2025 10 04 Pentecost 19A Proper 22A
Exodus
20.1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3 Matthew 21.33-46
God rescued the Israelite
nation and then he gave them the commands so that they could live abundantly. To put this all into context we need to
understand that the ancient society of that time was pretty wild. We like to think that we are more civilized, but
we are still fighting for equality.
There are still women that are being killed in occasions of domestic
violence. There are still many other
atrocities. There are good and bad
everywhere and in every generation. And
there are two ways we can choose to live; by agreeing that God’s laws are the
absolute standard, regardless of whether we can keep them or not, or by creating
laws that we think are good because they are what we can keep…. (they are the ones that make us feel like we
are really good people).
Recently, I came across a
biblical commentary that seems relevant for today’s readings. It was about the last verse in the Biblical
book of Judges which reads; "In those days there was no king in Israel;
everyone did what was right in his own eyes". (Judges 21:25). The commentator explained that is a concept
called “Relativism”. It is a
philosophical view that asserts there are no absolute truths, standards, or
universal rules. In other words, “you do
you”… “You live your own truth and I’ll
live mine”…. Sound familiar?
This week’s readings follow
on from last week’s where the question was asked of Jesus, “by whose authority
do you do these things?”. Which begs
the question; what is the absolute authority?
Which also begs the question; can we make laws based on what seems right
in our own eyes? Will they be right in
someone else’s eyes? by whose authority
can we make something law? By what standard of truth are laws made? Most importantly for us, do they line up with
God’s foundational, moral laws?
The Israelites who received
God’s commandments had been living under the law of Egypt. They made their great exodus out of Egypt,
but they needed to also exit that way of living. They had no king or Pharoah to tell them what
to do. The ultimate authority was God, and
he gave them his law… not because he needed obedience but because He wants his
people to experience abundant life.
However, when the Israelites went astray it was a denial, of God as
their King and authority, and it was always followed by times of disaster. NEVER did the Israelites do what was good in
their own eyes and prosper -Never!
How are we, and our society
with these commandments? It often amuses
me that many non-church going people will tell you that they live their lives
as good people who keep the commandments even though they don’t go to
church. What is funny about that, is
that the first four commandments are to do with our relationship with God - and
they aren’t here!!! Not to mention that
one about not mis-using God’s name. May
I respectfully suggest that what they are doing is relativism – living their
own truth. However, as we found out
through the life of Jesus, these laws could be and were often mis-represented. One major one that Jesus tried to set right
was the law about the Sabbath.
Jesus said that he didn’t
come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them. So, for us to simply say that we live in the
New Testament times and we live by grace and not the law is a bit of a cop
out.
In the original language, there
is an emphasis on the word “remember” - the Sabbath and keep it holy. “Remember” implied mentally anticipating and
preparing throughout the whole week. In
other words, always be preparing for the holy time of rest. And the word for rest is Shabbat which is
not about stopping your work because you want to have a day off, but it is
about acknowledging God as the ultimate provider.
On the surface it looks like
we should side with the Pharisees who didn’t do any work at all on the Sabbath,
but Jesus tells us that the Sabbath is made for man and not the other way
around. We need to keep before us
always, that God provides for us and gives us rest. – A reason to always live in hope.
Some have objections to holy
objects and artwork because they are idols, but God actually commanded the
Israelites to make holy objects- the ark of the covenant was to have angels on
top of it etc.. The point of the command was to not have anything take the
place of God. We don’t worship things…
we worship God. We have holy objects
here in the church, but we don’t worship those things. We need to know that God is the only God in
our life and the only object of our affections – no crucifix, crystal or holy
object will save us.
The law of the Lord is
perfect and when we live by God’s law in the way that God intended, we will live
wholesome and good lives, and all will prosper.
There is the irony of life; there are so many people who are
idealistically striving to find a way to live that is prosperous- not just
financially, but health wise. For
example; my niece’s sister-in-law is the partner of a health and longevity
influencer, American tech entrepreneur and biohacker Bryan Johnson. I met them both at the wedding and had no
idea that many of my friends follow him in Instagram, trying to find how to
turn back the biological clock. They are
an example of the many like them- Striving….
Everywhere we turn there are
people pushing boundaries, but really all are striving to live better, better
and best lives. There is a Chinese scientist
who was recently in jail for illegal gene editing. It might be illegal, but
many wealthy people are paying for him to do his work. All are looking for their own truth.
From the 1940s Marijuana and
other drugs were used to enhance life. But some, if not all these things have been
shown to be hugely detrimental to life, and mental health wards are full of the
long-term effects… not to mention the morgues.
On my social media I happened upon a video of the streets of an overseas
major city that the commentator said has become Zombieville. The video showed homeless-looking people
shooting up outside shops. Others frozen
in their drug-affected state and still others were yelling at invisible
assailants. Much like we often see in
town here – and why our community has been looking for solutions to what they
call, “anti-social behaviour due to intoxication.”
In the striving to live life
to the full there is a throwing off of restraints and a denial of God’s
truth. God’s law keeps society well,
thriving and living life to the full, but if we pick and choose which
commandments to keep and which to throw away then it is possible that we are
doing exactly as those who live in denial of God’s law.
I think that we, the church,
see ourselves as a humble part of the tapestry of life, but that is not the way
it is meant to be and that is not God’s view.
The church is the body of Christ – Christ is King… He is the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords. He is the ultimate authority, but
he handed the keys of the Kingdom to Peter and the church. I guess we could be likened to the tenants of
the vineyard.
We are more than tenants, we
are the royal children of God, but as such we’ve been entrusted with a task to
be Christ’s body in this world, just as an owner might put tenants to work the
vineyard, God has entrusted us. Are we
being faithful? It is a question for us
as church and also for us individuals.
Our world needs a standard
of truth and if we are to be faithful tenants we need to live by, and proclaim that
standard of truth. The reality is that
we can’t perfectly keep God’s law. Only
one person ever has, and that is Jesus.
Because of his sacrifice and our baptism, we are identified with him and
have kept the law through him. But this
doesn’t mean that there is no longer any law for us. We are set free from the curse of the law, but
the law of God remains, and the law is good. The law of God is perfect,
reviving the soul….
Saint Paul tells us that
although he doesn’t put his assurance of salvation in the works that he does,
he presses on working for Christ… “forgetting what lies behind and straining
forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the
heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Saint Paul keeps the Kingdom
of Heaven ever in mind. The Kingdom of
God is our Sabbath. We have assurance in
Christ that he has given us the gift of salvation. Because it is a gift, we rest from our efforts
– The ultimate Sabbath rest. But we must
remember the Sabbath… Remember Heaven/Salvation, and in all that we are and in
all that we do, we keep it foremost in our mind and prepare for the Kingdom of
God. We the church are called to be
influential and leaders in our community.
We are like tenants of a vineyard.
This world is the vineyard
and Christians are the tenants. In what
ways are we being called to cultivate, nurture and prepare this world for the
Kingdom of God? What is our part? As a
church – as an individual.
No comments:
Post a Comment