Matthew
21:23-32 and Philippians 2:1-13
We will begin with our gospel reading
and we can’t really jump into it this morning without going back a bit. At this point in Matthew’s narrative Jesus is
preparing for his death. He has ridden
into Jerusalem
“By what authority are you doing these
things?” they ask. How come you are
making such a ruckus and who are you to be attracting so much attention? Well, one should know better than to try to
question Jesus. There is no one more
skilled at controlling a conversation and upending our line of thought than
him. Jesus refuses to answer their
question, and in true rabbinical fashion he asks a question of his own. “Did the baptism of John come from heaven or
of human origin?”
Ah, the trap is sprung and there is no
escape now. If the chief priests say
John’s baptism was from heaven then they say John is legitimate and by proxy so
is Jesus. If they say it was from man
they will surely lose the respect of the crowds who have grown quite fond of
both the ministry of Jesus and John.
There is no winning, there is no way out, they are done for. “We don’t know” they mumble under their
breath.
Now that he has secured the upper
hand, Jesus uses this opportunity to needle them a bit further by telling a
parable. He takes us back to the
metaphor of working in the vineyard by telling a story of a man with two sons. He asks both to work in the vineyard for the
day. One says he will work but doesn’t
go and work, by contrast the other says he won’t work but then in the end he
does go and work. I will forever think
of this as the “Pig Will” and “Pig Won’t” parable.
Jesus asks which one does the will of
the Father and of course it was the one who went to work, rather than the one
who simply said he would go and work.
Jesus teaches that when it comes to serving the Lord, what matters is
not what you say but what you do. Jesus
then says that the tax collectors and prostitutes are headed into heaven before
the religious leaders because they are the ones who believed the preaching of
John and who also then believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The temple authorities are stunned. Prostitutes in heaven before them, that
hurts!
Jesus’ encounter with these guys
reminds us that our faith is not about what we say; it is about what we
do. Our faith is not about reciting the
proper creeds or having the proper belief system. It’s not about who reads the Bible right or
how exactly our church polity works. No,
our faith is only ever about how we live our lives, not just on Sunday mornings
but all the other days of the week.
If we are followers of Christ, it will
be shown by our actions, not by our professions of faith. The temple authorities spent days on end
professing the correct faith, but their actions showed that they didn’t really
believe in what they were saying. In the
end, it is not what we say that matters, it is what we do. Which makes me think of that old Nike slogan:
when it comes to our faith don’t just say it, “Just do it!”
So what should we do, what does
Christian living look like? Let’s turn
to Paul. Here we are jumping into Paul’s
letter to the church in Philippi . This is widely considered to be Paul’s most
affectionate letter. He is writing it as
an expression of friendship to a church he truly loves. And yet, like any church then or now, there
is a bit of conflict in the ranks and it is this that Paul seeks to address.
The “if” in verse one can also be
translated as “since” which might make this a better reading. “Since there is encouragement in Christ,
consolation from love, sharing in the Spirit, compassion and sympathy” since there are all these forms of love
and unity “then make my joy complete by being of one mind in Christ.”
Paul encourages the Philippians to be
of one mind as a church. Coming to a
common mind is about letting go of the importance of our own opinions as an act
of selflessness for the sake of unity in Christ. They should let go of selfish ambition and
conceit, and instead regard others as better than themselves. He asks them to look not to their own individual
interests, but to look to the interests of others. Don’t do what’s best for you or what you
think is right, he says, instead do what is best for the group. It’s not what
you say that matters, it’s what you do, and what you should do is work toward
the building up of others.
Where did Paul get such a kooky
idea? From Christ of course! “Let the same mind be in you that was in
Christ Jesus,” he tells them. He then
launches into what appears to be a long poem but which scholars actually think
was a hymn. In fact, it is commonly
thought that Paul is quoting one of the favorite hymns of the Philippian
church. This is a great tool to get the
Philippians’ attention and make his point.
It would be as if I started quoted the words from “Amazing Grace” in a
sermon of mine. That would certainly
stir the song in your heart and wake you up to my message. Paul wants to wake the people of Philippi up to the message that they should be imitators
of Christ, who though he was in the form of God, emptied himself and became a
slave.
As believers, we understand who God is
from God’s self-revelation to us.
Throughout the scriptures we read of God’s acts on behalf of
others. From the days of creation to
bringing the exiles out of Egypt ,
from sending the prophets to sending John to baptize in the Jordan
This is World Communion Sunday, one of
my favorite Sunday’s in the life of the church.
Today we remember that while we physically gather as Christians in
Warrensburg Missouri, we spiritually gather with Christians all over the
world. As our country continues to
struggle over issues of patriotism and nationalism, as well as our promise of
liberty and justice for all, it is good to be reminded that at this table, in
this church, our focus shouldn’t be on being American. Rather, our focus should be on our status as
citizens of the world, part of God’s big family of humanity.
As Christians we are called to work
for peace in our world, recognizing that all God’s children have a right to
peace and safety. This call necessitates
the self-emptying love of Christ. We
cannot be a people of peace, and we cannot be a nation of peace, if we are
constantly pushing our own beliefs and desires ahead of the basic needs of
other people. We cannot be a people of
peace if we are a nation that threatens violence to those who disagree with us.
When we gather at the table we
remember that Christ is our model.
Christ, though in the form of God, emptied himself and was born into
human likeness. Christ humbled himself
to the point of death on a cross. God lifted
Christ high in exaltation through the resurrection. And God promises that one day all will
confess that this one, this suffering servant, this Jesus Christ, is Lord.
As you move out from this worship
service today and into the world around you I want to encourage you to think
about these lessons from Jesus and Paul.
In a nation that is struggling to find the balance between nationalism
and justice, how can we act in ways that promote the shared dignity of all
people as children of God? In a nation
that continues to threaten violence, how can we act in ways that promote peace
in our community and in our world?
Instead of just professing our faith, how can we live out our faith by
lifting up the needs of others above our own?
Jesus tells us that it in the end it is not what we say that matters, it
is what we do. My prayer for us this
week is that we would live lives worthy of his name and “just do it!” Amen.
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