Sermons for the Month
Just Who Are You?
DATE: October 3, 1999
SERVICE: Pentecost XIX
TEXT: Matthew 21:33-46Do you know who you are? I mean, do you have a clear sense of who you are and what is important to you? Occasionally, I have had the opportunity to listen to an audio recording of my preaching or to watch a sermon that has been recorded on video. Almost always when the tape starts rolling, I say to myself, "That can't be me. I'm smooth and eloquent, maybe even dynamic. The person who is preaching sounds like their nose is stuffed up and is tripping over their tongue--that can't be me." Listening to ourselves on tape can be like going to a "house of mirrors." In a house of mirrors you can see what you would look like if you were two feet tall or eight feet tall, weighing 50 pounds or 500 pounds. Each time we look at ourselves we laugh and say, "that can't be me!" In this morning's gospel text, Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven will be given to a nation providing fruit. If we want to do some hard reflection, we have to ask the question, "who are we?" Are we the nation producing the fruits of the kingdom, or not? Are we Christians transforming people into disciples or just playing church? In the classic play, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge was a tyrant who lived only for himself, and he didn't even treat himself that well. For Dickens, Scrooge was the epitome of the current British culture. Even though it was a rich country, the disparity between rich and poor had grown ever wider. Then, Ebeneezer had a night that none of us would want to have. In the play, three ghosts came to visit him while he slept. The ghost of Christmas past shows him how much he needed others and how he had turned them away. The Ghost shows Ebenezer what he was like as a young man, how he had used his gifts only for his personal needs. The ghost of Christmas past shows how he had become obsessed with his own gain and the desire to make money, to the exclusion of everyone and everything else. The ghost of Christmas present shows him what a tyrant he has become, his disregard for others let alone the poor and needy. And the ghost of Christmas yet to come shows what could be possible in the future. As Scrooge's nightmare goes on and on, he screams out in agony, "No more," and "Enough." Eventually, Scrooge wakes up and realizes there was still time to change his life. From then on Scrooge lives his life in a different way. The point of this illustration is that only when we recognize the changes that we need to make are we actually able to make them. And in fact this story did impact the whole of British culture of the day. In our parable today, there is a householder who sends a servant out to his fields to collect the harvest that is due him. The tenants of the land kill the servant. Then the tenants kill another servant and finally they kill the landowner's own son (this, of course, is an analogy to Christ). Jesus ends the parable by saying, "The stone that the builder's rejected has become he cornerstone" (v.42). The parable ends with Christ telling us that the kingdom of God will be taken away and given to a nation producing fruit. The question is, do we recognize ourselves in this parable? Are we the servant or the tenant? Are we the ones who "produce the fruits of the kingdom" or merely use up the fruits of the kingdom? The hard truth is that we are both. One Sunday night, a young pastor was tucking his 4 year old daughter into bed. It had been a big day for him and his daughter as well. The pastor had preached his first-ever stewardship sermon. The point of the sermon was that "God is the owner of everything we have." I had been a big day for the girl as well because after church she had received her very first bicycle. All day long she rode her new bike with training wheels up and down the street in front of the parsonage. At bedtime, the pastor and his daughter shared devotions, thanked God for a great day, and then he kissed her goodnight and turned out the light. As he was leaving the room, she said to her father, "Daddy, my toys are God's, right?" The pastor's chest filled with pride. He thought to himself, this truly is a great day, even my 4 year old daughter understood the point of my sermon. He said, "That is right, honey." She looked around her room naming everything, her books, her clothes, her stuffed animals, and each time she said, "They belong to God, right Daddy? As the pastor was leaving the room, his daughter said, "Daddy, one more thing. But my new bike is mine right?" So often we are like that young girl. We say God is the owner but only to a point. It’s the point when say, its mine; I earned it. Its mine not Gods. And that's the point where we stop being servants and become consumers. A North Carolina farmer told the story in TIME of how he and his wife had scrimped and saved to make their dream of owning a farm come true. The two of them slaved night and day to work the farm and improve it. Sadly, theirs was one of the farms completely flooded out by Hurricane Floyd. This week, standing in the middle of all that was their farm, they said they realized something very important. They realized that they did not own the farm; the farm belonged to God and they were only the tenants. They said that when they truly understood who they were (tenants, not owners) that they were able to serve God completely and totally for the first time in their lives. Jesus tells us today that it is only when we truly understand who we are that the door of forgiveness opens for us. Only when we can acknowledge that we are the ones who reject the stone that has become the head of the corner is the kingdom given to us. Only then will we produce fruit for the kingdom. Do you recognize who you are? You are the ones for whom Christ died. If you have not done so before, I would invite you to respond to this glorious truth in thanksgiving and ask how you can be his servant in the world. For whoever would lose his life for Jesus' sake will find it. AMEN