Proper
21 :: Ezekiel 18: 1–4, 25–32; Psalm 25: 1–8; Philippians 2: 1–13; Matthew 22:
23–32
This is the homily offered
by Fr. Gene Tucker at St. John’s; Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, October 1,
2017.
“WALKING THE
WALK, TALKING THE TALK”
(Homily text: Matthew 21:
23–32)
Wouldn’t
it be a wonderful thing if some device were to be invented that would allow us
to know exactly what another person was thinking, and to feel what another
person was feeling? Perhaps such a device might be something like we would see
in a science-fiction movie.
It’s
doubtful that such a device will ever be invented, at least as far as we can
tell right now. But maybe, with all of the advances that are being made in
technology, one day we might be able to crawl into another person’s head and
into their heart, as well.
Until
that time (if it ever comes), we have to rely on indirect means of telling what
a person is feeling, and what their intent is in doing the things they do. We
rely on our past experience in dealing with other human beings, judging that
other person’s intent and their thoughts by the things they say, by their body
language and facial expressions, and by their actions.
It
is on that score that the chief priests and the elders of the people of Jesus’
day fail. They failed in the intents of their hearts and in their actions, for
these two things did not match one another. Put another way, these leaders of
God’s people in those ancient times failed to “walk the walk”, and “talk the
talk”. The chief priests and the elders were good at talking a good game, but
they failed to live with integrity, matching what they said with what they did.
Jesus,
in response to this disconnect in the chief priests and the elders’ behavior,
climbs all over their case, spinning out the Parable of the Two Sons. The one
son talks a good game, saying to his father that, yes, he will go and work in
the vineyard, but he doesn’t go at all. The other son, however, initially
refuses his father’s instruction, but then reconsiders and winds up going out
to do the work. So Jesus tells these scribes and Pharisees, in this morning’s
Gospel reading, that the “tax collectors and the prostitutes will go into the
kingdom of God ahead of you.”
When
Jesus tells a parable, it isn’t always the case that He specifically spells out
the parable’s application. But He does apply the meaning of this parable
clearly and directly to the audience in front of Him, those priests and elders
who had challenged His authority to teach. There’s no way these two groups
could have failed to get the meaning and the direct assault on their attitudes
and their regard for others.
Matthew
alone, among the Gospel writers, passes along this Parable of the Two Sons.
But, as we read Matthew, we ought to remember that one thing Matthew loved to
do was to repeat some of Jesus’ teachings. (For example, Matthew gives us two
teachings on marriage and divorce, and two teachings on forgiveness.) So in
that same way, Matthew will also provide us with another confrontation between
Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees.
The
second encounter is recorded in chapter twenty-three of Matthew’s gospel
account. But this time, the showdown involves not the chief priests and the
elders, but now it is the scribes and the Pharisees who are in Jesus’ focus.
Turning
to this part of Matthew’s account, we read Jesus’ opening assault on the
scribes and the Pharisees, as he says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on
Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they
do, for they preach, but do not practice.” (Matthew 23:1)
Going
a little further into Matthew’s account, we hear Jesus’ words, still directed
at the scribes and the Pharisees, as Jesus says, “They do all their deeds to be
seen by others. For they make their phylacteries[1] broad
and their fringes[2]
long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the
synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces and being called ‘rabbi’ by others….”
(Matthew 23:5 – 7) (It’s worth saying that clergy can fall into these patterns
of behavior, too, for in our tradition, as in some others, clergy wear
distinctive clothing….it’s easy to get all wrapped up in the trappings of
ministry, and to luxuriate in the positions of authority and privilege that
often come along with ordained ministry….Woe to us if we succumb these
temptations!)
Matthew
then records seven woes that Jesus pronounced on the scribes and the Pharisees.
These condemnations make for harsh reading, even today. They begin with this
formula: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (A hypocrite is a
person with “low judgment”, for that is the word’s meaning in Greek, from which
it comes.)
“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” We may then characterize what Jesus
says in each of these seven statements by saying, “for you talk the talk, but
you don’t walk the walk.”.
The
setting for these two heated exchanges between Jesus and His adversaries, the
scribes and the Pharisees, is the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, and these
encounters take place within the Temple’s precincts itself.
But
as the movement that Jesus began spreads out into the world, the Apostles who
would be sent out to carry the Good News of God in Jesus would reinforce the
importance of living with integrity, instructions to anyone who would want to
become a follower of Jesus, that, if they are to be disciples of Jesus, they
must not only “talk the talk”, but they must also “walk the walk”.
In
this way, we could characterize much of what St. Paul has to say on this topic
by summarizing his instructions to these early Christians that they could not
act in the same ways that they had done before they came to faith in Jesus
Christ. They couldn’t spend their lives in debauchery, in drunkenness and
carousing, in cheating others, and so forth.
Likewise,
in James’ wonderful letter, he will state that Christians are to be “doers of
the word, and not hearers only.” (James 1:22) Then, a little later on, James
adds this admonition: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’
Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my
works.” (James 2:18b)
Jesus’
teaching, supported by the Apostles, is as important today as it was at the
beginning of the Good News of God, made known in the coming of Jesus and His
teaching, for if the world around us – which is made up, largely, of
unbelievers today – is to come to see the truth of that Good News, then, in
many cases, these onlookers will come to faith in Jesus Christ because they can
determine from the things we Christians do that the intent of our hearts and
minds is in agreement with what we profess by the things we say.
This
is what we can call integrity of life. Integrity is characterized by the
statement which says, “One’s outsides must match their insides”, or – put a
slightly different way – “one’s outward actions must be motivated by and
consonant with one’s inner thoughts and feeling”
May
the Holy Spirit enlighten our minds and open our hearts to see the truth of the
contents of both, that whatever fails to meet Jesus’ high standard of both
believing and doing may be brought into alignment with His teaching and intent.
Then the world around us will be enabled to come to faith in the Good News of
God, made known in the person of God’s only Son, Jesus.
AMEN.
[1] The phylacteries are small leather boxes
containing verses of Scripture written on parchment which are worn on the
forehead and on the left arm as a way to remind the wearer of the requirement
to live by the Law of Moses as it is found in Deuteronomy 11:18.
[2] The fringes refer to the four blue cords
which were sewn into the corners of a man’s garment, reminding God’s people
that they are to be holy (see Numbers 15:40).
