Sermon - 27 September 2020

Matthew 21:23-32 

Labelled for God

For years I parked my car in front of a neighbours house. This worked really well until he moved house and new neighbours moved in. So, being a good neighbor, on moving day, I popped round to ask if they wanted a cup of tea. We got chatting and then she said something about the car that was parked in front of her house.

It dawned on me that she didn’t realise that it was mine and she said “I think it belongs to the religious woman”… the religious woman! It really threw me…I was shocked. It came out like some sort of condemnation. I think I said something like “that would be me then”! It really made me think.

We do that, don’t we? … we label people according to the way they act, the things they do, the way they look or the things they say. Or even according to local gossip.

By the time Jesus entered the temple in the story we’ve heard this morning, he had built up quite a reputation. Not only did he have a huge following of the common people but he had become known as a trouble maker to the Jewish authorities.

Jesus had the chief priests and the elders summed up too and when they asked him who gave him the authority to do the things he did, he turned the questions back on them.  He asked them whether the baptism of John came from heaven, or of human origin?

They were in a lose-lose situation. They couldn’t say that John’s authority wasn’t from God because that would upset the people…big-time. But at they same time, saying that his ministry was from God would undermine the temple authorities.

So, they took the easy option and said they didn’t know.

Jesus then went on to tell the story of two sons, the first said he wouldn’t work in his father’s vineyard but he changed his mind and he did. The  second said that he would work in the vineyard but changed his mind and he didn’t bother. Jesus asked them which son did the will of his father? They didn’t hesitate in saying the first son.

Jesus was really quite clever and used the story to point out the hypocrisy of the chief priests and elders. He highlights the difference between those who pay lip service to God and those who, having set out on the wrong track, make amends and do the right thing.

The chief priests and elders may have looked the part. They taught the law and obeyed all the rules and considered themselves as the elite but it wasn’t enough. They failed to grasp the true meaning of their faith. They saw people like the tax collectors and the prostitutes as beneath them and outside of the law. Definitely not good enough for God.

So … what about us?  You look alright to me!

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? We can’t tell on the outside, what’s going on on the inside. We can’t tell by looking, whether someone is a person of faith or how deep that faith goes.

Jesus is making it clear that just by saying that loving God and wanting to be a part of his Kingdom isn’t enough. The chief priests and the elders stuck to the letter of the Law but they’d lost their way.

We too may believe the right things and say all the right words. We might attend church every single week. We might even do all the right things…but …has it become or is it in danger of becoming an empty routine? We all have good intentions but it can be so easy to become complacent or see our faith as a habit or just something that we’ve always done.

When the likes of the tax collectors and prostitutes met with Jesus, their lives changed.

Now, I may be making assumptions, but I’m guessing that Jesus is part of your life and that your life changed in some way as a result. And once you’ve accepted Christ…what then? One of the dangers is becoming comfortable and feeling that we have arrived. We might even think that we have all the answers.

Today’s Gospel message is a challenge to change and to grow. Many people don’t like change but I do, especially when I look back and see how God was at work. I love it when I see prayers answered and when I see people grow in faith.

Yesterday was exactly 10 months since I was licensed to the parishes here. One of the things that attracted me to apply in the first place was this…the parish brochure. It told me about the area, the three churches, the worship patterns, links with the community, church school, even what the vicarage was like. You can see, it has been well-read. Looking through it, I can see that I had scribbled a few notes and had high-lighted a few bits…

…you said that you wanted: 

• “a Priest-in-Charge to lead us on the next stage of our collaborative missionary journey.” 
• Someone “to initiate change” 

You said that you wanted to:

• nurture the green shoots of growth 
• to reach out to the community 
• to encourage young families to worship with you 
• to encourage and nurture disciples 
• to develop lay leadership 
• to work with the clergy to support the mission and ministry of the church.

Thinking back to the gospel reading and taking into account that list from your brochure…if you had to relate to one of the sons, which one would it be?

Are you like the son who said he would but didn’t? Or the son who said he wouldn’t but did?

Now…in our defence, the covid pandemic has been with us for about 7 of the 10 months that I have been here and things are hardly normal. But that doesn’t mean that we should become complacent or too comfortable because we can’t get out and about like we used to.

What I think we really need to do at this time is to start praying more. Prayer is a dangerous thing. When we pray, things happen. And not always in the way we expect it but don’t be mistaken into thinking that God has just ignored our prayer; he hasn’t.

So, my prayer for us all today is that we may be strengthened by the presence of Christ in our lives. That we will follow where he leads us, and that we may do our bit to further God’s kingdom.

And then…and only then, will we join the likes of the tax collectors and the prostitutes on the journey to heaven.

Amen.