Pentecost 20A,Creation 4A, 2011
Matthew 21:28-32
A Liturgy is also available
DOERS RATHER THAN CAUGHT IN THE SPELL OF GOOD INTENTIONS ONLY
George Burns, the late American comedian, was at one time recorded
as offering preachers some so-called ‘good’ advice. He said:
‘A good sermon should have a good beginning and a good ending, and they should be as close together as possible’ (Bausch 1996:12).
Yes, I am sure we all have our own ‘preachers’ jokes!
And yes, preaching ‘week in, week out’,
can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!
Well, today’s story from the bloke we call Matthew is,
I reckon, going to be one such occasion. A bit of a challenge.
Because there seems to be a fair amount of confusion
around who actually says ‘yes’ in the story,
and what meaning, if any, we might give to it all.
oo0oo
Let’s revisit the story which (N) read to us.
Stories of two sons are a staple diet of Jewish tradition.
I am sure you can recall at least a couple.
In Matthew’s Jesus story, a man orders one of his sons to work in the vineyard.
He says ‘I will not,’ but has a change of heart and goes to work.
The other son immediately says yes, but never goes to the vineyard.
The parable leaves us wondering what the father would do
and what happens to the deceptive son.
But… and yes there is a but.
But Matthew’s Jesus interrupts with a question:
Which of the two did the father’s will?
Now I am reliably informed by several biblical scholars there are at least
three different versions of this story.
And so you might engage with all this a little differently,
I have printed those three versions on the Liturgy sheets.
Version 1
1st son: Says ‘yes’. Doesn’t move
2nd son: Says ‘no’. Latter goes
Right answer: Second
Version 2
1st son: Says ‘no’. Later goes
2nd son: Says ‘yes’. Doesn’t move
Right answer: First
Version 3
1st son: Says ‘no’. Later goes
2nd son: Says ‘yes’. Doesn’t move
Right answer: Second
Perhaps you might like to have a quick chat with the person next to you
about these three versions.
(Conversation)
OK. Because there are so many versions of this story
we can’t be absolutely sure of its original form.
However many scholars, from what I can discover,
suggest Version 1 is probably “the correct text” (Funk & Hoover 1993:232).
But… Matthew’s story ending doesn’t always follow the story plot.
And… it also depends on the matrix or context of the story
and the accompanying interpretation.
Despite all this, I thought I might offer some brief comments of two scholars
to go with your own comments during that time of discussion we had earlier.
The first scholar comes from the 19th century
and he is called Soren Kierkegaard.
The second comes from the 20th century and she is called Barbara Reid.
Kierkegaard was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is recognised as
an outstanding philosopher, theologian, literary critic, poet and psychologist.
Among those 20th century theologians who have been influenced
by his thinking, are: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Rudolf Bultman, Martin Buber and Paul Tillich.
And Kierkegaard’s matrix or context was a life-time argument,
even bitter argument, he had with the Danish State Church of his time.
In ‘Under the spell of good intentions’ Kierkegaard asks:
what is the ‘point’ (as if there is only one point) of this parable? So he writes:
“Is it not meant to show us the danger of saying ‘Yes’ in too great a hurry, even if it is well meant?... It is easy to think that by making a promise you have at least done part of what you promised to do, as if the promise itself were something of value. Not at all! In fact, when you do not do what you promise, it is a long way back to the truth. Beware! The ‘Yes’ of promise keeping is sleep-inducing. An honest ‘No’ possesses much more promise… Ah, it is all too true that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’” (Bruderhof Communities web site).
I invite you to ponder Kierkegard’s comments for a moment.
(Silence)
Barbara Reid is a Dominican sister and distinguished professor of
New Testament at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Her several books and work on the parables
makes current feminist biblical scholarship
available to preachers, teachers, and pastoral ministers.
Her comments are, I reckon, insightful:
“At first the parable seems a simple, straightforward one. Both children fall short of the ideal, but when Jesus asks which of the two did the father’s will, the answer seems easy: the first. In a culture that highly prizes honor, however, it is not so very clear which child is the more laudable. The first one shamed his father by refusing to go. The second says the honorable thing, even if his actions do not conform” (Reid 2001:156).
But later on she says:
“Neither child had it all together. But the one who had the humility to change their mind and do what was asked was the exemplary one. (So) are there ways in which, both as individuals and as a community, we are being asked to admit we were wrong and then embark on a new course of action?” (Reid 2001:161).
Again I invite you to ponder these comments just a little.
(Silence)
oo0oo
When the writer of Matthew’s gospel was shaping this material,
his small church community in Syria was facing significant issues.
Their society was changing... becoming more multicultural.
So they had to stay the course, and both
preserve and develop their own authentic niche identity.
Generally speaking, the Jesus Movement was having battles on all fronts.
The Temple in Jerusalem was gone.
Judaism was being reshaped.
And a bloke called Paul was gaining both Jewish and
‘god-fearer’ converts to his personal “mystical experience” movement (Wilson 2008:126).
And perhaps the ‘good beginning’ and the ‘good ending’ of his sermons
and public comments, were stretching out even further apart! Who knows!
But more than likely, as it was with the community’s hero, Simon,
nicknamed ‘stony ground’… maybe
the small community was composed of people who,
in times of persecution and stress, had said ‘No’.
And were now being invited to rejoin by saying ‘Yes’.
As another commentator on this story suggests:
“Matthew’s community is not the heir of powerful religious leaders who prided themselves on their honorific titles and stunning interpretations of Torah, but of tax collectors (members of [an occupation] forbidden to observant Jews) and women so oppressed that they sell their very selves. It is people like these who say yes and become ‘doers’ of God’s will” (JDonahue. America web site. 2008).
Perhaps we still have a lot more pondering to do on this extraordinary story.
Notes:
Bausch, W. J. 1996. Storytelling the Word. Homilies and How to Write Them. CN: Mystic. Twenty-Third Publications.
Funk, R.; R. Hoover. 1993. The Five Gospels. The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus. NY: New York. Macmillan.
Reid, B. E. 2001. Parables for Preachers. The Gospel of Matthew. Year A. MN: Collegeville. The Liturgical Press.
Wilson, B. 2008. How Jesus Became Christian. Canada: Toronto. Random House.