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More than just words! · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

0:35
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, sisters and brothers, and please be with you.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: By the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: Be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: I once knew a lady in a faith community who was always telling other people what to do, how to do it, and when.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: This so upset some other members of the community for so long that they went to their pastor and asked, Could you please tell us who actually has authority here and what right has so and so to always be telling us what to do?
1:37
SPEAKER_00: The pastor smiled and said that's a very good question.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Actually, authority isn't really about who has the loudest voice or who gives the most orders.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: It's about who actually does stuff and takes responsibility for it.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: That little story brings us surprisingly close to Matthew's gospel, chapter twenty one, verses twenty-three to thirty-two, because this is all about authority.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has entered Jerusalem.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: He has challenged the right the religious establishment.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: He has turned over the tables of the money changers and sellers.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: And now the chief priests and the elders come to him with a question.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: By what authority are you doing these things?
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And who gave you this authority?
2:52
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like a straightforward question, but it isn't.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: The chief priests aren't really asking because they want to understand Jesus.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: They are asking because they want to challenge him.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: They want Jesus to justify himself.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: They want to know who gave him permission to do what he's doing.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: Jesus responds beautifully.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: He asks them about John the Baptist.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Did the baptism of John come from heaven?
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Or was it of human origin?
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, the people who had been so confident a moment before become very uncomfortable.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: They begin discussing what answer they should give, and realizing that they are in an awkward situation, they eventually say, We do not know.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: Jesus refuses to play their game, and instead he tells them a story about two sons.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: A father goes to the first son and asks him to go and work in the vineyard.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: The son refuses, but later changes his mind and goes.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: The father goes to the second son and says the same thing.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: And the son says Yes, sir, but he doesn't go.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus asks the obvious question Which of the two did the will of his father?
4:54
SPEAKER_00: The answer is obvious the first son and that is where Jesus makes his point.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Because the religious leaders have been saying all the right things, they know the scriptures, they know the religious rules, they know how to speak the language of faith, they know what they are supposed to say.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: However, Jesus is stressing that it isn't enough to say yes.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: What matters is what we actually do.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: There is something that can be deeply uncomfortable about this gospel because most of us like to think that we are the second son.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: We hear God's call and we say yes, Lord.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: We come to worship we say our prayers, we sing the hymns, we read the Bible, we know the right words.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: And yes, yes, all of those things matter.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is asking us a more searching question What happens after we say yes?
6:39
SPEAKER_00: Does our faith actually change the way we live?
6:45
SPEAKER_00: Does it change the way we treat people?
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Does it change the way we respond when somebody is hurting?
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Does it change the way we behave towards the person with whom we disagree?
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Does it change what we do with our time?
7:08
SPEAKER_00: Our money, our influence and our opportunities.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Here today is Jesus' deeply personal message to each and every one of us.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Your Christian faith is not simply about what you say you believe.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: Your Christian faith is about allowing what you believe to become visible in your life.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Here's Jesus' message once again.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: Just so you don't misunderstand me, our Christian faith is not simply about saying what we believe.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Our Christian faith is about allowing what we believe to become visible in our lives.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: I would also like us to notice something else about the first son.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: He gets it wrong.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: He says no.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: He refuses his father's request.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: But then something happens.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: He changes his mind.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: He turns around.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: He goes to the vineyard.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: And that little detail is enormously important.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Why?
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Because Christianity is full of people who have said no to God at some point in their lives, people who've walked away, people who've made mistakes, people who have actively resisted God's call, people who've spent years living in ways they later regretted.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: Yet the gospel, the gospel tells us that a no does not have to be the final word.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: There is always the possibility of turning around.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: There's always the possibility of repentance.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: There is always the possibility of beginning again.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: The first son discovered that his initial response did not have to determine the rest of his life.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps somebody listening today needs to hear exactly that.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have said no to God.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've neglected your faith.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've made choices that you wish you could undo.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have wandered a long way from where you once were.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' story today reminds us that God's invitation is still there.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: You can change direction.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: You can come home.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: You can still enter the vineyard.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: There is yet another warning in this gospel.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: The second son says all the right things.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Father.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: But then he does nothing.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: There is a powerful lesson here for faith communities today.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: We can become very good at talking about Christianity.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: We can discuss doctrine.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: We can debate theology.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: We can argue about worship styles.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: We can discuss who is inside and who is outside.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: We can become experts at telling other people what they should believe and how they should behave.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus asks us much simpler questions.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Are you doing the Father's will?
11:56
SPEAKER_00: Are we loving our neighbour?
11:59
SPEAKER_00: Are we caring for the vulnerable?
12:02
SPEAKER_00: Are we welcoming the stranger?
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Are we forgiving those who have hurt us?
12:08
SPEAKER_00: Are we standing alongside those who are lonely?
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Are we willing to serve rather than simply be served?
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Are we taking the gospel beyond the walls of our churches, our rooms and our homes?
12:26
SPEAKER_00: You see, the vineyard is not simply a place where we talk about God's work.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: The vineyard is where God's work gets done.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps this also explains why Jesus refuses to answer the question about his authority.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Those questioners, they want a certificate.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: They want credentials.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: They want to know who authorized him.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' authority is demonstrated by what he does.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: He heals.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: He welcomes.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: He forgives.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: He challenges injustice.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: He reaches out to people others have rejected.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: He announces God's kingdom.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately he gives his own life.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: His authority is not simply something he claims.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: It is something that people encounter.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: And that should make us think about our very own Christian witness.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: The wonderful thing about today's gospel is that Jesus isn't asking for perfection.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: The first son got it wrong.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: He said no.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: But then he changed.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: That's grace.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: The Christian life isn't about having said the right thing every time.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: It isn't about never having failed.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: It is about being willing to hear God's voice.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: Turn around when necessary and getting on with the work that God has given us.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Because the kingdom of God isn't built simply by people who say yes, Lord.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: It is built by people who say yes, Lord and then get up and go.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: I pray that our words and our actions become one.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: I pray that our faith becomes visible in our lives.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: I pray that when we hear God say go and work in my vineyard today, our response will be more than words.