19th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 21
Matthew. 21:23-32
"What kind of Sinner are You?
"And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?" 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, ’From men,’ we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. "What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ’Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ’I will not’; but afterward he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ’I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him." Matthew 21:23-32, RSV.
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
Jesus is asking us a question this morning, He says, "What do you do think? He is asking us to listen to this parable this morning and come to some conclusion about it.
Jesus is telling us a parable about two sinners, not one person who is good and another who is awful, but two people who are sinners, who are equally guilty in God’s eyes.
Jesus says, the first son is asked by his father to go into the fields and work, but says he will not go, but then changes his mind and goes into the field and does an honest days work.
Jesus goes on to says that this man had a second son who had been asked to go into the field says he will with respect for the father, but he never goes to the field.
Jesus then asks which one of these two did the will of the father, and we can answer the first one. He at first he said no, but later changed his mind and went to work. The second one, was very respectable to his father, he had good intentions, but he never got to the field.
What do you think Jesus was trying to tell us in this parable?? What is he trying to say?
What do you think???
Jesus is trying to show us that the kingdom of heaven is made up of two kinds of sinners. One who knows he or she has done wrong and repents, or turns around from their sin, and the other who does not believe they are sinners, they have good intention, but never really fulfill the demands of God in their lives.
Jesus was addressing this parable to the religious leaders of his day. They thought they had cornered the market on the grace of God. They felt because they had kept all the letters of the law, because they were on the outside very religious, they would be the only ones to gain God’s favor.
They could have never thought that those people who did the awful things, like tax collectors, harlots, non Jews, adulteress, could never gain God’s favor. But Jesus was trying to show them, that the others would gain God’s favor because they knew of their sinfulness and repented, they changed their lives, and were ready to do the will of the father.
The other son never felt like he had done anything wrong. He had been respectful to his father, had told him he would go to the field, but didn’t. Jesus was trying to show the people, that one group would be with the Father, and the other would not because of the kind of sinner he was.
Jesus is talking to two different kinds of sinners. He is not talking about one good person and one bad person, He is talking about two kinds of sinners, those who know who they are and need repentance, and those who think they are okay in and of themselves.
How many of us feel that we are better in our faith, in our live, in our judgment of others? Do we grade others about their faith? Do we condemn others because we feel they are not as good as we are?
This is what Jesus is getting at in this small parable.
The second son was the one who said he would go, but did nothing. He had respect and piety for his father as he addressed him with "Sir". He knew his place, he had respect, he knew his father had authority over him. But that was as far as it went,the respect the authority he had didn’t mean much because this son never followed through. Sometimes you and I have great respect and authority for God, but it doesn’t mean much for our lives. The respect and authority we deposit with God doesn’t do anything for the way we live life. We say we honor and obey God, but that is reserved for only one hour a week, and the other days we go about things with the attitude what makes gain for me is all that matters.
The second son only gave lip service to the father. I am not sure whether he intentionally decided not to go to the field, or whether because of circumstances he had other priorities that prevented him from going to the field. In either case, he told his father he was going, but never went. Sometimes you and I pay that kind of lip service to God. We says, sure God I want to be a follower of you, I believe you are my Saviour, I believe Jesus died and rose for me, we say that with our lips, but when it comes time to have commitment to that confession of belief, we shy away from it, we don’t follow through on it. We talk a good story about being followers of Jesus and doing his will, but sometimes you and I lack the commitment to follow through. We let other priorities get in the way, we let other things that are not as important find the most important places in our lives.
What about the first son? Here was a guy who had no respect for his father. His father had asked him to do something and he :urns him down. It sounds as if he doesn’t even give it a second thought, he flatly refuses to do the will of the father.
But then notice, his conscience gets the best of him. He knows he has done wrong, he knows he was rude to his father, he knows he must change his ways, and he does. He goes and does the work, he obeys the command of his father. I would like to imagine that this son changed because someone who was kind, thoughtful, and full of compassion came into his life and showed him what he had done wrong, assured him his father would forgive him, and gave him the confidence to return and do the work.
I would like to think that person was the Christ figure in his life. Jesus is the one who can come into our lives, he is the one who can help us to repent, to turn away from our sins, turn to Jesus for forgiveness.
Turn to Jesus for the confidence to live life. Jesus is showing us by the story of this son that sinners who know they are sinners who know they need forgiveness, sinners who have felt the guilt of conscience, those who confess and turn away from their sin, they will be good workers in the kingdom of God. They are the ones who know they need Jesus and respond to him. They are the ones who live in Christ, we feel Christ’s love, who feel his forgiveness, who feel the freeing power of the love of God through his son.
The person of repentance who surrenders all to Jesus, the person of repentance who acknowledges their dependence on Jesus, the person of repentance who knows that without Jesus all is lost, that person, Jesus says, is the one who will be in kingdom of God.
And I would like to do something different with the rest of this sermon. I would like to read to you some different stories and just let you think about them as Jesus said in the beginning of the parable.
"What do you think?"
A pastor said:
I knew a man who was having an affair with a married woman for many years. This man was also active in his church, served on the council, went to Sunday school, helped with the youth group, we could go on and on.
But then something happened. He decided he needed to break off the affair, so he went to his pastor told him all about it, then told his wife.
The couple came to the pastor and wanted help. But the man first said, " Pastor, how can you look me in the eye knowing what I did."
And the pastor answered, "I can forgive you and so can Jesus."
And the man said, "But everyone in town knows now what kind of guy I am, how can I come to church."
And the pastor answered, "But this is place that you need to be. This is where you and your wife will work this whole thing out."
"What do you think?"
This story is personal.
When I was serving in the parish and became further disabled and had to be in a wheelchair, some people of my parish came to me and said, "Pastor, if you had faith enough, you would be healed."
Did they not know that I wanted to be healed, but I believed that was up to God not me.
Did my disability some how affect their faith? Did my continued struggle with the courage of God some how affect their faith or what they perceived a faith life should be?
Does being in Christ mean that everything is going to just wonderful and perfect?
"What do you think?"
And a closing story from the book, "In His Steps"
The Rev. Henry Maxwell of the First Church had just finishing his sermon when the entire congregation was startled by the sound of a man’s voice. It came from the rear of the church.
The man came forward,stood on the chancel steps and said,"I’ve been wondering since I came in here, if it would be just the thing to say a word at the close of the service. I’m not drunk, and I’m not crazy and I am perfectly harmless, but if I did, as there is every likelihood I shall in a few days, I want the satisfaction of thinking that I said my say in a place like this, and before this sort of crowd."
No one tried to stop him, not even Rev. Mazwell as he leaned over the pulpit looking at the man.
He continued: "I lost my job 10 months ago as a printer. The new machines made my job obsolete, I don’t know how to do anything else I’ve tramped all over the country trying to find something. there are good many others like me. I’m not complaining, am I?
As I listened to the sermon from the back pew, I heard your pastor say: ’ that it is necessary for the disciples of Jesus to follow His steps, and he said the steps are ’obedience, faith, love and imitation.’
But I did not hear him tell you just what he meant that to mean, especially the last step.
What do you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus?
I’ve tramped through this city for 3 days trying to find a job; and in all that time I’ve not had a word of sympathy or comfort except from your minister here, who said he was sorry for me and hoped I would find a job somewhere. I suppose if is because you get imposed on by the professional tramp that you have lost your interest in any other sort. I’m not blaming anybody, am I? Just stating facts.
Of course, I understand you can’t all go out of your way to hunt up jobs for other people like me.
I’m not asking you to; but what I feel puzzled about is what is meant by following Jesus. What do you mean when you sing,"I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way."
Do you mean that you are suffering and denying yourselves and trying to save lost, suffering humanity just as I understood Jesus did?"
He continued saying "But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps?" At that moment, the man passed out.
He was taken to the parsonage, the service ended, then. In a couple of days the man died."
"What do you think?"
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale September 19, 2005
