Matthew 21:23-32
“Says Who?”
September 27, 2020
By what authority? Three brilliant mathematicians already had two strikes against them at NASA’s Langley Research Center in trying to do their part during the space race of 1961. They were Black women in a world where their gender and race was supposed to keep them in their assigned places in society. Instead, they were ultimately granted authority not by having it handed to them but in living their truth.
Solving mathematical equations including calculating the trajectory of the Friendship 7, learning the computer language Fortran and passing on that skill to co-workers, and acquiring the certification necessary to become an engineer at NASA were the ways that Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson gained authority. Authority was not given – it was gleaned by minds that were unwilling to take no for an answer and in the process they were a part of changing history as told in the book and movie titled Hidden Figures.
Who are the authorities in our lives? When we were children many of us were taught that automatically any adult had authority for no other reason than age. Once we hit our teens and were approaching the age where such authority would be ours many of us started questioning why adults we didn’t respect were automatically conferred with it when they had wasted or shirked that authority. If we were going to follow the words and actions of adults, we at least wanted them to be consistent. I think now of some of my friends and relatives who have little use for organized religion and when pressed will often throw out the descriptor “hypocrite” – one who advocates for one perspective but then doesn’t follow those words with action that matches the words. Authority is proved and tested and lived.
Here we are in Matthew’s Gospel on the day after Palm Sunday, what we think of as the Monday of Holy Week. Just that weekend, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey greeted by adoring crowds. He then cursed a fig tree and took a whip to overturn tables in the temple to rid it of corruption. He had spent the weekend getting into what the late Congressman John Lewis called, “good trouble.” And the religious authorities are fit to be tied in their anger. The priests and scribes are asking, “Who does he think he is?”
Just as Jesus has so many times before, he answered a challenging question with a question. Was the baptism of John from heaven or because of human action? And when the authorities said, “We don’t know” to avoid alienating their base or losing face. Jesus responds to their concession by refusing to answer their question.
Instead he uses the story of the two sons, one of whom gives the good answer but does nothing about it while the other one at first refuses but then is moved to the action their father asked of them. This is Jesus’ way of pointing out that you can have degrees, book smarts, and knowledge of the law but if all you do is give the right answer but do nothing with it, you have lost all authority to claim allegiance to God. Real and true authority means that there is an authentic connection between who you are and what you do. Authority is meant only for those who have integrity.
The Incarnate God came to us in the form of Jesus as a live model that there is a living, breathing God within each of us. It is our faith which is meant to be embodied. Words alone or even good intentions are not enough. Even after many missteps like the tax collector and prostitute that Jesus uses as examples, it is what we do with our faith that matters so much more than just saying all the right words.
Today’s other reading in the Lectionary is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians and it gives us a description of the life we are to live with God as our ultimate authority. In The Message, we hear then this call to an authentic life:
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life,
if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you,
if you have a heart, if you care- then do me a favor:
Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends.
Don’t push your way to the front;
don’t sweet-talk your way to the top.
Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage;
Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4, MSG)
Let us then enter the rest of this beautiful new Sabbath day taking these words that recently arrived in an email:
You have the authority
Of being created in God’s image.
God gave it to you.
That is the highest authority.
So let your light shine.
Live as God’s Beloved.
Speak the truth, embody resurrection.
Be the glory of God.
That’s Who You are. Amen.