Stumbling
Matthew 21:33-46[1]
These days it’s hard to separate “enemies” from friends who
disagree with us. It seems like every issue that we can disagree on sets us
against each other. It’s too easy for us all to get upset and even outright
angry over a simple matter of disagreement. I don’t know, but I wonder if the
reason for this is that we’re all afraid. The world we live in has changed
dramatically. And the speed at which it continues to change is one that can
take your breath away. Life seems to keep getting harder and more confusing.
When we’re living under that kind of stress, our “radar” gets stuck in “danger”
mode. When that happens, it’s hard for us to separate “enemies” from friends
who disagree with us.
I think part of the reason for this is when we are stuck in
“danger” mode, our fear dictates our response to everything. We don’t really
take the time to sort through whatever we may be dealing with in order to come
up with the appropriate response. We simply react. What’s more, we’ve gotten
pretty good at coming up with “reasons” to justify our fears and the reactions
they fuel. And the result is that, instead of taking enough time to listen to
those who disagree with us to understand where they’re coming from, we simply
“paint” them as “enemies.” Breaking down the world into “enemies” and “allies”
is at least part of what creates the polarization we are living with in these
days. We dump people into “all or nothing” categories to feel safer about our
world.
I wouldn’t say that Jesus was “dumping” people into all or
nothing categories in our Gospel lesson. But it is a disturbing one. Jesus
tells a parable about tenant farmers working in a vineyard who refuse to pay
the landlord his share of the harvest. When he sends servants to collect, they
beat them, and kill others. When he sends his son, they throw him out of the
vineyard and kill him, too. And the point is to confront the Jewish religious
leaders for rejecting Jesus, just as Jewish religious leaders had rejected the
prophets God sent them for generations. And the result, from Matthew’s
perspective, is that the kingdom of God was to be taken away from the Jewish
people and given to others. Looking back at this parable from the history of
Jesus’ death and resurrection can see that’s what’s going on here.
Unfortunately, through the centuries, people in the church
have used passages like this to “paint” all Jewish people as “enemies.” In fact,
they were labeled “Christ killers” for centuries. And as a result, they were
persecuted and hounded from town to town, city to city, and nation to nation. The
sad truth, however, is that this reflects more the human tendency to mark
certain people as “enemies” than it did Jesus’ teaching. Many of the Jewish
people in that day became believers. Thousands of them did! Not even all the
Jewish religious leaders were “enemies” of the church. Two of the most
prominent leaders, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, objected to the way the
high council was proceeding in Jesus’ trial, and they were among those who
tended to Jesus’ body after his death. And in the book of Acts we learn of
former Pharisees who had become believers (Acts 15:5).
I think the way this story has been (mis)used in the
history of the church provides us with a caution against “painting” people with
broad strokes. This not only applies to people who follow other religious
traditions, but basically to everyone. There’s not a single one of us who has a
legitimate claim to judge anyone. We simply do not know the whole story about
anyone we try to make out to be an “enemy.” More than that, there’s only one
judge whom we all must face, and that’s Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
Perhaps the most practical consideration here is that we cannot judge because
all of us share in the weaknesses and flaws that define us as human beings.
In this approach to our lesson for today I’m actually
taking my cue from John Calvin. In his commentary on the Gospels of Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, he also views this parable as a confrontation of the Jewish
religious leaders, who were originally appointed by God, because they used
their office to tear down what they were called to build up. But Calvin also
recognizes that all people are still subject to the same temptations that led
the Jewish religious leaders to betray their calling. And so he urges the
people of his day to take this parable as a “useful warning” that we seek to be
diligent about serving our Lord “in true godliness” so that our work may “yield
fruit.”[2] I would
say that’s a warning from which we can all benefit.
But the truth of the matter is not only that we are all
subject to the same temptations. We also all stumble from time to time. Some of
what we heard from our Scripture lessons for today might lead us to that there’s
no room for that kind of thing. Some of what Jesus taught might lead us to
think that there’s no room for stumbling if we want to follow him. In the
Sermon on the Mount he said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect” (Mt 5:48). And as we heard from our Gospel lesson last week, at
another time Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62). If we follow John Calvin’s line of
thinking that those who fall to human temptations might forfeit our calling, it
doesn’t sound like there’s much room there for stumbling.
And yet, we’re all subject to human temptations. And we all
stumble from time to time. We might think that means that we’ve forfeited any
claim to God’s love. I would think all of us would agree we cannot possibly
live up to the demand to be “perfect.” And if “looking back” makes you unfit
for the kingdom of God, then nobody is “fit.” Nobody is “worthy.” Perhaps
that’s the point. We can never deserve the gift of God’s amazing grace, mercy,
and love. But if it’s really true that God’s love for us never fails, and that
God’s love is unconditional for everyone, then stumbling doesn’t have to mean
that we have somehow forfeited our calling to follow Jesus. We all stumble from
time to time, and God’s love is such that he continues to reach out to us even
when we fall short. Especially when we stumble. At the end of the day, our
service to Christ isn’t about whether or not we are “fit” or “deserving,” but
rather it’s about the fact that God chooses to accomplish his work in this
world through flawed and fallible people like you and me. For me, that’s an
encouragement. It reminds me that God still carries out his work even when I
stumble, and even when I fall. And I think that’s true for us all: we can still
keep serving Christ even when we stumble!
[1] © 2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 10/8/2023 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, vol 3:35-38.
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