THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

            When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, ‘From heaven,' he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, ‘Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

                    "What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, ‘I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. (NIV)

 

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

               For over ten years, I've represented an artist from India who works with woodblock prints and batiks to tell the stories of the Bible to non-Christians, typically Hindus, the majority religion in India representing 87% of the population. Although Dr. Solomon Raj's art can be seen and pondered outside India, his goal is to have Hindus reflect on his art and say, for example, "Who is this man with a crown of thorns on his head wearing a dhoti and embracing three refugees?" Or "Why does this man associate with Dalits when his clothing shows that he is not from their caste?" Dr. Raj is an artist, but he also has a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Birmingham, UK. Raj is essentially a teacher who uses his art to get people to think. He is also a Lutheran pastor who is committed to helping his viewers discover the good news-- as they ponder the actions of the curious man in the artwork-- that God loves everyone.

 

Outsiders and insiders

            The very man that Dr. Raj depicts in his artwork was also a communicator par excellence. And he used different approaches based on whether society considered the hearers "outsiders" or "insiders." Most of his remarks were directed to the outsiders. They were regarded by the minority "insiders" as "outsiders" because they did not meet their standards for ritual purity in their religious community. They included the poor, lepers, lame, blind, tax collectors, prostitutes, tenants, thieves, farmers, shepherds, people with physical defects, menstruating women.... the list goes on. The "outsiders" knew who they were because they worked at deceptive or disgusting professions, because they couldn't provide for themselves or their families or because they may have committed some moral offense long ago. The positive side to these people was that they had no pretense, no arrogance, and no-self-righteousness. They were humble, lowly, "salt of the earth" types. There was something lovable about them, and Jesus said they were the kind who populated God's world, his kingdom. Jesus talked kindly to them, he embraced them physically. He said their kind would inherit the earth. His words and deeds to these outsiders were compassionate and loving.

            However, Jesus used a different kind of language for the insiders, those who held positions of responsibility in the synagogues or temple, the religious leaders of the day. These people were often wealthy, thought well of themselves and typically tried to be morally upright.

From their exalted vantage point, however, they often condescended to the outsiders, and were sure that they were not part of God's faithful community. When Jesus spoke to these people, he used different language than he used with the outsiders. His words were typically challenging and critical.

            It's important for us to understand these two groups, the outsiders and the insiders, and to recognize the language Jesus uses for each. It's important because in today's text Jesus is talking to the insiders, and perhaps with some exceptions, that means today he's talking to us: the church people, the Christians, even some who hold positions of responsibility and authority in our respective religious communities. What he says may seem hurtful, but if we understand why he uses his approach, we will also see that the Good News is not reserved only for the outsiders. Jesus believes that the insiders already know they are loved and affirmed by God and they ought to live the Good News. They ought to act like they know God loves them-- and everyone else as well.

 

Challenging the insiders

            It's interesting for us insiders to try to understand the communication techniques Jesus is using on us. The context for these two passages is a controversy about John the baptizer. The religious authorities felt threatened by him, didn't like the idea that he was calling them and everyone else, for that matter, to admit their shortcomings and make new beginnings. If you don't think you have any shortcomings, then such a challenge is offensive. The first communication technique that Jesus uses is called pilpul. I learned to appreciate this when I became a fan of Harry Kemmelmann's mystery stories about a New York rabbi some years back. Rabbi David Small worked with Paul Lanigan, the Irish police chief in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The rabbi would take the evidence, go in his study, and toss the various possibilities back and forth, just as rabbis have always done. "If not this, then that." "If this is true, that can't be true." Jesus uses this approach with the religious leaders of his day. "Where do you get your authority," the leaders asked. Jesus, using a technique the rabbis knew, said, "I'll tell you if you tell me where John got his." The leaders, using pilpul, responded, "If we say he got it from God," then he'll say, "Why didn't you follow him?" If we say, "he made it up," then the crowd, which likes him, will come after us. So they said, "We don't know." And Jesus concluding the dialogic technique, said, "Then I won't tell you either." It may seem like he was being a smart aleck, but he was simply using a technique that educated people of his day understood. He was, in a very clever way, catching them in their own game.

            Just to make sure, now that we understand what's going on here, before we hear Jesus using these words on us, let's analyze the next part of the dialogue. "What do you think," Jesus says. A man had two sons, he asked one to work in the vineyard (a symbol for serving God in his world) and he said "I will," be he didn't. He asked the second to do the same, but he said, "I won't, but he changed his mind and did." "Which of the two did the father's will?" Jesus asked. Again, Jesus is using a teaching technique that allows the learners to condemn themselves in their own words. The rabbis, knowing probably that Jesus was going to catch them one way or another, said, "The second." "Right you are," said Jesus, "and that begs an important question! When John called you to work in God's vineyard, why did you claim to be pious, and not accept his baptism of repentance, and yet the outsiders, the tax collectors and whores, accepted it and  repented. They are more a part of God's world, namely his kingdom, than you are!"

            Tough talk, but very typical scholarly language turned on its head. Pilpul and parable, techniques known well to rabbis even today, were used to get the church ladies and the church men to think about who they are and what they have become. Dana Carvey could have had fun with this text.

 

Good News for the insiders  

            Now that we understand what's going on here, that this is a text in which Jesus is addressing and challenging insiders, not outsiders, we have to ask what Jesus wants to say to the insiders of today, the church people of the 21^st century, the members and guests at St. Paul in Serbin on Wendish Fest. If he wanted to be contemporary, he might send his challenge via a text message or he might have asked to use Power Point this morning hooked up to YouTube to increase the impact. Perhaps it's enough, however, just to know that he's speaking directly to us.

            It's also worth remembering that were he to speak to the outsiders today, there are plenty of poor and disenfranchised who really have no claim on anything. In so many countries where the peace and security of nations have been disrupted, the poor whose inheritance is the earth are to be found in Syria, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Lybia, in Ukraine, in Honduras and in our own communities. They are people who know that in the end they have nothing, no claim on anything. And if they see in a painting by Solomon Raj a man with a crown of thorns embracing refugees or starving people or orphans or raped women, they can't help but ask, "Who is this man? Is he embracing me?"

            But Jesus is not speaking to them today. He's speaking to you and to me and saying, "Those poor and forlorn people may well find a place in God's world, his kingdom, before you." And why is that? It is because we knew about God's love for us long before we heard the challenge to feed them. It is because we have known all along, like the elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son, that we have always had a place in the Father's house, that we have every right to claim his acceptance and forgiveness. Instead, however, when the outsiders were thirsty, we did not give them water. When they had no clothing, we did not help them. Instead, insiders though we are, knowing that we are loved and accepted by God, we have succumbed to vengeance, gossip, and deceit, at personal, societal and communal levels. We have reveled in our escape mechanisms, our fascination with drugs and games and our need to be appreciated.

            Jesus is speaking to us today, we who think thoughts of revenge first and foremost when news media inflame us because of three beheadings. He speaks to us today because we, the insiders, the church people, connive to elect in the church only those that agree with our political views. He speaks to us today because we are so surfeited with blessings that we cannot identify with those who count just being alive a daily blessing. And he speaks to us today because here in Serbin some who know the history can remember those days when, much to the laughter of surrounding villages, the insiders squabbled among themselves, split into several groups and said things that like feathers in the wind could never be taken back again.

            In the epic poem written for the topping-out ceremony (Richtfest) here at St. Paul's on November 24, 1859, the Rev. Jan Kilian said,  

               Now even our brothers forsake us,
               Dismiss us, discard us and break us:
               A few even scorn and condemn us,
               That weakness and debt soon will end us.
               Some see our endeavor as fleeting
               For we would not follow their leading. (70-76)

 

            Despite such worrisome predictions, however, this is a new day for all of us, as John the baptizer once promised. And there was great future in the vineyard when the father said to the sons, "Go and work for me in the vineyard today." There is good news even for the insiders who know God's love and forgiveness, but often forget how to share it. We are free today to begin again and to live the Good News as we've never lived it before.

 

            As Pastor Kilian reminded many of your ancestors, and assures all of us today,

               We do not build on deeds or power:
               God's grace erected our strong tower.
               Divisions bring no lasting pleasure;
               Our unity is our great treasure.
               Patience and peace, by the grace of God,
               Heal bitter wounds, balm our heated blood.
               Walking as children, with hand in hand,
               We share our burdens, help each to stand. (107-114)*

 

            There is a reason why you have come to the vineyard today, and it is not just to eat Wendish noodles and drink beer. You have come to make a new beginning at living the Good News.

            You have come to look for those around you, and those far away, who are saying, because they have seen Jesus in you, "Who is this Jesus? Is he embracing me too?"

 

Zus�tzliche Medien:
medien


Bemerkung:
Apart from individual or family immigrations to the United States, five larger groups of Lutherans settled in Michigan, Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin and Texas. The 550 Lutherans settling in Texas in 1854 were Slavs, emigrating from their homeland in Lusatia, a territory between Berlin and Dresden, Germany, and settling in Lee County, Texas. Annually, thousands of their descendents gather on the fourth Sunday of September to celebrated their heritage at Wendishfest. The worship service of this important group of American Lutherans is the high point of the gathering.







*Kilian, Jan. “Rhymed Address.” In David Zersen, An Exciting Find in a Wendish Vault in Texas. Austin: Concordia University Press, 2012. Pp. 14-15. Translated by Martin Doering.

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