Maybe we need to spend a little time talking about why the religious leaders were so troubled by John the Baptist. I mean, Jesus’ big “gotcha” is asking them whether John’s baptism was of God or just a human thing…so why is this so hard for them? Why is John such a problem?
If you remember, John was kind of a wild man…his dad may have been a priest, wearing the right robes and offering the right sacrifices and praying the right prayers and eating the right kosher foods so that he could be a faithful Jew, acceptable in God’s eyes. But John…John was out in the desert, wearing animal fur, eating bugs and telling people that what they needed to do was change their way of living…not offer the right sacrifices or wear the right clothes or say the right prayers or eat the right foods. John was telling people that they could have a new start any time they wanted, and washing them, baptizing them, not in the temple pools or “mikvahs”….but in the muddy Jordan river and telling them that God forgave them and washed them clean so they could live differently. He invited people to repent, to change how they lived their everyday lives…to live without greed and selfishness and instead with honesty and generosity.
Basically, John was more concerned about what people did rather than what they said or looked like. And that message was popular with people. Crowds went out to see him. In a world dominated by corruption — the explicit corruption of Rome, and the implicit corruption of the religious leaders who made nice with Rome in order to not make waves — John was a breath of fresh air. Faith could have real meaning for real lives, could take a stand against evil and stand for what was beautiful and good and right in the world. But for the religious leaders…John was dangerous. Because he caused people to question their authority, to question the faith and traditions that held them together…and they were afraid the community might fall apart. And it didn’t help that when they went to listen to John…he called them out in front of the crowds, calling them a “brood of vipers”, who didn’t care about people’s hearts, but instead just cared about keeping people in line. So, to say the least, they are not John’s biggest fans.
But they also are aware that basically, John’s message was simply to encourage people to stop sinning…to change their lives, turn to God, and be better humans. And so, Jesus asks, is that from God…or not? They really want to say no…but their people will be furious….and really…how can they say that his message isn’t from God? I mean…don’t be selfish or greedy…share and be honest…trust God…those aren’t exactly bad things. But…to them…he’s still wrong. Just wrong. And so…they are caught. And Jesus knows it.
They are caught the way religious leaders get caught over and over and over again. Whenever we decide we know the only right way to be in relationship with God…whenever we decide we know the limits of where God is at work in the world…or who does God’s work in the world. Basically, whenever we draw the line…Jesus jumps on the other side.
Faith communities, “religions”, can be good and beautiful. They can give us strength to get though this life when it is hard. They can encourage us, hold us up, give us hope. They remind us we are not alone. That God is with us. And we have each other. That’s what you all do for me. What we do for each other. But faith communities and religions can also lose their way…they can also get so focused on themselves and their “rightness” that they lose sight of God’s love for the whole world.
They can also get so focused on not making waves, on fitting into the political landscape that they forget how to love their neighbors as themselves. They can get so caught up in their crusade to make people righteous that they forget that we are called to humility. We are called to service. We are called to follow Jesus. And when they do… they can turn ugly. Really ugly.
So, it’s not surprising that there are a lot of folks who only see the bad in religions. We all are aware that much of the violence and cruelty of our world has been inflicted in the name of God. People have justified countless wars, slavery and genocide, mutilation and psychological terror…all in the name of God. It’s no wonder many folks hear folks talk about religion and they say…that’s not for me. Nope. Find somebody else. I wonder if that’s not what Jesus was thinking of when he talked about the first son in his parable. The first son had had enough of his dad’s dictates and demands. He had seen enough of the bad his dad had done over the years and he was over it. You want me to go to the vineyard? No. Just no. Like the tax collectors and prostitutes, exhausted from being condemned again and again…they were done.
While the other son said sure dad….I’ll do what you say. I’ll follow your commands. I’ll obey the rules. One son…was done with religion…the other clung to it. But the son who was done with religion…still saw the grapes that needed to be picked. Hanging there – ripe in the vineyard, and he couldn’t let them just go to waste…so he went anyway…and got the work done.
The son who was done with religion…still saw that greed and selfishness weren’t doing him or anyone else any good. He still saw that there were people who needed kindness and forgiveness and mercy in this world. So, he went anyway. Not because his father said he had to…not because the religious laws demanded it. But because it was right. It was good. It was what needed to be done. And that’s the person he wanted to be.
The second son…I think for Jesus he was the religious son — so sure he was doing it all right. He said “of course, I obey you”. He went to church, to synagogue, to mosque, to temple. He prayed the prayers and wore the clothes…but in the end, he ignored the grapes that needed to be picked. He ignored the people who needed to cared for. He ignored the hungry, the naked, the lonely, the sick, the frightened, the rejected…he never did what needed to be done. He missed what was right and good.
John challenged everyone to look at the work that needed to be done…the neighbors that needed to be cared for. He challenged the faith communities, the religious leaders…reminding them that their faith was not about saying the right words, but about lives that are changed, shaped and molded by knowing God. It is about doing God’s work. The good news is that God loves us as we are. God forgives us. But the good news is also that God changes us, turns us around, to make sure we don’t forget about the grapes that are out there…waiting to be harvested. The people that are there…waiting to be loved. The neighbors who are out there…needing to be cared for.
Friends, may we follow Jesus into the vineyard. May our religion, our faith community, never lose sight of the work God has called us to — to humble ourselves and to serve. May we be God’s beautiful hands in this world…loving each other, and loving our neighbors. Amen.
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