I had to be at Atonement, Brighton on this Sunday and created this hymn sing in place of the sermon.
D: Hymn Sing
Introduction
What makes a true
leader? What is at the heart of our
faith? What does it mean to belong in
God’s family? These are questions that find
answers in the three parables from Jesus that we will read. But before we turn to them, we will read a
vision from the prophet Zechariah. It
was written in October or November of 520 BC.
Several decades earlier, the Babylonians had conquered the Jews and
destroyed Jerusalem. By the time of
Zechariah the Persians had conquered the Babylonians. The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem
and rebuild. Central to the rebuilding
efforts was the rebuilding the temple.
But that work stalled often. The
people needed to be reminded of the promises of God and the purpose of the
temple.
E: First Reading Zechariah
8:18-23
The word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: 19Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah: therefore love truth and peace.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities; 21the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ 22Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord. 23Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’
D: Reflections on
the Reading
At the time
Zechariah was writing the Israelites needed a boost of hope and an infusion of
promise. They needed to be reminded that
God has chosen them, and that God was working through them on behalf of the
whole world. Zechariah’s prophesy
worked. Within four years the temple had
been rebuilt. It returned to being the
center of Jewish religious life.
But what happens
if those words are taken out of context?
What if Zechariah’s prophesy is taken to mean that the Jews, as God’s
chosen people, are somehow inherently superior to all other people? What if the Jews become smug? What if they start to look down on other
nations?
Christians can
fall victim to the same problems. When
Christians start to think that their faith, or their relationship with God, or
their morality is somehow superior to others then the entire point of faith in
Christ is undermined. Inasmuch as God
works through us to bring about his kingdom, we do so with humility, knowing it
is by God’s grace that God created us and honors us with his work.
O Christ the Same was composed by
Timothy Dudley-Smith for the 1972 dedication of a new building of a
mission. It based on the text of Hebrews
13:8; reminding us of our constant need for Christ. The words are set to the Irish tune
Londonderry Air, better known for the song O Danny Boy.
Sing: O Christ
the Same
B: Introduction to
Matthew 21:28-32
We are wrong to
think that all of the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day were united against
him. They were not. Even though enough called for his execution
that they carried the day, many were not in favor of it. Most notable among them were Nicodemus and Joseph
of Arimathea.
Keep that in mind
as we read the next three parables. All
three of them are directed at the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus speaks them on Monday of Holy Week. Jesus’ criticism of them is not
universal. But he is saying that for
many, the arrogance that can come from misapplying prophesies like Zechariah’s
is driving their faith.
D: Second Reading
Matthew 21:28-32)
[Jesus said to the religious leaders] ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
B: Reflections on
the Reading
John the Baptist
had a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Those who realized their sins accepted what
John had to say. Those who felt their
religiosity gave them superior morality were offended by John. Many of the religious leaders had built their
lives on having superior morality. That
made them both wrong, and it made them blind to what God was doing.
In the parable there
are two sons. The first son disobeys his
father’s command to work in the vineyard.
This son represents the “sinners” of Jesus’ day. When they encountered the promise of
forgiveness they return to God and do his work.
The second son says he will do his father’s will, but then does
not. This son represents the religious
leaders. They give lip service to their
faith, but because they think they are superior, they lack the humility to take
up the real work of faith.
Will You Let Me Be
Your Servant was
written by Richard Gillard and first published in 1989. It is a Mennonite hymn that points out the
true humility that undergirds authentic faith.
Gillard is not a musician by trade.
In fact, he has no musical training whatsoever. He is a computer programmer who taught
himself guitar. He says that the idea of
the hymn percolated for nearly a year before it took shape. The third verse, about holding a
Christ-light, “lived on a scrap of paper in the bottom of my guitar case in my
brother-in-law’s home during a 1976 tour of England, Scotland, Europe, and
Isreal.”
Sing Will You
Let Me Be Your Servant
E: Introduction to
Matthew 21:33-46
Jesus followed the parable of the two sons
with another more vivid one. Here the
vineyard is Israel and the tenants are the religious leaders. The son of the landowner is Jesus.
B: Third Reading Matthew 21:33-46 ‘
Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ 41They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
E: Reflections on
the Reading
Most people
consider themselves to be highly moral.
It seems to be a part of the human mind that whenever we want to do
something we invent a morality to justify it.
That way we never feel bad, or at the very least we always feel
justified. Taken to the extreme we find
things like Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s book, Crime and Punishment. While the main character is wracked with
guilt after murdering someone, before he commits the horrific crime we get to
see his mind work to justify it. He
tells himself that if he kills an unscrupulous pawnbroker he will then be
enabled to perform great deeds. He tells
himself that certain crimes are justifiable if done by “extraordinary” men who
will then use the evil for good.
This, of course,
is complete nonsense. Even though he
gets away with the murder itself, he suffers intense inner turmoil through the
rest of the book.
It is unlikely
that we will let our morality so slide as to become murderers. However, we still have the tendency to invent
a morality to justify every action in our lives.
Spirit of God,
Descend upon My Heart is a hymn that does not allow such moral justification
to occur. It was written by George Croly
and first published in 1867. The hymn’s
words are inspired by Galatians 5:25, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be
guided by the Spirit.”
Sing Spirit of
God, Descend upon My Heart
D: Introduction to
Matthew 22:1-10
We will look at
the next parable, the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, in two parts. This parable is an allegory. The king represents God. The invited guests are the Israelites. The slaves sent to invite people represent the
prophets God sent to his people. When
the invited guests refuse to come, the king appears to go into a tirade. He orders that they be killed and their
dwellings destroyed. This may seem
extreme, but in light of the destruction of Jersualem by the Romans in the year
70, we realize this parable carried prophetic truth.
E: Fourth Reading Matthew 22:1-10 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” 10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
D: Reflections on
the Reading
As Christians, we
need to remember that we are those invited after the original guests refused to
come. It appears that Christians have
had a tendency to gloat over this even from the earliest days. In Romans chapter eleven, St. Paul reminds
the Christians that there is no room for this.
He says, “So I ask, have [the Jews] stumbled so as to fall? By no means!
But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to
make Israel jealous… But if some of the
branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their
place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches…
You will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I may be grafted in.’ That is
true. They were broken off because of
their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in
awe. For if God did not spare the
natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of
God.”
In Christ There Is
No East or West
was written by William Arthur Dunkerley in 1908. He was a popular writer of the time who used
the pseudonym, John Oxenham. In total he
published 44 novels, 10 books of poetry, and several religious books. Of this hymn he says that he, like other
writers, had “stray lines” come to him, he knew not “how or whence.” He had to get them out.
Sing In Christ
There Is No East or West
B: Introduction to
Matthew 22:11-14
The second part of
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet takes a startling turn. One of the guests, invited at the last
moment, is thrown out for not having the proper attire. How can someone be expected to have proper
attire if they’ve been invited to something at the last minute?
E: Fifth Reading
Matthew 22:11-14
B: Reflections on
the Reading
The final words of
this parable serve as a warning against self-righteous arrogance among God’s
new people. This man represents
Christians who think that following Christ is easy, and that God’s grace can be
exploited. Not so. The wedding garment represents the new
righteousness expected of those who follow Jesus. This is not a righteousness that leads to
superiority or arrogance. But it is a
righteousness that respects God’s ultimate power as Creator and Judge of all.
Let Us Ever Walk
with Jesus reminds
us of the cost Jesus paid for our salvation.
Our sinful selves hurt other people and God’s good creation. While we can never be perfect, we strive to
live in a way that honors what Jesus did for us. Even that does not earn us salvation from
God. Yet we know that doing anything
less than our best for God at all times makes a mockery of our Lord’s love for
us.
This is a Lenten
hymn written by Sigismund von Birken. It
is based on Luke 18, where Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem. The hymn asks us to journey with Jesus and
take on the pains of what lies ahead, and then to also hope in the promises of
God.
Sing Let Us
Ever Walk with Jesus
