Illustration from ‘Stories Jesus told’ by Nick Butterworth & Mick Inkpen
Sermon by Reverend Matt Harbge
Readings: Philippians 2.1-13; Matthew 21.23-32
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brennan Manning, an ex-Catholic priest, once said this:
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
That is the challenge for us today. To live out what we speak about Sunday by Sunday. I want to encourage us to live out our faith with boldness and with strength.
Because we need strength to be disciples of Jesus and reflect his politics.
Strength to be able to stand up against peer pressure.
Strength to side with the marginalised and outcast of society.
Strength to hold on to hope, in a world of despair.
These three things are all contained in today’s gospel.
First, strength to stand up against peer pressure. When I think of ‘peer pressure’ I immediately think of my school days and the temptations to misbehave in class, disobey the rules or well… other things.
But peer pressure is not just for the young: The Pharisees challenge Jesus to tell them by whose authority he preaches and rather than answer them, he asks them a question which if they can answer, will prove to Jesus that they have the strength of character to actually hear his message.
The question “Where did the Baptism of John come from? Heaven or human origin?” was too much for the Pharisees – they were too scared of the crowd to speak their mind, and so Jesus refused to speak his.
Sometimes we too can be afraid to speak to friends or strangers about our faith. Just the other day I was on the train and was speaking to a friend and as I spoke while everyone around me was politely pretending not to listen in to the conversation – I was afraid to talk freely and speak about how I thought the church would help them– even though I probably should have.
We need to have strength to stand up to peer pressure. Really importantly, we need strength to stand up for the marginalised and those society looks down on. This is Jesus’ kind of politics. If as Christians we can “practice what we preach” I think the church will draw people to it like never before.
Jesus Christ regularly stood up for the most marginal in his society and in today’s reading he declares that “the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.” Just launching into some contextual exegesis here, the people engaged in those two life-styles were ridiculed and rejected. Both were stigmatised: the tax-collector for being a collaborator with the occupying Roman army, and the prostitute for trading their body – and therefore their honour – for survival.
Both were ‘unclean’ in Jewish honour culture, and yet they were loved deeply by Jesus. Jesus got the reputation for being a glutton and a drunkard for hanging out so much with those who were thought unclean and thus rejected by their society and their religious elite.
That’s not to say Jesus didn’t recognise that some lifestyles and behaviours got people trapped in sin and we all know that there are things our lives which need fixing – “the healthy don’t need a doctor, but the sick” as he once said.
But Jesus never condemned someone who recognised their sin and need for forgiveness and love. Quite the opposite: Jesus is the friend of sinners, and came down from heaven in order to come alongside us and save us. This generous mercy is captured beautifully by the reading from Philippians which we heard earlier:
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.
That full passage we heard from Philippians has the structure of a poem and most likely is an ancient liturgical hymn, used by the 1st Century Christians in their church gatherings.
It reminded them, and us, of Jesus’ all encompassing passion to side with humanity. To be with us. To love us and save us from our sin.
The most challenging line, I think, is hidden in plain sight: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,”
To do that we need strength: to resist peer pressure, to stand up for the marginal, and finally, strength to hold on to hope.
Jesus told the Pharisees that the sinners were going into the kingdom of God ahead of them. This is the kingdom which we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “would be on earth, as it is in heaven”.
We will not be able to risk people looking down on us because of our faith in God, we will not risk siding with the marginal and the sinner, if we aren’t sure there’s a King and a Kingdom which has our back.
The media is good at informing us about the dangers and problems in the world around us, but I think we know too that bad news sells far more than good news. Have any of you stopped watching the news because it’s just too depressing? The antidote to bad news isn’t “no news” – it’s “good news”. And that’s what we have in Jesus Christ: Good news of a kingdom where all are welcome. Whatever our fears or guilt or uncertainty: God sides with us, invites our confession and asks us to love our neighbour as ourselves.
A habit of reading the gospels, and praying regularly gives us strength to stand up and be counted.
After our intercessions, as the altar is prepared, we’re going to hear a song which was written and performed by my brother in law’s brother, Harry Bird. It speaks to me of the temptation to keep a ‘clean card reputation’ and to turn a blind eye to need. It reminds me that what I want when my time on this earth ends is, ‘a pair of dirty hands,’ from serving God, ‘and a clean conscience’ that I stood up when I was called.
May we find strength in our prayer and worship to stand up against injustice, and discover God close beside us.
Amen.
Recent Comments