From Table Overturner to Table Turner

 This is the sermon I'm preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. We have both a drive-in service and an inside the sanctuary, in-person service--whichever you're more comfortable with. Join us is you're in the area. The gospel is Matthew 21:23-32.

I’d like you to join me as we listen in on an exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus was in the middle of teaching in the temple and the chief priests and elders of the people interrupted him saying, “Who do you think you are, Jesus? You’ve caused so much trouble lately.”

Talking among themselves we hear, “Why didn’t he just stay put in Galilee?”

while another chimes in, “He comes marching in here like he belongs here!”

Then an elder says, “And the crowd! Not one bit of decorum among them! They kept crying out, ‘Hosanna!’”

“And if that weren’t enough, did you hear about the incident with the money changers? Jesus confronted them, tipping over their tables and making a huge scene.”

“Then he said something about making it a house of prayer. What did he mean by that? This is God’s house. Of course, it’s a house of prayer.”

“He called our money changers thieves.”

“And if that wasn’t enough, he started healing people here in the temple.”

“Yes, and that crowd again!   Did you hear what they said? ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’”

“Did Jesus stop them? No! He just quoted some scripture about the mouths of infants and babes.”

 

“Now he’s back here again; and he is teaching!”

“Jesus, by what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

“Yeah, who does he think he is and who said he could do this?”

 “What gives him the right?”

 

“What? You won’t answer our questions until we answer one from you?”

“John the Baptist? You want to know if we thought his baptism was from God or of human origin?”

“Guys, we’re in trouble now.”

“That’s right. If we say John was from God, then Jesus will want to know why we didn’t believe him.”

“Yeah, and if we say his work was of human origin, the crowd will tear us apart. They all thought he was a prophet.”

So, they answered, “We do not know.”

“What was that Jesus said? ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’”

“Are we never to get an answer from Jesus?”

“What do you think?” asks Jesus.

“Oh no, not one of his parables. I just wish he would give us a clear answer for once.”

Jesus tells the story of a man who had two sons. He asked Son One to go out into the vineyard to work. Son One said he wouldn’t work in the vineyard, but then he had a change of heart. He regretted how he spoke to his father. It was shameful to behave that way, so he did what his father asked.

Son Two acts very deferentially toward his father. Yes, of course, he would go, but did he? No. He was all talk, but where the rubber meets the road, he fell flat. However, in this culture of honor and shame, the son who obeys his father to his face is the righteous son, the son who has kept his place, the son who has maintained the relationship, the son who has not shamed the father.

Then comes the surprising turn in the parable.

Jesus does not ask, "Which of the sons showed honor to the father?" but "Which of the two did the will of the father?" shifting the paradigm from shame and honor to obedience.

"The first!" can be the only correct answer to his question, which ironically shames the assembled authorities.

Jesus spells out the metaphor: the place of honor on the way into the kingdom of God will be given to those who presently occupy places of shame but who do God's will, while the religiously righteous will bring up the rear. (Cynthia A. Jarvis, Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, Volume 2).

“Did you hear what Jesus said? He said that those prostitutes and tax collectors would go into the kingdom ahead of us, us with our theological training, us who are the heads of the elite families of Jerusalem. They would go before us? Shocking!”

Jesus did not directly answer their question, but they got the message. He was claiming that the cries of “Hosanna” of the crowd were justified. He had every right to be in the temple healing and teaching and overturning tables. Not only had he overturned the money changers’ tables, but he turned the tables on the religious elite.

What do we think and more importantly, what we do? Change is difficult. Jesus is a change-maker, someone we cannot keep within the neat sides of our boxes. He cannot be contained. Old wineskins burst open with the new wine of Jesus’ ways. God is on the move.

Where do we see ourselves in this gospel passage? Are we the needy in the crowd? Are we the parent who sends a child on a mission and the child distractedly disappoints the parent? Are we one of the powerful leaders; used to privilege and deference? Are we the good child or are we the bad child?

It all boils down to who Jesus is to us and what that means to us. Will we live our lives in acknowledgment of his authority over us or will we stiffen up, standing our ground of independence?

If we acknowledge the authority of Jesus, our lives will change. And it won’t just be about us, but our obedience to Jesus will affect others who impact others and so on.  

Let us be the church that God is calling us to be. People of God, may all see the work of God in and through our lives. Amen!

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