Texts: Matthew 21:23-32; Philippians 2:1-11
I grew up in the Episcopal Church. That’s why I read the Apostle’s Creed so closely at the 8 and 11 services – if I’m not careful, I switch over to the Nicene Creed, even though I’ve now been a United Methodist for over 10 years. The liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer includes a prayer of confession in the regular Sunday service. I was reminded of its opening lines in preparing for today’s sermon: “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.” We sin against God in thought and word and deed. It’s funny, to read the parable of the two sons at a glance, you think the first son did the will of the father and was obedient. But the first son wasn’t obedient in word. The second son wasn’t obedient in deed. Does one matter more than the other? Do actions speak louder than words? Or, as Christians, are both our words and our actions, not to mention our thoughts, important?
Let’s start by looking at our text. The opening scene is Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem talking with the chief priests and elders. The day before was Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people laid down their coats on the road and shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” at him. The city officials didn’t know who he was, but the crowds knew, “This is Jesus from Nazareth.” Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all people doing business there. He quoted the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah about how this was supposed to be a house of prayer and it became a den of thieves. So, after all that mischief and mayhem, Jesus left Jerusalem to spend the night outside the city walls. Jesus was still feeling pretty feisty because on his way back in the next morning, he randomly cursed a barren fig tree. Then he made it back to the temple and those pesky chief priests and elders who are still trying to trap him by something he says. This is an ongoing occurrence in the Gospels, the chief priests, elders, Pharisees, basically anyone with any religious authority keep trying to trip Jesus up and get him to say something sacrilegious so that they can arrest him, charge him with blasphemy, and ideally, execute him, so he would no longer be a nuisance to their society or a threat to their way of life.
So, today’s question is, “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” And Jesus answers a question with a question. “I’ll tell you if you tell me whether John’s baptism came from heaven or from man.” Well, this question really stumps the chief priests and elders, and not because they don’t know the answer. They do. But their answer disagrees with the answer of the crowd who’s overhearing this whole exchange. The chief priests and elders don’t think John the Baptist was a prophet. They think he was some crazy man who lived in the desert and ate weird food and dressed weird and called people to turn to God. But they didn’t need turning to God, the chief priests and elders were already keeping God’s law and studying it and remembering it. But the people believed John was a prophet and they responded positively to his message by repenting, which means turning away from your old way of doing things and turning toward God. So if the chief priests and elders answer Jesus with what they believe, that John’s baptism came from man, they’re going to anger the people and they’re afraid of doing that. And if they say it was divine, then Jesus is going to ask, “So, why didn’t you believe him?” Instead, they try for a neutral answer, “We don’t know.” Jesus responds, “Well, I’m not going to tell you either. Now, tell me what you think about this” and Jesus tells them the story of a man and his two sons.
The man asks the first son, “Son, go work in the vineyard today.” The son says “No.” Does that resonate with you? Are there times when your first reaction to a request is to say no? When you’re feeling stubborn and you just want to say no? Regardless of what’s being asked? And then later on, after you think about it, maybe check your calendar, consider who it is who’s asking you a favor, and you realize, oh wait, I guess I can do that. And the first son ends up going to work in the vineyard. The man asks the second son the same thing, “Son, go work in the vineyard today” and this son says, “Sure, no problem.” Makes you wonder if this son is a people pleaser. Any people pleasers here today? Have trouble saying no? Don’t worry, we’re not going to take down names and ask you to do something for the church. But have you ever over-committed and overextended yourself to the point that you’re so stressed and you can’t do everything and you have to let something, if not a few somethings, go? You hate to tell people no, and then you have to go back on your word sometimes. The second son doesn’t make it to the vineyard.
And Jesus asks the chief priests and elders another question, “Which son did what the father asked?” They say, “The first,” he’s the one who was obedient in his actions, even if not by his words. Jesus doesn’t seem to contradict or affirm their answer; instead he follows up on his question about John. John came to tell them to change their lives and turn towards God, but they didn’t do it. But guess who did believe John? All those people they loved to hate and look down on, all those folks on the edges of society, who are invisible to society, the prostitutes, the criminals, those without the proper documentation, those without homes, and those who aren’t “contributing” to society. They all heard John’s message and believed him. And even when the chief priests and elders saw these changed lives, they didn't care enough to change their own lives and believe him. Sometimes Jesus has some really good stinging barbs and that’s where today’s story ends. The dregs of society changed their lives when presented with the Gospel, but the religious leaders didn’t. They have the right words, but not the right actions.
Now, let’s look a little closer at those two sons and that question, “Who did what the father asked?” Who was obedient? I would suggest that each son was partly obedient and partly disobedient. The second son said the right thing, he said he would go. But he didn’t follow through. The first son did the right thing, with his actions, but not with his words. Both words and actions matter.
Actions may speak louder than words, but that doesn’t mean what you say doesn’t matter. Words have power, too. Think about the constructive power of saying “I love you” or “you’re beautiful.” Now think about the destructive power words can have, “I hate you,” or “you’re stupid.” The high school youth were on retreat last weekend and their theme had to do with affirmation and being positive. A whole lot of that has to do with what words you use. Do you compliment people more or criticize people more? Do you rant at your fellow drivers who don’t know how to drive or do you pray for them? Do your words build up or tear down? Word choice is so incredibly important. Careless words hurt people. But careful words help and love and heal and affirm. Y’all know I used to pastor a Hispanic church and so I’ll give you a common example from that world, which is part of our world, the legal term “illegal alien.” Think for a second what that means. To call someone an alien denies their humanity. You’re saying that they’re not even a human, not created in God’s image, not your brother or sister. Words have ramifications. When God calls, regardless of what you think, we’ll get into thinking in a minute, when God calls, don’t carelessly answer. Don’t say yes because you have trouble saying no and don’t say no because you’re being stubborn and you don’t want to please anyone but yourself. Be honest, so that your actions can match your words.
And your actions… well, we’re all good at doing the right thing, right? We don’t kill people, although we may not feed those who are starving to death. We don’t steal, although we may justify something by saying, “I’m not really stealing, I’m just borrowing.” See how words matter? We have gotten so good at deceiving ourselves. It’s not wrong if I don’t get caught. I’m not speeding unless the cop says I am and even then I can still plead it down to “improper equipment” – my action wasn’t my fault. Or, I’m not cheating unless someone gets upset by it. I’m not being offensive; I’m just speaking my mind. Well, your mind can be offensive. I know mine can. What does God want from you in terms of actions? The 10 commandments is one place to start. Don’t be greedy, be nice to your parents, remember God and don’t put anything before him or speak badly about him, don’t lie, don’t kill, don’t cheat on your spouse, don’t steal, and make sure to rest one day a week. Jesus’ greatest commandment was to love everything and everyone: love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself. Micah 6:8 says what God requires of us is to “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” The thing about all of that, regardless about which way you approach it, is that you have to do it intentionally. You have to live your life on purpose. You have to be intentional in what words you choose and how you act.
Finally, let’s not forget that third part of that prayer of confession, even though it’s not mentioned directly in the Gospel we read, but it was in the Philippians passage. We sin against God in thought, too. Paul wrote, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” How on earth do you do that? How do you control your thoughts? Do you ever have the problem with your train of thoughts that just keep going and going and you just can’t rein them in? Sometimes it can be good if you’re brainstorming. But other times they can get more and more negative, more destructive, making you angrier and madder… how do you derail that train? I hope you have found ways, I’ll mention two that work for me. One is talking to someone, either about what I’m thinking about and we work it through or I just vent, or we talk about something else to distract me. My husband and my best friend from college are great at this. Find someone you can talk to. The Christian life is not one of isolation; we are not on this journey by ourselves. We are part of a community that is much larger than this church. Chances are good that in this worldwide community, you can find someone to help you mind your thoughts. The second way I learned when I served in Nicaragua. I was there for a year, although I had planned to be there for longer. When you’re immersed in another culture, eventually you’re going to complain about it. Why can’t they have air conditioning? Why can’t the streets be cleaner? Why can’t the buses run on time? Basically, why can’t this culture be like my home culture? And what I did in Nicaragua, when I started to have this train of griping thoughts, was to mentally shout the word “GRACE!” GRACE! Allow some grace for those who are different from me, allow some grace for me. Love them anyway, that whole un-fairness of grace that Pastor Ken talked about last week. In the midst of my complaints, GRACE would come through loud and clear and derail them. All my grumbling would disappear.
When I approach things with grace, whether in my mind or with my mouth or through my muscles, everything changes. When I fill my words with grace, I am a nicer person to be around. When my movements are filled with grace, not necessarily that they are smooth and fluid and I don’t trip, but grace-filled actions mean that I’m thinking of God and my neighbor and myself first of all with love. I was at a workshop at Duke last weekend and the speaker encouraged us to meet others with a positive prejudice – to remember that that other is a gift of God, as am I. And I know y'all know how to do this, it's how you greeted my husband and I, with a positive prejudice. It's how we should greet everyone we encounter, remembering that they are a gift of God and allowing some grace for them. When our thoughts are influenced by grace, when our words are salted with grace, and when our actions reflect both those thoughts and those words, I think then we are much less likely to sin against God in thought, word, and deed. Minding our minds, our mouths, and our muscles, using them for building up and not tearing down is what we are all called to do.
