This week's sermon is based on Matthew 21:23-32.
This passage begins with a story of temple priests questioning Jesus' authority as depicted in the painting to the right by James Tissot.
The passage ends with the "Parable of the Two sons" as quoted below:
"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.' He answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind, and went. He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, 'I go, sir,' but he didn't go. Which of the two did the will of his father?"
They said to him, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn't even repent afterward, that you might believe him."
— Matthew 21:28–32, World English Bible
How does this Relate to Our World Today?
Please listen to my sermon below titled "Lip Service or Action?". You can also print and read the transcript of the sermon if you prefer.
Through the sermon's message I hope you can see that God's Word is as alive today as when it was written 2,000 years ago.
Our Shepherd of Life Lutheran Church congregation is a gathering of people from all walks of life who are striving to be better tenants in God's world. If you are searching for more meaning in your life you can begin by listening to the messages posted here.
However, Jesus really had community in mind when he founded the church on earth. Please join us any Sunday at 9:30 AM, or on the second Sunday of every month we "REVIVE!" at 5:00 PM (REVIVE! - is a new way to worship).
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The gospel for this morning is from the 21st chapter of Matthew beginning at the 23rd verse.
Glory be to the Lord.
When Jesus entered the temple the chief priest and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority"
Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. If you tell me the answer then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven or was it a human origin?
And they argued with one another. "If we say from heaven he will say to us "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say human origin we are afraid of the crowd for all regard John as a prophet."
So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."
And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. What do you think? A man had 2 sons. He went to the first one 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 thing and he answered, 'I will go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?"
They said, "The first."
Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw, you did not change your mind and believe him.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise be to the Lord Jesus.
So why do children obey their parents, and then the second question is why be obedient to God? Jesus clearly was telling the Pharisees that they were disobedient. They were like the son who said yes but did not go to work and do what the father said.
Now I want you to keep in mind something about the Pharisees. They worshiped every week at the temple. They read scripture daily. They meditated on God's word daily. They prayed daily. They gave a tithe of their income to the temple. They wouldn't even think of not doing those things. It sounds like a pastor's dream, doesn't it? Really. I mean, highly religious people who were tithing. Wow, doesn't that sound great?
Jesus was not pleased with them. Why not? What were they doing wrong? What was it that Jesus wanted them to do? And then the most important question, are we doing God's will?
Parables are always interesting stories because they always start out they're very plausible. They always sound like they're about someone else. It's about them, those other people, and then all of a sudden there's a zinger and all of a sudden you realize whew, it's about us.
That is the case with the Pharisees where Jesus told this story. All of a sudden it was about them. It wasn't just about 2 sons. It was about them and the prostitutes and the tax collectors, and Jesus was really confronting them. This was not Jesus meek and mild. This was a confrontation, and we didn't read it today but what had just happened the day before was Jesus had chased the money changers out of the temple with a whip.
So Jesus was coming to town – this is near the end here – Jesus was coming to Jerusalem and he was confronting all the temple leaders. Believe me, this parable has strong, strong confrontation.
If we had asked the Pharisees to describe themselves they likely would have said I'm a Rabbi, or I'm a teacher, or I'm a scholar of God's word, and if you had asked them well, what's your most important task? They would have said to keep God's tradition. To live honorable before God. And that's what they thought they were doing, keeping God's tradition. Living honorably according to God's laws.
For them, their religion was like a contract. They felt obligated to worship, obligated to read scripture, obligated to pray, obligated to give that tithe. I wonder if anybody here ever feels that way. It's obligation.
What motivates a child to obey his or her parents? One possible motivation is fear, and it happens in some households. If the child misbehaves in any way they're going to get smacked, and they learn it early on. They live in fear. I believe that was the primary motivation for the Pharisees. They feared God.
In their life, if someone angered God well then they might end up becoming sick, or they might end up that their wealth should be taken away, or they might end up losing their place in society, their position. They feared God. They're like the second son. The second son who said yes, yes, yes with their words, but they weren't really doing what God wanted.
Well another motivation of course is love. Children who have a loving relationship form a bond with their parents. They want to please their parents. As a matter of fact, psychologists say that children are born wanting to please their parents. Parents either nurture that desire to please, or they smack the fear into their kids, and their kids live in fear.
In this parable, both sons were disobedient. In the first century when the first son said I will not, oh, my gosh, parents in the first century would have thought ohhhh, my goodness, a son disrespecting his father? Incredible.
But, it was also disrespectful to say yes, and then not go work in the field. So they were both disrespectful. But the first son is the one who had a change of heart and then worked. And this parable, we hear it and we go.... you know, I have 2 sons. Believe me, there are times when they were one way or the other and then said if we look at ourselves we know it's us, it's us.
Sometimes we made promises that we broke, and sometimes we said no and then we actually did what was asked. It's us, and we know it. We're all sinners. We confess it every Sunday morning, and yet at the same time we're all children of God. Those who say no and then obey, and those that say yes, yes, yes, and then don't, we're all children of God.
Jesus didn't say the Pharisees weren't going to get into the kingdom of Heaven, he said that the prostitutes and tax collectors were going to go in before them. Scripture says there is only one unforgivable sin, and that is to reject God. The Pharisees weren't really rejecting God, they just couldn't understand what God wanted.
During the Vietnam War, a hand grenade was lobbed at some soldiers, and one of them just almost without thinking, he jumped and put his feet right on top of the grenade. Of course he was severely injured, but he wasn't killed. And in the hospital when he woke up the doctor said to him, "Son, I'm sorry, we had to amputate your legs." And the young man said, "No, you didn't take them. I gave them."
You see, that's what Jesus did. There is no power on earth that could have taken Jesus' life. He gave it. He gave it because he loves God's people. True obedience is given as a response to love. God loves us. Jesus has made that abundantly clear. God loves us. And so what we do is our response to that love that God has shown us.
So I want to end with this thought. A man applied for a job as a handyman. So his prospective employer is asking him a few questions and he says, "So, can you do carpenter work?"
"Um, no."
"Well, how about plumbing?
"Um, no."
"Well, how about electrical work?"
"No, I don't know anything about electrical work"
"Well, what makes you so handy?
"Well, I live just right around the corner and I'm available."
See, I believe that's what Jesus is looking for. He's looking for us to be available, to have a changed heart, to respond to his love, to maybe say I don't know what I'm doing Lord, but I'm available, and I will go in the path that you choose for me.
Amen.
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