Sunday, September 25th, 2005
A Question about Jesus’ Authority
Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”
They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That’s why we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”
Matthew 21:23-27
Why did these men need to know where Jesus got his authority from? It seems to me they just couldn’t fit him into the hierarchical structure they were used to. They knew where their authority came from. It came from an established system of chief priest, priest and acolyte, teacher and student, leader and follower. But to their bemusement, Jesus refuses to buy into the ‘up-down’ pecking order of authority.
Questions I’d ask Jesus
So how did you discern your call? With whom did you tease out the challenge of being true to your God-given responsibility to live and proclaim the reign of God? Was it really a private matter between you and God? Or were there others with whom you confided and from whom you gained confidence to speak on behalf of God? Your parents? Your friends? Your disciples?
And what about John? Was his call to baptise something sorted out between him and God alone? Or was there a community of baptism who moved with him?
Am I missing the point by seeing your life through the lense of ‘discerned call’?
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Wednesday, September 14th, 2005
Workers in a Vineyard
As Jesus was telling what the kingdom of heaven would be like, he said:
Early one morning a man went out to hire some workers for his vineyard. After he had agreed to pay them the usual amount for a day’s work, he sent them off to his vineyard. About nine that morning, the man saw some other people standing in the market with nothing to do. He said he would pay them what was fair, if they would work in his vineyard. So they went. At noon and again about three in the afternoon he returned to the market. And each time he made the same agreement with others who were loafing around with nothing to do. Finally, about five in the afternoon the man went back and found some others standing there. He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?” “Because no one has hired us,” they answered. Then he told them to go work in his vineyard.
That evening the owner of the vineyard told the man in charge of the workers to call them in and give them their money. He also told the man to begin with the ones who were hired last. When the workers arrived, the ones who had been hired at five in the afternoon were given a full day’s pay. The workers who had been hired first thought they would be given more than the others. But when they were given the same, they began complaining to the owner of the vineyard. They said, “The ones who were hired last worked for only one hour. But you paid them the same that you did us. And we worked in the hot sun all day long!” The owner answered one of them, “Friend, I didn’t cheat you. I paid you exactly what we agreed on. Take your money now and go! What business is it of yours if I want to pay them the same that I paid you? Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Why should you be jealous, if I want to be generous?”
Jesus then said, “So it is. Everyone who is now first will be last, and everyone who is last will be first.”
Matthew 20:1-16 Contemporary English Version
The obvious application of this story would be the consideration of the place of the Jewish people in God’s timeline. Here we have a people who for hundreds of years have had the privilege of engaging in a transforming learning experience with the creator of the universe. As Jesus speaks, other people groups are now being invited in. Is there any sense of favouritism in the way God operates now? Should the early church have a hierarchy of privilege and honour? Not by the look of this story. Everyone is a recipient of God’s grace.
It’s a bit like birth order. The first child in the family gets used to being the ‘only one’. And then along comes number two who receives all the attention while First Child must just get along with growing up. And then the next child in the family arrives - the ‘baby’ who is last but not never the least! This is the child who benefits from the riches of experience developed by the family.
It is tempting to pull rank with other followers of Jesus. But it doesn’t work with Jesus himself. He confronts our sense of dues and rights with a reminder of the foundation of the family: grace and sovereignty. God can choose anyone to take on family responsibilities. It’s not a matter of who’s been around the longest. There is no queue for grace.
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Thursday, September 8th, 2005
An Official Who Refused To Forgive
Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?”
Jesus answered: Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like: One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. But he didn’t have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt. The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!” The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.
As the official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him a hundred silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, “Pay me what you owe!” The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.” But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed.
When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. The king called the first official back in and said, “You’re an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. Don’t you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don’t forgive each of my followers with all your heart.
Matthew 18:21-35 Contemporary English Version
I sat down with a parent at school this morning to talk about issues on her mind. One of those concerns was the long term impact of racism on aboriginal people in Australia. Aboriginal people we meet today are bearing the brunt of two hundred years of unfortunate if not abusive treatment by British settlers in Australia. And yet we meet people who live lives of grace and freedom. We have been forgiven much.
This Sunday is the fourth anniversary of another series of abusive acts - expressed in terrorism. Here in Australia we’re coming up to the fourth anniversary of the Bali bombing.
So what’s the good news from Jesus for these situations? I think Jesus is challenging us to start looking at our grievances in perspective. As we see the big picture through the lens of time we get to realise that we are forgiven much. And as we discover this forgiveness and continually apply it to our heritage and history, we find the grace to apply the same forgiveness to our present and future.
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