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Sermon - The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 14th September 2008
St Aidan’s West Epping 8.30 am
Readings: Matthew 21:23-32
One of my favourite Bible stories is the story of the anointing of David in 1 Samuel 16. God was unhappy with Saul as King of Israel and had sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king. It had to be done in secret because if King Saul had found out what Samuel was doing they could all die. So Jesse brought out his oldest son, a handsome, fine physical specimen. Samuel thought, “Surely, this is the new King of Israel.” But God said this wasn’t the one.
So Jesse called his second son who was at least as impressive as the first. But again, God said, ‘No!’ Eventually, Jesse had brought out seven of his sons – all fine young men. Samuel was impressed with all of them, but God said that none of these would be anointed as King. But Samuel said, “Just look at them, such excellent men.” But then God said those great words, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” So in desperation, Samuel asked if Jesse had any more sons. Jesse said there was still the young one who looked after the sheep. And they he brought forward his youngest son – David, and of course, he was the one. “Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.”
It’s a good verse to remember as we consider today’s gospel reading from Matthew 21. This is Jesus last week of ministry before he was crucified and the chief priests and the elders wanted to know by what authority Jesus was doing the things he was doing. So what were they talking about? No doubt they were referring to Jesus behaviour in Jerusalem since he had entered a few days beforehand. He had arrived as the prophet from Nazareth and he had done some outrageous things.
First there was his manner of entry into the city. He came into the city riding on a donkey. It may not sound impressive to us but Jesus is acting like a King At no other time do we ever hear of him riding anywhere. But to enter the city, he rode on a donkey and thereby he was presenting himself to Jerusalem as a King. And consider what the crowds were calling out. They were calling him “Son of David.” They called out “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They were treating Jesus like a King. The Romans could easily have read this as a coup d’etat. This was the behaviour of a rebel. In Luke’s gospel the Pharisees told Jesus to silence his disciples. But Jesus refused. They acclaimed him King and Jesus accepted it. In a Roman city this was dangerous behaviour.
Then, the second thing Jesus did was he went to the Temple and began over-turning the tables of the money-changers and those selling the doves. He called out “My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers”.
Next, Jesus began to heal the blind and the lame and when the people saw it again they cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” This is something too much like revolution. The chief priests and the teachers went to Jesus and said, “Do you hear what these people are saying.” For them, its madness to behave in Jerusalem like this. And so they asked their question, “By what authority are you dong these things and who gave you this authority?”
But how do you answer this question? If Jesus had simply answered that his authority had come from God, they might have stoned him for blasphemy. This was a dangerous business. So Jesus asked them a question. “John’s authority to baptize – did it come from heaven or from men?”
The priests knew this would be a problem. If they said John’s authority was from heaven, then Jesus would ask “Why didn’t you believe him?” But if they said John’s authority came from men, they knew the crowd would tear them apart. Because the crowds were convinced that John was a prophet. So Jesus forced them to answer “We don’t know.” Yet these were the people who were supposed to know. These were the chief priests and the teachers of Israel. They prided themselves on their knowing. But in front of this crowd and in front of this prophet from Nazareth they had to admit that they didn’t know.
But we should remember that these priests were the leaders of their community. They had tried to live what they believed was a godly life. They washed regularly not just for hygiene, but so they could be ritually pure. They made sure they didn’t mix with ordinary people because they would risk touching someone who was ritually unclean. So much of their lives was dedicated to the ideal of purity. But the danger with purity is that it can become just external show. When we aim for purity, and when we present ourselves as a model of purity, we often find we being to cover up. We begin to hide from others our impurity, our imperfections. And sadly, over time we begin to believe the lie about ourselves. We begin to believe we are pure and that we are better than others.
To help us not make this mistake and to face reality, that is why, when we meet together on a Sunday we always say a confession. We always admit to one another, that none of us is perfect, that all of us have sinned – that none of us is pure. And then the confession is always followed by the absolution, declaring the good news of the gospel, of the forgiveness of God. So each Sunday we reinforce those truths – always sinful, always repentant, always forgiven.
Sadly, the practice of confession has been abandoned by many parishes in Sydney. And a result their weekly worship is defective because they don’t confront these spiritual truths. This was the problem on the Pharisees. Their emphasis was on ritual purity. But it made them arrogant. They began to believe they were better than others. They put their trust in the ceremony and lost sight of God. And it was to them that Jesus told this parable of the man with two sons.
He asked the first to work in his vineyard but he refused. But later he changed his mind and went. Then he asked the second son to go. He said he would, but he did not go. So Jesus asked “Which son did the will of the Father?” Here Jesus is asking the question for Israel. Who in Israel is doing the will of the Father? Is it the chief priests or is it the crowds?
Then Jesus makes one of the most radical statements of his whole ministry. “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” You couldn’t get people of lower social statue than tax collectors and prostitutes. The first were traitors and the second deserved stoning according to the law. Yet it was these people who were entering the Kingdom of God first, ahead of the priests and the teachers.
Why is that – because of a lesson learnt in the time of Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance – but God looks on the heart.” The chief priests and the teachers had been so careful with the outward appearance, with observing all the law, but in their hearts it had left them unchanged, untouched. Jesus’ criticism of them was that when they heard the words of John the Baptist, they would not listen, and they would not repent and they would not believe. And if they wouldn’t believe John, there would be little chance of their believing Jesus. No wonder anyone else was entering the Kingdom before them.
But we have to consider – what about us? We enjoy great privilege. We enjoy peace and comfort in a prosperous land. We enjoy the freedom to meet weekly to worship God. The danger for us is that as we enjoy these benefits we can begin to believe we deserve them. It is easy to begin to believe we are better than those who have nothing. We can become so self-absorbed so self-focused that there is no room for God and no room for others. Each week we listen to the scriptures being read and we are left with a choice, will we listen to them, will we believe them, will we amend our lives and lie in conformity to them” Or will we listen to the scriptures and remain unmoved.
We can be good at putting up a front. In m lifetime I have met may people who appear very godly And they may well be godly. But we have those worlds from 1 Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” As God looks at our hearts this morning – what does he see? Does he see people who listen to his word, who wrestle with it, who struggle to understand it – who think about how to live by is – who amend their lives, with repentance as they are corrected by it, who live day by day trusting it. Or does he see hearts of stone, unmoved, unchanged and unrepentant. I don’t know – only God knows – and only each person can search their own hearts and know what’s there. And so, when it comes to the Kingdom of God will we be first or left for last?