August 27, 2006
“Saying and Doing”
Matthew 21:23-32
Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching

Jesus was always in hot water with the religious establishment because he colored outside the lines. And debunked his society’s sacred things. Consequently, he messed up their neat categories, and confused their comfortable stereotypes. He didn’t do things their way, and got better results. At one point Jesus was so popular they said, “Look! The whole world is going after him!” And they just couldn’t stand it. So Jesus had to go.

Our text is his response to a question from them about his authority. Typically, he refused to give a straight answer to those who tried to trick him. Instead told a story. He never spoon-fed easy answers to people, capable of coming up with their own. Because truth has to be discovered, he went out of his way to make people think – even when he knew it was gonna backfire.

Thus, the story about the two ornery brothers facing a common predicament familiar to us. Crucified between the heaven of our intentions and the hell of our performance. Paul talked about it in Romans. How easy it is to “will what is right.” But how difficult it is “to get it done.”

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells another one of those “father-with-2-sons” stories. Dad needed them to work on the farm. So he approached the no-brother, who blurts out impulsively, “I’m not gonna go!” Later on, who shows up in the fields, but this defiant son?

But the yes-man responded politely, saying what his father wanted to hear, “You know Dad, nothing would please me more than to work in your field.” Afterwards, the compliant son is found lying on the couch watching MTV.

So put your thinking cap on, Jesus said: “Which one made the ol’ man smile? The brother who said no, but then did the work? Or the yes brother, who said the right words but did nothing?” The answer’s obviously the one who “did the will of his father,” in spite of what he said.

Saying that wasn’t what got Jesus in trouble. What got him crucified was when he informed the religious crowd which brother they were! They were the yes-men -- who mouthed the right words; had the right theology; stood for the right things. But when it came to doing what God wanted, they came up shy. Jesus must’ve had them in mind later when he said, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

As they saw it, they were doing God’s will. But got so attached (there’s that word again!) to their ideas about biblical correctness and how others oughta believe like them, it was hard to hear anything else. A made-up mind is impenetrable. Especially when its based on ideology and methodology. First, John the Baptist, then Jesus suggested they trade their dogma in on a fresh experience with God. But doing things their way meant more to them than making God smile.

So they tried to say “yes” to God but “no” to Jesus. That’s when he allowed as how they were in for a big surprise: people they believed were gonna burn would go to heaven ahead of them. Not instead of them. Ahead of them. Those who refused to go at first, but later changed their minds. While those with impeccable theologies like them, mistook their convictions for obedience. A common sin we do.

It’s the number one charge against the church today---hypocrisy. Saying one thing. Doing something else. It’s a serious accusation too---pretending to be good, wearing a fake-fur-faith in God to gain advantage over others. It’s the unconscious way people substitute their insecurities with phoniness, that looks like obedience to God. It’s like saying, “I go sir!” Without any intention of following through. Pure pretense.

We get it backwards, because we assume what God wants from us is worship. But God wants disciples not admirers. Servants not celebrants. Jesus didn’t ask us to agree with him. Only that we follow him. What he wants and what we give aren’t even in the same ball park. It’s so easy to get our beliefs mixed up with our actions. You see these guys everywhere.

School’s about to start. You can tell because Moms and kids are over at the mall, buying the annual back-to-school stuff. It is proper to take the education of our young seriously. But what about their religious education? Ask the soccer Moms if they think giving to the church is as important as a new fall wardrobe? Well yeah, you’d think! Then check-out their check stubs to see what’s really important.

There’s a biblical word for this vacuum between what we say we believe and what we do. Sin. It means to miss the mark, “to fall short of the glory of God.” It is inevitable. And forgivable. But never tolerable for God’s people.

Saying one thing and doing something else is the church’s most damaging sin. You don’t hear much about it because everybody does it. It ruins our marriages, destroys our churches, soils our friendships, poisons our politics, and disrupts community. Other than that I guess its OK.

When we say “Yeah, I’ll go,” and never show up...what we believe has no meaning, apart from what we do. It’s Simon Peter and the cockcrow all over again. “I’ll never deny you.” But he did it thrice! In the 2^nd ending of the Gospel of John, the post-resurrected Jesus singles out Peter. After the denials, John needed a backdrop for Jesus to question Peter’s loyalty. So 3 times Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” And 3 times Peter said the right words. “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” But that wasn’t enough. Because Jesus said something else 3 times: “Feed my sheep.” Which says to me that the response Jesus seeks from those who love him is not something said, but something done. Because who Jesus really is to us, shows up not on our lips but in our lives.

After this, Peter on Pentecost was ten times the man he was on the Good Friday. And 3000 people were baptized! When you realize how long it would take to baptize 3000 people, then you understand why God wants deeds from us, not words.

Some things you can’t know until you do them. The most important things, like staying married, or giving birth, or getting baptized. That’s why there’s not a by-law on the books worth one visit to a hurting soul. And why Jesus wasn’t a philosopher inventing a new doctrine. But a teacher whose life embodied his preaching. So the faith affirmed in the church must be performed in the world.

In the book “Out of Africa,” there’s a story about a young boy in Nairobi who showed up to work at a Christian missionary’s home and was a fine worker. But after 3 months, he asked for a letter of recommendation to go work for a Muslim in another part of the country. He was such a good worker she offered to raise his pay. But he stood firm about leaving.

He explained that he decided to become either a Christian or a Muslim. He decided to live in each one’s home; to observe the ways and habits of Christians up close. Next he would go live for 3 months with a Muslim to see how they behaved. Then he’d make his decision based on what he learned. The missionary was flabbergasted, “Even an archbishop would’ve said, ‘Good God young man, you might’ve told me that when you came here!’” Neither does God tell us ahead of time. Because he’s been telling us all along.

I can think of only four options for responses to any request for help. One of them was not mentioned by Jesus. Another was embraced by Jesus. Plus the two he points out.

The one he didn’t mention is the blatant response, “No I won’t go and doesn’t go.” Wrong words, wrong deeds. Yeah people like this agitate us. But at least we know where they stand. And you know not to depend on them for anything.

Then the two more subtle answers Jesus mentioned. the two on-again-off-again brothers, squirming for wiggle-room. One wanted to have it both ways, so he said “yes,” but stayed home. Right words, wrong deeds. The other one said “no,” at first. But after thinking about it, showed up for work. Wrong words, right action. Jesus commended this brother because he was preferable to the other.

But the truth is, neither son pleased his father. Because there’s something lacking in each. A good son doesn’t say one thing and do something else. Or do one thing and say something else. He says the right things and does what he says. His words are good. And he’s as good as his word. And that son was Jesus.

This biblical story teaches us, what we say about God is not as important as what we do for others. Its not enough to talk the talk. But to walk the walk.

Prayer: The “fields are ripe unto harvest,” Lord. But sometimes its mighty hard to be of one mind about your call to work in them. We are enticed and bombarded with so many other attractive options, like the 2 sons who say one thing, then change our minds and do something else.

Our hearts always seem to be divided between heaven and earth. Which is why we’re tempted to confuse our ways with yours. And focus on the sins of others more than our own. We trust our own authority more than yours, so defensive and protective of the way we believe and live.

You present us with a choice between life and existence. And the choice is never easy because the life you offer is unlike anything we would naturally select. Who wants to “take up our cross or deny ourselves?”

But your life demands our faith, challenges our will, and energizes our spirits, so that we can really live while we’re alive. It hurts to see so many who are alive but barely living, who haven’t yet learned that “we find our lives by losing them.” And not by saying the right things, but by doing them.

The bottom line is: You were hungry and we fed you or we didn’t. You were thirsty and we gave you a drink, or we didn’t. You were naked and we clothed you, or we didn’t.

Forgive us when we forget your standard of our success or failure is what we do for “the least of these.” May our church help us to do that as we struggle to offset the powerful pull of our society that teaches us to love ourselves. Enable us to reflect the mind of Christ in all that we do, who shows us that good things can be hard, who allows us to live free of pretenses and self-interest; unafraid to risk for the greater good and always to value integrity.

Bless our worship. Be felt in the singing, praying, giving, thinking, and responding. Never let us believe worship is all you require of us. Too often we come to worship in our own little world of me. Expand our world in this hour. Send your Spirit to enliven our participation in the life of this church. Increase our sympathy and compassion for others. Make us mindful of those near to us, far from us. Make us sensitive to their needs and hurts, as you are aware of ours. Remind us that we’re not “our brothers keepers,” but we are our brother’s brother.

Let us not forget in this worship that God is at work in us, enabling us both to will and to work for his good pleasure, for in obedience to God will we find our true identity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.