What Do You Think?
Sermon
Questions Of Faith
Gospel Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Operation Bootstrap Africa is making a difference. It is a Minnesota based non-profit organization established in the mid-sixties to raise money to build schools in poor third world countries. The organization was founded by a pastor and his wife who served as missionaries in Tanzania for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). They were determined to witness to their faith, not only with their words but also by their actions. Their commitment to make a difference by starting schools has touched the lives of many African families as well as the lives of teachers from other countries who have gone there to teach.
One teacher who went to Tanzania to teach said it was a life-changing experience for her. She found that she could live a full and satisfying life with very little in terms of material things. And she found that the Tanzanians were not a suffering people and that the missionaries and teachers who served there were not suffering people. This does not mean that they led easy lives. In fact it was more the opposite. They faced many difficulties because the people were uneducated and did not have enough water, firewood, food, or adequate health care. Yet, they were a very joyful people filled with the Spirit. You could hear and feel their joy in their singing and dancing. They lived the words in Ephesians 5:18b-20:
Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Tanzanians were an inspiration to the teacher from the United States. She was awed by the depth of their faith and by their joy in worshiping God. She came back saying that the church in this country needs to be reformed and that Christians needed to "walk the talk."
The teacher's observations about the church in this country have been voiced by others, as well. Some think the mainline churches have made a big mistake by not demanding more. They believe that people tend to value a religion that costs them. They value churches that demand much of their members. To these critics, the churches in this country have become soft because church members have been allowed to believe and do anything. As a result the Jesus of the scriptures — the one who fed the 5,000, who preached Good News to the poor, who drove the moneychangers out of the temple — has been reshaped to fit any passing fad. Are these criticisms of us as Christians valid? What do you think?
Walk The Talk!
In Matthew, Jesus raises that same question of the religious leaders of his day. He is in the midst of a controversy with them. They are opposing him because of his friendliness towards sinners. They can't understand why he is associating with tax collectors and prostitutes. They are trying to entrap him by asking him by what authority he does his work. Jesus answers them with a question that they refuse to answer. So he asks them: "What do you think?" and then tells them a story about a man with two sons.
In the story the father asks the sons to go into the vineyard to work. Many of Jesus' stories are set in vineyards because vineyards were important in biblical times. They provided grapes for the table and grapes for wine where clean drinking water was often scarce. Workers were urgently needed in the vineyards when the grapes became ripe.
In the story of the two sons, one son says, "I go, sir," and then does not go and the other son says, "I will not," but then reconsiders. We might say that he repents and goes into the vineyard to work. What do you think? Which son did the will of his father? The answer is obvious. Jesus was using an effective teaching technique when he asked the religious leaders what they thought. He invited them to pass judgment on this simple story, and when they did they passed judgment upon themselves. They were like the son who said, "I go, sir," but then did not go. They confessed with their lips; they said the right things but they did not act and heed the call to serve.
With which son in today's Gospel do you identify? Generally speaking, there are four kinds of people in the church: those who do not want to do anything, those who say no and then later change their minds and get involved, those who say yes to everything and then do not follow up on their commitments, and then those who do what they say. They "walk the talk."
There are many in the church who are like the son who said yes, but then didn't go into the vineyard. They are friendly, well-intentioned procrastinating people. They never argue, never criticize, or give others any problems. And yet getting them to do anything is nearly impossible. Perhaps you have heard the story of the employer who was asked to write a letter of recommendation for a rather lazy employee. The employer wanted to be honest, but he also wanted the employee to get the new job so that he would leave the company. Thus the employer concluded his letter of reference with these words: "If you get John to work for you, you will be extremely fortunate. Yours truly ..."
God is looking for followers who do more than warm a pew on Sunday mornings. God is looking for those who live the kingdom values of love and justice every day of their lives. Most of us have great intentions, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know that our words and actions don't always match. We say one thing and then do the opposite. We often procrastinate. We know the right words to say but don't always do what we say. Sometimes this happens because we want to avoid conflict or criticism at all costs. Thus we say what we know the other person wants to hear even though we have no intention of doing it. It is the easy way.
We are called not only to believe in Christ, but to follow him. To follow Christ may mean that we sometimes have to swim against the current. It is to swim up stream; it is to follow the narrow path instead of the more traveled path of the world. You may hear from your supervisor that this is the way we do it here. We have to face facts and go along with something that is against our values and principles, for the sake of the company. One who takes his/her faith seriously may respond, "Sorry, because I belong to Christ, I guess I don't belong here."
What do you think? What do you value more — words or actions? The writer of James says very clearly that faith without works is dead. The Good Samaritan was good because he saw a stranger in need and responded. The Rich Young Ruler missed out on the kingdom because he was unwilling to give his possessions to the poor. Words can be empty promises while actions show our true selves. Too often we do not "walk the talk."
Repent!
The point of this parable, however, is more than a call to action. It is a call to repent, to admit that we don't always act like the saved people we are in Jesus Christ. We do confess our faith Sunday after Sunday in church, but often we don't live it in the world. We know the Ten Commandments were given for our good, yet we don't keep them. We have other gods. We know the Bible tells us to tithe, but how many of us do? We know that we are to love and care for the poor but we don't do as much as we could. This simple story of two sons not only passes judgment upon us but it is a call to repent.
Jesus makes the point in the Gospel today that God is closer to sinners who know they are sinners than to religious people who say all the right things but do not act on their faith. This is in terms of both their personal and professional lives.
President Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern will long be remembered. In fact it will go down in history with Clinton. At a ministers' conference of evangelicals at Willow Creek Church in Illinois, Clinton acknowledged that he made a terrible mistake, and since that mistake he has had to come to terms with many things about the fundamental importance of character and integrity. He acknowledged that he now awakens with an overwhelming sense of gratitude because he has had to come to grips with what he did. He also told the ministers that he has learned a lot about forgiveness after having to stand up and ask it for himself before the whole world. As a result, he is a far less judgmental person and far more forgiving.
It took Clinton a long time to acknowledge his sin. This was an expensive lesson for him to learn. It not only cost him a lot but also it cost the taxpayers. It did force us as a country to face questions of morality and integrity that we might not otherwise have done.
In the darkest of days, God is calling us to turn around and seek new life in him. That is what Ezekiel the prophet is saying in chapter 18 verses 30 and 31. He says: "Repent and turn from all your transgressions ... get yourself a new heart and a new spirit ... Turn then and live."
I believe that is what Jesus is telling the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, when he warns them that the prostitutes and tax collectors are closer to the kingdom of God than they are. He is calling them to recognize their sin and their need for him. The prostitutes and tax collectors are the ones who know it is only God who can change their heart and spirit and lift them out of a life of sin and possible death to a new life.
Today's Gospel is not as bleak as it may seem, for God challenges us with the law, showing us our limitations, but at the same time God's grace embraces us just as we are. Look around you. See the variety of people who make up God's church. Look especially at the older members, those in their nineties. You can be inspired by their lives. You know that they have gone through considerable heartache in their many decades of life. Yet they have kept the faith. And as I look out in the congregation, I see many who have "walked the talk." Some have put up with health problems for years, fighting cancer, heart disease, and other problems, but yet they have been able to give thanks and keep hope even in the darkest of days. They have a joy deep in their hearts like the Christians my friend encountered in Tanzania.
Conclusion
The story Jesus tells of the two sons invites us this morning to take stock of our lives. What do we value more — words or actions? Do we "walk the talk"? But most important, the story is a call to repentance. For if we are honest, there is truth in the criticism leveled against the Church in the United States. We could do a better job of being a voice for the disenfranchised and a safe harbor for those at sea in their lives. We could be more spirit filled, more joyful in our singing. Our actions or lack of action condemn us, but we can trust God's grace.
The well-known picture of Christ knocking on the door can be interpreted two ways — he is knocking to come in and he is knocking for us to come out into the world to live for him. I think both interpretations are correct. We need Christ in us in order to live for Christ in the world. What do you think? Amen.
One teacher who went to Tanzania to teach said it was a life-changing experience for her. She found that she could live a full and satisfying life with very little in terms of material things. And she found that the Tanzanians were not a suffering people and that the missionaries and teachers who served there were not suffering people. This does not mean that they led easy lives. In fact it was more the opposite. They faced many difficulties because the people were uneducated and did not have enough water, firewood, food, or adequate health care. Yet, they were a very joyful people filled with the Spirit. You could hear and feel their joy in their singing and dancing. They lived the words in Ephesians 5:18b-20:
Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Tanzanians were an inspiration to the teacher from the United States. She was awed by the depth of their faith and by their joy in worshiping God. She came back saying that the church in this country needs to be reformed and that Christians needed to "walk the talk."
The teacher's observations about the church in this country have been voiced by others, as well. Some think the mainline churches have made a big mistake by not demanding more. They believe that people tend to value a religion that costs them. They value churches that demand much of their members. To these critics, the churches in this country have become soft because church members have been allowed to believe and do anything. As a result the Jesus of the scriptures — the one who fed the 5,000, who preached Good News to the poor, who drove the moneychangers out of the temple — has been reshaped to fit any passing fad. Are these criticisms of us as Christians valid? What do you think?
Walk The Talk!
In Matthew, Jesus raises that same question of the religious leaders of his day. He is in the midst of a controversy with them. They are opposing him because of his friendliness towards sinners. They can't understand why he is associating with tax collectors and prostitutes. They are trying to entrap him by asking him by what authority he does his work. Jesus answers them with a question that they refuse to answer. So he asks them: "What do you think?" and then tells them a story about a man with two sons.
In the story the father asks the sons to go into the vineyard to work. Many of Jesus' stories are set in vineyards because vineyards were important in biblical times. They provided grapes for the table and grapes for wine where clean drinking water was often scarce. Workers were urgently needed in the vineyards when the grapes became ripe.
In the story of the two sons, one son says, "I go, sir," and then does not go and the other son says, "I will not," but then reconsiders. We might say that he repents and goes into the vineyard to work. What do you think? Which son did the will of his father? The answer is obvious. Jesus was using an effective teaching technique when he asked the religious leaders what they thought. He invited them to pass judgment on this simple story, and when they did they passed judgment upon themselves. They were like the son who said, "I go, sir," but then did not go. They confessed with their lips; they said the right things but they did not act and heed the call to serve.
With which son in today's Gospel do you identify? Generally speaking, there are four kinds of people in the church: those who do not want to do anything, those who say no and then later change their minds and get involved, those who say yes to everything and then do not follow up on their commitments, and then those who do what they say. They "walk the talk."
There are many in the church who are like the son who said yes, but then didn't go into the vineyard. They are friendly, well-intentioned procrastinating people. They never argue, never criticize, or give others any problems. And yet getting them to do anything is nearly impossible. Perhaps you have heard the story of the employer who was asked to write a letter of recommendation for a rather lazy employee. The employer wanted to be honest, but he also wanted the employee to get the new job so that he would leave the company. Thus the employer concluded his letter of reference with these words: "If you get John to work for you, you will be extremely fortunate. Yours truly ..."
God is looking for followers who do more than warm a pew on Sunday mornings. God is looking for those who live the kingdom values of love and justice every day of their lives. Most of us have great intentions, and if we are honest with ourselves, we know that our words and actions don't always match. We say one thing and then do the opposite. We often procrastinate. We know the right words to say but don't always do what we say. Sometimes this happens because we want to avoid conflict or criticism at all costs. Thus we say what we know the other person wants to hear even though we have no intention of doing it. It is the easy way.
We are called not only to believe in Christ, but to follow him. To follow Christ may mean that we sometimes have to swim against the current. It is to swim up stream; it is to follow the narrow path instead of the more traveled path of the world. You may hear from your supervisor that this is the way we do it here. We have to face facts and go along with something that is against our values and principles, for the sake of the company. One who takes his/her faith seriously may respond, "Sorry, because I belong to Christ, I guess I don't belong here."
What do you think? What do you value more — words or actions? The writer of James says very clearly that faith without works is dead. The Good Samaritan was good because he saw a stranger in need and responded. The Rich Young Ruler missed out on the kingdom because he was unwilling to give his possessions to the poor. Words can be empty promises while actions show our true selves. Too often we do not "walk the talk."
Repent!
The point of this parable, however, is more than a call to action. It is a call to repent, to admit that we don't always act like the saved people we are in Jesus Christ. We do confess our faith Sunday after Sunday in church, but often we don't live it in the world. We know the Ten Commandments were given for our good, yet we don't keep them. We have other gods. We know the Bible tells us to tithe, but how many of us do? We know that we are to love and care for the poor but we don't do as much as we could. This simple story of two sons not only passes judgment upon us but it is a call to repent.
Jesus makes the point in the Gospel today that God is closer to sinners who know they are sinners than to religious people who say all the right things but do not act on their faith. This is in terms of both their personal and professional lives.
President Bill Clinton's affair with a White House intern will long be remembered. In fact it will go down in history with Clinton. At a ministers' conference of evangelicals at Willow Creek Church in Illinois, Clinton acknowledged that he made a terrible mistake, and since that mistake he has had to come to terms with many things about the fundamental importance of character and integrity. He acknowledged that he now awakens with an overwhelming sense of gratitude because he has had to come to grips with what he did. He also told the ministers that he has learned a lot about forgiveness after having to stand up and ask it for himself before the whole world. As a result, he is a far less judgmental person and far more forgiving.
It took Clinton a long time to acknowledge his sin. This was an expensive lesson for him to learn. It not only cost him a lot but also it cost the taxpayers. It did force us as a country to face questions of morality and integrity that we might not otherwise have done.
In the darkest of days, God is calling us to turn around and seek new life in him. That is what Ezekiel the prophet is saying in chapter 18 verses 30 and 31. He says: "Repent and turn from all your transgressions ... get yourself a new heart and a new spirit ... Turn then and live."
I believe that is what Jesus is telling the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, when he warns them that the prostitutes and tax collectors are closer to the kingdom of God than they are. He is calling them to recognize their sin and their need for him. The prostitutes and tax collectors are the ones who know it is only God who can change their heart and spirit and lift them out of a life of sin and possible death to a new life.
Today's Gospel is not as bleak as it may seem, for God challenges us with the law, showing us our limitations, but at the same time God's grace embraces us just as we are. Look around you. See the variety of people who make up God's church. Look especially at the older members, those in their nineties. You can be inspired by their lives. You know that they have gone through considerable heartache in their many decades of life. Yet they have kept the faith. And as I look out in the congregation, I see many who have "walked the talk." Some have put up with health problems for years, fighting cancer, heart disease, and other problems, but yet they have been able to give thanks and keep hope even in the darkest of days. They have a joy deep in their hearts like the Christians my friend encountered in Tanzania.
Conclusion
The story Jesus tells of the two sons invites us this morning to take stock of our lives. What do we value more — words or actions? Do we "walk the talk"? But most important, the story is a call to repentance. For if we are honest, there is truth in the criticism leveled against the Church in the United States. We could do a better job of being a voice for the disenfranchised and a safe harbor for those at sea in their lives. We could be more spirit filled, more joyful in our singing. Our actions or lack of action condemn us, but we can trust God's grace.
The well-known picture of Christ knocking on the door can be interpreted two ways — he is knocking to come in and he is knocking for us to come out into the world to live for him. I think both interpretations are correct. We need Christ in us in order to live for Christ in the world. What do you think? Amen.
