Dear Friends,
Few of us love the idea of authority, of bowing to authority, though many of us wish others would respect our authority! Well, authority is the topic on hand in this Sunday’s Gospel, just as it appeared last Sunday and will appear again the following Sunday, though less directly. The Gospel readings for these Sunday come from Matthew, chapters 20 and 21, with parables about landowners. Last week the parable was about a generous landowner who pays all his day laborers the same amount, whether they showed up at 6 am or 6 pm (my favorite line: “Or are you envious because I am generous?”), but this is also about the authority the landowner has to do what he thinks is right. Next Sunday we hear about wicked tenants who try to steal the landowner’s earning and how he deals with them.
This Sunday, the parable takes on authority directly with the religious leaders confronting Jesus after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, celebrated by the crowds, after which he headed to the holiest place, the temple, cleansed it of the moneychangers, then healed the blind and lame who came seeking hope. It is after this that the religious leaders ask Jesus, “Who gave YOU the authority to do these things!?!” In this dialogue, Jesus turns the question back on them, showing them to be hypocrites who will neither publicly oppose him nor accept him, even though they know the truth. Jesus then tells another parable about a landowner.
There’s a lot to unpack in this passage and the parable (come to church to hear more!), but I find the question of authority compelling. When I first read all four Gospels straight through, I had an overwhelming conversion experience, realizing that Jesus was one who speaks with authority, and I had better rearrange my life. Some people chafe at God’s authority (see Prometheus, any telling of the legend of Faust, Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, Satan in Paradise Lost, and a thousand other examples in literature and movies), but I find God’s authority a comfort. I CAN think for myself of course, I CAN make ethical decisions using many different schools of thoughts and systems, but I know that the right way to live and make decisions is by following the One who has authority. I hope my faith shapes my beliefs and actions rather than my personal predilections shaping my image of God. Of course, I don’t always live out my faith, and it is true that what I want to be true will color my interpretation of Scripture, but that is a failure, a falling short.
We all know people who allow what they already believe to shape their faith (Christian Nationalism is a current example). We know folks whose faith allows them to neatly align with either political party. We know people who reject the authority of God. But we who seek to follow Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the one who is searingly honest and infinitely merciful, well, we should confuse people, heck, we should sometimes confuse ourselves. For we follow not the authority of our amazing but limited minds but the authority of the One who created all that is.
See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne
P.S. Former parishioner, good friend of All Saints, and organizer of our Greenlining Campaign will be ordained priest on Saturday, October 3. You can see the invitation in this week’s newsletter, along with a link to view the ordination!