Sermons & Meditations

Matthew 23:1-12
Presented October 30th, 2005, by J.D. Kline
The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

In his book The Different Drum M. Scott Peck tells a story entitled “The Rabbi’s Gift.” It’s the story of a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. All that remained of what had once been a great order was the decaying motherhouse in which lived five monks—the abbot and four others, all over seventy years of age. Clearly it was a dying order.

In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut occasionally used as a hermitage by a rabbi from a nearby town. Through their many years of prayer and contemplation the monks had developed a spiritual sensitivity, so much so that they could always sense when the rabbi was in the hermitage, and they would whisper to one another, “The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods again.” Agonizing over the plight of the monastery, the abbot decided to seek out the rabbi and see if he might offer any advice that could help save the monastery.

The rabbi welcomed the abbot to his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the rabbi could only commiserate with him. “I know how it is,” shared the rabbi. “The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore.” So the abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and quietly spoke of deep things. When the time came for the abbot to leave, the two embraced one another. “It has been a wonderful thing that we should meet after all these years,” said the abbot, “but I have still failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice you can give me that might help save my dying order?”

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Matthew 22:34-46
Presented October 23rd, 2005, by J.D. Kline
Commitment Sunday

A Pharisee immersed in the law—a trained theologian, if you will—approaches Jesus with a question aimed at putting Jesus to the test. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” The question follows on the heels of a series of controversies centering around difficult questions, as those who oppose the direction of Jesus’ ministry seek to force Jesus into saying something that will undermine his credibility. Only one chapter earlier, the chief priests and elders confront Jesus as he enters into the temple, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (21:23). A group of Pharisees offers a follow up question, hoping to entrap Jesus in an impossible situation: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” (22:17). The Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection, then challenge Jesus with a seemingly unsolvable query about a childless widow who marries each of seven brothers, one after another leaving her widowed. “In the resurrection,” the Sadducees question, “whose wife of the seven will she be?” (21:28).

On the surface, the lawyer’s question about which commandment is the greatest seems less controversial. Indeed, in Mark’s Gospel, when a scribe puts the same question before Jesus, one senses that the scribe is sincerely seeking greater understanding in the journey of faith. And the scribe is in good company, for there are frequent attempts in the Hebrew Scriptures to define the heart of the law. In the 15th psalm, for example, the writer questions, “O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?” In response to his own questions the psalmist lists eleven requirements for those who seek to live faithfully as the people of God:

Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart;
who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their friends,
nor take up a reproach against their neighbors;
in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
but who honor those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
who do not lend money at interest,
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be moved (15:1-5).

Several of the Hebrew prophets offer their own summary of the law. Isaiah asserts that the faithful who can stand before God are “those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on evil” (33:15-16). More familiar are the words of Micah who announces that the Lord requires of us that we do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (6:8). Second Isaiah asserts succinctly, “Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right” (56:1). And Habakkuk the prophet offers a single qualification for those who love and serve God, proclaiming, “the righteous shall live by faith” (2:4).

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Matthew 21:23-32
Presented October 9th, 2005, by J.D. Kline
The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Some years ago I came across a book by United Methodist pastor and retreat leader Robert Raines entitled Living the Questions. Raines wrote the book in the midst of a time of change and stress in his life, a time of challenge and uncertainty, yet also a time filled with opportunity and new growth. Experiencing divorce and remarriage, a new job and geographic location, changing relationships with both parents and children, and the breaking and remaking of both his own self-image and his image of God, it was a time of intense questioning and struggle, a time that included doubting and searching even as it led to a stretching and deepening of his faith.

There is something within many that sometimes yearns to reduce this matter of faith to a prescribed list of beliefs, to a one-size-fits-all kind of thing that does not allow for questioning and struggle. Indeed, there are churches that consider questioning to be hostile to faith, and therefore the raising of questions is treated as a threat. But as Robert Raines reminds us, “The Bible is a book of journeys and questions—of people asking God questions, and God questioning people.”

Of course, not all questions are asked with the intention of learning and growing. This morning’s Gospel lesson begins with the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem questioning Jesus—questioning that occurs during that week we now call Holy Week, in the aftermath of Jesus entering the city to the acclaim of the crowds. The encounter follows on the heels of Jesus cleansing the Temple, driving out the moneychangers, and then Jesus cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit. When Jesus later returns to the Temple, teaching and proclaiming life under the rule of God, the leaders are ready for him. “By what authority,” the leaders question, “are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (v. 23). In reality, the leaders are asking Jesus, “Who do you think you are?”

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Matthew 20:1-16
Presented October 2nd, 2005, by J.D. Kline
World Communion Sunday

Earle Fike, former member of this congregation, shares the story of a youngster named Matthew, age four, who is eating an apple while traveling in the back seat of the car. Matthew asks his father, “Daddy, why is my apple turning brown?” His father explained, “Because after you ate the skin off, the meat of the apple came in contact with the air which caused it to oxidize, thus changing its molecular structure and turning it into a different color.” There was a long silence, after which Matthew questioned softly, “Daddy, are you talking to me?”

There are times when the message of the parables of Jesus seems crystal clear, but there are other times when the message seems baffling or even downright troubling to us. We may well want to ask, “Lord, are you talking to me?”

Consider this morning’s parable. Grape harvest time comes in the early fall in Palestine, and close on the heels of the harvest come the fall rains. If the harvest is not gathered before the rains come, all may be lost, and so the harvesting of the grapes frequently involves a frantic race against time. This is the situation that sets the stage for Jesus’ parable, as a vineyard owner goes to the town square in search of extra hands. The workers waiting in the market place are not idlers just wasting their time, but rather persons hoping for an opportunity for work. The very fact that some potential workers are still waiting at 5:00 in the afternoon, tools in hand, indicates just how desperately they wanted and needed to work.

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