Matthew 21:23-32<\/p>\n\n\n\n
September 25, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we lived in Pennsylvania, our house sat on a quarter of acre of land. There were many trees and bushes and a lawn to mow. I have spoken in the past about never wanting to mow a lawn again in my life. When our son, Greg got to be big enough to eat two double cheeseburgers at a time, I thought he was big enough to mow the lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grass grows like hay in the East Coast during the regular passing of summer thunderstorms. I would make sure there was gasoline in the can. And I would drop hints like, \u201cI hear that it might rain in a couple of days.\u201d But there were times when Greg said, \u201cI\u2019ll mow the lawn, Dad,\u201d but when I got home from work, he didn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the parable that we encounter today, Jesus forces us to take a look at whether our faith is just a matter of words or whether our faith is a faith that gets put into action. Jesus tells about a father who goes up to his first son and says, \u201cGo out into the field and work for me.\u201d At first, that son answers by saying, \u201cNo, I won\u2019t do it.\u201d But then he changes his mind and goes out and works in the field. The father goes to the second son and asks him to go and work in the field. Right away that son says, \u201cSure thing, Dad! I\u2019ll get right on it.\u201d But then he does not do it at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which of these two sons, Jesus asked, did the will of his father? The answer, of course, is the first son. While the second son obeyed his father with his words, it was that first son who went beyond words and obeyed his father by actually going and doing what his father had told him to do. Which of those two sons are we more like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bystander Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some researchers in New York City have done some extensive work into the \u201cbystander problem.\u201d Too often we do not step forward and do the work that God has set before us because we assume that someone else could just as easily do it. Maybe the second son expected that the first son would eventually change his mind and go into the field to work. Maybe Greg thought that Lauren would pull out the big lawn mower to cut the grass!<\/p>\n\n\n\n These psychology researchers did this experiment with a student pretending to have an epileptic seizure while he was alone in the room. When one person was in the room adjacent to that student\u2019s room, that person hurried in to help the suffering student 85% of the time. But when the person in the adjacent room was given the impression that four other people were also overhearing the seizure, they came to the student\u2019s aid only 31% of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another similar experiment, when people saw smoke coming from underneath the door, if the person was alone, that person would report it 75% of the time. But when the smoke was witnessed by a group of people, the incident was reported only 38% of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have not always been a NFL sports fan until the Patriots won the last 3 out of four Super Bowls! In football, they have the sidelines where the players sit on the bench. The offensive team is there when their defensive teammates are on the field. And then they will switch when the team has possession of the football. Then we have all of these special teams sitting on the sidelines that just go out there to make one play. But we also have the second string or the third string players, the back-up players that sit on the bench sometimes during the entire game. They never get in! They sit on the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes church people are like football players sitting on the bench on the sidelines. They are giving high fives to each other to show their solidarity, but they never get into the game. Many churches are quite good at being friendly and having warm fellowship with each other\u2014which are good and fine things\u2014but they never seem to get around to getting into the game, getting out into the world and doing the mission that God has set in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several years ago, the media began to expose what Congress was doing with many of the laws they were passing. What was going on was that Congress would enact legislation, but they would include in those laws provisions that said that the laws did not apply to them. In other words, the representatives and senators were saying with their words and with their votes what they thought was right and good, but when it came to their own actions, they seemed to be saying, \u201cNo, we\u2019re not actually going to do those things ourselves.\u201d They put themselves on the sideline when the game of real life is being played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the backdrop of the controversy brewing surrounding FEMA and President Bush\u2019s administration to the Hurricane Katrina devastation in the Gulf Coast states. For days, they said that relief and rescue will be there but when the disaster worsen as each day passed, people died while waiting for helicopter rescues on the highway or patients in hospitals or residents in nursing homes were abandoned as able bodied people fled for their own survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So with Hurricane Rita, President Bush wanted to get closer to the potential disaster to get into the game. But when emergency workers said that his presence in Texas would actually get in the way, the closest he could get to Rita was in Colorado. He wanted to get in the game. We are not judged as much as for what we say but for what we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s been said that there were lots of Bibles in South Africa, yet the oppressive apartheid regime persisted. There were lots of Bibles in Nazi Germany, yet the Holocaust still happened. It\u2019s never been what we said that we believe that has stood up against the evils in the world but rather it has always been how people\u2019s faith in action have stood up that have changed the world according to God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus\u2019 Authority<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before Jesus told of this parable of the two sons, he was questioned by the Pharisees of his authority. The religious authorities ask Jesus why he does what he does and who gave him the authority to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus responds to the Pharisees with a clever question by asking them, \u201cDid the baptism of John the Baptist come from heaven, or was it of human origin?\u201d Jesus puts the Pharisees in a dilemma because if they said John was from heaven, they would have to defend their position on why they didn\u2019t believe in John\u2019s work. And if they said John was only of human origin, they didn\u2019t want to offend those who have found John\u2019s ministry to be a blessing. So the Pharisees said, \u201cWe do not know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pharisees were sitting on the sideline and not wanting to get into the game. They may have all of the religious teachings and laws memorized in their heads but they were unwilling to commit to the truth that standing right in front of them was the fulfillment of John\u2019s prophecy that a Messiah was here\u2014Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus told this little parable of the first son who first said that he won\u2019t go to work in the field but then changes his mind and works a hard day\u2019s work as being like the tax collectors and the prostitutes. Tax collectors and prostitutes may not know about Christ at first, but they are the first to believe. The second son who said that he would go out to work but never does is like the Pharisees who know what to say and know all about the law but end up not doing anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus said, \u201cTruly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you, Pharisees. 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\u201d (Matt. 21:31-32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question for us is: \u201cDo we believe in Christ to get into the game?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n William Willimon, the chaplain at Duke University shared a story of meeting a member of his church that he disliked. Quite shocking for a pastor to admit! Willimon despised him because he was loud, bragging, probably a bully. In the first five minutes of their conversation, the pastor quickly learned that he had made a lot of money, through all sorts of business shenanigans. He liked running things and, no doubt, probably wanted to also run the church as well as this pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People said that he came to church, but only when he felt like it. He had conflict with previous pastors and this pastor wondered if he was going to have problems too. People said that he liked to make a big show of his financial success. And yet, people also said that he gave very little to the church. What he gave, he thought gave him license to freely criticize the church and its pastor. This pastor kept an arm\u2019s length away from this member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While visiting a nearby city, after being introduced to someone as the pastor of that church, the person said, \u201cIsn\u2019t that the church where John Smith is a member?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pastor cautiously answered, \u201cYes, John is a member of the church. He is a member, though not a particularly active member,\u201d the pastor was trying to distance himself from this member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The man said, \u201cI\u2019ll always be indebted to John, me and a lot of people like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndebted?\u201d the pastor asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, John is the one who paid for my education. My education and a lot of people like me. I worked in one of his businesses after school when I was in high school. My senior year in high school, I got a note from him. He hardly ever spoke to me when I would run into him at work. The note said something like, \u201cI want to help you with college. You get into the best college you can, and I will see you through.\u201d That was all. I got in a good college and he paid just about every cent of it. And I wasn\u2019t the only one. I expect that he must have footed the bill for a couple of dozen young people in that town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s hard to believe. I don\u2019t think I have ever heard that of John,\u201d the pastor said lamely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI bet you never will. He asked us not to tell anybody about his generosity. He said he didn\u2019t want everybody beating on his door asking for a handout. I think the real reason is that he is, deep down, a genuinely humble person. I do know for sure that he has sure done a lot of good in his own quiet way,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This pastor saw John Smith in the likes of a tax collector or a prostitute, despised people with immoral professions. But in the end, John Smith or whatever his real name is, got into the game with his actions to make life-changing differences in the lives of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is God calling you to do? In what way is God calling us to get off the bench on the sidelines and get into the game?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As people of FCBC and worshipers at this 9:30 Worship, we have seen Jesus Christ, the Messiah. We know and have no excuse to not believe. When we identify ourselves with the tax collectors and the prostitutes and say to Jesus that we are in need of forgiveness and not bask in the self-righteousness like the Pharisees that we already know all the answers, we are more ready to hear God\u2019s call for us to get into the game. God has this very annoying way to speak to us when we have a humble heart. When we admit that we have sinned against God, against others as well as against ourselves, we are more ready to hear God\u2019s calling for our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s an old Chinese proverb that says, \u201cA journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.\u201d The journey of discipleship may be overwhelming you may say and we hesitate to take the very first step. Yet, if we do take that step of faith, God is able to take what seems so little and is able to multiply it in ways that are beyond our imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus started with just twelve disciples. Today there is somewhere around two billion people in the world who identify themselves as Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In faith and deep humility, we launched this new 9:30 worship service just over a year ago, and now we have a dedicated and faithful congregation of men and women who are willing to lead worship, set up our worship space, invite friends to come, and give unselfishly their gifts and talents every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But outside this worship service, there are many things to do to put our words into action. The tasks may be overwhelming but we need to just take the first step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By getting into the game, you are no longer just bystanders but you are Jesus\u2019 friends. God has a job for every one of us here. And deep down inside, you probably already know what that job is. Let\u2019s just not talk about it. Let\u2019s get into the game in the name of Christ Jesus!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immortal God, we confess that we find it easier to honor you with words than with our deeds. We are quick to say what we believe, yet we can be slow to turn those beliefs into actions. We acknowledge that there are times each week when we become aware of opportunities to serve, but we do nothing. There are times each week when we are faced with situations where we could demonstrate love, compassion, or mercy, but we allow those occasions to pass us by. Merciful Lord, forgive us fro the way that we settle for talking about our faith, instead of acting on our faith. By your Spirit, encourage us to be willing doers of your Word. In Jesus\u2019 name we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew 21:23-32 September 25, 2005 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. When we lived in Pennsylvania, our house sat on a