Right Between the Eyes

Matthew 21: 23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 

 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. 

Last week Jesus told a roundabout parable involving a landowner/winemaker/artist who cared more about making great wine than pretty much anything else.  It was a parable, like all parables are, that tells us a bit about how God works.  But last week’s parable needed to be pulled apart, examined, and sifted through to get all the way down into its nooks and crannies in order to extract all of its parable-y goodness. 

This week Jesus tells another parable.  It also tells us something about how God works.  The difference is that while last week we needed to dig around in the vineyard to figure out what Jesus was saying, this week there's no digging required.  There’s absolutely nothing to pull apart, examine, or sift through with this one.  Jesus just shoots this parable right between the eyes of the rich and powerful Chief Priests and the God and country Pharisees in a way they simply couldn’t miss.

This week’s parable comes on the heels of a confrontation with the Chief Priests and Pharisees.  They went out with the intention of tricking Jesus into saying something incriminating.  Jesus, however, wasn’t having it.  He asked them to answer a question first about John the Baptist.  He didn’t ask, we should notice, if they liked John the Baptist's theology.  He asked them if they had started LIVING as  John the Baptist had called people to live!  Clearly they hadn’t and that fact set the Chief Priests and Pharisees right up against the third rail of Palestinian politics.  The rich, powerful, and puritanical hated John, but the people LOVED him.  So with the rich, powerful, and puritanical all set back on their heels, Jesus shot this little, tiny, parable right between their eyes with all of Jerusalem watching.

One son, Jesus told them, SAID he would get right to work but didn’t.  The other SAID he would NOT go to work... but then, in the end actually went out and worked.  With this completely non-subtle parable, Jesus said to rich and powerful Chief Priests and the God and country Pharisees, “you guys are all TALK and no ACTION… BUT… God cares ONLY about WHAT YOU’RE DOING, NOT about what you say or how you look.  So, big shot Priests and Pharisees… Are you DOING something?  Are you DOING ANYTHING? 

For Jesus, faith isn’t something that happens up here in the ol’ noggin.  It isn’t a list of things to agree to.  It isn’t putting a sticker on your car.  It isn’t liking and sharing Jesus stuff on social media.  For Jesus, faith isn’t something that happens in your head or comes out of your mouth.  For Jesus, faith is what you DO in self giving love, with your feet and your hands and with all of your being as you walk step by step through this life we’ve been given.  God, Jesus told them, wants to see the walk we walk.  Not the talk we talk.  Basically Jesus was asking the people watching this confrontation, "In all the time these rich and powerful, God and country people have been flapping their gums, have you ever seen them DO anything"?  Nobody had.  They were all SHOW and no GO and Jesus was reminding them and everyone gathered there that day that God doesn’t have any time for show.  God is all about the GO.  

That’s the down and dirty, straight between the eyes parable for today.  But, since this is only page six and we usually go to eight pages for a full length sermon, we can do just a tiny bit more with this for today.  We can take a minute to remind ourselves what GO actually looks like.  It looks like deep gratitude for what we’ve been given.  It looks like SEEING people other folks treat as if they don’t even exist.  It looks like hearing, listening, and acting when that quiet voice that says, “this doesn’t feel right” even while the rest of the world sticks their fingers in their ears and turns away.   It looks like a life lived in service… not necessarily Mother Theresa level service, but simply a life of doing little things for the people around you… the people you know and the people you don’t know.  It looks like doing those little things for others who might never know and will never be able to pay you back.  It looks like boosting a small voice, if we have a large voice, so it might finally be heard.  It looks like bringing healing, wholeness, and life to all people, whether the world thinks they “deserve” it or not; whether the folks who receive it will appreciate it or not; whether they'll ever even thank you for it or not.

But even with this parable shot right between the eyes, Jesus' goal was not to shame or demean anyone.  His goal, like with every other parable, was to get us to give up the God we have made in our own image, and instead… turn and live!  And turning means GOING and going is what is needed to move us toward a life filled with meaning, worth, and dignity. So may we turn and live.  May our minds be the same as Christ Jesus.  May we talk less and GO more.  And may we continually go with one another into Abundant life.  Amen.