You are not the boss of me

Matthew 21: 23-32

Good morning. I have a question for you. How many of you were ever eight years old? Good. Then you can relate to Parenting magazine’s list of the six most annoying things kids say.  I think I said them all last week. Can you guess the six?

You are not the boss of me is my favorite because when my kids were little, it was their favorite.  It was often followed by “I don’t have to” and “you can’t make me.”  While kids are the ones given credit most often for statements like these, we adults have our own variations.  Indeed entire wars have been waged because countries said, “MINE”, “You can’t make me”  or simply “I don’t like you.” It’s jarring to have our complex conflicts distilled to something so juvenile. You may be tempted to say, “That’s not fair” or “you are not the boss of me.”  The truth is…

Our bibles are full of evidence that this phenomenon is timeless and that no one is exempt—not even Jesus.  Jesus however is an example of knowing that injustice is the one right reason to show anger, anger as real emotion and legitimate response;  anger that has fueled every social movement since.

…Except for the fig tree incident.  A few verses before our reading today, Jesus is found hungry and tired when he sees a fig tree. Relieved he approaches the tree only to find it has no fruit, only leaves. Jesus wants it now and when he can’t have it, he curses the tree causing it to die on the spot. Ouch. He then tells the freaked out disciples that they too can incinerate the plant life of their choice or move a mountain at will. (whispering…I don’t think they heard him).  

The fig tree debacle and today’s reading take place in the final days of Jesus’ life, just after what we know as Palm Sunday. Jesus has re-entered Jerusalem followed by the largest crowds of his ministry, all proclaiming him to be King.  This of course does not sit well with the Jewish and Roman power elite. Barely one day earlier he visited the temple and in a fit of righteous rage, turned over the tables of the money changers. Now here he is again at the temple and this time they’re waiting for him.  The chief priests and the elders of the people now question Jesus about what gives him authority; authority to behave as he does, and authority to claim that he is acting in God's name. The question was a natural one: just who do you think you are?

What gives you the right to come barreling in to cause something that looks an awful lot like a civil disturbance -- and at Passovertide no less. Jesus, don’t you get that WE are the guys in charge?  Afterall, you are not the boss of me…or are you? That was the question beneath the question. Are you who people say you are?

Matthew’s Gospel gives us a glimpse into how Jesus handled himself.  One of the things you can say about Jesus is that he didn’t try to please people or to meet other’s expectations. He acted out of his own integrity. And whenever others challenged him to authenticate himself, through some means that would please them, he said no. We can learn a lot from the REAL Jesus.

The parable that anchors our reading is as tricky as the questions it asks.

Jesus says “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answers , ‘I will not’; but later changes his mind and goes. The father then goes to the second son and he answers, ‘I will go, sir’; but he doesn’t go.  Then Jesus asks, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus tells them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the realm of God ahead of you.  Sarcastic yes and a perfect example of a non answer. Actually it’s a perfect answer.

In Jewish society, there was more shame in disobeying the father by refusing his command, even though ultimately he obeyed.  The second son honored his father by saying he would obey then dishonored him by failing to follow through. They both messed up. This is Jesus’ main teaching.  Unless we connect our words and our actions in integrity we’ve missed the point. Both sons were out of integrity because they had failed to see the connection between what they said or didn’t say and what they did or didn’t do.

Soren Kierkegaard had an essay about people who say yes and don’t follow through.  He says this:

When you say "Yes" or promise something, you can very easily deceive yourself and others also, as if you had already done what you promised. 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.

The world is quite inclined – even eager – to make promises, for a promise appears very fine at the moment – it inspires!  We know this all too well because of the election.

The reason we don’t praise either son is because they wrote checks with their mouths that couldn’t be cashed!  People need to be able to count on us. The world needs to be able to count on us. God needs to be able to count on us.

The first ten times I read this passage the two halves seems disconnected. At first read it seems like Jesus was changing the subject as if he didn’t want to continue the inquiry about his authority. When we read our Bibles we need to do so with a balance of wonder and critical curiosity.  Jesus is about to end his earthly ministry.  The chief priests and elders of the people are the undecided voters of his time.  He is making an argument about human and heavenly authority.  Unfortunately his audience was more concerned with looking bad than rethinking their conclusions. So Jesus presses on, goes deeper, wanting them to see the connection between words and action, between truth and integrity.

While they were saying “Jesus you are not the boss of me” Jesus was saying, grow up. Grow up spiritually; look again at everything you think you are certain of because…the truth is right in front of you and truth demands action. We’ve got a world to heal, a planet to save and injustices to right.

Jesus wanted them get INVOLVED-cash the check. Intellect does us no good if we do nothing with it. The chief priests were more concerned with being right than with the plight of the oppressed. 

There is a tiny little book called “Jesus and Nonviolence” written by Walter Wink.  I was given a copy when I worked for Soulforce. Walter writes, “Many people would like our world to change without having to be involved in changing it. But when justice is the goal, that may require an acceleration of conflict as a necessary stage in forcing those in power to bring about genuine change.”

That’s the story of today’s story.  Jesus is acting up, causing and facing conflict because he’s tired and he’s had it with the injustices all around him. Time is running out. He is speaking truth to power, inviting them and us to connect the dots. 

All of us in this room are invited to liberate the oppressed with Jesus, for Jesus. What do you witness in this world that makes you angry, makes you want to say “That’s not fair!” What rights don’t you have that we need to yell “Mine!”?   Who is God calling you to be an advocate for because God is the boss of all of us, the people in Darfur, the orphans in Africa, the homeless in the cities, the HIV positive without medicine?  That’s the voice linking this story to action in 2008.

These ten verses are packed with insight and invitation.  We are all invited to get real, show emotion, speak truth, act on our word.

Who says you never let me do anything? Jesus does. Amen.

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