Sermons for the Month
Living Calvary Love
DATE: September 28th, 2008
SERVICE: 20th Sunday after Pentecost
TEXT: Matthew 21:23-32“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
In the novel The Rock Orchard the main character has nothing good to say about churches and spends Sunday sitting on the porch, in silk pajamas, reading the newspaper, contemplating spider webs and smoking cigars. So, every Sunday afternoon her housekeeper gives a four-hour recap of the one-hour sermon while knocking down the spider webs with her broom. One Sunday she tells her boss that the sermon was on the importance of confession. The pastor had made it clear that God does not need to hear confessions, since God already knows how the flock is falling short. But, he said, people need the humiliation that accompanies public confession to keep them in line. In fact, the preacher said, if people walked around with a sign around their necks confessing their sins for the week there would be a lot less sinning. That may well be true, but it's not how Lutherans view confession, which is primarily a private matter between an individual and God. We do, though, at traditional worship share a corporate confession in which we all acknowledge that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. That's the confession that, in today's Gospel lesson, Jesus would say the religious leaders need to offer because they are long on words, but short on deeds, and have conflicting external and internal lives. In this portion of Matthew's gospel the on-going conflict between Jesus, the chief priests and the elders continues. He has regularly accused them of looking spiritually alive but of really being dead, of appearing good on the outside but being corrupted on the inside. Now it's the end of Jesus' ministry. He has entered Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna!" as people waved palm branches, and then cleared the money changers out of the Temple. It's that scandalous event to which the religious leaders are referring when they ask Jesus by what authority he acts. It's a logical question, after all, since he has challenged their administration of the Temple. Jesus answers their question with a question about whether the baptism of John the Baptist was of divine or human origin. His question implies that the source of his authority is the same as John's, which is why the religious leaders side-step it. So, Jesus tells the first of three parables that are indictments of the Jewish leaders. In this one Jesus presents two types of people. The first son, who refused to work in the vineyard and then went, represents the tax collectors, prostitutes and anyone else who the religious leaders would consider outside of the reach of God's mercy. The second son, who said he would go work in the vineyard but did not, represents the Jewish religious leaders. Members of the first group initially made mistakes, but responded to John the Baptist's message, repented, were baptized and have listened to and followed Jesus. The second group spoke spiritual words, looked good and saw no need for repentance, even though their insides were corrupt. They rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus. So, the ones who got off to a bad start ended up doing God's will, and those who looked holy, and believed they were holy, did not do God's will. What…the chief priests and the elders did not do God's will? That was quite a slap in the face for the religious leaders, and may have been, in their minds, the last straw that led to Jesus' arrest and crucifixion. As we hear this parable it reminds us that it's a far better thing to confess those things that have kept us from doing God's will and break free to move forward than to be convinced that we have no need to confess and remain in a self-satisfied, judgmental prison. If we believe that Jesus' demand for a change of heart is meant for someone else then we have aligned with the religious leaders of Jesus' day and his words about the tax collectors and prostitutes going into the kingdom of heaven ahead of us will ring true. But, on the other hands, if we acknowledge our thoughts, words and deeds that are not God's will and then strive, with the Holy Spirit's help, to walk in God's ways, the Kingdom of God will arrive in our lives. This parable should cause us to take a good hard look at ourselves, not at those around us. Yet, it's so much easier to point out other people's obvious faults then to admit our own, especially if they are hidden and the subject of denial. Amy Carmichael has written a beautiful piece titled "Calvary Love" in which she lists that which we have done, or left undone, that keeps us from reflecting the sacrificial love of Jesus in our lives. These are the types of things we might overlook or ignore that keep us from doing God's will. Let me share portions of her message with you: "If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of another; if I can in any way slight another in conversation, or even in thought, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind word, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I can rebuke without a pang, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If about one who has disappointed me I say, 'Just what I expected', then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I am afraid to speak the truth, lest I lose affection, or lest the one concerned should say, 'You do not understand,' or because I fear to lose my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other's highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I hold on to choices of any kind, just because they are my choice, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I am soft to myself and slide comfortably into self-pity and self-sympathy; if I do not by the grace of God practice fortitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I cannot in honest happiness take the second place (or the 20th); if I cannot take the first without making a fuss about my unworthiness, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in cool unfriendliness, though friendship is possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If the praise of others elates me and their blame depresses me; if I cannot rest under misunderstanding without defending myself; if I love to be loved more than to love, to be served more than to serve, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If the ultimate, the hardest cannot be asked of me; if my fellows hesitate to ask it and turn to someone else, then I know nothing of Calvary love." These are the "hidden" sins, often covered by a holy veneer, that make it look like we are saying "yes" to God when we are not. These are the things that keep us from doing God's will and experiencing God's kingdom in the here and now. Yet, there is always room for transformation, and we do not even have to wear a list of our sins on a sign around our necks to make it happen. We just have to look inside, acknowledge what's there and then look to God for help. Then, what we say and what we do, what we think and what we feel, will be in line with God's will and we'll join the kingdom party as it unfolds around us, overflowing with Calvary love.
AMEN
(1) The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall, 2004 by Brillance Audio, Grand Haven, Mich., Disc 2.
(2) Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, "Calvary Love" by Amy Carmichael, pgs. 356-360, The Plough House, Farmington, PA., 2003