Today in the Spirit: Proper 21A
With the assigned readings in Proper 21A, the church takes us forward in Matthew to Jesus’ teaching in the temple after his final entry into Jerusalem.
The Gospel reading out of Matthew 21:28-32 is the parable of the two sons. Our Lord’s main purpose in giving this parable (found only in Matthew) is to illustrate the duplicity of the religious elders in Jerusalem who give every appearance of obedience to God but disobey, like the son in the parable who says “‘I go, sir,’ but did not go’” (30). By contrast, Jesus points out to these leaders that the very people they despise, the repentant “tax collectors and prostitutes” (31) are those who show themselves obedient, like the good son in the parable.
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The assigned OT reading from Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32 is a word from YHWH to dispel the prevailing notion of ancient Israelites that the sins of the parents condemn the children and the righteousness of the parents excuse the children before God. No, the LORD insists, “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die” (4).
Having heard the hard-hitting language in the OT reading, the words of “David” in the assigned Psalm 25:1-4(15-21) give utterance to our humble prayers before a just God: “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!” (7).
The second installment in our Year A series out of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is from Philippians 2:1-13. This passage takes us from the apostle’s exhortation to the church to live out of Christ’s “mind” (1-5) with humility in relationships to one another, through the great hymn about the obedience and exaltation of Christ (5-11, assigned every year on Palm Sunday), to the exhortation to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (12-13).
The assigned collect, originally translated by Thomas Cranmer from western Catholic sources for the BCP 1549, is used in mid-Pentecost for Sunday worship but also for everyday use as a lay absolution after the opening prayers of confession in the offices of Daily Morning Prayer and Daily Evening Prayer. In our worship, the disquieting tone of the readings is softened, as it were, by the petition “that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve [God] with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The Collect
O merciful Lord, grant to your faithful people pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all our sins and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Make Yourselves a New Heart and a New Spirit (Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32)
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27 Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. 28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
As we hear this prophecy in worship, we do well to remember that it was delivered to a group of Israelites already in exile in Babylon, still waiting for the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The complaint cited “‘The way of the LORD is not just’” (29) arises out of the outcry of a beleaguered people to their God, “Why are you punishing us for the sins of our ancestors?” The whole point of the prophecy is YHWH saying to his people, “Even now you must look to your own sin—you are just like your ancestors.”
We Christians reared in secular society need to acknowledge the existence of weaknesses that pass down through the generations in various forms, as well as attachments and even curses that need to be broken and cast out. “Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit” (31) is not saying do the work yourself: Who can give themselves a new heart? That gift comes to us from Jesus’ ministry on the cross and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. However, we have a part to play in consciously distancing ourselves from spiritual bondages that do exist in us.
So often, instead of repenting of fear and asking Jesus to cut the ties of our past, we either deny those ties are real or just live with them. Then we wonder why we are, for instance, lustful for sex like our father or vindictive in spirit like our grandmother. Christians, we are responsible for our own sin, even those we are more inclined to commit because of links to our past.
Today, in the Spirit, hear the word of the Lord to Israel in Ezekiel as directed to you. Face the ties that bind, and ask God to break them. Renounce them and repent of wrong actions you have taken because of their influence. Jesus wants us to have no part of bondages that can be broken or the sin that results from them, when by his power things can improve. Take up your responsibility to approach the cross for your healing.
I Wait All the Day Long (Psalm 25:1-14 [15-21])
1 Unto you, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in you; *
Psalm 25:1-21, New Coverdale Psalter (BCP 2019)
O let me not be ashamed, neither let my enemies triumph over me.
2 For all those who hope in you shall not be ashamed, *
but those who deal untruly shall be put to confusion.
3 Show me your ways, O Lord, *
and teach me your paths.
4 Lead me forth in your truth and teach me, *
for you are the God of my salvation; in you has been my hope all the day long.
5 Call to remembrance, O LORD, your tender mercies, *
and your loving-kindnesses, which have been from of old.
6 O remember not the sins and offenses of my youth, *
but according to your mercy think on me, O LORD, in your goodness.
7 Gracious and righteous is the LORD; *
therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
8 Those who are meek shall he guide in judgment, *
and those who are gentle shall he teach his way.
9 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth *
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10 For your Name’s sake, O LORD, *
forgive my sin, for it is great.
11 Who is the one who fears the LORD? *
He shall teach him in the way that he shall choose.
12 He shall dwell at ease, *
and his seed shall inherit the land.
13 The LORD reveals his secret counsel to those who fear him, *
and he will show them his covenant.
14 My eyes are ever looking to the LORD, *
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
[15 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, *
for I am desolate and in misery.
16 The sorrows of my heart are enlarged; *
O bring me out of my troubles.
17 Look upon my adversity and misery *
and forgive me all my sin.
18 Consider my enemies, how many they are, *
and how they bear a tyrannous hate against me.
19 O keep my soul and deliver me; *
let me not be ashamed, for I have put my trust in you.
20 Let integrity and righteous dealing preserve me, *
for my hope has been in you.
21 Deliver Israel, O God, *
out of all his troubles.]
When considering the message(s) of a psalm, it helps to ask what spiritual position (standing or sitting, moving or not moving) the psalmist tells us he is in, speaking in the Spirit. Three times in Psalm 25, “David” exclaims, “in you [YHWH] has been my hope” or something similar (2,4,20). (The Hebrew word for “hope” is the same in every instance and can also be translated “wait for” or “look for”). David is in a posture of hopeful waiting as he prays to God. Rather than imagine him busy plotting the overthrow of his enemies and praying in between punches, he is still in the Spirit–internally quiet and trusting in God to act.
And from that position, what does he discover by revelation from God? 1) that God is “gracious and righteous” (7); 2) that the “meek shall he guide in judgment” (8); and 3) that YHWH will “teach” [the one who fears him] “in the way he shall choose” (12). All this and so much more is discerned in an attitude of patient waiting and listening for consolation from the LORD.
So often our “hoping” is tainted by worrying and thinking ill of our enemies. Far from standing in patience, we rock back and forth, placing our weight on one foot with self-reliance in the world and then back again with faith in God. Just the length of our psalm for this Sunday, with its continual circling back to David’s steadfastness, should commend to us constancy in the Spirit in the midst of trouble.
Today, Holy Spirit, give us not just a taste, but an insatiable hunger for maintaining the waiting posture of David in this psalm, so much so that we leave behind for good our sinful instinct to fret or, worse, take revenge, neither of which provides any satisfaction at all.
Have This Mind (Philippians 2:1-13)
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:1-13
Many commentators take note of the “work out” and “works in” dynamic in the last two verses of this passage (12,13). Paul exhorts believers to accomplish (the Greek word translated “work out” carries the sense of bringing to a conclusion) in our lives what God installs through Christ and the Spirit for his gospel purpose. We are not God’s robots programmed to act predictably. We are free agents, and we must act, relying on the Spirit’s strength to do so.
But how exactly do we “work out” what God “works in”? Paul’s whole point in this section of the letter is that we must choose to act with the “mind” (5, or “attitude” NIV) of Christ. Scripture presents Christ’s behavior as our model, and in the new life of the Spirit of Christ, we have the power to carry it out in his way. Paul says both the model and the means are “yours in Christ Jesus” (5).
What might taking on the mind of Christ look like in your personal circumstances now? Be careful here: if you seek the honest truth, you may find the marching orders from the Spirit of God for a whole, new change of course from the one you are on now–most likely toward confession of wrong-thinking and wrong-doing, reconciliation to someone with whom you are estranged, or reaching out through activities you never dreamed of taking up before.
Today, in the Spirit, stop and pray through what it might mean for you to do the Father’s work in the Father’s way—in the attitude of the Son. “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
He Changed His Mind and Went (Matthew 21:28-32)
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Matthew 21:28-32
But what devotional application do we have for those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin? As always, we must be careful not to distance ourselves from the mentality of the religious leaders here: there is a Pharisee inside of all of us for Jesus to come down on. For us, it is to open our hearts and look honestly at those areas where Jesus has asked us to do basic things reflecting our commitment to him as Lord and Savior: our faithfulness in worship and obeying the clear teaching of Scripture; our stewardship of time, talent, and treasure; remaining in the fellowship of the local church; and reaching out to a family member or neighbor we know is in need. Are we too often like the second son in the parable, appearing willing but shirking when it comes time to act?
Oswald Chamber writes:
To have a master and to be mastered is not the same thing… Our Lord never enforces obedience; He does not take means to make me do what He wants.” That’s right: Jesus proves himself and commends himself as Master, and he calls us on us to exert ourselves in obedience with the help of his Holy Spirit. See this dynamic at work in this statement of our Lord to his disciples during the Last Supper: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:13-15).
Today, Christian, in the power of the Spirit both to hear and to act in conformity with service to the Son, let this parable call you out to deeper repentance and obedience as sons and daughters of the Father—at last saying yes when up to now it has been no.
Today in the Spirit
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