to take action against him. [By the way, “the elders of the people” in our generation would be the Vestry and the leaders of parish ministries.]

Jesus challenges them by asking them by what authority the very well known prophet, John the Baptist, had in baptizing people in the river Jordon and teaching about the change that was to come with the arrival of the Messiah. Was his authority from heaven or of human origin Jesus asks them. Their answer: “We do not know” (Mt 21:27). They were afraid to choose an answer because of the people watching and listening.

Authority comes from knowledge, experience, and insight or wisdom to see clearly. The chief priests and elders of the people were asking, how can the son of a carpenter from the remote village of Nazareth have such authority?

Jesus’ authority came from his knowledge of the Scriptures, the Law of Moses, as we can see expressed in the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said…..” (Mt 5:21ff). He quotes the Law of Moses and then gives a profound interpretation of its meaning.

Jesus’ authority came from his experience of God in such events as his baptism in the River Jordon by John (Mt 3:1-17), by his experience of temptations in the wilderness (Mt 4:1-11), and by his experience of the power of God at work through him in the healings and exorcisms.

Jesus’ authority came from his intimate relationship with God in prayer (e.g. Mat 11:25ff).

Do we not ask similar questions at the present time? Regarding the economic crisis, who has “the authority”, the definitive knowledge, to tell us the full truth about what is truly happening? On the political front, who has “the authority” to know how best to lead us as president of the United States? Likewise when we give opinions about the economic crisis, about politics, or about any moral issue affecting our lives or that of others, but what authority do we speak? What knowledge, experience or insight governs our “teaching,” our actions? Does our authority come from “heaven” or is it of “human origin”? St. Paul told the Philippians and us to have the “same mind” as that of Jesus (Phil 2:5). So do we have the knowledge of the mind of Christ derived from Scripture, from our experience in worship, and our intimate relationship with the good Lord in prayer?

Having put off those who were seeking to test him, Jesus then tells them the parable of the two sons. The father asks the first to go into the vineyard and do the work expected. The son says “I will not” but “later he changed his mind and went” (Mt 21: ) The father asks the second to go into the vineyard and do the work expected. This son says he will go, but he does not.

In these parables, God is the father who asks “the son” (us) to go into God’s vineyard and do the work God intends us to do, which is for our well being and that of others. In the Bible, the vineyard can be the symbol of the people, Israel, as a whole, for the land, and even for the whole earth. [You will hear more about the vineyard image next week.]

The parable assumes that we know God as both our creator or father and also all humanity, and that we know as well that God the creator is the owner of the earth. In the book of Leviticus, we are told: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants” (Lev 25:23).

Far too many of us are like the second son in the parable. We believe in God and we say “Yes” we will do as God asks us through the words and deeds of Jesus, but then we are not faithful. We do not do what God asks us to do in the vineyard of our lives. The chief priests and the elders of the people in the narrative all affirmed that they were doing what God intended, but the lust for power, wealth, and prestige turned their “yes” into a “no.”

We have all heard the Sermon on the Mount, which is God’s instructions to us about working in the vineyard of our lives, but do we go, do we live accordingly?

+Jesus teaches us the commandment from of old: “You shall not kill” (Mt 5:21), and yet we continue to support capital punishment.

+Jesus teaches us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44), and yet we seek to harm our enemies and curse them as well. We certainly do not turn the other cheek when struck.

+Jesus teaches us: “You shall not commit adultery” (Mt 5:27), and yet we continue to look lustfully of those whom we would use for our own sexual gratification.

+Jesus teaches us: “You cannot serve God and wealth” (Mt 6:24), and yet we are in the current financial crisis largely because of greed .

In general we say “Yes” we are disciples of Jesus, “yes” we are members of Christ’s body, the Church, and yet we do not live as he teaches us to live nor serve in the ministries to which he calls us both in the Church and in the vineyard where we live. WE have to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.

National research surveys from groups like Gallup and Brana and others report some 40% of Americans say they attend church on a weekly basis. However, as one researcher commented: “Public opinion polls generally do not report real opinions and events. They report only the information that the individuals choose to tell the pollsters. Quite often, their answers will be distorted by a phenomenon called "social desirability bias." Pollees answer questions according to what they think they should be doing, rather than what they are doing. For example, a poll by Barna Research showed that 17% of American adults say that they tithe -- i.e. they give 10 to 13% of their income to their church. Only 3% actually do”[1]

Then we have the other “son” who says “no” but eventually goes into the vineyard. This is characteristic of many among us in this generation: they want nothing to do with the Church or organized religion but are engaged in what they would identify as a “spiritual quest.” Spirituality is a large topic these days. I typed “spirituality” into Google, the Internet search engine, and was told there were 73,400,000 entries on that topic.

Many would say that they are generally Christian and seek to live moral lives, perhaps even pray privately, and yet they say “no” when it comes to worship in a community. They do not understand what Ronald Rolheiser says is essential to spirituality. He writes: “Christian life is not sustained only by private acts of prayer, justice, and virtue. It is sustained in a community, by gathering ritually around the Word of God and through the breaking of bread…. To gather around the Word of God and the breaking of bread is a ritual gathering, and ritual brings something that normal social gathering does not, namely transformative power beyond what can be understood and explained through the physical, psychological, and social dynamics that are present.”[2]

That is a theoretical statement of the importance of worship in a Christian community. Rolheiser also gives us a powerful and simple example. He tells of a friend, a recovering alcoholic, who goes regularly to AA meetings. The friend tells him: “I know, and I know for sure, that if I don’t go to meetings regularly, I’ll begin to drink again. It’s funny, the meetings are always the same, the same things get said over and over again. Everything is totally predictable; I know everything that will be said. Everyone coming there knows it too. Also I don’t go to those meetings to be a nice person. I go there to stay alive. I go there because if I don’t, I will eventually destroy myself.”[3]

Being part of the Church is essential to staying alive, to maturing as a human being, and to give grounding and support to our personal spiritual quest.

A cute story: In a small village in England, a former member of the congregation began to announce to friends and neighbors that he did not need to go to Church to be a faithful disciple of Jesus. He could worship in the woods or on the hillside or by the sea shore alone. People wondered what the Vicar, the pastor of the parish church, would do about his public boasting. The Vicar waited for many weeks, and just before Christmas he visited the man at his home. Over tea by the fireplace they talked about many things, but not the man's absence from worship. At one point the Vicar got out of his chair, walked over the fireplace, took the tongs and brought a brightly glowing goal from the fire and place it on the cement in front of the fireplace, and then sat back down.

They both watched as the bright red glowing coal turned to a cold dark gray as its warmth and heat disappeared. The man got the point. To sustain the warmth and energy we need to move from fear to love, we need the companionship of other disciples in common prayer and worship.

Jesus’ authority, which the chief priests and the elders of the people questioned, came from his knowledge, experience and wisdom generated by an intimate relationship with God nurtured in prayer, service, and life I community with his disciples. We need to live in a similar fashion if our vineyard is to flourish. Paul told the Philippians: “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus?” (Phil 2:4-5 ) Our “no” needs to become a full “yes” in order that we survive and mature as humans.

So for your homework this week (I give homework and let the good Lord do the testing to see if you learned anything). Reflect with me on a couple of questions: do I walk the walk as well as talk the talk? Do I keep my commitments? Have we who pride ourselves on being good and holy people actually changed our lives according to the teaching of Jesus? Do I do what I say I will do? Is my “yes” to God lived out by my words and deeds in the vineyard of my life?

God bless you and keep you this day and always. And remember that the good Lord loves you more that you can ask for or even imagine. Do you believe that?

[1] www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm

[2] Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing Doubleday 1999, p. 231.

[3] Ibid., p. 235.