The parable Jesus shares
in today’s Gospel lesson
proves the old adage
better late than never
We find Jesus
once again
in a debate with the Pharisees
over Christ’s authority
For centuries
the Pharisees ran the Church
as an elites social organization
rather than the loving body
of God
It was only the Pharisees who could forgive sins
and if they didn’t like you
or didn’t want you around
guess what,
you didn’t receive
forgiveness
it was only the Pharisees
who could pronounce a sinner cleansed
which they very rarely did
It was only the Pharisees
who had the ability
to talk and go to God
And instead believing
that as leaders of God’s temple
they were called to welcome
and help God’s people
They used their positions as a weapon
to Lord over the poor and disenfranchised
and to push the people they didn’t
like further and further away
from the Temple
The Pharisees liked their positions of authority
the Pharisees like having power
they like having control
and didn’t want anybody
even the Son of God
to upset the
apple cart
Which unfortunately
we see played out too often
in the churches in America
Martin Luther once wrote
that to do the will of God
the church must be constantly
reforming itself
we must constantly revaluate
our ministries and practices
to assure they are in line
with the will of God
we must constantly look at what we do well
and expound on it
And look at what we do not do so well
and improve on it
But despite this
too often in our churches
we embrace status quo
rather than reformation
We like the Pharisees
become comfortable with our positions of
authority
and begin to use legalism
to hold others at bay
rather than grace to
invite them in
The reason the Pharisees get so upset with Jesus
is not because they disagreed
or didn’t believe what he was
preaching
because everything he said
was in the scriptures
But rather
they get so upset with him
because he openly questioned their
authority
Their power
Their control
Jesus forgave sins
Jesus cleansed the people
Jesus told people you don’t have to
go the temple
to talk to God
just go in your room,
shut your door
and hit your knees
and he will be there
Jesus took control away from the Pharisees
and gave to back to God
the one who is truly in control
And that is where we pick up in today’s Gospel lesson
with the Pharisees asking Jesus
By what authority are you doing
these things?
Or in other words
who do you think you are?
We have been doing it this way for 100 years
it has always been done that way
you are not going to come in
and change it now
no matter who you are
Jesus does not answer the question
but turns their inquiry back on them
by asking them a question
they refuse to answer
Jesus does this because he knows there is just some
people
you can’t win with, you can’t please
because most of the time
because they have already made
their decision
and have closed their minds
to any new facts
or opinions
One of the things you learn very quickly
when you go off to seminary
is just how little you do know
Everyone of us
went in there thinking we knew so much
and were ready to go out
yet everyone of us left there
realizing we didn’t
know that much
We didn’t have all the answers
but we know the one
who does
I think as Christians,
if we would realize we don’t have all the answers
we don’t know as much as we think we do
it would help us to be more open minded
and more willing to hear God’s answers
And rather than trying to fit the truth
into our already formulated opinion
or our preconceived notions
we will be willing to fit our lives
into the truth
Rather than answering
Christ shares a parable
about two son
called by their Father to go
and work in the vineyard
The first Son
says that we won’t go work in the vineyard
which shows a lack of respect for his
father and publicly humiliates him
However,
eventually the first Son realizes the errors
of his way
recants his first position
and goes out and does
God’s work
One think we don’t really embrace as Lutherans
is testimonials
where a person shares the mistakes they made
but through the grace of God
and the power of the Holy Spirit
they are now living godly lives
Going to a staunch southern Baptist high school
we had chapel every Thursday morning
and at least once every two months or so
we would have somebody come in
and give a testimonial
And to be honest,
most of them kind of went in one ear
and out the other
however, I do remember one very
vividly
It was a man in his mid to late 40
who had already spent 17 years
of his first 33 years on this earth
either in a juvenile correction facility
or a prison
He had been a drug addict since thirteen
and wrap sheet a mile long
which included armed robbery, assault
and stealing from his own
mother
This man who was the bottom of the barrel
who was somebody society had said their
is no hope for and turned their back on him
found the grace of God
And for 15 years
had been clean and sober
and for 5 years at that point
had become an evangelist
and started an after school program
to help youth not follow
the same road he did
Which first shows us,
don’t give up on people too quickly
God never gives up on anybody
not matter what we have done
God always allows U-turns
and as Christ’s disciples we are called
to do the same
with all that we come in contact with
I think also he,
and many more who can share similar stories
epitomize the first son in today’s
Gospel lesson
Yes, he made bad chooses,
yes, he deserved to spend 17 years of his
life in prison
Yes, for the first thirty three years of his life
he humiliated and rejected the Father
but somehow
somehow he let God into his heart
and now is doing the will of the
Father
Much more so
than those like the second Son
the one who says I will
but never do
The ones who pays lip service to God
the ones who sits in Church Sunday after Sunday
the ones who maybe even serve on a
committee or two
But never take seriously Christ’s call
to take the Gospel into the world
to love your neighbor
to serve your enemies
to care for the poor
to house the homeless
to visit the sick
The Pharisees said yes,
in fact the were the religious leaders
and they spent much time acting the
part
The temple doors at the time of Jesus
stood almost 20 feet high and were made of
solid gold
they had huge grain silos filled to the brim
with grain and wheat
for a rainy day
The wealthiest Jew at the time of Jesus
was Caiaphis the Chief Priest
yet all around them was the poor
those begging for food
The temple walls were surrounded by leapers
surrounded by beggars
surrounded by widows who had to decide
whether to let their families starve
or turn to prostitution
because their were no occupations
for women at that time
Yet the Pharisees never reached out
never offered help
never offered to share the gifts
God had so graciously given them
Rather they turned up their nose
condemned them
and pushed them away
Too often we build our temples
we make sure everything in the church is perfect
yet too often do not use the blessings God
has given us
to help all of those around us
who need help
And it is not always money,
we always talk about money
but some of it
is just needing to hear the
Gospel preached
or maybe more importantly lived out before them
Too often we say yes,
and then work is so busy
I have to take care of this and that
I just don’t have a lot of free time
and we never make it out
into the vineyard
Jesus is illustrating to us
that what matters in the kingdom of God
is not lip service
is not promises to do something
that never gets done
No, what matters in the Kingdom of God
is action
is service
is mercy
is grace
Christian missionaries
who went communist China
tell of a parable or fable
that the Chinese Christians
would tell
of a man who died and went to heaven.
Heaven was beautiful--full of lush gardens and glittering mansions.
But then the man came to a room lined with shelves.
On the shelves were stacked piles of human ears! A heavenly guide explained that these ears belonged to all the people on earth who listened each week to the word of God,
but never acted on God’s teachings.
Their worship never resulted in action.
When these people died, therefore,
only their ears ended up in heaven.
Jesus finished the parable
and the Pharisees immediately said
it was the first who was more obedient
Because their self-righteous piety
was blinding from the truth
from their own faults
but never did they see themselves in the story
They couldn’t imagine that they were the disobedient ones who said all the right things
but failed to follow through
Just as sometimes
we can’t imagine that some of these gospel lessons
may be pointing at our lives too
But the good news
is Christ says that the prostitutes and tax
collectors
are going in ahead of the Pharisees
which means the door is not shut
nor will it ever be
God always allows u-turns
God always gives us an opportunity to repent
God always gives us an opportunity to
go out in the vineyard and
start working
Amen.
