Who's First?

Read Matthew 21: 23-32

“What Comes First”

Do any of these phrases sound familiar to you? 

I just want to fit in. Why don’t they like me? Why can’t I be like them? I want to be noticed. I just want people to recognize me. I want people to see me. What about me do people not like. Am I different? Are they different? Is it the clothes I wear? Is it the way I talk? Do I smell bad? I wish I had friends. I wish people would hear my voice. They might like me if they would get to know me. Is it something I said? Maybe I am different. Maybe God made me different. God, why did you make me different? Please just give me a chance. 

Or, can you recall using any of these phrases? 

You don’t fit in. People just don’t like you. If you would change and be a little different people might like you. Just go somewhere else. I would rather not see you. You don’t belong. You are not a likable person. You’re just different; you’re not one of us. You are weird. You are not like the rest of us. You smell bad. You don’t have friends for a reason. Nobody cares what you have to say. Nobody wants to get to know you. You are not right for this group, you’re not proper material. It’s not God’s fault; it’s your fault. Just leave because you are not wanted. 

Have you felt excluded or separated from everybody else? It's likely that you can recall some of these thoughts or feelings from grade school or high school. Some of you might have heard or had them as adults. Some of you might have heard these things in church or from a church. Believe it or not, that is far more common than it should be. There are churches in the world that believe some people just don’t belong in their sanctuaries and faith communities. Forgive me for twisting the knife a little more, but there are churches in our communities that believe some people just do not belong among them. Do you remember what it felt like in school when someone told you that you just didn’t fit in to a certain group? Now, can you imagine what it would feel like if God told you that you just didn’t fit in? If a person is excluded from a church, that is how they feel. Though, exclusion of any type is not the will of heaven, it is the will of human. 

The religious people knew one way and Jesus knew another. The religious leaders walked the streets looking down on people that were different from them. They completely disenfranchised themselves from the people that were not “blessed”. Surely, they noticed the poor, the sick, and the less fortunate subjected to the streets. Surely they noticed the beggars that could not drag themselves out of the slums they lived in. Surely, they saw them. But, they believed the “less blessed” were also cursed. They believed that God put them there because they did something to make God mad. Perhaps, it was something their families did and they were paying for it. The religious leaders did not see them to be fit for the temple worship. I mean, if they couldn’t tithe why should arrive. As far as the religious leaders were concerned, if they did not pay the temple dues they were disrespectful to God. To them, it was best that these disenfranchised people just kept their distance. They believed that if you didn’t have money, you were not welcome. So, the way these people saw it, the only people connected with God were the wealthy Jews. Of course, they kept a close relationship with the Roman Empire. This relationship was kind of under the table. They did not want other Jews to know about this relationship with the Romans because they were the enemy. But, the Roman coin allowed them to live luxuriously. The Romans filled their purses. They collaborated to further oppress God’s people. 

“What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” They asked Jesus when he not only invited numerous people into the temple, but he started teaching them and contradicting the Jewish leaders. Jesus had quite a following and when he went into the temple his followers saw him and they went with him. And he started teaching them this radical way that God loved all people: poor people, sick and diseased, marginalized, sinners, tax collectors, zealots, prostitutes, and they were all welcome in the temple to worship. The religious leaders were in a fit of rage! They thought Jesus was just another radical false prophet trying to challenge the status quo. So, what they needed to do was kill him. He did not belong. He was just a poor carpenter from the north. 

“I will tell you what kind of authority I have if you answer a question for me. Where did John the Baptist get his authority, heaven or human?” Many of the people that followed Jesus loved John the Baptist. Like Jesus, John accepted them. He not only accepted them but he cleansed them of their sins and invited them to be part of God’s kingdom. If these priests rejected John’s authority, Jesus’ followers would probably cause a riot. Let us not forget that the Jewish leaders had recently killed John. 

Jesus told a parable, a story, of two sons that worked in their father’s vineyard. The father called the sons to go work in the vineyard. One of the sons did not want to work; he fumbled around and complained. He knew the work was hard because the harvest was large. He knew he had his work cut out for him. But he eventually went to work because he loved his father and he was aware of the work that needed to be done in his father’s vineyard. 

The other son said, “Yes sir! I will go to work in the vineyard. You can count on me. I will harvest and make the vineyard great. I am a hard worker; you can count on me!” But he never did anything for the father. He just said he was going to do it. In this parable Jesus identifies two types of people. There are people that might seem like they are not fit to work in the vineyard. They are the people that might not appear to be God’s servants. They are people that might not be who you expect God to call. On the surface they are the sinners, the unpleasant folks that just don’t fit in and, simply put, the most unlikely people. But, they have compassion in their hearts. They recognize the need in vineyard. They are the people that see the need in the world and they serve God; they serve people. They are the people that follow Jesus, the father in the vineyard. 

Then there are the people that just pretend like they get it because they think they are pleasing the father of the vineyard. They are actually blind to the needs of the people. They are far more interested in what the vineyard looks like and not the need to harvest from it. They are the people that boast about the idea of being obedient, but never take action. They make people believe they are obedient by lying to them. They say they serve but never follow through. 

Jesus used this parable to illustrate to the religious leaders that those who are obedient to God, even if they are sinners come before those who pretend to be obedient to God. Essentially, the prostitutes and tax collectors that believed in John the Baptist are far more obedient than the religious leaders. Jesus’ mission was a bold, upside-down move that empowered the people that were not accepted by the church.  

There is a clear parallel between the culture during Jesus’ day and the culture of our day. Some things change in time; but some things do not. John and Jesus’ followers did not fit in the temple because they were different. They did not meet the standard for worship, they could not tithe or pay the taxes, but they were compassionate with a love for God. The religious leaders rejected them because they were different and they did not fit in. 

Many churches and religious institutions require people to meet a standard before they can be part of the congregation. If a person does not fit, they are not allowed. If a person doesn’t look a certain way, live a certain way, or tithe a certain amount they do not meet the standard; they are rejected. However, on the surface those churches and religious institutions just lead an audience to believe they upholding the mission of Christ. They are blind to the needs of the world or the needs in their own backyards. They are so interested in their institution and their purses that they miss the need. They are the son in the vineyard that God called to work and they replied, “Yes, sir.” But, didn’t go. 

In God’s will there is no exclusivity. All people are included. There is no separation, there are not people that don’t fit in, and all people are invited to work in the world’s vineyard. God was satisfied with those that served even if they were sinners. They were obedient to God despite how the world treated them. Those are the ones that will be first in the kingdom. Then there are those who are blind to the needs of the world. The ones that pretend and fail to be obedient to God’s will. Who are you? The father calls his sons and daughters to work and serve in the vineyard of the world. God calls us to go out and reap a harvest for God, to show people God’s work through our hands.

Jesus made a difference. He changed the course of time and history because he stood against the people that were not obedient to God. For that reason, the religious people of his day killed him. But, they did what he knew they would do. He made a sacrifice for the world. Not only did he make a sacrifice for the people that believed in him but also for the people that did not. At that moment, time stopped and everything was made new. All things were made new. His sacrifice is still making a difference and renewing everything in the world. It is still being shown through people. Are you one of those people? In all that you do, let the love, compassion, and mission of Christ be seen in you.

Peace