A sermon preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 27 September 2020, the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, by Peter Youngblood. The scripture readings that day were Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32.
Growing up we had a cat. He was what you could call an indoor-outdoor cat. I don’t think you really have indoor-outdoor cats in a big city like Hong Kong. Either a cat is your pet, and stays inside all the time, or it is nobody’s pet and pretty much goes where it wants to in the neighborhood. But our cat was an indoor-outdoor cat. He would stay outside most of the day, but would return for mealtimes or whenever he, in his esteemed wisdom, had decided to actually be part of the family. As pets, cats are quite set in their ways. You can’t really tell them to do anything. If our cat wanted to go outside, he could not be convinced otherwise. Treats or belly rubs could only go so far.
But sometimes our cat could be very indecisive. For instance, if it was raining, he might spend a long time just standing in the doorway considering the situation. If there was a stranger cat in the yard, he would investigate the problem from as many different angles as his neck could support. Sometimes he would go to the edge of the porch, look around a bit, and then immediately want to come back inside.
So, on the one hand, cats are fiercely stubborn creatures, with strong wills. They do what they want to do, when they want to do it. But there are those rare moments when their whole decision-making ability can be thrown off. Sometimes the situation will be so vexing to them that they will look back helplessly at their human, as if they are saying, could you please do something about this? Could you please make a decision for me?
Unlike cats, human beings are not driven by instinct, but we are often just as stubborn. In the Gospel Jesus comes across many stubborn people who have strong beliefs and get quite defensive when those beliefs are challenged. Usually these people are local religious leaders and scholars quite offended by some of the things that Jesus Christ says, so they try to debate him and catch him saying something controversial. This is why the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem ask questions like: “in whose authority do you teach these things?” If he says that he teaches on God’s authority, they can brand him as a false prophet, but if he says anything less, they can call him a charlatan or con man. Either way he answers, they think they have caught him.
But Jesus refuses to play their game. Instead he turns the question back on them. He asks them about John the Baptist. Did they think John baptized with the power of God or not? The priests and elders are stumped. If they said he did, then why had they not supported him? But if they said he didn’t, they feared the response of the crowd. Now, they were the ones caught, and they could not answer. Suddenly, these proud wise men were unable to speak.
But we can’t really blame them for something that is all too human. Unlike other animals, God has given us this wonderful thing called free will. We aren’t controlled by instinct, but are meant to use our reason to make informed choices. Yet, this is precisely what stumps us! You see, often our choices are just a matter of personal taste, like what outfit to wear to church. But in certain more critical situations, we are expected to make a right choice in what we say or do. And despite all our wisdom, when the stakes are high, the fear of making the wrong choice renders us incapable of saying or doing anything at all. Like those who question Jesus, we have been tongue-tied.
But here Jesus has done more than reveal their fearfulness. He has exposed the very problem at the heart of human pride and willfulness. The problem is uncertainty. If Jesus’ questioners had true conviction, then they would not have feared the crowd. If they believed the Truth of their own message, then that Truth would vindicate them, even if it made others angry. Instead, it is obvious that these that these men could not say, with conviction, that John the Baptist wasn’t a messenger of God. This also meant that they could not say, with conviction, that Jesus did not speak for God either. Notably, Jesus never answers their question. He does not say he teaches on God’s authority, because he doesn’t need to! His point has already been made.
Jesus has exposed the critical flaw in religious certainty. Some people think they have all the answers to life, the universe and everything. There are those who pridefully boast that they need no guidance, for they are their own counsel. Of course, many of these same people are quick to offer guidance to others, even when it isn’t asked for. You see a lot of this kind of unsolicited advice on Twitter and Facebook, especially when it comes to politics. Even the most enlightened among us are prone to hubris. Our society has its own Sadducees and Pharisees. We have leaders, elders, and PhDs who deign to tell us how the world works, yet they fail to reckon with their own doubt. And to quote the great (fictional) spy, George Smiley, there is always a secret doubt.
Those who question Jesus in today’s Gospel did us a great favor. If, like them, we actually let Jesus respond to us, then we would know how silly some of our questions are. We would be confronted with our own uncertainty. When we ask Christ: “By what authority do you say these things?”, he turns the question back on us: “By what authority do you ask the question in the first place?” By what authority do we claim the things we claim? He thus exposes our deeply held beliefs for what they are - partial and temporary. Anything that we human beings can call “truth” or “justice” only lasts as long as the time it takes for someone else to challenge our claim. If we listen to Christ, we come to realize that we cannot claim any authority. Not over others, and not even over ourselves.
But where, then, does Christ’s authority come from? Or the better question to ask is: Who, if anyone, can claim authority? The obvious answer is God. God gives us free will so that we may obey God. But how, then, amid all our uncertainty, can we know the will of God?
Well, Jesus Christ shows us the way. In the Gospel, Jesus rarely claims any special authority for himself. Most of his time is spent either reciting the Torah, that is, laws and teachings that preceded him, and the rest of his time is spent answering questions from his followers and his enemies. He never really claims much authority because he doesn’t need to! His authority rests in who he is an what he does. Jesus the man humbly listened to the Word of God, even to the point of death, and this is what makes him the Son of God. In his humility, Jesus Christ’s heart and mind are in full accordance with God’s Will.
Christ teaches us that the Word of God is not limited to any written Scripture or doctrine, but is written on our hearts. God’s law is a dynamic law of love. It speaks to us in different ways at different times and in different situations. More importantly, it speaks to us through those we encounter. This is why authority does not lie just in any one person, and just at any one time.
While we all have doubts, “doubt” is not something that weakens us. In fact, it is through our doubts that God speaks to us. In our Gospel today, Jesus Christ makes it clear that righteousness comes not through our beliefs, but through our choices and our actions. Despite our sins, like the first son in the Matthew parable we can still change our minds and choose to follow good. The greater sin is the unwillingness to let one’s mind be changed.
Often, I do think of how simpler life would be if I were a cat, having no greater purpose in life than to sleep 18 hours a day and occasionally chase things. A cat never has to change its mind. But God has given us free will and responsibility. And for the sake of love, Christ asks us to acknowledge our doubts and uncertainties. In fear and trembling, we are to question ourselves and our motives. This is so we might be more authentic in our love of God and compassion for others.
Amen.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, September 27, 2020
