Where Do You Turn When You've Lost Your Grip? Exodus 17 (10/20/11)

 Not too long ago, I had one of those weeks. My law office had nothing but fires to put out. All week long it was one prickly problem after another. I was frustrated and about ready to walk out. I had started to lose my grip. Then one afternoon, I went outside my office to see a man. He was sitting on the passenger side of his own pickup truck. He needed a will and a power of attorney and he needed them pretty fast. A week before, he had started using a cane. Now he was up to an electric wheelchair. You see, that 45 year old fellow had a spinal tumor, and it was growing fast. His doctor told him that an operation could remove the tumor, but that he would be paralyzed from the neck down. The tumor was otherwise untreatable. He had made his choice. He didn’t live to see the next Christmas.

Talk about a wake-up call. I came back into my office, and I didn’t see a problem the rest of that week. Only opportunities. Funny how God sends us these messages. He sure put my problems in perspective. The message today is another wake-up call. Maybe it will serve to remind us where to turn when we are starting to lose it; when we need help or become frustrated with the world we live in.

Introduction:

          Have you ever been thrust into a leadership position by a boss or teacher? Did it result in dissension among your fellow students or peers? Oftentimes the title doesn’t get you the following. Have you ever been under so much stress from so many directions, you feel almost paralyzed? Where do you turn when your frustration level is peaking and your solution level is off the bottom of the chart? If you think you’ve got problems, check out Moses in today’s scripture.

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Trouble in the Ranks; Trouble on the Battlefield

There are two stories in this passage. We usually refer to them as Water From the Rock” and “The Amalekites Defeated,” or something to that effect. These are separate events, but they are closely related in theme. They take place during the first year of the Exodus from Egypt. 

Our first story today is actually the third narrative in Exodus having to do with the Lord’s provision for Israel’s needs. One million men, women and children have followed God’s signs through the desert. They have now set up an encampment at a place called Rephidim in the South Sinai desert. They think that they have come to an oasis, only to find out that they are without water. They don’t like it a little bit, and they let their leader Moses know it. They go to him like so many more children. They quarrel with him. They demand for him to give them water. In verse 2, the term “quarreled with” is used. It has also been translated as “found fault with”. Apparently their murmuring had led to some sort of legal action. Moses’ reference to stoning in verse 4 underscores this conclusion. The last stop in the legal rejection of a leader was stoning.  Well, Moses answers them, and his “Irish” is up. He says: Why pick on me?  Now, Moses has stronger faith than his countrymen, so he follows with “Why do you put your Lord to the test”? (v.2). The people don’t let up. They grumble against Moses (v.3). They say he brought them out there to die. Moses is not just out of water. He’s out of patience, and Prozac has yet to be invented. He is a leader who won’t be followed, and he’s lost his edge. He’s lost his grip.

In the second story, the Amalekites attack. The Jews are all too familiar with the Amalekites. They are descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. Amalek was Esau’s grandson but the Amalekites had intermarried with Gentiles and were not in God’s favor.  The Israelites have fought them before. Legend has it that the Amalekites didn’t fight fair. They liked to attack the sick, aged and tired; the ones who lagged behind in the march. This threat, like hunger and thirst, is a major peril. The ensuing battle is surely the promise of death to some or many. Moses goes to Joshua, the servant/young man turned warrior/general, now probably about 45 years old, and says: Take some of the men and go fight tomorrow. I’ll stand at the top of the hill where everyone can see me with the staff of God in my hands. Note that only some of the men were to go into battle. This battle is going to turn on whether Moses can keep his hands outstretched. In other words, it can only be won by faith in God.

       

Trouble at Home; Trouble at the Office

          Back to our problem today. Remember when you got promoted from living at home to roommate, or from living alone to wife or husband, or living married to parent. In each case, you not only took on new and additional responsibilities; you also had to answer for and to someone. Now I’m sure that in the great majority of cases, each of you had a seamless transition, and you had no problem at all. Right? But for those very few of you who experienced problems of, shall we say, adjustment, you can identify with Moses and his frustration.

In the chapter immediately before this one, the Israelites had seen God provide for them with manna and quail. How short is their memory! How small is their endurance! And how loud is their demand. Remind you of anyone?

How many times have you come home from a long day at work, just wanting a quick shower to cool off, and have gone to the bathroom only to find it doubling as a laundry room? How many times have you cleaned up the kitchen sink at night, only to find it full all over again when you come home from work the next day. Wet towels on the bathroom floor, clothes mildewing in the dryer, cups and glasses all over the house, dirty clothes lying on the floor, toothpaste drying from an unsealed top, and the list goes on. When will that spouse think of you? When will that child of yours grow up?

Then, there is the workplace. Years of work finally net you that promotion, only to find out that your friends are not your friends anymore. They’re jealous of you; they want something from you; they’re grumbling against you. Worst of all, they’re talking behind your back, and you know it. Trouble; frustration; exhaustion, and all for the sake of just trying to do your job. Yes, you have loyalty to them, but you also have a duty to your boss. Is that so hard for them to understand? Where do you turn? What do you do? How do you get back your grip?    

Moses Turns to God and Friends

          Back in the desert, Moses begins to figure it out. Moses saw the real question being asked that day. To be sure, the people were hungry, thirsty and scared. Essentially, though, they were also looking for direction. In less than six months, the Israelites had witnessed ten plagues, the opening and closing of the Red Sea, a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night to lead them through the desert, the miraculous sweetening of the water, and the sending of food and meat from heaven, yet their real question came down to this (v. 7): “Is the Lord among us or not?”  In previous chapters, God seems to be testing His people. Now they turn the tables on Him and appear to be testing the Lord. Moses rightly sees this as putting God on trial. Isn’t that typical of us? When a new crisis comes, it’s so easy to forget God’s past victories. We get consumed with the present.

So, Moses does a very wise thing. He turns to God. Now he doesn’t do it in a nice way. The Bible says he “cried out to the Lord” (v.4). He screams “What am I to do with these people?” Note that he says these people, not my people. Sound familiar? You know the drill. When your child has pulled a really boneheaded move, you confront your spouse with the famous phrase: “Do you realize what your son/daughter has done now!

Moses was angry and frustrated and he felt helpless, but he didn’t quit. He didn’t curse profanely; he didn’t even work harder. He just cried out to the Lord. Of course, you know what happened.  The Lord answered Moses (v.5). God instructs Moses. Moses then strikes the rock with the staff (power) of God. He does so in faith and his faith and obedience are answered when God causes water to spring from the rock. God has put His power in the hands of a faithful disciple.

Now pay close attention to God’s answer to Moses, because His advice will work for you too. God told Moses to do four things:

First:     Walk on ahead (v.5)

Second:  Take a couple trusted friends with you

Third:     God will stand there before (and with) you (v.6)

Fourth:   Do as He tells you…do it on faith…you will get what you    need

The writer of Exodus uses the defeat of the Amalekites at Rephidim to drive this point home. God’s people are outnumbered. God has made sure of this by instructing Moses to send only some of the soldiers into the battle. So Joshua leads some of the troops into battle, while God calls on Moses to keep his hands outstretched to insure the Israelite victory.  As Moses fatigues, his hands begin to drop.  Whenever he lowers his hands, the Amalekites begin to win. It is only with the help of his trusted friends Aaron and Hur that his hands are held up and steady until sunset, and until the victory is sealed. Note that two elements are needed to ensure the victory: the sword in Joshua’s hand and the staff in Moses’ hand. In other words, we need to fight for our Christian values, but we cannot be successful without divine help. For a second time, God has put His power in the hands of a faithful disciple.

Even Moses couldn’t do it alone. He had to rely on trusted friends. They help him do what he cannot do alone. Moses had followed God’s instructions. He got out ahead of the crowd. He took along a couple trusted friends. He did as God told him, and was faithful to the task. God stood there with him and the people were delivered; first from starvation and later from their mortal enemies.

What lesson is there for us in this battle? First of all, the victory belonged not to Moses or the Israelites. It belonged to God. Second, Moses was unable to complete God’s task without accepting help from others. Last, but far from least, Moses’ friends were willing to be used … by giving help to a friend. These are lessons to remember.

God and Friends Help Us at our Point of Need

 This message reminds me of an old Carole King song called “You’ve Got a Friend.”. I think it makes my point better than I can make it myself.  You know the song I’m talking about. It could just as easily be a hymn as a pop song. Listen to these lyrics and think about Moses and God, Moses and Aaron and Hur, you and God, you and your trusted friends:

When you’re down and troubled

                   And you need a helping hand

And nothing, nothing is going right

Close your eyes and think of me

                   And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest night

When people can be so cold

                   They’ll hurt you, and desert you

And take your soul if you let them

                   Oh yeah, but don’t you let them

                   You just call out my name

                   And you know wherever I am

                   I’ll come running to see you again

                   Winter, spring, summer or fall

                   All you have to do is call

And I’ll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah

You’ve got a friend.

Conclusion:

          How fitting that these events took place at an encampment named Rephidim, which means “supports.” God’s supports were evident that day, and they are just as evident today. Is the Lord among us? Oh, yeah. All you have to do is call. We have only to do as Moses did. In the midst of his frustration, anger and helplessness, Moses turned to God.  He didn’t turn in awe and reverence, but He turned. When he did, he found the awesome power of God resting in two frail, common hands of an otherwise ordinary man. Moses found his grip, and that same power is available to us. Close your eyes. Right now. Close your eyes… and think of Him. And soon, He’ll be there…to brighten up even your darkest hour.  He wants to put His power in your hands. Why don’t you just let Him?

Raising The Bar (Matthew 22: 34-46) 10/23/11

 “It is the sentence with which every Jewish service still opens, and the first text which every Jewish child commits to memory.” 1   It is part of the Shema, meaning “to hear,” the basic and essential creed of Judaism, literally the Jewish confession of faith. According to Jesus, it is the greatest law of all. It is Deuteronomy 6: 5.  It says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength.” It is the answer given by Jesus to the lawyer in response to the question “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

In the card game of bridge, it is 3 No Trumps, a closeout bid. In the game of baseball, it is a walk off home run. In the temple court before the religious leaders, it is the question designed to end the questions and indeed it accomplishes its purpose.  It is the question posed by our Savior to the Pharisees. Son of Mary? Son of Man? Son of the Holy Spirit? Son of David? Son of God? Whose son…is the Christ?

These questions, and the answers to them, are the subject of this

message as they were that day some twenty centuries ago. The first

1 William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, volume 2, revised p. 278.

answer is perhaps the most famous in the New Testament. The second may be the most obscure. Each has its own place in more clearly revealing Jesus’ identity and in setting the bar for not only who he is, but what he expects from us.

           In the time of Jesus, there were 365 negative Jewish laws. How convenient. A new don’t for every day of the year. There were also another 248 positive laws, for a total of 613. The Jews are not by themselves in over-regulating. For instance, South Carolina still has a law on the books that requires every adult male to bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks. And by the way, it’s still illegal in SC to keep horses in bathtubs. So while we pick on those religious leaders for their overindulgence in regulation, we are no less guilty or neglectful today. Jesus didn’t think much of such excess.   He reduced the number to 2. 

The second law—love your neighbor—was another Old Testament quotation, this time from Leviticus 19:18: “love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus went on to say that these were not only the most important commandments, but that the whole of the Law and the Prophets hung on them and their application. There is a real question whether this is a reduction or simply a restatement, but let’s leave that question open for the moment.

In Matthew, Jesus has debated and silenced the Sadducees. The Pharisees then get together. The gospel of Matthew tells us that from their number, an expert in the law emerges with the question of the day. It would appear that this is simply a continuation of the attack of Jesus by the Pharisees. By contrast, the gospel of Mark would seem to paint a kinder picture. Mark tells us in chapter 12 that “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, He asked him:  Of all the commandments, which is most important?” The Markan passage actually ends with Jesus saying to this unknown teacher; “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Which of these versions is the more accurate? We don’t know. We never will know. This is a story seen from two different lenses. What is the result of each version? Exactly the same. From then on, no one asked Jesus any more questions. 

The more important news is that Jesus has spoken as to which is the greatest commandment. Which of those 613 laws will Jesus recite? In Matthew 5, Jesus tells the multitude that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. Teaching and debating in the temple just days from his crucifixion, Jesus says to love God, and love your fellow man and do them both with everything that you’ve got. That’s it, No change in the law. Jesus condenses the substance of the existing law into two commandments. A.B. Simpson compares Jesus’ announcement to the law of gravity. The law was always there.  It’s just that it didn’t have a name for a long time. We had lots of little laws to explain planet rotation and orbits and tides and so forth, until one day we discovered the key to it all: gravity. It’s that way with Christian religion too. Love God. Love man. Do them both with all you have. Nothing changed. It just got made more clear.  No sacrifices, no offerings, no tithes, no bribes, no titles get you there. Just all your heart and all your mind and all your strength. You don’t get to save up to pay God. You have to ante up with the whole of yourself every time and all the time.

Then in verse 41, Jesus decides it is his turn to ask the question. “Whose son is the Christ?” He gets the Jewish answer, the expected answer. “The son of David,” they replied. Remember that Jesus continually refused to let his followers proclaim him as Messiah.  This was partly because he did not want the announcement of his real identity made prematurely.  It was also because calling him Messiah just didn’t identify him correctly. Messiah means Son of David. The expectation was that the day would come when a great prince in the line of David would rise up and defeat Israel’s enemies and restore it to earthly prominence among the nations. This was not what Jesus came to do. In the question he poses to the Pharisees, he does not ask whose son is the Messiah, but rather whose son is the Christ.  The word “Christ” means “anointed one.” An anointment, though made by someone on earth, comes from God Himself. Jesus quotes Psalm 110: 1 to show that David viewed Christ not as his son but as his Lord. The Pharisees marvel, not only at Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture but also at the depth of his understanding. The verse means that to call him Messiah, the son of David, is to use an inadequate description. According to the Psalm, Messiah is nothing short of David’s Lord. In a way that his Jewish audience can relate to, Jesus says that if Messiah, or Son of David, is David’s Lord, then it is not an adequate title; that the only adequate title for Christ is Son of God. In the same way that Jesus synthesized all the Law and the Prophets into two commandments about love, here he synthesizes the Jewish beliefs with the revelation of the coming Messiah. He is not only Messiah; he is divine Messiah!   

There is more than one lesson here. On the surface, we have two statements from Jesus. The first is the Great Commandments. The second is that Jesus came not for earthly conquest, but as the Son of God to usher in the kingdom of heaven. Read together, we get an almost complete revelation of both his identity and his message. Jesus is the Son of God, He stands before us as a man, a man without sin, no less, and tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God and that the second is similar and that is to love our fellow man. He tells us who he is and what it’s all about. In each case, there is simplification and clarification. In each case, he is  raising, not lowering, the bar. It is not enough to obey 613 laws and regulations carved out by man in an attempt to understand God. It is only enough when we have surrendered to God—when we are loving Him and our fellow man with everything we have. It is not enough to look for an earthly kingdom or some prince emerging from the Davidic line. The royalty which Jesus offers has its roots in the kingdom of heaven itself.

These statements from Jesus are a call to obedience and an understanding of His divinity like nothing he has said before. Here Jesus raises the bar once and for all. He tells the Pharisees, the crowd and all who will follow him from then until the end of the age that the standard could not be higher, the link to God more direct. Reducing the law to the commandments of love makes keeping God’s law harder, not easier.  Knowing Jesus as the Son of God is tantamount to knowing God Himself. Matthew says that no one could say a word in reply; that from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 There is only one thing left to learn, and the disciples are just days away from that last lesson. It is the lesson of the cross. It is the lesson of love. It is the sacrifice of God Himself to reconcile us to Him through the greatest act of love in all history. The cross makes clear the extent to which God’s love extends. There is no end. Only a man could live a sinless life that would therefore become a real role model for us all. Only God could go to a cross and atone for the sin of all mankind. The lesson of the cross is Jesus’ commitment to raise the bar.  In his obedience lay his reward. It is no different for you and me. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Know Jesus not as just another man, not as a great man, but as the Son of the living God. This is his message; this is who he is. The bar is high, but the reward is out of this world!

Coins of the Kingdom (Matthew 22: 15-22) 10/16/11

 The story of Romeo and Juliet has for many years been the introduction for high school English students to the plays of William Shakespeare, considered by most to be the greatest playwright of all time, if not the greatest writer of all time. In that story, two teenagers fall in love. Nothing unusual about two teenagers falling in love, but there is a problem for this couple. They come from the Capulets and the Montagues, two families that have an ongoing blood feud. In today’s time, they might be the Hatfields and the McCoys. As they seek to understand these wonderful new feelings, Juliet is heard to naively, but wisely utter this question: “What’s in a name? Would not a rose by any other name smell as sweet?”  As that story develops, we are reminded only too clearly of the innocence of that question. While Juliet looks beyond the title to the person behind it, her family will not be able to do so. In today’s message, we see the scheming of the not so innocent church leaders asking a question about an image. What’s in an image? To whom is our allegiance owed? It is a question to which there is no acceptable answer, or so it is thought. A question designed to trap becomes a lesson in identity.

In Matthew 21 and 22, Jesus has told three straight parables to the religious leaders and the crowd gathered in the temple court. This event probably took place on the Tuesday of Passion Week. After being taken to task in the parables, the Pharisees have had it.  They have been laid bare and now they are head hunting. They leave the temple for a bit to come up with some new strategy. Matthew tells us that the Pharisees and the Herodians teamed up to trap Jesus.  They say that marriage makes for strange bedfellows. That is certainly true here. These are very unnatural partners who ordinarily were at great odds with each other. The Pharisees opposed Roman rule and were totally against the payment of taxes to Caesar. Israel was a nation conquered by and under the control of Rome. The Jewish family of Herod was allowed to rule as a subordinate to Rome. Therefore the Herodians supported taxes that came to Caesar but from which the Herods got a cut. Yet on this occasion, the Pharisees and the Herodians band together in an attempt to discredit this very popular man called Jesus.

It is a tried and true technique of cross-examination to ask questions designed to solicit yes or no answers. You can control your result much better if you give one no room to make an explanation. The religious leaders would make good lawyers.  They ask Jesus a yes or no question. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Of course, they dress it up with flattery, calling him Teacher, and trying to pump his ego. The Teacher title is probably designed to get the attention of the crowd, who will then be listening because the Teacher is about to answer. Of course the question has a no-win answer. If Jesus says no, he is going to be reported to the authorities and arrested for sedition and treason. If he says yes, he has just enraged a people unhappy with having to pay tribute to any “God” other than their own. To a Jew God was the only king.  By this time, “Caesar” was not only a name, but also a title. Tiberius was the reigning emperor and this was the beginning of the age of emperor worship. So the Roman emperor was thought of as divine. The stage is set for Jesus’ undoing.

But Jesus won’t bite. He asks for a coin and is brought a denarius. It has the likeness of Tiberius inscribed upon it. This is typical of the times. Upon ascending the throne, one of the first acts of a Roman emperor was to have coinage struck bearing his likeness. This became the coinage of the realm. Jesus asks whose image appears on the coin. Of course he already knows the answer. “Caesar’s” is the reply he receives. This is correct in more than one way. It is indeed Caesar’s, as it is the very coinage that he caused to be minted for circulation. It is also the method of rendering a tribute tax to Caesar as emperor. What follows is nothing short of the high theology that we expect from the Son of God.

Jesus says “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Great answer. The Pharisees and Herodians are both thwarted and amazed. They leave Jesus alone. This is a good lesson. Jesus is wise. Jesus has trapped the trappers. But again, as with so many places in Scripture, there is so much more.

Whose image appears on the coin? Why the head of state, of course. Very well then, says Jesus. It is made by the state for the use of the state. If the state assesses a tax, then pay it. Our taxes today are used to pay for a service received, a benefit awarded, a program perpetuated. We have images of past presidents and other leaders on our coinage.  In Jesus’ day, the image was that of the Roman emperor.  In that day as in this, coinage was a form of currency used to purchase goods and services and to pay debts and taxes. Jesus says to honor the tax levied by the state with the currency made by the state. But Jesus goes farther. He says to render unto God what is God’s, to honor the obligation mandated by God with the currency He made.

On the surface, Jesus has answered in keeping with Old Testament teaching. The books of Proverbs and Daniel remind us that we should pay tax to overlords since even the great owe their positions to God. This is echoed in the New Testament by Paul in Romans 13 and Peter in 1^st Peter 3 to submit to the governing authority whatever it may be. Jesus is not concerned with a kingdom that exacts a tax and collects coins. He is rather building a kingdom of the spirit, a kingdom without boundaries, a kingdom which transcends the Caesars of the world, both then and now.  Because of this, Jesus will not side with the religious zealots of Israel or with any other group which seeks an earthly kingdom as its answer. Is he denying his own people? Of course not. He answers to a higher call. Jesus’ answer is so profound that his adversaries are amazed and walk away. 

Jesus is also warning us that while we should be respectful to earthly government and authority, we too have a higher duty. In the book of Acts (4:19), the story is reported of Peter and John appearing before the Sanhedrin. It is after Pentecost and they are filled with the Holy Spirit. They have performed miracles in the name of Jesus.  The religious leaders are amazed at not only the courage, but also the knowledge and authority with which these unschooled, ordinary men are speaking. The Sanhedrin commands them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, to which Peter and John reply: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking…” (Acts 4: 19).  Later they are brought back before this ruling body and again commanded to stop. Their answer? “We must obey God rather than men.” (5:29).

It comes to that sometimes, doesn’t it? Most of the time, we can get along as we go along. We can obey man’s law and still follow God. But there are times. They come upon us in such awkward moments. We might need to say a prayer on a school ground or return thanks in a restaurant. We might need to stand while others sit or hold our applause while others clap or speak when we would rather remain silent. We might need to tell our boss that our walk with Jesus just won’t let us go where others go. We might need to stand on our knees so that others can see our real image. There is a relationship between God’s people and government. It co-exists peacefully, but always with some tension, for Christians have dual citizenship, and God’s kingdom must always claim our ultimate loyalty.

Does God have something like coinage? Where does his image appear? To look upon the face of God as a mortal is unthinkable. Even the great Moses who delivered God’s people into the Promised Land was unable to look directly into the face of God. Where is God’s image? How do we see him? What is His currency?

   Let’s look back to the beginning. Genesis 1:26 says:  “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” Genesis 1:27 says “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them.”  Genesis 9:6 reads “…for in the image of God has God made man.”   The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8 that those who are called will be conformed to the likeness of God’s Son. In the kingdom of which Jesus has been teaching, the virtues of love and servant hood rule, and we are the coinage which is the currency of the realm.

In His image.  We are in His image, in His likeness. We are God’s coinage. What a compliment! What a responsibility!  If we are made in his image, do we not belong to God every bit as much as Roman coins belonged to the emperor? If we are indeed His currency in this world we live in, then please, let’s go spend ourselves in the way He would have us. Render unto God what is God’s. 

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like... (Matthew 22: 1-14) 10/9/11

 In the Navy, mealtime is an exercise in class structure. On board my ship, there were four different classes at mealtime. The place where the meals were served was called a “mess.” There was the enlisted mess, which served all enlisted men except Chief Petty Officers. They had their own mess.  There was the Officers’ mess, which served everyone but the Captain. He had his own mess. Occasionally, a junior officer would be invited to have dinner with the Captain. This was not something that was open to consideration. If you were invited, it was both an honor and a command. You did not say no to such an invitation. It was a snub you could ill afford to make to a man who had so much power at sea.

And yet, such careless behavior is the subject of the parable we call the Wedding Banquet. A king issues wedding invitations for his son. The custom of the day was to let those invited know of the event well in advance.  As much preparation went into this production which would last for days, the final day and hour were left for a second invitation. People were to make ready to respond, but could go on about their business until the second invitation was issued. Then, they were expected to come. Clothing was often supplied by the host, so it was just a matter of showing up clean and prepared.  Jesus uses this familiar scene to illustrate yet another aspect of the kingdom of heaven. This third parable in a trilogy delivered at the temple courts appears to have as its audience not only the religious leaders, but also the crowd which had gathered.

In the Parable of the Tenants, we saw Jesus’ indictment of religious leaders for neglect of covenantal duty. Here in the parable of the Wedding Feast, we can almost feel the stinging condemnation of those who would ignore or be casual with God’s grace. We might compare the first invitation to the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven by the Son. Remember the admonition of John the Baptist in Matthew 3? He says that the kingdom of heaven is near. Shortly afterward he baptizes Jesus. It is common to refer to the Messiah as a bridegroom. (Mt 9:15, Jn 3:29, Eph 5: 25-32, Rev 21: 2, 9). Jesus pursues this motif in the parable.  “Kingdom of heaven” is a term preferred by Matthew, the most Jewish of the four Gospels. The other Gospel writers often use the term “kingdom of God.” This term would have stirred up many specific images in the minds of a Jewish audience, so Matthew used the word “heaven” instead of “God.” For our purposes, the terms “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” can be used interchangeably.

The presence of Jesus ushers in the kingdom of heaven. It is a present event. Such is the first invitation to the feast. Subsequent invitations are like notices that the time is now. They are ignored even though they are repeated and described with great embellishment.

In the parable, a king is snubbed. He is snubbed first by refusal, then by going back to the field, and back to the business. He is even rejected by the mistreatment and killing of his own messengers. The result is the same as that in the Parable of the Tenants. Those who reject the invitation of the king will find themselves destroyed. In this way, these two parables have parallel messages.

As in the parable of the Tenants, others are invited. The callous and disobedient behavior of some has opened the door for many more. The Scripture says that people of all kinds, both good and bad, were invited literally from the street corners to join the king at the wedding feast.  This is not a story of religious leaders, but rather of people from all walks of life. All are invited. William Barclay compares the invitation to the wedding feast of a king to the invitation to joy that our Heavenly Father has offered us. To reject it is to reject joy itself.

There is a subtlety here which needs to be noted. It is true that there were some who were just plain mean. The Scripture says that they mistreated the messengers…even killed them. This kind of meanness is no stranger to us in our world and we expect it to be punished.  But Jesus also talks about others who just did not go to the feast. It is not the pursuit of immorality or even selfish things that seems to keep the people away. Jesus says that they paid no attention to the messengers…that “they went off—one to his field, another to his business.” How often do we do just that! Church business must wait on family business. It’s such a hassle to get the kids ready for Sunday school and its just 45 minutes long. Better we just go to worship service. Wednesday night Bible study is just too much for me. I meant to have devotions today, but life just got ahead of me. And the list goes on. The things we often do in the place of living in the kingdom seem decent, even necessary. The urgencies of our world pull us away from the important things in it.  And the kingdom of heaven is like…

Verses 11-14 seem to form a parable within a parable, a story within the story. The king comes in and one of the guests is improperly dressed. Custom would seem to say that he could have been dressed, as the king probably provided the wedding clothes for the guests. Nevertheless, this fellow is not prepared. When confronted by the king, the man is speechless. He knows that he has been caught dead to rights He has been called out for his disobedience. The king addresses him kindly, as if in genuine regret of the man’s decision. But the king also has him thrown into the darkness. The king’s kindness does not stop him from exercising judgment on blatant disobedience. Jesus then reminds his audience that while many are invited, few are chosen. We could make a good argument that indeed all are invited. The very street corners have been used by the messengers of the king to invite all who would hear. 

Just because grace is free, do not infer that it is cheap. There is a difference. Accepting the invitation is a first step. It gets you in the door. Will you come dressed and prepared for the occasion? Will you lay down your stubbornness and selfishness and don the new clothes, or must you stay adorned by your own choices? Jesus reminds us that choices…and changes, must be made. Anyone can get invited. Not everyone will stay for the feast. I have had a running debate with a lawyer friend for many years about whether people can change. He maintains that people don’t change…that fundamentally they are who they are and that they really don’t change. I worry sometimes about my friend’s understanding of Sanctification. Of course people change. It they didn’t, our churches would have emptied centuries ago. God changes us when we cannot change ourselves. We have but to allow it.  For the kingdom of heaven is like…

Today, we celebrate two events in the life of the church. The first is a marker. Fifty years ago, the congregation of this church moved into this sanctuary. This assembly has survived and thrived from its beginnings in 1848 as a log chapel some twelve miles from here to a frame house in 1883 to the Jefferson Church in 1888 to a separate church in 1903. From a church yoked first with McBee and Jefferson churches, later with only Jefferson, Rocky Creek has continued to serve God over a century. On October 8, 1961, the then new Sanctuary was used for the Homecoming Service. Recently, the Sanctuary received a facelift and now stands well prepared to serve God and the people of this community for years to come.

We also celebrate Older Adults Sunday today.  In so doing, we join with many cultures around the world that honor older adults as those possessing the most wisdom among their tribes and people groups. Paul charges Timothy to bestow a double honor on the elders of the church. He urges that the church be managed by those not new in the faith, those who have been tested, those who “keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.” It is for such example that we have all learned to look to those among our number who have labored long and stood the winds of change with integrity and faith. Let us always be thankful for the seniors among us. Let us always be respectful to their presence, attentive to their thoughts, responsive to their needs.

          And the kingdom of heaven is like… Well, it should be like me. It should be like you. It should be like the cloud of saints whose names are marked in the cemetery beside us; names like Johnson and Clark and Campbell and Sullivan. It should be like all the other faithful seniors of this and every church. It should be like Rocky Creek.  It should be an open door and a willing heart.  We too have been gathered in from the street corners and the highways and byways of life. We have no more right to be here than the man cast in the darkness from the wedding feast. Unless…unless we accept the invitation and the grace from whom it comes. The kingdom of God is here.  Accept the hospitality of the King. Come in and stay for the feast!

STONES AND FRUIT (Matthew 21: 33-46) 10/2/11

      Ever watch the Indiana Jones movies with Harrison Ford as the star? One of my favorites is called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It reminds me of today’s lesson. My Bible captions it “The Parable of the Tenants.” It might also be called Jesus and the Vineyard of Gloom. In the movie and in the parable, some very bad decisions are made by people in charge. The consequences in the movie are just like the ones in real life. They hurt and they don’t just hurt the decision makers. They hurt us all. Let’s see what this parable has to say to us.
      Parables are a story form almost unique to Jesus. They are object lessons conjured up from real life. This parable is no exception. The times in which Jesus lived were those of Roman occupation. There was unrest and tension. Those whose could afford to do so often left their real estate holdings to be managed by others. Crops were farmed by tenants. The framework described in the parable is typical. A tall hedge was built around the vineyard for protection from vandals, robbers and wild beasts. A tower was built both for sleeping quarters and as a guard tower. A winepress was part of any vineyard. It consisted of two troughs carved out of stone or built from bricks, one high, one low and connected by a channel. As the grapes were pressed in the higher trough, the juice ran off through the channel to the lower trough. Absentee owners would contract out the land to tenants as sharecroppers or paying tenants or some other form of business partnership. This is not so different from arrangements made right now in Chesterfield County for use of fields to plant crops or as grazing land.
      Unlike a pure parable, which normally tracks one direction and has one central point to make, this parable is a hybrid. It has some allegorical flavor to it as well. We don’t need a grammar lesson here, so let’s just say that this story has multiple players and makes multiple points. Before we go too much farther, lets look at the playbill and sort out the cast of characters. The vineyard is the nation of Israel. This comes right out of Isaiah 5: 7: “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.” This also identifies the owner of the vineyard for us. It’s God, of course. The tenants are a little tougher, but it’s pretty clear that they at least include the religious leaders. Remember that we have talked about reading the Bible in context. Here is another example of its importance. Who is Jesus’ audience? If we look back to verse 23, we see that Jesus entered the temple courts and the chief priests and the elders came to him while he was teaching. Jesus initially speaks to them in parables. Other listeners ware certainly around, but his chief audience at this point is religious leaders. The working of the vineyard, or doing God’s work, and the fruit it yields, might be said to be the harvest. The messengers sent by the owner are the prophets. Finally, the owner sends his own son. Guess who?
      You could see it coming, couldn’t you? When the owner has tried everything, even to the point of sending his own son, he has no choice but to find new tenants, Finally, God Himself shows up and the tables are turned. The bad guys get their come-uppance and the new kids on the block take over the vineyard, which is to say, the kingdom. If this sounds like a pointed message to the Pharisees and ultimately the Jews, it certainly is. The danger is that you might think that is all there is to this story. That would be a mistake. Let’s look closer, for there is no story in the Bible which does not have relevance in our world today. This is much more than a history lesson, and much more than an indictment against the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.
      You might say that this is a three-legged story. Jesus talks last about himself and his identity. First he talks about God and then men. Our picture of God here is as a trusting God. The owner builds a perfect environment in which to be successful. Then he turns it over to men. He doesn’t micromanage. He leaves people in charge, expecting the job to get done. In much the same way, God the Creator has provided everything we need to succeed. We are entrusted to do his work. Then, when it is time to share in the harvest, the owner in the parable, and God in our lives, sends messenger after messenger. He appeals to the tenants, to us. He is patient beyond our human understanding. He suffers insult and rejection and still sends more messengers. We know them in the Bible as Isaiah and Jeremiah and Amos and Joel and so many more. Some are hurt. Some are even killed. Finally, he even sends his own son. In a bizarre act of greed and selfish ambition, the son is killed, as if in some aberration of the law, the killers will succeed to the ownership of the vineyard. It didn’t even work that way in first century Israel. It certainly is no way to enter the kingdom of heaven. Our last lesson about God is the most obvious. As did the owner to the tenants, so will God come and judge. Where will we be then? Will we be like the stewards of the vineyard, rejecting the very hand that feeds us? The judgment is that they will be removed, replaced by others who will serve and obey.
      Secondly, Jesus’ parable illumines the privilege and freedom that we are bequeathed as a starting point. As it was in the vineyard, we have everything we need. --- even the freedom to apply our skills and work in the manner with which we see fit. While God does not abandon us, he does give us everything we need to succeed. He even lets us have room to experiment, to fail and then to succeed. In America, this entire analogy is in full flower. We have been given plentiful resources and the freedom to apply ourselves in whatever way we choose. Yet the Christian church in America is losing numbers every week, every month, and has been for years. The United States is now characterized as the fourth largest mission field in the world today. We are in danger of becoming the Pharisees that Jesus referred to in this parable. We sin when we are deliberately disobedient to God. Going down a selfish road without regard to the consequences it may have upon ourselves and others is precisely that kind of deliberate disobedience. We are his fruit, but if we are rotten, we will be thrown out with the rest of the garbage.
      Thirdly, Jesus talks about himself. He is the son who was sent by the owner. He is the part of God himself that is directly revealed to us. He is the direct link. Maybe the claim of the messengers can be argued, but not so with the son of the owner himself. He is different. To reject his claim is to reject the owner himself. The parable also makes it clear that Jesus knew what lay ahead. Though nothing happened that day, he knew it would happen. His was the path of sacrifice. His telling of the parable to the religious leaders was nothing less than a foreshadowing of the cross which lay ahead.
      So the parable concludes with this idea of the fruit going bad and having to be replaced. This is analogous not only to the story of the Jews and the Gentiles, but also to the Christian church in America, for if we continue to water down the words of the Bible, we become so inclusive, so tolerant to all other creeds and beliefs as to have no Savior. He is no longer needed, for we have killed the messenger and with it, the message. Oh, don’t worry about the Church. It is the bride of Christ and it will be preserved because Christ is the head of the church. But do worry about its presence. Do worry about your presence in it. Do worry about both being and preserving that good fruit, for it is not just Pharisees and it is not just first century Israel. It is you and I and it is here and now.
      While the parable is told, the rest of the lesson is still unfolding. There is still the reference to the stone. Jesus talks of the stone that the builder rejected, of its power to crush and to break those who would test it wrongly. He quotes Psalm 118, which there refers to the nation of Israel. Here, Jesus refers to that stone as himself. He is foundational, like a cornerstone, to all that we understand about both creation and salvation. He is also the capstone, the end stone, the last stone laid. As the apostle John describes him, he is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is who we build on and who holds it all together. To refuse him is to be broken. To defy him is to be crushed.
      “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” If the words sound harsh or hard, consider how many times, how many ways he reaches out for us…how much he gives to us…how much rejection he takes from us. If the result sounds violent or painful, consider how many times his message has been ignored. But the cup will not pass away. While living outside the umbrella of Christ is possible because of the free will God gives us, free will can not stop judgment day.
      You do not want to feel the weight of that stone upon you. Build your life and your reliance on the only stone that can hold forever. Make Jesus your cornerstone and your captsone. Be the fruit that he made you to be.