Sunday, October 1, 2023

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-10
Philippians 2:1-4 (5-13) 14-18
Matthew 21:23-32

He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble his way.

I received a reminder yesterday to make sure that I’m registered to vote. There won’t be much on the ballot; our sample ballot is showing some state and local propositions and a few local offices. While this November is minor in our national politics, the presidential political season is well underway. Candidates are debating and making the rounds on the news shows. It will only get worse when the primaries begin, when political signs and commercials with memorable key words or phrases begin to appear. After a while those key words and phrases become so embedded in our minds that they seem to be common wisdom. They are repeated in everyday conversations until they are accepted truths.

These short, memorable statements begin as little more than a slogan or motto, but often take on the life of something greater. They become adages, maxims, aphorisms, epigrams, proverbs and when overused they become clichés. These words have nearly identical definitions and can be generally used interchangeably, and yet there is some difference between them. Maxims are adages that become general rules. Aphorisms are adages that have not been around a long time but are recognized as particularly deep or well-written. Epigrams are known for their wittiness and irony. Proverbs summarize the basic truths of folk wisdom, made acceptable by long use and universal experiences of common folk.

The problem with political slogans and proverbs is that there is often an equal and opposite slogan or proverb. That’s what makes voting so difficult. Which do you believe? They all make sense. They all seem true. They all point to a measure of wisdom that we need to go into the future. That’s why it is so important to base decisions on more than sound bites. It is important to know more about the candidates, to listen to both sides of the debates, to research the backgrounds and words of all candidates to find the whole truth amongst the adages.

There are, among the common proverbs of our time, a number of ‘dueling maxims’ which are contrary proverbs. Take, for instance, “The bigger the better” and “Good things come in small packages.” Which present is better, the big one or the small one? “Actions speak louder than words” and “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Is one greater than another? Is it better to write letters to the editor about a problem or face your enemy? I love this pair: “You’re never too old to learn” and “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” If you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, how is he supposed to learn? We often live our lives according to this proverb: “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” but we also know “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” So, should we live safely or should we go forward with courage? And finally, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” but “Out of sight, out of mind.” So, will we remember those we love if they stay away or if they are under our noses? The reality is that there are times when both sides of those dueling maxims are true.

The proverb in the passage from Ezekiel may have seemed true to the people of Israel in the day of Ezekiel. “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?” In so much of God’s relationship with His people, the blessings and the consequences seemed determined by the actions and words of their forefathers. They were a people dependent on national identity and relationship to the past. Yet, we also see in the lives of those forefathers that God was interested in a personal relationship with individuals.

God cares about each of us, and we will experience His mercy and justice as individuals because He loves each of us as individuals. There may be some truth to the proverbs of our day, and in the proverb in today’s passage, but when it comes to the things of God, human wisdom will never stand.

Tony Shalhoub played Adrian Monk who is an obsessive-compulsive detective contracted to help the San Francisco police department on the television show “Monk.” Adrian was once a policeman with the department, but after his wife was murdered, psychological issues made him incapable of continuing in that line of work. He was still brilliant and was able to solve every murder (except his wife’s) by noticing the most obscure details in a case, so the department hired him as a consultant. His quirks cause him to do and say things that are strange and funny, but they are also what made him able to see what others did not see. It was fascinating to watch him walk around a crime scene, noticing the things that everyone else missed. Those things seem insignificant to the others, but to Monk they were the proof that established guilt or innocence for the suspects.

His cases often involved public officials and celebrities. In one case, a famous astronaut was involved with a murder, and it seemed impossible for him to have been guilty because he was flying an airplane at the moment of death. However, Monk discovered his secret, and he was arrested for the murder. On another episode, the astronaut case was being used for a movie and the actor who would play Adrian Monk followed him around for a few days to learn how to be Monk.

Actors often do this. They establish credibility in their character by following someone who is like the person they are going to play to learn experience life from that point of view. Actors who are going to be cops often go on ride-alongs with real cops. Actresses that will play teachers sit in on some classes to see how the students react to different aspects of the job. It makes their characters more realistic and believable for those watching the movie or television show. The actor who was following Monk in the episode took it much further. Instead of just learning what it meant to be like Monk, he took on the very characteristics and psychological issues that make Monk a brilliant detective. In his own mind, he was Adrian Monk.

When we think about our Christian life, we often think that we are to become like Jesus, as an actor might become like a cop or a teacher for a movie. Yet, in today’s passage, Paul suggests something even deeper. He says that we should take on the mind of Christ. The difference may seem miniscule, but it is very different. I would not trust an actor to carry a gun or to teach my children. Though they could very well be trained to be great cops and teachers, as actors they are only playing a role. To take on the mind of those jobs means putting the people whom they serve first. An actor playing a role won’t be concerned with the outcome of their work. They are only concerned about getting the role. A cop or a teacher does what is necessary to ensure that they have done the job well, protecting the public and teaching the children. They believe in the people they serve instead of trying to make others believe in themselves.

Paul talks about the mindset that does not try to be great but humbles himself for the sake of others. We are to serve others for their sake, concerning ourselves not with our own interests, but with the interests of others. Jesus had it all, but He gave it up for our sake. Having the same mind means giving up everything we have for the sake of others. It means humbling ourselves so that others might be raised. It means letting go of our own needs and desires so that God can work through us in the world. It means becoming more than “like Him.” It means letting go so that God who dwells within the heart of a believer can shine His light and grace on the world. The world may not think this is very intelligent, but it is the very nature of wisdom in God’s kingdom.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote, “It is easy to think that by making a promise you have at least done part of what you promised to do, as if the promise itself were something of value. Not at all! In fact, when you do not do what you promise, it is a long way back to the truth.” We are cautioned to be careful that we do not say “Yes” too quickly, because it is too easy to break those promises we make. But we are also called to discern the work that needs to be done so that we do not miss out on the opportunities we’ve been given to live as God has called us to live.

When I was a retail manager, I had several different types of employees. I’m sure we could find these types of people in other areas of life, such as among students in a classroom and believers in a community of faith. There were those employees with whom it was a joy to work. They were anxious to get to work. They looked for work to do and they completed all their tasks with enthusiasm and enjoyment. The work was well done, as the employee had gone above and beyond the “call of duty.” These types of people aren’t found in our parable today. We hear about the other two, though.

Jesus first talks about a son whose father sent him to the vineyard to work. The son answered, “I will surely go,” but he never got around to it. I had employees who were the same. They accepted assignments with enthusiasm, but they never finished the work. They were easily distracted by other things and though they might have started a task, they got caught up in other things, often using those other tasks as excuses for their inability to get the work done. For example, I had one employee whose job was to take care of the stationary department of the store. Now, this department (pens, notebooks, office supplies) was definitely difficult because there were so many small items on the shelves. This employee was also often called to serve as a cashier during busy times. This was a good excuse for the distraction, but she found many other ways to waste time. She made her brief stints at the register become lengthy time away from her regular duties. She lingered around the check-out station, stopped to chat with other employees and excused herself to the break room. She had been called away and used that as her excuse for not completing her work, but it was the other distractions that kept her from finishing her work.

Most of my employees were the third type. They were grumblers and complainers. They were the ones who were vocal about those tasks they hated to do. They often found work on the floor quickly so that they would not be assigned the tasks they hated. They never said “Yes” with or without enthusiasm. They said “No, I have other work to do.” Yet, I often found them doing the work later, having realized how important it was to get it done. It was those employees that had to do with work of the enthusiastic employee who never completed her work. I would rather have these employees because I knew that despite the grumbling and complaining, the work would get done.

And according to the parable, this second group of employees was like the son who was obedient. He grumbled, but he did it. He immediately said “No” but ended up completing the work anyway. They didn’t make the promise but eventually changed their mind and changed their actions. This parable talks about those who believe in Jesus and the kingdom. The first son who initially said “Yes” were like the chief priests and teachers of the law who were religious but who refused to do the work of the Father (to believe in Jesus). The second son represents the sinners who initially said, “No way, I like what I’m doing too much!” but later realized their mistake and believed. The sinners were the ones who would receive the Kingdom because they were the ones who did the work of believing in Jesus.

It is easy for us to look at this parable and think that we are indeed like the second son, sinners who have believed. Yet, we can look at this parable from another perspective. Is the work only to believe? We live in a world that desperately needs the love, mercy, and grace of God. If all we do is believe, how are we any different than those chief priests and teachers of the law whose faith in God was not manifest in obedience to God? We who believe have made a promise to God. We’ve said “Yes” to living in faith, but do we really live in faith? Is it possible that we might be the first son who said “Yes” but never got around to doing the work in vineyard for his Father?

John the Baptist preached a message of repentance and for John that meant more than words. The Pharisees and Sadducees were going to where he was baptizing, but John warned them that they must produce fruit in keeping with repentance. He told them that it was not enough to have Abraham as their father because God is able to adopt children from even “the stones.” In this week’s Gospel lesson, it seems that God found children in the most unusual place: among the sinners. These were not just your everyday sinners, either. He found children among the publicans and prostitutes.

I wonder what life was like for those sinners who repented. They believed John and I am sure many of them believed then also in Jesus. But this newfound faith would have wreaked havoc on their lives. Jesus preached and was an example of faithful living that was just and right according to God’s Word. God was the center of His life and His ministry. The kingdom, as God intended it to be, was the focus of His preaching. He was calling people to a life of repentance, but that repentance was more than an “I’m sorry.” Jesus was calling the people to a change of heart, to a life where God was the center and God’s Word was the foundation of all they did. Jesus was calling them to take on His mind.

God calls us to a life of justice, and the work of the publicans or tax collectors was not just. They cheated people out of money to get rich. They were willing to take the last dime of a widow in order to have a new robe and they feasted on the labor of the poor. A person could work as a tax collector and do it justly, but they would not be able to continue living a life of luxury. A tax collector got the job by competing for it against other tax collectors. They made bids, like a construction company might bid for a job to build a new building. If they won the bid, they were required to pay the taxes up front. They then went to their station and recouped their investment. It could have been a just system, but the tax collectors were greedy. They required higher taxes from the people to pay for their profits. While a farmer might owe ten measures of flour, the tax collector often charged twenty. What would a tax collector do with this new faith? With a change of heart, they could no longer cheat the people, but how would they live?

Faith means putting God first. Unfortunately, in Roman times there were dozens of gods to be worshipped. The prostitutes were part of the religious system of the day. They often lived in the temples and served the believers as part of the ritual of worship. Our God is a jealous God and demands from those who believe to hold no god above Him. This sounds like a very human emotion, but in the case of God, it is very divine. We cannot hold the Creator of everything equal to the gods found in the Roman or Greek temples of the day. He is God. When John the Baptist preached to these prostitutes, they saw a different kind of life for themselves, under the care and protection of a God who could truly make a difference. They could not go back to their temples and continue to hold up those gods and religions that had stolen their virtue for false promises. And though we can certainly make sex the issue, this is more about a change of heart. The prostitutes, like the tax collectors, believed in God and put Him first. That meant a change in lifestyle. How would they live?

They willingly turned their lives upside down because they believed John and then Jesus. Maybe that was why it was so hard for the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They were already doing the work they believed God was calling them to do. Believing John’s message and believing in Jesus would have not changed their lives to any great extent, they were already doing the “right” things, but they had the wrong mindset. They could not believe in Jesus. They refused to be like those tax collectors and prostitutes, but by doing so lost touch with the very God in whom they thought they believed.

When we read lessons for this week, it is easy for us to assume we are the ones who are doing right. We are the sinners who have turned to Jesus. However, we must honestly consider whether or not we are living as God called us to live. Are we practicing justice? Is God the center of our lives? Who have we cheated today and what gods do we hold in greater esteem than the Lord? Have we repented, changed our hearts and our minds, or are we continuing to build our hope on things as we have always done them because we are like the Pharisees and Sadducees who built their hope on Abraham?

Look at the headlines and you’ll see that we are suffering from so much brokenness in the world, and everyone is trying to point fingers at everyone else. The reality is that we are all sinners, and we are all at fault in some way, but we want to lay the blame on others. Take, for instance, the work of Martin Luther. There are many who point to his writing against the Jewish people and blame him for Adolph Hitler. Luther was not gracious toward the Jews for many reasons, not the least of which was his frustration that they refused to see Jesus as the Messiah. He never called for their murder and despite his harsh words I believe he would have stood with Dietrich Bonhoeffer in opposition to the extermination of an entire nation. Hitler claimed to be Luther’s kind of Christian, but he wasn’t a Christian at all. He misappropriated Luther’s words and used them to do the unthinkable. Luther was not perfect, and he should not have said such harsh language about the Jews of his day, but Hitler was to blame for the things he did, especially misrepresenting what it means to be a Christian.

Is there anything about our own lives that can be misconstrued or mischaracterized, to be used in a negative way? When the world looks at your life, will they see that you are living a life according to God’s Word? Or have you said “Yes” without committing yourself to a true Christian life?

The proverb represented in today’s Old Testament lesson may point back to a verse from Exodus. “I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me.” This is what is known in some circles as the generational curse. It is claimed that the children will experience the punishment for all that has been done wrong by their fathers. We do suffer from the original sin, born into the world as sinners because of the actions of our father Adam and mother Eve.

We are so much like children when it comes to our relationship with God our Father. We have moments when we feel as though He has forgotten us, as if He is too busy to take care of our needs. In today’s Psalm, the psalmist asks God to forget the sins of his youth, but also to remember him. We not only want to be forgiven, but we also want to know that God remembers us. We reach out to Him with our beings, lifting our hands and our souls up to Him, as a child might lift his or her hands to a busy mother. I wonder if God is ever annoyed by our lack of trust in His faithfulness, like a mother might be annoyed by a pesty child. I’m sure He’s not, because God knows us to the very depths of our souls, He understands our humanness and our frailty. Despite our desperate need for proof of God’s love, He keeps us in His lovingkindness, steadfastly faithful even when we cannot be.

It is by God’s grace that we live in faith. Thanks to Christ Jesus our relationship with God has been restored and we have been called to trust in Him. In faith we can sing praise to God even in the midst of our troubles. We can turn to the Psalms to seek comfort and peace when the world around us seems to be falling apart. David sang, “To you, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul.” The world is filled with injustices, and we should work to reconcile neighbors to neighbors. We are called to bear one another’s burdens, but not to lay upon others the burdens of sin from the past.

It all begins with faith. God will judge; it doesn’t always seem fair, but we can trust that God is just and good and He will always do what is right. Thank goodness, because if He meted out justice according to the ways of the world, we would all deserve to suffer His wrath. Thankfully, we are made righteous by believing in Jesus and by His grace we are saved. By His obedience we are forgiven. By His life we are given eternal life.

So let us have the mind of Christ, humble and obedient before God working for His justice in the world. Let us hear His messenger and turn to Him, learning and following His Word. Let us trust that God is fair, in His way, and that He will be faithful to His promises for our sake and for the sake of the world. For God does not want any to die. We all belong to Him and He desires that we will all will know and experience His love and mercy into eternity.