October 1, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: "By What Authority?"
Scripture: Matthew 21:23-32
(Other lectionary suggestions include Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 78:1-4 and 12-16, and Philippians 2:1-13.)
Matthew 21:23-32
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23When he entered the temple, the chief priests 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?" 24Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of 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?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." 27So 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.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28"What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which 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. 32For 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 it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
The first part of today's Scripture lesson gives us a good look into the wisdom and the strength of Jesus. I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel that some of us in the Christian faith may tend to think of Jesus as always meek and mild, sort of a namby-pamby when it came to confrontation. Well, today's passage gives a different view. We are told that the chief priests and the elders asked him "By What Authority?" - the title of this sermon - that he said and did the things he said and did! Jesus showed his courage AND his wisdom by not answering right away. Can you see a namby-pamby Jesus saying, "Oh, certainly! Let me tell you what you want to know!"? Absolutely not! He meets the question head-on and asks his OWN question! This is a guy with guts, and by answering in such a way, he showed he was not going to be pushed around! Anyway, that is what I get out of this passage.
As far as the answer given by those chief priests and elders, what we heard is fairly self-explanatory. But what a wimpy, political (in the worst sense political) answer to Jesus's question! And what makes their lack of courage even MORE outrageous is that these people were members of the Sanhedrin, the council that had as one of its duties to distinguish between true and false prophets - and here they couldn't give a definitive answer! And don't you just love Jesus's answer to them? "Neither will I tell you by what authority that I do these things." And do you think he said it with a beatific smile? I don't think so! The Scripture doesn't say this, but I tend to think that Jesus's attitude at the time was like that of my high school football coach's attitude when we did something he didn't like. He would say, "Get outa my face! I'm tired of looking at you!" Again, we have no record of Jesus saying such a thing, but in my mind he had to have been disgusted with such an answer that he got from the religious authorities, men who SHOULD have had an answer! Men who SHOULD have known better!
The second part of today's Scripture lesson sort of surprises me - or it did at first. This parable of the two sons didn't at first seem to follow logically after Jesus's refusing to answer "By What Authority" he did and said what he did. But now I think I get the connection. It really is a follow up on who John the Baptist was - and even though the religious authorities said they didn't know whether John was Heaven-sent or human-sent, Jesus is going after them, anyway! What Jesus is saying is that the tax collectors and the prostitutes represent the first son, who said NO when the father asked him to go into the vineyard, but later went. The religious folk represent the second son, who said YES he'd go to the vineyard but did NOT. Jesus's point, I think, is that what one DOES is important, and even though the prostitutes and the tax collectors had started out as NOT caring about religious stuff, they changed their minds and listened to John the Baptist and REPENTED of their earlier actions. On the other hand, the religious authorities, who thought they were holier than everybody else, SAID they believed in God but DID NOTHING to support that belief! THAT is why Jesus is so critical of them. I love the last line of today's reading: "For John came to you in the name of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even after you saw it you did not change your minds and believe him."
What we do - or DON'T do - is important. You and I as Protestants have grown up with the theological belief that we are saved by God's grace and not our good works. I still believe that. But I also believe that what we DO is important, and if we think we are saved by grace and grace alone, that's right......BUT we still have to DO stuff! If you are familiar with the New Testament book of James, you know that there is a really important verse in there, and that is, "Faith without works is dead." The hymn says, "Hail Him Who Saves You By His Grace and Crown Him Lord of All". That may be right, but that doesn't let you and me off the hook. Are we "saved"? Then ACT like it and do good works for those in need. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was right on the money when he scoffed at believers who talked about "the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" - and YES, Jeremiah does say that three times! What you do the REST of the week is important, too, said Jeremiah, and that means (among other things) giving help to the needy.
You may have heard me say this before, but when I was at my previous church, we participated in at least one Habitat for Humanity building project. There were other churches participating, too, as well as a local Jewish synagogue. The rabbi showed up at this one building effort, and he was wearing a carpenter's belt, complete with a hammer! He was obviously a better fix-it man or Bob Vila type than I was!
I knew why we were there: to help the poor get their own house. (By the way Habitat for Humanity has quite a thorough screening process as it decides which families to trust with a brand-new house. And the family getting the house is expected to put in work on it, too, something Habitat calls "sweat equity". These folks aren't simply GIVEN a new dwelling; they have to work hard for it, too.) Anyway, I wanted to get the "theological" reason the Jewish community was participating, and the rabbi said to me in no uncertain terms, "Because it's COMMANDED!" The rabbi's response got me thinking about how Judaism and Christianity are the same and how they are different. I'll leave how they are different to another time. What I'd really like to emphasize is how the two are similar. As the rabbi said, "It is commanded." Well, Christianity has some commands in there, too. If you remember Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, we usually read a passage from John's Gospel in which Jesus says, "A new COMMANDMENT I give to you, and that is that you love one another." The English word Maundy comes from the Latin word MANDATUM, which means "command" or "mandate". So, Christianity has its commands, too, regardless of whether we are saved by grace. If we are commanded to love one another, we need to DO acts of love, because love involves ACTION. Somewhere in the book of James, which I referred to earlier, there is a passage about wishing somebody well. That's all well and good, but if somebody is hungry, it's a bit lame to say to that person, "The Lord be with you" or "Go in peace". The hungry person doesn't need the Lord's companionship at this point, nor does he want to go in peace! If he's hungry, he wants FOOD, and if you have food that he needs, you need to give it to him, not simply say, "I'll pray for you." There may be more to the book of James, but what I've said so far is pretty important: "Faith without works is dead", and good wishes and praying for someone are all well and good - but if the person has a NEED, and you can alleviate that need, THAT's what you need to do. And that was Jesus's point: what we DO - or don't do - is important. We may be saved by grace, but that doesn't give us carte blanche to sit back and relax on our way to Heaven! Do you notice a need? Then please do all you can to fulfill that need. "Pay it forward" may have been the name of a movie, but that's not bad advice. Are you saved? Then ACT like it and help somebody else out! You've been blessed, so see to it that you bless somebody else. Not because you MUST, but because you CAN. And it just may be commanded, too! Amen.
Pastor Skip
