Where are you from?

Sermon planned for Sunday, September 25th, 2011

Texts: Matthew 21:23-32; Philippians 2:1-13

I invite you to open your bibles, with me, to the gospel of Matthew, chapter twenty-one. But before we get going I invite you to join me in prayer:
Loving Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we’ve asked you, in song, to create in us clean hearts
we want you to transform us.
We want to be like the first child in Jesus’ parable,
a child that lives in obedience to Your call on our lives.
For this reason, we turn to Your Word.
We give you thanks and praise for setting us free by your Word,
by Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

Where are you from? No. I’m not asking you to tell me where you were born. I’m not asking about your nationality. I’m not interested in whether you’re from dit sied or yant sied. No. I want to know, where are you from? This is the question the chief priests and the elders of the people asked of Jesus. “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?” Where are you from, and who sent you? Are you from this world? Did someone we know send you to confuse us? Or are you from another place? This morning we’re going to take a look at the authority of Jesus; and why it is important, for us today, to live under that authority.

When you think of the idea of authority, or when you hear the word, what comes to mind? Power? Influence? Government? Getting into trouble? Order? I heard a story, the other day, about something that happened on yant sied; a story about authority. When Peter Reimer was bishop in the Gruenthal area, many years ago, he would often be on the road visiting different congregations. One day, after a busy morning of visits and meetings, and no lunch, he arrived at a church potluck. It was late in the afternoon and Bishop Reimer was famished. As Peter moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line.
“Excuse me,” Bishop Reimer said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”
“But I’m starved,” the bishop said. “Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one per person.” Bishop Peter Reimer was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. “Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the bishop of our church and I am in charge of this congregation.” A few moments passed. “Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of this chicken. Move along, reverend.” Conflicting authority. Who was really in charge? Was it Bishop Peter Reimer, or was it the woman serving chicken?

In the next few weeks we’ll be invited to cast our vote in the Provincial elections, to choose someone who will exercise some form of authority over us in the province of Manitoba. Last year we did the same for a national leader. Which leader would you give an extra piece of chicken at our Thanksgiving Day potluck (Oct 9th)? That’s a bad question – there’s always a ton of food at our potlucks, so make sure you come out for the party.

More seriously, we all live with various claims of authority on our lives. We have the authority of our government making a claim on us. We have the authority of our fellow brothers and sisters in Church, which we have submitted ourselves to. And then there’s the authority that parents have over their children. We have the authority of teachers in school. Police officers have the authority to enforce the law. In all of these cases, authority is a word that describes the power and the right to influence others.

In our passage from Matthew chapter twenty one, the chief priests and the elders of the people asked about Jesus’ authority. Where do you come from, Jesus? Who gave you the right to do these things? Now this question only makes sense if we take note of what happened prior to this. What “things” were these Jewish leaders referring to? What had Jesus done to get these leaders questioning his authority?

Of course you could include the whole list of activities that Jesus had done prior to this story. But I think the leaders were referring to what Jesus had done since he came to Jerusalem. Matthew chapter twenty-one begins with Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, when he entered the city riding on a donkey. Do you remember the words that the people chanted when Jesus came riding into town? “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Where are you from? Who sent you? These chants provided the answer.

The next scene, in chapter twenty-one, is the account of Jesus cleaning out the temple; when he drove out all of the people who were buying and selling goods, and he overturned the tables of the bankers. These are the only two public appearances Jesus makes in this chapter. When the chief priests and the elders asked Jesus about his authority to do “these things”, they were, at the very least, referring to these two incidents – Jesus being welcomed as the Son of David, and then Jesus clearing out the temple. Why would these two incidents provoke questions about Jesus’ authority? Why not just go along with him?

There’s at least two reasons why Jesus’ actions might have provoked this question about his authority. First of all, there was a crowd of people in Jerusalem that hailed Jesus as the anointed Messiah, the Son of David. And yet one of the first things that Jesus did when he arrived in Jerusalem was to drive out the moneychangers from the temple; and then he did something very unique. Jesus let the blind and the lame into the house of God. How could he do that, and still be the Son of David? You see, in 2 Samuel 5:6-8 we read that King David didn’t allow the blind and the lame into the house of God – in fact, we read there that King David hated the blind and the lame. It doesn’t say why. So when the chief priests and the elders saw that Jesus was being welcomed as the Messiah but that he was doing something completely unorthodox – he was letting the blind and the lame come to him in the temple – well, Jesus was shaking things up. Jesus not only turned over the money-changers tables, he was turning over the entire temple-worldview. This holy place was now a place for the broken, not just the ceremonially clean and healthy. With this kind of unorthodox practice, the Jewish leaders had to know who gave Jesus the power and the authority to do these things.

The other reason that his actions provoked the Jewish leaders is that the chief priests and the elders were the authority for the Jewish folks in Jerusalem. Sure, there were the Romans, but for the faithful devout Jew, the only real authority laid with the temple leadership and the Rabbis. When some in the crowd proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, and when others were calling him a prophet, these religious elites felt threatened. They wanted to trap Jesus with this question about authority – to expose him as a self-promoted imposter. But like most of the traps set for Jesus, he spotted it a mile away and, like usual, was able to turn the trap back-on his opponents. Like a good Olympic wrestler, Jesus had a counter-move for every single trap set by those who wanted to pin him down.

"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?" We know the reason why this question was a trap for the leaders – it was because they refused to heed John’s message, and yet the people whom they had authority over – the citizens of Jerusalem – loved John and his message. They accepted John’s authority on God’s Word. These leaders ignored John’s warnings and stood by as Herod had him murdered.

To hammer the point home even further, Jesus told a parable that was meant to further provoke the Jewish leaders.
A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' The son answered, 'No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, 'You go,' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. "Which of the two obeyed his father?"
With this parable we come to understand the nuts and bolts of “authority”. Earlier I said that authority is the power or the right to influence others. This is precisely what we have in this parable. Which son obeyed his father’s authority? Which one rebelled against it?

Of course, this parable was meant to provoke the chief priests. The younger son symbolizes that part of the Jewish community that rejected John the Baptist’s message – and those who would later reject Jesus’ message. In other words, Israelites who rebel against God are like the son who heard his father’s command, and said that he would go and do it, but later chose not to be obedient. Then who is the first son like? The first son is like those who, at the beginning, were not part of God’s Kingdom, like the prostitutes and tax collectors, but when they heard John and Jesus’ message about the Kingdom, they repented and believed.

The crowds cheering for Jesus, when he arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey, they recognized his authority and they celebrated him as their King. Later, it would be the Gentiles that would hear the gospel and repent. This concerned the Jewish Christians of the early Church. How could those rebellious Gentiles enter into the Kingdom? Who has the power and the right to turn things upside down like that? Who is this Jesus?

The question about authority really becomes the question about identity. Where are you from, Jesus? Who sent you? The Christians in the city of Philippi received a letter from Paul. In that letter, which we heard earlier, Paul pens one of the most beautiful poems about the nature of Jesus. Those words give a beautiful answer to this question about Jesus’ origin. Where is Jesus from?
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.
Where is Jesus from? God loved the world so much that he sent the Son. Jesus is from the Father. That’s the answer to the chief priest’s question about authority. But were they willing to hear it? Are we willing to hear it?

We’re like those chief priests in some ways. We’re wrapped-up in all other kinds of authority. We even take ourselves to be authorities on some things. When Jesus meets us and turns our world around, and upside-down, what do we do? When we hear about murderers and serial killers repenting of their ways and submitting their lives to Jesus, we ask how can this be? They weren’t supposed to be part of the kingdom. They don’t make the list of the righteous.

It’s a bit shocking to see the kinds of people who come to recognize the authority of Jesus Christ. I’ll bet you and I will be quite surprised by the kinds of people we’ll be eating with at the Lord’s Banquet table in God’s Kingdom. But it might also shock us at who, like the second son, was eager to proclaim Jesus but was unwilling to submit their lives to him in obedience. They say “Yes Jesus”, but don’t do what he asks of them. In other words, they don’t accept his authority.

Why? Because there are so many claims on us. There are so many who claim authority over us. On one day of the week, we like living under Jesus’ authority – we’ll forgive and love their enemies – or at least we say we will, and then the next day we’re tearing a person to pieces, either literally in war or with words at the coffee shop. We don’t recognize that when we give our allegiance to Jesus our Lord, all other allegiances and authorities fall far behind in tenth place. Some say that there are several spheres of authority, that on Sunday we are under the authority of Christ, but on Monday we are to serve our prime-minister and do what he asks of us. On Sunday we’ll listen to Jesus and His Word for us… but on Monday it’s dad’s way or the highway. On Sunday, we live as a community that seeks to speak the Truth; but on Monday we go to work for a boss that expects us to tell lies. On Sunday we learn about being a family of God’s love, but on Monday you have your mom or dad telling you that you’re no good, or worse!

There are plenty of powers that want to exert their authority over you. But aren’t we those who know better? Aren’t we those who have proclaimed, in baptism, that Jesus Christ is Lord and no other? I’m not calling us to live a life in seclusion from our world – but to recognize that as we live in the world… that’s not where we’re from or where we’re going. Where are you from? Are you from the Kingdom or from the world? Sure, we live in the world but we are part of a different community altogether – one whose origin is from God. Jesus himself created the Church – that’s where you and I are from, and that’s where we’re going. Jesus is our authority.

This morning I want to leave you with two words of encouragement and a challenge. I want to encourage you, as disciples, to boldly claim your identity in Jesus. You are not worthless. Quit believing the lies that our Enemy wants to cripple you with. Believe, instead, the good word that God has spoken about you in Jesus Christ. “You are my child, and I love you! I have an awesome plan for you! I want you as my partner in bringing light into your dark neighborhood!” Believe this Word! Why? Because the King of Kings has spoken and He speaks with authority!

Secondly, I want you to know that the powers that try to exert their authority over you, that try to divide your loyalty to Christ – these powers have already been exposed for the farce they are. The religious authorities put Jesus to death; they hung their own God on the cross on the charge of blasphemy!!! They are a farce! The political authorities, commissioned to create a just and ordered society – they couldn’t even recognize Truth when He was standing right in front of them. They are a farce!

The authorities that are telling us that if we send one more 18 year old to go and kill our enemies – that we’ll have peace – they don’t recognize that there has been one final sacrifice to make Peace – it was when God gave up his own boy and sent him to the battlefield to die on a cross. You don’t have to buy into their lies. Their Peace is not worth fighting for, not when you have the Prince of Peace ruling your life.

And finally, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to examine your life. Where, in your life, have you let these lies blind you? Which lies have you been deceived by – about who you are, and whose you are? How have you let the worldly authorities influence you? Who are you bending the knee to? Which peace are you waiting for? The peace of Caesar or the peace of God’s Kingdom? The riches of Wall Street, or the treasures of heaven?

I want to encourage you: know your identity in Christ and celebrate it; know that there is no King like our King Jesus; and give your life an overhaul – examine it closely. Will you be like the second son who said “Yes Jesus” but then went on his way; or will you be like the first son who turned from his old life and joined Jesus for the adventure of discipleship? Who are you? Where are you from? Amen.