20th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 21
Lectionary 26
Matthew 21:23-32
What do you think?
23* ¶ 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?"
24* 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.
25 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?’
26* But if we say, ’From men,’ we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet."
27* 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.
28* ¶ "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.’
29* And he answered, ’I will not’; but afterward he repented and went.
30 And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ’I go, sir,’ but did not go.
31 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.
32* 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.RSV
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
Our sermon this morning is going to focus on the short parable in our gospel lesson.
I would like to reread that part.
Jesus says, 28* ¶ "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.’
29* And he answered, ’I will not’; but afterward he repented and went.
30 And he went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ’I go, sir,’ but did not go.
31 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.
Notice how Jesus begin the parable. "What do you think?" He was addressing it to the religious leaders and wanting them to think about something.
This is a very simple parable. A man wanted his sons to go work in the family vineyard, he asked the first son and the first son said, NO!! We do not know why he said no, but then later on he repented, or as some translations say, he changed his mind and went.
The man asked a second son and he right away said yes, but did not go. He lied. He did not follow through on his actions.
Then Jesus asks the question, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" And the religious leaders answered the first.
Then Jesus laid a bombshell on them, the said, "Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
What Jesus was getting across was that those who repent or have a change of heart, those who know they are sinners and need Jesus’ forgiveness are allowed into the kingdom of heaven. Period!!
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 they are sinners and need repentance, and those who think they are okay in and of themselves.
All of us need to repent because none of us can measure of up to the perfection that God wants out of us. That is why Jesus died on the cross, so that, that perfection can be met by God.
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.Jesus is saying that you shall not judge another like the religious leaders did, but we should look after our own self. If we believe that we need the forgiving power of Jesus to repent of our sins, then we will be in the Kingdom of God. The religious leaders felt they needed no repentance, but in fact they did. Jesus is saying that those who know they need to repent and ask for the forgiving power of Jesus in their lives will enter the 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?"
Two little boys were playing together one afternoon. They had not been playing long when the larger boy took advantage of his weaker playmate. Georgie, the smaller one, too proud to complain, withdrew some distance and sat by himself, manfully winking back the ready tears.
After a short time, the larger boy grew tired of his solitary play and called, "Say, Georgie, come back. I’m sorry."
Georgie, warned by previous experience, did not respond to the invitation at once. "Yes," he replied cautiously, "but what kind of sorry? The kind so you won’t do it again?"
"What do you think?"
Many years ago C.S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters. Screwtape was an assistant devil writing to his nephew Wormwood. Screwtape was telling his nephew how to make the "patient" leave the camp of the arch enemy, the Prince of Peace, and dwell in the camp of the real boss, the prince of darkness. It is a great read!
I would like to share with you another letter, this one written by Twisttape to his apprentice Harshwood as they discuss his training and graduation from devil’s school.
The letter begins:
Dear Harshwood,
I have read the notices that you are about to graduate and begin your work on earth. Glad to hear that your training went well. I see that you will be a graduate with honors. Splendid!
Apply all of your knowledge to the task at hand, for the enemy, the Prince of Peace, God of Love is a resourceful enemy. Just when you think you have him in your grasp or one of this people, he pulls a trick and low and behold you stand empty, you lost your soul for the fires of hell.
I would like to give you one piece of advice, one bit of wisdom as you begin your tour of duty in the enemy’s camp. Throughout my tour of duty, I have learned one thing about these humans which I feel can be so very useful for you.
Humans usually have a very high regard for themselves. They think they are pretty good. They can see the faults, the sins, the evil in another, but they see only good in themselves.
My advice to you my dear Harshwood, is to encourage that thinking. Encourage it for all its worth.
The chief antagonizer, that Christ fellow, wants the humans to see their own sins, but Harshwood, blind their eyes, their hearts, their souls to that revelation. Let them think only of the good in themselves, and you, may dear friend Harshwood, will meet your quota of human beings who will spend the rest of their lives with our master, the lord of the heat and fire, Master Satan.
Let them see that when repentance is called for it is not them who needs to repent. Let them see over and over again that they are really better than the guy next to them in the pew. When the pastor reads about John the Baptist, let them fall asleep, turn to other thoughts, so they will not realize that it is them John is talking to. Let them see that they are indeed really pretty good, no need for repentance, no need for forgiveness, and then you will have them. You will have them because they will see that they do not really need that Christ fellow, and they really need is themselves. Then, then they will be ours.
For you see my dear Harshwood, when these humans see themselves as great, then they are filled with self pride, and they don’t need that Jesus fellow. This is how it will begin. They you will have them in your claws.
Good luck on your tour of duty, my heart goes out o you as you use every trick, every scheme, every evil desire, every good intention, every proud thought to win souls for our side.
Signed
Your admiring friend
Twisttape (1)
"What do you think?"
Amen
(1) Written by: Tim Zingale
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale September 22, 2008
