September 25, 2011 / Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Matthew 21:23-32
The truth is, I suspect most of us haven’t noticed. We like our safe and comfortable images
of Jesus – a baby in a manger, a shepherd with a lost sheep on his shoulders, a
gentle man who sits with children on his knees, the one who stands at the door
and knocks. I googled images of
Jesus and found hundreds of different pictures of a man whose face is filled
with compassion – pictures that conveyed peace. We’ve all see those images of a Jesus who is gentle and kind
– the Jesus who loves us unconditionally.
We like this Jesus. The
truth is, most of us would rather not notice the dangerous and unpredictable
Jesus. If we are honest with
ourselves, most of us would prefer to avoid noticing that following Jesus is
risky.
And then we encounter Jesus in today’s gospel lesson and
discover that engaging Jesus is anything but safe. I’m fairly sure the elders and the chief priests had no idea
just how dangerous their encounter would be when they confronted Jesus in the
temple. The temple was their
territory – they were the ones in charge – or so they thought. And Jesus had invaded their space and
was teaching as if he had the same authority they had. So they asked, “By what authority are you
doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
Now it is worth backing up a bit, because the elders and
chief priests are questioning much more than his authority to teach in the
temple. The day before, Jesus had
entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
The crowds spread their cloaks on the road and waved palm branches and
shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They hailed Jesus as their king. But Jesus didn’t go to the palace;
instead he went to the temple. And
as he entered the temple he drove out all those who were buying and selling and
overturned their tables and seats, completely disrupting the normal patterns of
the temple. What kind of king is
this? Who gave him the authority
to do that?
And then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple –
they weren’t allowed in the temple! What were they doing there? And Jesus healed
them. And the children – yes,
there were children in the temple! – were crying out “Hosanna to the Son of
David!” All of the usual order of
the temple had been completely disrupted by Jesus. Who gave him the authority to do that?
And in case you’ve missed just how off balance everything
has become because of Jesus, the next morning on his way back to the temple,
Jesus curses a fig tree and it withers and dies on the spot. What’s going on here? Who is this man? Who gave him the authority to do that?
I don’t think the chief priests and elders expected Jesus to
throw them off balance when they questioned him about his authority. Like a good teacher Jesus answered
their question with a question – a question that trapped them. By what authority did John
baptize? They were trapped because
if they acknowledged that John’s authority came from heaven, then why did they
choose not to believe in him and be baptized? But if they denied that his authority came from heaven, they
were going against the sentiment of the people – the people who had been
baptized by John. And this would
have caused further disruption. So
they answered, “We don’t know.” A safe
answer. A cowardly answer. The answer you give when you realize
Jesus has turned the tables and caught you in an uncomfortable place.
I’m sure the chief priests and elders were backing away,
hoping to regroup when Jesus challenged them: “What do you think? A man had two
sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
He answered ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father
went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did
not go. Which of the two did the
will of his father?”
They couldn’t answer, “We do not know” because the answer
was obvious – the one who changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard did
the will of his father. And yet,
they convicted themselves with their answer, for they are the ones who said
“Yes” to God and then did not go.
They were the ones who said, “Here I am, send me!” and then spent the
day in the comfort of the temple instead of going out to do the work of the
kingdom. They are the ones
who saw John come in the way of righteousness and did not change their minds
and believe in him. They must have
been squirming to get away – Jesus had thrown everything off balance.
In case you haven’t noticed, following Jesus is risky
business. Jesus is unpredictable and even dangerous. He challenges our thinking and turns lives upside down. He calls us out when we stray and
pushes us out of our comfort zones.
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing safe about following Jesus.
Today Jesus confronts us and asks two questions: Do you
believe in me? If so, what are you going to do about it? Most of us are quick to answer, “Yes, I
believe!” Yes, I’ll go into the vineyard. Here I am, send me! But we get uncomfortable with the
second question because it calls us to change. It calls us to get out of our pews and act. It calls us to leave the relative comfort
of our homes and families and enter into the broken homes and disfunctional families
of our neighbors with words of peace and healing acts. It calls us to take our balanced
checkbooks and comfortable retirement accounts and turn them upside down for
the kingdom. It calls us to a
faith that can say to a mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and
it will be done.
This week the pastors of the North Carolina Conference
gathered for the Bishop’s Day Apart – a day spent in worship and fellowship – a
day spent talking about the church today.
The truth is, for the most part the church in North America is
irrelevant today. The church in
North America is having very little impact on the lives of those in their
communities. If the church disappeared,
those outside the church would barely notice. It’s not surprising that people are leaving the church at a
startling rate and churches are closing their doors. Our nation is becoming an increasingly secular nation – soon
churches will be little more than artifacts of a former time – historic
buildings that have been turned into art museums or restaurants or schools. Or
they will simply be boarded up and forgotten.
This does not mean that people have quit longing for
God. Actually, more than ever
before people are longing for spiritual encounters and for a deep connection
with others. And more than ever
before people want to be able to help others and make a difference in their
communities. And yet, we sit in
our pews affirming our belief in Jesus on Sunday mornings and then go on about
our daily lives largely unchanged and unchallenged by Jesus. When Jesus asks us to sell everything
we have and give the money to the poor, we are like the rich man who shakes his
head and walks away. We’ll give a
little, but it is way too risky to give everything. When we see someone in trouble by the side of the road, we
are more likely to pass by on the other side than to stop like the good
Samaritan and help. We want to
help and we help when we can, but often it is way too risky and so we pass
by.
Today, right now, we have the opportunity to take a huge
risk for the kingdom. We have the
opportunity to step out on faith and let Jesus turn our lives upside down. For the past five months we have been
working with Loaves & Fishes, exploring the possibilities of a
partnership. For longer than that
we’ve been having conversations about what it would look like to open a food
pantry in Southern Alamance. We
know the need is great, but so far we have not done much more than stick our
toes into the turbulent, unpredictable, and even dangerous current God, through
Jesus Christ, has invited us to swim in.
It’s one thing to bring food in and fill our grocery cart. It’s another to volunteer packing
grocery bags and stocking shelves.
But to actually step out on faith and purchase some land and open our
own food pantry? Well, that sounds
terrifying. And exciting.
There’s a piece of land on highway 87 at the corner of
Rumley Road, just across the road from where Darrell and Nancy Bare live. It used to be a store. It would make a great food pantry. And it’s for sale.
There’s a dinner on October 6th right here at
Saxapahaw. Over one hundred people
from all walks of life have been invited to eat a free meal and hear about our
vision for a food pantry. And we
need volunteers.
There are people in the community who are ready to get
behind us and support us with both their money and their time. But we are the ones who must take the
lead. We are the ones who must put
our beliefs into action. We are
the ones who must step out into that unpredictable current on faith. If we truly believe that every time we
encounter a hungry person we are encountering Jesus – “I was hungry and you
gave me food” – if we truly believe this, then it is time to let God change our
hearts and our minds and to believe not just with our prayers and our words,
but with our hands and our feet and our wallets.
Following Jesus is risky business. Jesus is unpredictable and even dangerous. He challenges our thinking and turns
lives upside down. He calls us out
when we stray and pushes us out of our comfort zones. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing safe about
following Jesus. And yet, there’s
nothing in the world that is more exciting.
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