Musical Prelude and Service

Exodus 17:1-7 & Matthew 21:23-32
Scripture readings such as today’s Gospel lesson have a tendency to take me to a place where I
remember intense debates with people carrying bullhorns and claiming deep knowledge of the bible.
In my experience, they use scripture to exclude a great many people from full participation our
society and more specifically within God’s loving realm.
My most recent experiences centre around the issues of 2SLGBTQ inclusion; in particular in recent
years, how we treat and welcome transgender people in our communities. But these debates can and
do continue to include people insisting women are excluded from positions as ministers in churches.
A great many people claim their understanding of scripture gives them authority to speak and
exclude a great many other people from full participation in these communities.
On this Orange Shirt day, we should also be reminded of the ways our United Church participated in
attempting to end Indigenous ways of life in Canada. Those leaders were secure in the belief that
they spoke with the authority that fame with their understanding of scripture.
It is crucial that we are reminded to walk humbly as we continue to learn of God’s vision of what this
world can and should be. So, reflecting on today’s scripture readings takes on matters of very real
importance for me. Questions of where I find God in times of trial and how I read and discern
scripture that tells me something very different from others take from the same words.
It’s one thing to say we want to follow Jesus. We want to be faithful to God and God’s vision for the
world. But how do we discern what God is actually saying to us in those passages of scripture we
turn to? How do we decide who to listen to as we explore how to best follow Jesus the Christ?
How do we make choices about how to live in this world and relate to the people we encounter
along the way?
There are a several voices offering wisdom and direction, and a lot of them say very different things.
In the Gospel reading this morning, a group of Jewish religious leaders approach Jesus with a
challenge. Under what authority do you speak about God and how to read their scriptures?
It’s a tricky question that can lead to extreme consequences. If Jesus says his authority comes from
God, he could face arrest and execution. People don’t get to just say, I speak for God, without some
sort of permission from the temple. On the other hand, if he answers saying he doesn’t have
authority he risks sing a sense of integrity in front of the people who are following him.
So Jesus redirects the question and then moves into a teachable moment with the first of three
parables on the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of many people in positions of authority.
John the Baptist holds a revered position with the people. The priests and elders are reluctant to
smear his name.
As the readers of this account of Jesus’ life, we recognize that Jesus draws his authority from God.
That knowledge or awareness is not there for the religious authorities, but Jesus also keeps
preaching love. Love of God, love of our neighbours. Love of our enemies. He preaches the
importance of peace; of turning the other cheek. Of caring for the outcast; the weakest in society.
He instructs people to clothe those who are poor. To feed the hungry.
These are the directions he finds in Jewish scripture. These are the lessons he takes from the
prophets. The lessons he gets from the books of Jewish history.
From where do you get your authority?
And so, as the authorities struggle to answer a question about John out of fear of the crowd’s
reaction, Jesus moves into this first parable. Who is the loyal and obedient son? The one who at first
resists the instruction or orders and then does as he is told, or the one who says yes and then
refuses to act? He then compares those two sons to the most despised of society and to those
authorities.
The tax collectors and prostitutes may be seen as unclean and unworthy, but they listen to Jesus.
They sit with him for a meal; they care for one another, he says. By contrast, the priests and elders
claim to follow God, and follow the law as given to them. But they lack compassion. They
demonstrate no love. They don’t stand up for justice and mercy. They use their positions for their
own profit, and to gather more power around themselves. I see this confrontation as an attempt by
the priests and elders to test Jesus. In doing so they betray their self-righteousness.
There is a struggle I think with the idea we are not supposed to test God. If we look at our
scriptures, I believe we find that God is not opposed to being challenged. God is open to our
struggles, our questions.
Abraham and Jacob question God, wrestle with God. Moses keeps asking questions and seeking more
and more signs of God’s presence. But I think what God does not respond well to is when we
approach God as if our relationship with the Holy is transactional. When we start viewing God’s love
and blessing; Gods grace, as part of an exchange. That God’s love is grounded upon the level or
quality of our faith and raise. That is where problems emerge.
God’s love is always present. God’s grace is always offered.
When we read the story of the Hebrews in the wilderness, desperate for water, we can be led to
believe that God set up this situation to test the people. We can view this as God waiting for the
people to be close to death and tempted to return to Egypt. That they are forced to see how much
they are dependent on a capricious God seeking the devotion of a desperate people.
I feel the need to challenge that interpretation. Yes, that understanding of the story is certainly there.
But let’s consider a different view of what is happening. If we start with the image of a loving God,
seeking to guide the people to freedom and a stronger sense of who they are, we can see this story
through a different lens.
The Israelites, we are told, are crying out for freedom. To escape their cruel overlords. They are
seeking a new land where they are free. A land of abundance. To reach that place they must make
their way through the wilderness. They must face a shortage of food and water. This is a testing
time. They must learn who they are. What their strengths are. They must learn to rely upon one
another. They must wrestle with questions what they are ready to leave behind. What must be
sacrificed and what they are prepared to endure. What is their freedom worth?
But as they take on this journey, God is with them. God is never far away. God will reveal the
presence of food and the source of that needed water. That is part of the journey. Learning to trust
one another and to trust God and to follow God along the way.
We are tested on our journeys. We are tested in times of difficulty. We are tested when we enjoy
times of comfort. We are forced to ask ourselves questions or respond to questions asked of us.
What do we value? What are we going to hold on to? When challenged, what or who do we lean on?
Jesus leans on his connection to a God of love and of justice. Moses turns to his God of liberation and
of life. Who do we listen to when asking questions about scripture? How do we struggle with stories
from the bible that at first glance make us feel uncomfortable?
We are allowed to struggle. We are allowed to ask questions and challenge easy answers.
Where is God? Where is love? Where is justice? Where is compassion?
Because where we find love, mercy, justice, compassion, that is where we find God. If we are being
directed towards a God of cruelty and rigid adherence to rules with no mercy, or a vision of God that
encourages the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a special few; I am going to
question that authority. God desires our freedom from exploitation. God seeks to nourish us and
guide us with love and justice toward a new world of abundance and life. If that world does not have
room for all, we aren’t there yet.
God knows the character of those in the wilderness. What is revealed in those challenging times is a
lesson for us, not for God. May we find our strength; may we find our love. May we find ourselves
along the journey. Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

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