Pentecost 16

October 2, 2014 in Sermon by R0s3m@ry

Matthew 21:23-32

23 When he 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?” 24 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. 25 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?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27 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.

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 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. 32 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.

“Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” Ezekiel said. Well that sounds simple enough way to get God off your back don’t you think? The question then becomes “how.” How in the world are transgressors supposed to stop transgressing and get new hearts and spirits. They didn’t have Amazon prime in Ezekiel’s day and shopping there isn’t going to help us with this either. So we have a command from God but no way to fulfill it. What a repugnant thought.
God gives us a law that makes perfect sense but there is no way to fulfill it. Ought implies can; in other words, if God gives us something we ought to do then that implies the ability to do it. But that is not how God works. With his law he gives us something to do not so that we can do it but so that we cannot do it. Oh, but that never stops people from trying does it?
And so it seems then that God’s perpetual task is to take away hope in getting a new heart and spirit through effort in order to give it apart from effort. He does this because people are hell bent literally on making themselves right with God through what they do and don’t do. That brings us to the gospel reading assigned for today. Here we find a group of people trying to obtain what is needed to be right with God by effort and God taking away their hope. “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you,” Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people. Not exactly the way to win converts to the cause. Jesus’ words to the ones who made every effort to be made right with God by effort are exactly opposite their expectation. They had been slaving through life obeying every law and ordinance they could find in an effort to be justified. These men had law keeping down to a science. And Jesus comes along with this crazy talk and not only offends them he actually condemns them. The people who had done nothing, the ones who actually had tried to do everything but the right thing were being rewarded while the ones who worked the hardest were being punished. So the natural question arises, “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” “Who do you think you are,” they were asking. In response they got a lesson in true authority. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things,” Jesus said in response to their unwillingness to confess the truth of John the Baptist’s message from God. You see that is the thing about God, he is under no obligation to explain himself to us. That is ultimate authority, to do what he wants and not answer to anyone and it is a horrible thing to encounter God in this way. It is quite puzzling because wrong is right and right is wrong. Lawfulness is punished and unlawfulness rewarded. One never knows if God is for her or against her. One can never tell if it is God or the devil knocking at the door. And this is the plight of every human who walks the face of the earth unless God chooses to speak, to give what is required, a new heart and a new spirit. You see God is God and although he owes us no explanation he nevertheless wants something from us. He wants us to confess that he is good. He wants us to justify him and the place he wants us to justify him is not in our efforts to keep his law, not in the situations and experiences of life, not in our feelings but instead in his word. Who or what is this authoritative word? Well in no one other than Jesus who is highly exalted and to whom every knee should bend on heaven and earth and under earth, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And so we come to heart of the matter. God has not left us to wallow in our own efforts stop transgressing and to get ourselves a new heart and a new spirit. He has not left us to wonder how things are between him and us. Jesus, the full authority of God spoke. There in the manger his very presence spoke that God is for sinners. There along the roads and villages of Israel his words spoke love and peace and forgiveness and hope to the people. On the cross Jesus spoke forgiveness while he was dying with the sins of the world. Jesus spoke on that first Easter morning saying that not even the grave can stop God’s word. Indeed Christ spoke and he continues to speak this morning. Transgressor, by the authority of Christ and for his sake I forgive you the entirety of all your sin. You are forgiven unconditionally. Christ has given you a new heart and a new spirit. That is your promise from God and this promise has the authority to save. It saves prostitutes and thieves and it even works on people like you and me. Welcome to God’s Kingdom. Amen.