Sermon September 28, 2008 - The Two Sons
Pastor Wesley Howell

Matthew 12:23ff

Boy I just love it don’t you! I just love it when Jesus nails those Scribes and Pharisees. It makes me feel so good. So righteous. There they are…2000 years of being called God’s chosen people. But they’re hiding behind a name. God sent them with a mission. A mission that began with Abraham. Blessed to be a blessing to ALL people. But it’s a lot easier to kick back and rest in God’s blessedness. We’re blessed and they aren’t. We’re in and NOBODY else is.

Jesus tells them a little parable. Not NEARLY as long as the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan; but boy does he nail them. Two sons; the father tells one…Go out into the vineyard to work. “NO WAY Pop”. Sound familiar? No way…but then the son changes his mind and goes. The second says, ”You bet Dad! See how good I am! I’m off”. But he has NO intention of going out. He’s off to play golf or whatever sons do these days: X box or whatever. So which of the sons actually does the will of the Father? This isn’t rocket science. Notice that Jesus has NOTHING to say that one son loses his sonship. He doesn’t stop being a son…so don’t go there; but it is all about actions speaking louder than words, talk is cheap.

I love it when Jesus nails those scribes and Pharisees. They had 2000 to get it right. Until I realize that the Word is for us too. And when you start to hear it not just as a Word for back then…but a real word for now… now it’s time to squirm.

It’s not like it took us 2000 years to start forgetting what we’re about. In the year 400; Christianity had been the approved and was the state religion of Rome for about 70 years. EVERYONE was a Christian. Rome was a Christian nation. But there was a preacher from the fringes of the empire, where faith and living your faith mattered; where they were preaching Christ with their words and deeds. This preacher came to the capitol city and he was shocked…appalled. They were mostly Christians in name only. Had their lives changed…were they trying to live what they believed? Trying to live as Christs? Hardly, it was membership. A card they carried, like being part of a country club. This Preacher was preaching on this very same text and he said,

”There are some who call themselves Christian, who attend worship regularly, yet perform no Christian actions in their daily lives. There are others who do not call themselves Christian, and who never attend worship, yet perform many Christian actions in their daily lives. Which of these two groups are the better disciples of Christ? Some would say that believing in Christ and worshipping him is what matters for salvation. This is not what Jesus himself said. His teaching was almost entirely concerned with action, and with the motives which inspire action. He affirmed goodness of behavior in whoever he found, whether the person was Jew or Roman, male or female. And he condemned those who kept all the religious requirements, yet were greedy and cruel. Jesus does not invite people to become his disciples for Jesus own benefit, but to teach and guide them in the ways of goodness.”

So which son are we? That’s the first question. But it’s not just to nail people and then leave them there bleeding. As Jesus said, it’s about doing the will of the Father.

I started to do a bit of this last week with you… Scanning through the Bible you’ll see God sending people…over and over again. God Sent Abraham into the unknown. Why? So that he might be blessed and that the blessing might be spread to all people. All this sending…
• God sent Joseph into Egypt, not to meet Potifar’s wife, but to preserve life.
• God sent Moses back into Egypt a few hundred years later to free oppressed people. People in slavery…bondage.
• God sent Nathan to chew out David for stealing Bathsheba. He told the truth to David in a little story about a man and his sheep.
• God sent the prophets in a time of amazing prosperity for Israel…to weep over the fact that they had forgotten to be a blessing. To weep that now they were a people of injustice selling the poor for the price of a pair of shoes.
• Then…when it all came crashing God sent the prophets again to give comfort and give hope.
• God sent John the Baptist to point to Jesus - to testify to the light.
• Then…finally…God sent Jesus. To tell people that the Kingdom of God is here. To heal the sick. Raise the dead. Bring outcasts, people on the fringes back into the fold…

So…if that’s what God’s been about for 4000 plus years why should it be any different? Go…go into the vineyard…preserve life, tell the truth to everything which kills life, …to save people oppressed (and if you don’t see people in bondage all around you you’re not looking very hard) …to heal, to make God known…to help people see and connect with the God who’s been there the whole time. The God whose mission is life and he only gets cheesed when what we’re doing sucks the life from someone else…because He loves them too! It’s not rocket science. But the question comes back to the parable…which son are we?

Amen