Musical Prelude and Service.

Exodus 17:1–7 & Matthew 21:23–32

 

I sometimes suspect that it can’t be emphasized enough. When you look at Hebrew scripture;
when you look at the gospels, you are treated to a constant stream of people conversing, debating, arguing, questioning, doubting; whether it is with one another or with God.

 

The history of the people of Israel, the Jewish nation, is one of struggling with God and at the same time with one another.

 

I bring that up to attempt to set the scene for today’s two scripture readings.

 

Moses is leading the people of Israel out of slavery and slowly, oh, so slowly, toward the promised land. Last week they were grumbling over a lack of food. Now it’s a lack of water. They have quickly reverted to type and are wondering if the road back to Egypt is easier and more comfortable than to keep moving forward.

 

They are once again questioning if God is with them and helping them. Where’s the evidence?

 

And, voila, here comes the evidence. Guess what? God never once left their sides. And better news yet, even in the midst of their grumbling, and the questioning, God did not abandon them. No, God certainly does not make things easy for them. Fear and uncertainty and discomfort are not banished, but the water they require is provided.

 

Meanwhile in Matthew we are treated to examples – I’ve lost count – of Jesus being questioned or debated by the priests and the leaders of the temple. The religious leaders of his day are asking questions of Jesus, yet again. Again, I am far from convinced, that this is an attempt by the leaders to put Jesus in his place. This is challenging Jesus, as most teachers of religion and scripture in that day would be challenged. What is the extent of his learning, his imagination, his ability to answer a question?

 

By what authority do you teach? If you take time to consider the question, it really doesn’t seem that out of place. If we remove the idea they are asking this of Jesus, and consider our response if we walked into the church to find someone we had yet to vet teaching people, we might, maybe we should ask the same question?

 

As is his habit, Jesus answers with his own questions. Do you trust the prophet John the baptizer?

 

He then offers a challenge about the nature of faith. And this is where he gets pointed. Arguing, that as much as these officials will publicly acknowledge the authority of John, they don’t really act on it.

 

He adds that it is well and good to say the words, to declare your faith, but things need to go beyond words and proclamations. How you actually live; what you actually do in the name of that faith is more important.

 

We struggle with that one, don’t we? There is a lot of time spent on the idea of belief. Of declaring I believe, or I have faith. And I don’t mean to or want to disparage that. Not for a minute. But Jesus asks the question; if one person says no to a direction, but then later fulfills the request and another says yes, but then doesn’t follow through. Who was actually obedient?

 

And I want to be clear here, I don’t think Jesus is making an argument in favour of obedience to God. At least not as we may now see it. As I noted earlier the history and the writings of Jewish scripture don’t exactly paint the picture of a people of blind obedience and subservience.

 

Jesus is getting at a larger point, I believe. One that his brother James is pretty direct in addressing in his letter.

 

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.  (James 2:14-17)

 

It is not enough to say you have faith. If your faith does not move you to do something, then what’s the point? The goal, the vision that God offers us is a world of love and compassion. A world of justice and peace. Our faith tells us this is possible and it also moves us to work with God to make it a reality.

 

Today is World Communion Sunday. People from around the world, from a host of different denominations, people who declare faith in Jesus the Christ and act it out in a great many different ways, in different languages, different songs and forms of worship. Who see God at work in the world in more ways than we can begin to count are all today participating in the celebration of communion.

 

This act of sharing bread and juice or wine from the vine; or, whatever they have that they can use, participate in this holy feast. We all declare that we are part of the body of Christ. We all feed on Christ’s love made real and tangible. We are all connected and drawn together in and through Jesus the Christ.

 

We may call it a commandment when Jesus tells us to love one another, just as we are loved, but do we need for that to be a commandment that we are compelled to obey? Or does the simple reality that when we take time to recognize that Christ draws us together, connects us as parts of a vine that runs through creation, provide us with a greater awareness of how we are all part of that same body. That to ignore, to neglect, to harm one part of that vine, brings harm to it all.

 

Jesus challenges us. He challenges us to think. To think about the world in which we live.

He challenges us to open our eyes to new possibilities and to new ways of experiencing the world around us. To listen to what is said to us and around us and to reflect on what kind of world we have and what we want.

 

And finally, Jesus challenges us to act out our faith and to act for the world God desires for us and tells us is possible and just in front of us. And also, that we are not alone in our vision and in our desire and in our work.

 

Thanks be to God. Amen

 

Rev. Warner Bloomfield

 

 

 

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789