Matthew 21:23-32

It was shortly after the ruckus in the fellowship hall. You know when Jesus turned over all the tables at the bazaar. Well, he was sittin' on the front steps of the church and a bunch of people came and sat around him. And he was tellin' them about the Kingdom of God and stuff. Well one of the associate preachers and a few of the deacons came up and began askin' questions.

"Excuse me Jesus, do you have a permit to hold a Sunday School class here? Who gave you permission to start a new Bible Study." One of the deacon interjected, "Has your curriculum been approved by the Sunday School Board and did you even bother to check the Discipline to make sure it agrees with church teaching?"

Jesus said, "Well, what about John the Baptist? Who gave him permission to teach? It weren't no Sunday School Board or Education Commission. So it was either God or he was just talkin' through his hat!"

The Preacher and the deacons put their heads together. If we say "From God" then they will say "Why didn't you agree with him." And then every fly by night self styled prophet will claim the same authority. But if we say that John had no authority, the people will get mad because they liked John. Then they might not pay up on their pledges! So they said, "We'll have the check on that."

So Jesus said something like this: Once there was a man who had two boys. He went to the first one's bed room and stuck his head in the door. The boy was playing video games. He said, "Son, could you please go clean out the garage." The boy said, "Daad! I'm playing with my Nintari Cube! I have the Lords of Chaos on cornered in the 6th dimension if I can finish them off I will be Conqueror of the Cosmos." But later on, after he lost his last battle star in the 8th dimension and was sent back the level 1 he thought, "You know Dad does a lot for me. He bought me the totally awesome Nintari Cube 6.7. He feeds me, and provides a house. If cleaning the garage will make him happy I guess I can do that." So he put down his joy stick and went to the garage.

The father went to the other son's room where he was reading his Bible and said, "Son, please mow the yard today." The boy said, "Sure Dad, whatever you say." But then he got thinking. It's awful hot out today. That old lawnmower is a pain to start. I might have an allergy attack from all that pollen and dust. I'll just stay right here. What I'm doing now is more important.

When he finished the story Jesus asked the crowd, "Which son did the Father's will?" Well everyone could see it was the first one. Even though he said he wouldn't, he had a change of heart and in the end he did what the father asked. But the other son just gave the father lip service and didn't really obey. So Jesus looked at the preacher and deacons and said, "You see, some of the people you called sinners are entering the kingdom ahead of you. Because you did not pay attention to John but some of those so called sinners did."

It's clear that Jesus was talking about the Chief Priests and Elders in his little story. You see, it was the job of the elders and priests to teach the people about God's will. Jesus was trespassing on their turf. He was teaching the people right there in the temple precincts. So they questioned his authority. Who was this Carpenter of Nazareth to be teaching in the Temple of the Most Holy God!

Who was Jesus? You and I know he was the Son of God. He had every right to teach in the temple or anywhere else he wanted to. His authority was from God. The question was where was their authority?

So Jesus told a story about a son who did the Fathers' will despite refusing at first. And a son who simply paid the father lip service. The crowds were turning from sin to do God's will. The religious leaders on the other hand were just giving God lip service. In the end Jesus was questioning their authority to teach about a God they really were not serving.

Which all begs the question: "Are you doing the Father's will?" Which son are you? Which son am I? We all rebel from time to time like the first son. We would rather play with our video games then roll up our sleeves and clean up the messes in the world. But at the end of the day do we really try to do God's will? Or do we simply pay God lip service?

Now, we are all good church people here. We all read our Bibles and come to church and Sunday school, right? Well, more or less. But do we live that outside of the church. When we leave this "churchy" atmosphere do we live out all these nice things we talk about in church?

Jesus is being practical here. It's not what you say or originally intend to do that matters. The question is "In the end, what do you end up doing?" Do you seek to do the father's will, or are you just giving God lip service?

This is not just a rhetorical question! This question demands an answer. But don't give the answer here. You give the answer to this question this afternoon after you leave church; and then tomorrow and the day after and the day after. How you live your life is the answer to this question!

Exodus 17:1-7

Matthew 16:13-20

And they put the LORD to the proof by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?" You know we don't trust what we can't see. Tom, Jerry and Sue were discussing whether or not God existed. Tom, the atheist, said to Jerry, who was unsure, "do you see the tree outside?" Jerry said, "Yes." Tom continued, "Do you see the grass outside? "Yes." "Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky." "Yes, I saw the sky." "Did you see God?" "No." So Tom said, "That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. He doesn't exist." At that Sue, the believer, turned to Jerry and said, "Do you see the tree outside?" Jerry replied, "Yes." "Do you see the grass outside? "Yes." "Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky." "Yes, I saw the sky." "Do you see Tom?" "Yes." "Do you see Tom's mind?" "No." Sue concluded, "Then by the same logic Tom's mind doesn't exist." We laugh but people often live by that kind of logic. We want to see things with our own eyes or we will not believe them.

But that's part of being human. Oriental thought speaks of the past as being in front of us and the future behind us. They image the human being as walking backwards into the future. We don't know where we are going. We can see the past clearly, but we cannot see the future. We are blind to what is going to happen to us. And many times it surprises us as if it came up on us from behind.

Because we can't see the future some of us try to let someone who can see the future lead us into it. That takes a lot of trust. It takes a lot of trust to say "O.K. God, we trust you to lead us into the future to the good gifts you have for us. We would rather see the future for ourselves. Instead of trusting in something we can't see we would rather trust in ourselves. Human beings would rather grope in the dark. We would rather trust ourselves than trust in God.

The Israelites were like a person walking backwards into an unknown future. It was easy for them to look back into the past and remember Egypt. With its plentiful waters from the Nile, the safety of the protection of Pharaoh, and the job security of being a slave. They weren't too sure about what awaited them out in the wilderness. They might never find a place to settle and make a living. They could be attacked by band of thieves. They could even die of thirst.

So the people began to grumble. As they traveled through the desert they found no water waiting for them so the began to find fault with Moses. They said "Moses why did you bring us out of Egypt. At least we had water there. Our children had a hope for survival there. Out here we could easily die of thirst." You are our leader you find us water."

But it was not just Moses who they found fault with, it was God. Moses was the one whom God had chosen to lead them to the promised land. And it was God's purpose they were questioning. They couldn't see God, or the future that awaited them. So they found fault and said, "Is God really among us or not?"

That's a good question: "Is God really among us or not?" People have often asked it. As I said we don't know our future. We are blindly walking backwards into the future. Those of us who are worshippers of God have decided to let God lead us into that dark valley of the future. Sometimes we walk into troubled times: like the people of Israel. When we are led into a desert, we ask ourselves "Is God really leading us or not?" And that is natural. It is part of our nature to want to see where we are going. And it takes an effort to trust in something we can't see. So to ask, "Is God with us?" is perfectly natural.

It's a good question. It's a good question because I know the answer, and I hope all of you do too. I believe the best example of the belief that God is with us is in the story of the Israelites in the desert. They were unsure of their future and God had led them into the desert. We know that God had led them there to take them to the promised land. But you see that is in our past, it was in their future and they couldn't see it as clearly as we can. So they worried.

But God was with them. And to prove it God told Moses to go before them and to cause water to come out of the rock. God showed them that they were not alone. God also showed them that they would be taken care of.

In Jesus' day the children of Israel were still asking that question. They were still wondering "Is God among us or not?" They knew what God had done in the past. But they were unsure of their future. They were occupied by the Romans and they were made to pay tributes to Caesar. And before Caesar it was the Greeks and before them someone else. The God who had led them to a land flowing with milk and honey had allowed them to be conquered so that the milk and honey had to be sent to Rome. God had led them into a desert and they saw no way out. So they asked "Is God with us or not?"

To answer that question God decided to come down and say once and for all time "I am here." So God was born in the person of Jesus whom we call Christ, the only begotten son of God. Jesus is the final Word in answering that age old question. [no pun intended]

But people still asked the question. So one day Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They said, "Some say you are John the Baptist or Elijah or some other prophet who has risen from the dead." Then Jesus got personal and said, "But who do you say that I am?" And brave Peter said, "You are the Christ the son of the living God" and you are here.

God is leading each of us to a promised land. God has a land flowing with milk and honey waiting for all of us. We can't see where God is taking us because we are walking backwards. Sometimes to get there we need to go through a wilderness or a desert. Since we have trouble allowing someone else to lead us we wonder "has God really led me here?" And we ask ourselves "Is God really with us or not?"

At those times Jesus sits us down and says, "who do people say I am?" And we say, "Some say a good moral teacher, some say a godly man, others say a man who knew God in a special way." But then Jesus gets personal and says, "But who do you say I am?" If we can say, "You are the Christ the Son of the living God," then we have our answer. Jesus is God in the flesh and he lived as we live and died as we will die. And he is here alive again leading us through the wilderness giving us living waters.

Philippians 2:1-13

(Imitating John Wayne)"Well pilgrim. You caused a lot of trouble today. Some people could have gotten hurt." You can see now why I could never make a living as an impersonator. But impersonations have always intrigued me. I have always enjoyed Rich Little the impersonator. The way he is able to copy the sound of a person's voice and their mannerisms is entertaining.

Impersonations seem to come easy to him and other professionals like them. But in actuality, it takes a lot of work and practice. It takes hours and even years to perfect an impersonation. It takes a lot of concentration to copy the mannerisms and accent that come natural to another. If it were easy to impersonate another person then we would not be entertained by those who do it well.

Did you know that as Christians we are all professional impersonators. No, we are not entertainers like Rich Little. My feeble attempt at an impersonation of John Wayne is proof enough of that. But we are imitators of Christ.

Paul told the Philippians to "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus."(2:5) The Good News Bible and the Living Bible both paraphrase this "mind of Jesus" as the attitude Jesus had. We are to have the same attitude and approach to life that Jesus did. We are called to imitate his life and actions. So it is important for us to ask what aspects of his life and actions should we imitate?

The aspect of Christ's mind that Paul lifts up is his humility and obedience. Jesus was and is the son of God; the only begotten of the most high. But as Paul wrote, "he did not regard equality with God a thing to be exploited."(2:6) First of all he humbled himself to come to this earth. Jesus could have chosen to come as the son of an earthly king. He was already the son of the King of Kings why shouldn't his earthly form reflect that truth. Instead Jesus came as a homeless carpenter's son who lived in a small occupied country among a persecuted people.

And Jesus lived his life in humility. Jesus could have set up shop across from the temple and established the biggest church in Jerusalem. He could have lived in the finest of houses and feasted daily with his followers. After all he could turn water into wine and he could multiply fish and bread at will, as well as producing coins out of a fish's mouth. But instead he had no place to lay his head and he spent most of his ministering years traveling the dusty hillsides of Galilee and camping out under the stars at night.

Finally he humbled himself to the point of dying on a cross. His obedience and humility to his Father's will went as far as to die a horrible and demeaning death. He could have called down a legion of angels to rescue him. But instead he humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

What would our lives be like if we were humble and obedient like Christ? First of all there would be no hoarding of goods and money. Part of our inclination to amass material wealth is our own self importance. We somehow feel that I am more important than another. We look out for #1. But another part of it is our failure to obey God's call to share with those who are less needy. If our minds were like Christ's we would give our extra coats or bread or money to those who have none. Because we would be humble enough to count their needs as equal to ours. And we would be obedient to our Lord's command. For Jesus said those who have two coats should give to the one who has none.

If we were humble like Christ there would be no nationalism. It is a prideful conceit that says my country's interests are more important then yours. It is a good thing that we defend our country from those who would rob us of our freedom. But we should recognize the rights of other counties to exist and govern themselves. It is nationalism that causes the kind of atrocities seen in Nazi Germany and the former Yugoslavia. It is the idea that my country is more important than yours. It is this kind of prideful nationalism that has created bloodshed in the middle east for generations. Palestinians saying Israel has not right to exist. And Israelites saying Palestine has no right to exist.

If we had in us the mind that was in Christ Jesus there would be no prejudice in us. Jesus' humility was best exemplified in the way that Jesus ministered to Samaritans. Samaritans were hated by Jews and they would not talk to them or drink from the same vessels as them. It was a kind of first century Palestinian apartheid or segregation. If they had had water fountains back then they would have been marked "Jews" and "Samaritans." If we were humble like Christ there would be no white churches and black churches. Those distinctions would be meaningless. Identifying a church by the color of the majority of it's members skin we make about as much sense as identifying it by the color of it's member's eyes. I go to a brown eyed church but that church is a green eyed church so I didn't go there. And there would be no distinctions between rich churches and poor churches or uptown churches and downtown churches. Those divisions are based on a desire to think of ourselves as better than others. If we truly imitated Christ all those prejudices would fall away.

"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." That is a difficult thing for most of us to do. It's difficult for us to impersonate Christ That level of humility is hard for us to attain. Our human nature is to puff ourselves up. We want to feel important and we want others to acknowledge our importance. We want to have it our way.

Our nature is the opposite of Christ's. He was God Almighty, yet he humbled himself to become the lowliest of humans. We are born lowly humans yet we try to act like God. The serpent tempted Eve and Adam by saying they would be like God if they ate the forbidden fruit. And the devil has been tempting people with pride ever since.

You might throw your arms up in the air and declare, "It is impossible for me to really be like Christ!" If you have said that then you are half way there my friend. The truth is that it is impossible for you on your own to be like Christ. But we don't have to do it on our own. Paul began by saying, "If there is any encouragement in Christ."(2:1) And he concluded this passage by writing, "for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you."(2:13) We don't do it alone. We can only imitate Christ with the help of God.

But it also says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."(2:12) There is work involved. But don't misunderstand Paul here. He is not saying you earn your salvation by making yourself holy like Christ. Salvation is a free gift of grace. What he is saying is that we must work with God to realize the full fruits of that salvation in our lives. It takes work to impersonate Christ.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ. If you believe that God works in people's lives. And if you believe that Christ can really transform people. Then let the same attitude that was Christ's be yours. Live as he did. Love as he did.

How did Christ live. Even though he was God in the flesh, he humbled himself. Even though you are adopted children of God, humble yourselves. Stoop to serve others who are fallen instead of looking down on them despisingly. Sacrifice of yourself to serve others in obedience to God.

This is a difficult impersonation. It takes a lot of work. We must practice and learn how to act like Jesus. At times we will get applause, but at times we will be booed. But we have the best teacher - Jesus Christ. If we will work with him, he will enable us.

Psalm 78

"God is great, God is good." That was probably the first prayer I ever learned. I know it was the first prayer I ever taught my children. And it is a prayer that seems to stick with children. While I was in college at USC I attended Washington St. UMC in Columbia. I remember one Sunday C.J. Lupo was doing a children's sermon. The children were all sitting on the floor around him and, he gave them a little lesson. I forget the lesson but when he finished he said, "Now let's say a prayer." And before he could get another word out a little girl blurted out: "God is great! God is good! Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we all are fed. Give us Lord our daily bread."

We find that story amusing. It seems so out of place to say grace or return thanks during a worship service. That poor little silly girl didn't know it was neither the time nor the place for a blessing. Or was it? That little girl had been taught well to give thanks to God. She had learned that God is great and God is good and we should give thanks for the gifts God gives us like our daily bread. By spontaneously giving thanks she was expressing her love and gratitude and heartfelt faith in God.

That little girl had already learned a lesson that many adults have yet to learn. We talk about God giving his only begotten son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross. That's a great gift of a good God. And how do we thank God for it? Many times we thank God by forgetting to make Jesus a part of our lives beyond worship and Sunday School. Sometimes we, all of us, return thanks by being disobedient to the will of God.

People in Bible times were no different than us. They know that God is great and God is good. They may not have been taught that prayer but like us they had experienced the amazing Grace of God. Like us they had heard the testimony of God's greatness. They had even seen God's mighty works. The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 78 know of God's greatness and God's goodness. The Psalmist wrote about how the children of Israel had seen the miracles of God wrought in Egypt. How God had brought the plagues upon the Egyptians. And how God had preserved the Israelites from those plagues. The Psalmist also tells how God delivered them through the Red Sea from the hands of the Egyptians. They had seen the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. They knew God was great because of those miracles.

They also knew that God was good. God had been good enough to hear their cry in slavery and deliver them from bondage in Egypt. God could have left them there in slavery. But instead God chose to agree them. And God had given them good gifts. He gave them bread from heaven to nourish their bodies. And water form a rack to refresh them.

But they didn't give thanks for their food! Instead they grumbled. They complained that they would thirst to death in the wilderness. They persisted and said that they wanted some meat to eat. Instead of giving thanks they rebelled against their savior. In the words of the psalmist: "They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. They forgot what He had done, and the miracles that he had shown them."

So what did God do? Well, God is great! What would any great self-respecting deity do in such a circumstance? Such a deity would rain down fire and brimstone on the children of Israel until every one of them was destroyed. Such a god would cause the earth to open up and swallow them whole. Such a great deity would erase the name of Israel from the pages of history. Their fate would be worse than that of Sodom and their destruction greater than that of Gomorrah.

But God is also good. God could have destroyed them. God could have left them in the desert to die of hunger and thirst. Instead God continued to feed them and save them. Instead of destroying them God made them prosper and grow. Instead of wiping their name from the pages of history, God made them a great people who still exist and are spoken of long after the Amorites and Pezzorites have ceased to exist.

This is the mercy of God. Despite the untruthfulness of the people of Israel and their rebellion, God continued to bless them. This is an example and proof of the kind of God we worship and serve. We serve a God who gives us all that we need. And even when we fail to give God the glory for those gifts God is still merciful and giving. God's goodness was greater than their badness.

People haven't changed much since then. God has given us such great gifts. We live in a country of riches. Even the poor in our country have it better then some people in other countries. America throws away more food each day that is needed to feed the hungry in our country. We are also blessed with freedoms that people in other parts of the world have to risk their lives to win.

And as Christians we have been blessed with gifts that are even greater than that. The greatest of these gifts is Jesus Christ our Lord, who came and died for our sins. We have also been granted forgiveness, which is a gift we could never have bought on our own. As the church we have been given the holy presence of God's spirit to sustain and guide us. And we have been given the testimony of the Bible and the witness of church tradition to reveal God's will to us.

But like the Israelites we have forgotten what God has done for us. Like them we fail to acknowledge God as Lord over everything God has given us. I knew a woman who inherited a house from her husband. She used to say the house was Jesus' house and that he just let her live there. People thought she was crazy, but she was right. All we have, even our breath, is a gift from God and we should thank God that he lets us use it. We know the saving power of Jesus in our lives but like Peter we act like we do not even know who Jesus is. We have been given a land flowing with milk and honey and yet we don't show any appreciation for its wealth or beauty. All we care about is what minerals we can extract from it and what waste we can dump in it.

So what does God do? What would you do if you were in God's shoes and you were faced with an unthankful people like the Israelites? Does God just give up and say, "forget you, you unthankful people." Does God choose to destroy us and leave us to our own sin?

No, excuse my English, but God is "gooder" than that. And thank God! We don't deserve the gifts we unthankfully receive. But that is the nature of God's mercy.

That little girl was right! God is great! God is good! Let us thank God for our food. By his hands we shall be fed. Give us Lord our daily bread. Amen