Please e-mail me with any comments or if you use any part of this at your church at Mail4ChrisR@aol.com. I would love to hear about it. God Bless! - Chris
How many of you know about Billy Sianis’ goat? Sianis, a local tavern owner, tried to bring his goat into Game 4 of the 1945 World Series at Wrigley Field, only to be turned away. And so it was that Sianis, whose tavern remains a must-stop for Chicago Cubs’ fans, put a curse on the Cubs, vowing they never again would play in the Series. So when the Cubs lost this past week to the Florida Marlins for a chance to play in the World Series many people were blaming the curse.
They were also blaming Steve Bartman. Bartman is the kid who reached over the wall in game 6 of the playoffs which gave Florida a homerun that may have otherwise been caught. Bartman is the most-hunted man in Chicago since Al Capone. TV helicopters have been hovering over his house, reporters have chased his every step, and squad cars have been on round-the-clock surveillance in his neighborhood. Cubs fans may be blaming him for centuries to come for spoiling their chance to get to the world series.
Curses… Steve Bartman… I say to all those Cubs fans… get over yourselves. It was not a goat or a kid that prevented the Cubs from moving on to the World Series, it was the Cubs poor playing. The Cubs were up 3 games to 1 in a best of seven. They lost three games in a row, including two at home. They can’t blame curses or fans… they can only blame themselves.
This is the gist of our lessons from God’s word today. There are no more excuses for your bad behavior. Blaming others for our problems is an epidemic in our society. People pass the buck and attempt to take the attention and the blame away from themselves by pointing at someone or something else. In our litigious society this problem is running rampant. I once read about an FBI agent who embezzled $2,000 from the government, and blew it all in one afternoon of gambling. He was fired, but then rehired. Why? The court ruled that he had a gambling addiction and was protected under federal law because of his “handicap.” (H. Norman Wright, “After, You Say ‘I Do’”) We all have heard stories like this.
In a marriage devotional Renee and I read together before we go to bed, the author noted in an evening devotion, “Blaming cripples the atmosphere in a marriage. It tears a couple a part” (H. Norman Wright, “After, You Say ‘I Do’”). One partner blames the other for problems in the marriage. Sure someone is responsible, but in all things responsibility lies with both partners. It is easy to blame your spouse for a problem, but what are you doing to help solve the problem. Or maybe you are the one causing the problem, are you working toward reconciliation? Together, are ways being sought to make things right? Or do you just run away from the problems and hope time will heal the wounds?
Blaming cripples a marriage... in fact blaming cripples all our relationships. It is time that we take responsibility for our own actions. There are no more excuses.
In our passage out of Ezekiel, Yahweh, God through the prophet Ezekiel attempts to restore Israel to her former glory. Through this great prophet Yahweh explains to the Israelites that there are no more excuses for their disobedience and poor behavior. Children can no longer blame their parents for their sins. We hear it as a threat and forget that children almost always do suffer from the sins of their parents; addictions and dysfunctions that are often passed along -- although we don’t see or understand how. Adult Children of Alcoholics. Problems handling weight or money. Backgrounds. Reputations. But somehow the idea of blaming others is easier to grasp than actually facing the problem.
As verse 4 of Ezekiel 18 reads & is the theme of the passage, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.”
Now the people of Israel thought this was unjust. It is just unfair that God would be so hard on those who had wicked parents. Is it right that God would judge those who know him and follow him the same as those who don’t? Yes, because at some point those who did not follow God had the opportunity to make things right. The emphasis here is in recognizing your own sin and then repenting.
As Ezekiel declares in verse 31, “Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.”
That is pretty good advice for the sons in the parables Jesus tells the Pharisees in our Gospel lesson today. When we hear the story in Matthew of the two sons we think of obedience and either berate ourselves for not doing whatever, or commend ourselves for doing it when we didn’t want to (Of course we should be careful about doing this too much after all our ancestors aren’t Pharisees). Which of the two did what the father wanted? One had an excuse but did it. The other did not make any excuses but did not do it. Excuses or no excuses what is most important is that we do what is right. It is more important that we obey God’s will for our lives. The sons need a new heart and a new spirit.
No longer can we blame the moral failures of others for our own moral failures. This means we can’t blame the government for not caring for the needy in our world … if we see someone in need God has directed us to care for the least of these. Is it better that we have an excuse and do it or not have an excuse and don’t do it? No longer can we blame the public schools for teen-age pregnancy and moral decline… we in the church know we must teach our children the faith. We must teach children purity and abstinence, not rely on sex ed. in health class. We must teach our children the Ten Commandments not lament over the removal of these moral guidelines from classrooms. Do we want our trusted Sunday School teachers teaching the children the faith or some stranger who stands in front of a class who just might be an atheists or of some other religious background.
We can’t blame television for the desensitization of violence in our society… the message from Christians should be one of peace and love… not violence and hate. And as we approach Halloween you don’t want me to get started on what this teaches and says about our society… spending our God given and trusted resources on a holiday that celebrates death and evil spirits. Is there an excuse for this?
You see all of our environment has an influence on our thoughts and actions. But God tells us our intentions and our motives matter despite what others and the culture is teaching and preaching. What we believe will change who we are. No longer can we blame our spouse for infidelity, our boss for stealing, our politicians for corruption, we have no more excuses.
The bottom line, in Jesus’ explanation to the chief priests and elders -- and probably to anyone else who will listen -- is that we can no longer make excuses because of birth or background or culture. If you are going to hear anything this morning hear this: all that matters is who we are and whose we are. We are free when we belong to Christ Jesus. The good news is that we are no longer caught because our parents were in debt or drank or gave us everything we asked for. The bad news is that we can no longer use them or the government or curses or culture or anyone else as an excuse for our failures.
One of the things that often confuses us as Christians is whether what we believe is more important or whether what we do is more important. But today we are told that what we believe changes who we are; and what we do naturally flows from that identity. We are called to be in covenant with our faith community. We are called to be held accountable by our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to confession and repentance. We are called to follow Jesus. And while we can’t blame anyone else, we really aren’t alone. In the Church and in our daily lives, Jesus will help and lead us – without the excuses!
