Rector's Sermon - Sunday, September 29, 2002

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32	25:1-8	Philippians 2;1-13	Matthew 21:23-32

    At the time Matthew compiled his Gospel, the dispute of Jesus with the Pharisees over the legitimacy of his authority was being played out over and over again in the life of the Christian community between early Christian leaders and the rabbis of traditional Judaism. The early Christians claimed that by accepting Jesus they were being faithful to the true meaning of the scriptures, and of course the rabbis vigorously disagreed. So it was easy for later Christians to interpret the parable of the two sons, the one said who said, " Yes," but did not go to the vineyard, and the other son who said, "No," but went to the vineyard, and the indictment that followed, with the Pharisees being turned away while outsiders were being accepted into God's kingdom, as allegory of an old Israel compared to the new church.

    Such an emphasis may have been helpful to a besieged minority of Christians in increasing conflict with a surrounding culture which for centuries saw their religious tradition as the bulwark protecting them against annihilation or assimilation by various brutal foreign empires. Yet I wonder if such an interpretation today causes Jesus' message to be blunted, if not totally misunderstood. Jesus is not condemning Judaism in particular nor religious tradition in general.

    Jesus is affirming the pioneer work of John the Baptist, for John prepared the way for a dynamically broader interpretation of God's call to people of faith. John baptized those who were truly desiring to live a new life, no matter what their past was. John ministered to people no one else wanted or liked, and told them that God cared about them, too. John's ministry was a breath of fresh cool air off the desert that was built upon and enriched the long tradition of prophets.

    Jesus continued in the tradition of John's ministry. Of course, Jesus was his own person and was not an ascetic like John, but he, too, welcomed outsiders and those no one else gave much thought to, and included them in a wider fellowship.

    Now you would think that the scholars of the scriptures would be the first people to recognize God working in the ministry of John and Jesus. Logically, knowing how God acted in the past, knowing that God is continuing to do new things, the very people who were wary of John and Jesus should have been their greatest supporters.

    One obvious lesson for us is that the ways of humanity are not always logical and particular ways of God are not automatically self-evident to all. Yes, it is easy to shake our heads and say that those who had the benefit of a good education and knew the scriptures should have spotted the Holy Spirit working. But that was then, and this is now, and finger pointing is usually self-serving. At issue is really the question what about us? How open are we today, in our time, to God revealing fresh and new things?

    I wonder if, instead of understanding the two sons in terms of two diverging religious traditions, or of one doing really what God wanted and the other merely playing lip-service, the two sons really point to two forces within ourselves. For within we struggle with a call to tradition that grounds us and keeps our feet in place, but also with a call that tells us wonderful things are happening out there, and in order to discover them, we are going to have to stretch ourselves to catch up.

    How open are we to what God may be saying in our world? How frightened are we of the possibility that God is challenging us to deeper understandings? Last week I attended our diocesan clergy conference where it was suggested that one of things the church should do is provide the answers to the underlying purpose and direction of our lives. Well, yes I agree, but there is something that disturbs me. For when the answers we are expecting the church to offer tend to be answers that have been formulated decades if not centuries ago, we like to use them as excuses to keep disturbing questions at bay. It is as if the Holy Spirit hasn't been around in decades.

    The Bible is not an old textbook. It is a living Bible. It gives life as we apply ourselves to the hard task, not of simply repeating old answers, but insisting on and valuing continuing questions. If I am satisfied and complacent with my present understanding, I am like the son who says," Yes, I will follow Jesus into the vineyard", but never moves in that direction. Following implies movement; it implies not being content with our feet planted in the same spot for very long. That is why I'd like to think the parable of the two sons reflects a tension within us that is not yet resolved. Indeed it is often within ourselves that the most difficult and formidable conflicts occur.

    And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.