Two Brothers and You: Last Sunday's Sermon

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Old Testament

Exodus 17:1-7

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Epistle

Philippians 2:1-13

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death--
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Gospel

Matthew 21:23-32

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which 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. For 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.

The Sermon

Lets look at the old testament reading from Exodus first. The people are unhappy. They say things like, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Moses is frustrated and the people are frustrated and thirsty. The Lord takes care of them by providing water just as He was providing food. The people of Israel were probably much like us. When you are thirsty everything reminds you of water.

I am sure Moses had second thoughts about leading these people through the desert on this journey. Humans can be an unruly lot especially when they are hungry and thirsty. We are probably more like them than we would like to think.

Leadership was difficult for Moses and I believe it was also difficult for Paul. When you read his letters you see a frequent theme of Paul putting out one fire after another. Understanding Paul's letters can be difficult because it is a little like hearing only one end of a telephone conversation. You only hear one side of the conversation and you have to guess what was being said on the other end.

In this letter to the Philippians Paul reminds these early Christians to, “Let each of you look not to your own interest, but to the interests of others.”. He reminds them that Jesus did the same when he took on human form.

In the gospel reading Jesus is confronted by the chief priests and elders in their attempt to trip him up but of course in typical Jesus form he turns the tables on them and puts them on the spot. Then he gives them the parable of the two sons. This parable is one of my favorites because it draws on a very human condition. I see myself in both of the sons because I have at some point acted like each of them.

So...what is Jesus getting at with this parable? I believe he is telling them that they are putting their own self interests ahead of the truth. The chief priests had an interest in keeping things as they were. They lived in relative comfort. The had some control over the people. John the Baptist told them they were sinners and he gave them the hard message of the need for repentance.. The priests and elders gave lip service to doing God's will but in reality they were not. Repentance was not for them.

The prostitutes and tax collectors suffered no illusions about their evil ways and they clearly heard and acted upon John's message.

So what about us. Are we the son who quickly agrees to do the right thing (but not really) and then put it off because it is inconvenient. Or, are we like the son who first rebels against the father's message but in the end sees that father knows best and does the right thing?

Our Father in heaven tells us very clearly what is expected of us. It is up to us to decide the direction we will go.

Amen