Year A, Proper 21
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
North Andover, Massachusetts
The Rev. Stephanie Chase Wilson


Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight,
Oh Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

This week as I watched financial titans crumble, the stock market sink, and congress scramble to save the economy – literally to save the economy, I am overwhelmed. How can it be that the United States, which was flying so high for so many years is on its knees economically? Did no one see this coming? And more importantly, what is going to happen now? When congress discusses a $700 billion bailout for financial firms, it seems unreal to me. I can’t wrap my head around that much money. 1 billion, 700 billion, it’s all just numbers on a page. But my paycheck, THAT I can understand. This is where the rubber hits the road for us: how will a failed Washington Mutual and a $700 billion buyout affect our ability to support our families, pay our bills, and be able to retire? Yes, we all want to know what’s happening with the economy on a macro scale, but the real question for all of us is, what does this mean for me? And the answers look frightening and incomprehensible. There are too many unknowns out there.

It is sort of like the story of Moses and the people wandering around in the desert after they left Egypt. The people complained that they had no water. We too are now looking at a desert of an economic landscape and wondering how we are going to survive.

In addition, Jesus and the Bible have a lot of things to say about money. In fact, money is a spiritual topic. How we use it and treat it says something about the state of our spiritual life. It tells us what our priorities are. Church is one of the best places to be having conversations about money. I found an interesting quote from the bible I wanted to share with you from 1 Timothy. “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Tim 6:9) Hmmm. Sounds a little like Wall Street maybe? Greed and love of money is a powerful force, and people can loose their bearings over it. Both those who seek money at the expense of others, and those who hang their self-worth on how much money they possess. It can lead us into all sorts of trouble. In the case of Wall Street, greed, lack of oversight and regulations allowed some self-centered people to play fast and loose with the American economy. We are now all bearing the burdens of that ruin and destruction.

Today’s gospel lesson focuses on issues of authority – who has it and who doesn’t and why. The story opens with Jesus entering the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the Monday of Holy Week. He has just entered the city the day before on Palm Sunday. He has been healing the blind and the lame, he overturned the tables of moneychangers, people are calling him Son of David, and the chief priests and elders are angry. They have had just about enough. Something has to be done about this character Jesus. He is an upstart, a nobody, while they are the recognized leaders of the temple and of religious life in Israel. They need to get rid of him. Plots are hatching. As part of their strategy to discredit Jesus they try to stump him and confront him in front of his followers, “By what authority are you doing these things?” They ask him because of course, as leaders of the temple, authority comes through them and since they haven’t approved Jesus, they are in effect publicly denouncing him.

But Jesus is too smart for their trap and responds with a question of his own, “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” The chief priests and elders discuss among themselves and realize they have a dilemma on their hands. Because, if they answer that the baptizing that John was doing had come from God, then why did they themselves not get baptized?

Why didn’t they repent of their sins and get washed? They didn’t repent, so they can’t answer that what John was doing was from heaven. Yet they can’t answer that John’s baptisms came from human origin either, even though they might want to say this, because the people believe John to be a prophet. If the temple leaders publicly denounce John and his baptisms as human work and not of God, the people will reject the temple authorities and their leadership. They might even be in danger of their lives. They become the ones who are stumped and so give a weak answer to save their own skins. They say, “We do not know.” So Jesus of course says, “well then, I won’t tell you where my authority comes from either.”

He then goes on to tell the parable about the two sons. One who says he won’t work in his father’s vineyard, but then does; and one who says he will work in his father’s vineyard, but then doesn’t. Jesus is making an analogy between the temple leaders and the sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. He is saying that the temple leaders are the ones who say to God, yes we will do your work, but then don’t. They let themselves be seduced by power and authority. While the tax collectors and prostitutes are the ones who say to God, no we won’t do your work, but then repent, are baptized by John.

Jesus is saying the sinners are the good son who actually does the work, while the temple leaders are just kidding themselves. They have lost their authority. And now when they have the chance to make amends, they won’t repent. This parable is another swipe at the religious authorities and their pride.

In this reading the people come to recognize that true authority comes from God, and not from earthly powers. They see in John and Jesus God at work in their midst. They turn away from their designated leaders in the temple because they are coming to understand that they are not to be trusted. These leaders are looking out for number one, and not for the people.

Who has authority over us? To whom do we give authority? Lots of people actually. We give school teachers authority over our children for a portion of the day. We give the government and congress authority over what to do with our taxes. We give Wall Street authority over our money, that it is stewarded well. There was some debate whether Henry Paulson would be given sole authority over $700 billion dollars to solve the economic crisis. We give Presidents authority over our nation and its policies and role in the world. The other night we watched a debate to help us determine which candidate we felt was most qualified to handle that authority.

I wonder how the temple authorities or U.S. government leaders or Wall Street might be different if they had kept in mind the passage from Philippians we read today, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” The temple leaders were ambitious; many on Wall Street and in government are also ambitious and greedy. If those in authority had recognized St. Paul’s advice, we’d be in better shape as a country. Paul goes on to say, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:4-5). He is holding up Jesus as the model of authority, the model for discipleship. This is what one in authority should look like. Someone who is honest, generous, giving, and willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. That is someone we can trust. The people in Christ’s day recognized this about Jesus, which is what was making the chief priests and elders so angry.

Now the reality is, there is no one who can be Jesus here today. We all fall short of the glory of God. But the guidelines of avoiding selfishness, conceit, and greed, while adopting humility and a desire to do what is good for others are qualities that are true in any age. And there certainly are people on Wall Street and in government who strive to embody these qualities.

What we have learned this week, however, is that some people in authority in our country have betrayed us and our trust. They are behaving like temple leaders. And we are left scared, angry, helpless, confused, resigned, and unclear of what the full magnitude of this betrayal will entail.
It leaves us wondering who we should look to for real authority. In this time of anxiety, who can we trust? In the time of Moses, the people were wondering if they could trust Moses to lead them in the desert. In fact, they wondered whether they could trust God. They had just abandoned their homes in Egypt, poor as they were, and now they had no water. But God heard their cries, Moses struck a rock, and water gushed forth. God makes water to flow in the desert.

The Israelites in the time of Jesus also wondered who they could trust. To whom could they safely give authority? Experience taught them that the temple leaders were concerned only with themselves, their power, their wealth, and their prestige, not with the people. Suddenly John and Jesus come forward with a new authority. Because of their selfless nature, the people know they are from God and to be trusted. Here is a place to be safe.

Later they discover that Jesus is so selfless and humble that he gives his life for their well-being.
These stories model for us something we can look to in this economic crisis. Money comes and goes, but God remains eternal. Earthly authorities fail us, but God can be trusted. It’s when we think we can trust money, or we can rely only on ourselves and our very human fallibilities that we get in trouble. Money is not evil, but loving it above all else leads to ruin. In Hebrews it is written, “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?’” (Heb 13:5-6).

What would our anxiety level be like if we could really take those words to heart? “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?” Imagine not worrying if the stock market crashed or we go into debt? Imagine not thinking our self-worth is tied to how much money we make or have? This is not to say we shouldn’t strive to avoid debt, or make enough to support our families, and create laws to ensure accountability for those in authority, but when things really do get out of hand.

When things really are out of our control, that we can offer it up to God, knowing that ultimately God is in charge. Unlike temple leaders, Wall Street titans, and others who set the stage for this mess, we know God is not out for number one, but has our best interests at heart. Ours is a God of abundance. When the people grumbled in the desert, Moses struck a rock and water gushed forth. In the same way, we are not left without hope. God will bring about water from the desert of our economy. God will bring about water from the desert of our lives. It may not be in the form which we imagined, but it is real.

“What can anyone do to me?” If we look to God as our authority, and not money or congress or Wall Street, then we are people of hope and abundance. We need not fear. Thanks be to God.