I've Got Friends in Low Places
A Sermon
by
Dr. John Frederick Fiedler
First United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas
September 29, 2002.
Matthew 21:23-32
I don't get it. I've been studying this text all week long and I
still do not get it. Why would Jesus say, "Truly I tell you the
tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of
God ahead of you"? Who was his campaign manager? What sort of
strategy does that represent that he would say such a thing to
the authorities. Any chance of reconciliation…any chance of
advancing his agenda…any chance of his getting a plank on
the platform seem to have gone away when he makes a statement
like that. It was highly offensive. They say that William
Jennings Bryan in 1896 was more of a political evangelist than he
was a politician. He was representing the populous vote…the
common farmer…and was preaching against what he called 'The
Cross of Gold' that the common farmer was being crucified upon
because of the gold standard. He wanted more available
money.
So in running for President, what did he do as the Democratic
nominee? He got on the train and went all over America to small
towns everywhere speaking to small crowds of farmers asking for
their votes while his opponent, William McKinley, stayed in his
home in Ohio. Literally, he stayed in his home…he didn't
campaign at all. He just got on the telephone and made appeals
for money. Now they say this was the first modern election
because with all of his whistle stops and all of his talking and
all the exhaustion that William Jennings Bryan brought upon
himself, he lost the election handily. He was a really good
evangelist. He was not a good politician. Maybe that what's going
on here with Jesus. Jesus doesn't seem to understand how you go
about influencing the powers that be.
This past week I made some promo spots at Channel 8. You write
the text in advance and you send the written out promo spots on a
diskette and they put it on their teleprompter. So you go in the
studio and you stand in front of the camera. They have somebody
look over your hair and your tie and you try to look natural as
they start rolling the teleprompter text and you read as you're
looking into the camera. In this case, I was promoting the
Channel 8 broadcast of our worship service. But I was thinking
later about what it would look like if Jesus had Zaccheus go down
and give an endorsement spot for him as a tax collector? That is
the sort of crazy strategy that Jesus came up with here. Can't
you imagine Zaccheus, kind of short in stature and very nervous
with perspiration all over his face? They would have to stop and
dab his brow. He'd have to go over the text again...his eyes
darting back and forth. Finally, he would get up and make an
endorsement talk that people should vote for Jesus as Messiah. He
could tell them that he was their tax collector after all. That
would invoke a warm feeling in their hearts. He could go ahead
and tell them that because of Jesus he had refunded the money
he'd gouged from them and was no longer going to steal from them
in order to line his own pockets. And in the end he could say,
"And remember, I endorse Jesus for Messiah. Vote for Jesus, the
man from Nazareth".
How many votes do you think that would engender? Wouldn't it be
much more likely that one of the authorities at the temple would
get a hold of some of the footage of Jesus consorting with
Zaccheus or of Jesus overturning the tables at the temple or some
of the sound bytes of Jesus walking out and saying, "Well, who is
my mother? Who is my family anyway?" Then the candidate saying,
"Who stands for family values around here?" Jesus of Nazareth?
Bad for Jerusalem. Jesus of Nazareth consorts with tax collectors
and harlots. You can do a lot of damage taking the Sermon on the
Mount out of context and putting together a promotional piece as
…a political ad.
Let's face it:…Jesus of Nazareth was a lousy politician. He
just happened to be a great Messiah! He wasn't looking for
anyone's votes. He knew where the power was. He knew it didn't
lie with the common people. He knew about Jerusalem society.
There was an upper class that had all the power, all the wealth,
all the political ties. There was a professional class, a very
small middle class and everybody else in this oligarchy was poor
and without power. The tax collectors and the harlots, these were
the people who gravitated toward Him, who listened to his
message. The others who were in power realized that this was a
dangerous man. Jesus had dangerous ideas. He had come to confront
the status quo and they had no interest in changing. And why
would they? Politics is about answering the question, "Who gets
the goodies". And most of the goodies were coming their way. So
they had very little interest in being receptive to the message
of this Jesus of Nazareth.
But Jesus didn't need their vote because he didn't need their
authority. He wasn't running for office. His authority was
derived from God. He was on a mission. He didn't need anybody's
permissions to tell him, "Now you can go ahead and do what God
sent you to do." He was doing it and he knew that time was very
precious. Only two days ago He had had the triumphant entry into
the city. Then he'd gone into the temple and overturned the
tables. He'd upset the entire apple cart. He knew the conspiracy
was at work…the die was cast…his fate was sealed. In
four days he would be crucified. Jesus had nothing else to loose
and was willing to take the consequences of this bold statement
to the authorities. The reason he was so threatening was that
Jesus didn't recognize the existing barriers between different
tribes. Jesus would speak to Gentiles. Jesus would speak to
Samaritans. Jesus didn't recognize the existing barriers between
men and women. Jesus would go and speak to a woman and ascribe
authority t o her. He would allow her to come and anoint
Him.
Again, Jesus didn't seem to recognize there were strict laws
forbidding doing anything on the Sabbath. He said, "This is a
good thing, let's go ahead and do it anyway". He didn't have a
problem setting aside the rules and the regulations of the law.
Instead, he called people to a new covenant. This was very
unsettling to the powers. It's not that they weren't religious.
It was that they were extremely religious. Here was an
individual who was talking about grace. Here was an individual
who was talking about people being equal. Here was an individual
talking about inviting people to come to the vineyards of the
Lord and work for the coming of the Kingdom of God. As a result,
he was met with a great deal of hostility. Those ideas were met
with a great deal of hostility back then. And guess what?
…those ideas meet with a great deal of hostility even
today. Let's be honest…they do. The idea that everyone's
equal. The idea that we left aristocracy behind in Europe or
tribal superiority behind in other continents and came to this
country (USA). The great hope…the great opportunity was
that we truly would try to engender an egalitarian society.
What's the first thing that we've done? We immediately went and
about and set aside distinctions and tried to cater to our own
individual, sinful need to feel superior to other people.
The great thing about it in this country is, we get an entire
menu of different characteristics by which we can do it: We're
the young generation. You're the old generation. We're old money.
You're new money. We're new money…you have no money at all.
We're one color…you're another color. We're one
culture…you're another culture. We're male…you're
female. All the differences that tend to polarize us and give
people the temptation to somehow think that they're better than
somebody else. Jesus never bought into that.
Jesus never believed in better people. Jesus just believed in a
better way. And that's what He invites us to do…even today.
He invites us to be a part of the workers in the fields of the
Lord and be about bringing in the harvest. The invitation is
before us this morning. For those of you who are members of the
church…those of you who are baptized Christians, those
promises have already been made. You have promised that you would
report for duty and be at work approximating God's kingdom. The
questions in our case is, have we made good on our promise or are
we like the people who said yes, I will be there…like the
son who said yes dad, I will be there in the fields but never
showed up? Other people may have made unfortunate choices in
their lives but as they are confronted with the gospel, they
choose Christ later on. And guess what, they are welcomed right
where they are. They're accepted just as they are.
That's the radical message of the gospel. The visible word. It's
not enough to talk a good game. You've got to be there and embody
the Word. We leave this place on Sunday morning and go out into a
hurtful, complex and hurting world and you have the opportunity
to make the difference…to be the visible Word. But that
involves risk…it involves caring…it involves taking
the initiative and we're not wired that way are we? "I will like
you, love you, compliment you after you like, love and compliment
me first because I'm just a little insecure and I just don't want
to venture out there." "I'm afraid of rejection." Jesus wasn't
afraid of rejection. He knew it was there. He was confident of
rejection and crucifixion. He went ahead and loved people anyway
and took the consequences.
We talk about the Aldersgate experience in London…it was on
Aldersgate Street. Here in Texas, we have a Wesleyan San Saba
experience in which Madame M.L. Bolino, who was the most
successful Madame of the most thriving brothel in San Antonio in
1895, was walking San Saba Street when she heard a street
preaching. The words seemed to find their way into her
heart…this woman who employed so many young women and put
them to work making unfortunate choices. She went back to her
three story Victorian home and made an announcement. "This house
will be transformed into a rescue mission for young women." Later
that became a ministry for what they called unwed mothers and now
is the San Antonio United Methodist Mission Home. It is very
active in helping young babies to find loving parents. All this
because this woman answered God's invitation for her to report to
the fields of the Lord.
John Wesley had a marvelous ability to rise above the barriers
that separated people and invite them to come together. Samuel
Boswell used to say about him, "I hate talking to that John
Wesley. That dog will enchant you with his conversation and then
break off to go visit some old woman." Wesley was like that. He
could hob-nob with some of the brightest minds in London society
and turn right around and go to the foundry and spend time with
some of the poorest of the poor on the streets of London. He
recognized no barriers… even when he had an opportunity to
shame a wealthy young woman who was quite enamored with his
preaching. One of his lay preachers brought the father and this
young woman into Wesley's office. The lay preacher, knowing
Wesley's contempt for finery and jewelry, couldn't resist
reaching out and grabbing this young woman's hand and holding it
up with all these rings and jewelry dazzling with gold and saying
to the founder of Methodism, "Brother Wesley, how think you this
as a Methodist hand?" The young woman knew John Wesley and what
he stood for and the plainness he advocated and she just cringed
waiting for his reprimand. Wesley looked at her hand with all the
jewelry and said, "It is a beautiful hand." That evening she
presented herself at the worship service at the alter rail to
become a Christian.
Wesley fell in love with a woman by the name of Grace Murray. I
knew about Sophie Hopke, but this was later in his life back in
London. She was a sailor's widow. She was a maidservant who led a
Methodist society meeting. It had over a hundred people in
attendance. She was very bright. But John's brother, Charles,
took him aside and said, "John, she's a maidservant? It would
embarrass me and my wife for you to bring her into the family!"
In response to that, John Wesley went ahead and proposed anyway.
She accepted. But Charles intervened and took her aside, saying,
"You're not right for my brother. Besides, there is another
Methodist preacher who proposed to you before and you're driving
him crazy. It will drive him mad if you spurn his proposal." So
she married him instead.
Wesley said he had a dream. He said he had a dream that he went
to the gates of Hell and he said to Satan, "Are there
Presbyterians present?" And Satan said yes. "Are there Baptists
present here?" And the answer was yes. With trembling and fear,
Wesley asked, "Are there Methodists present here?" And the answer
was yes. And then Wesley went to the gates of Heaven and he
asked, "Are there Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists present
here?" And the answer was, "No. There are only Christians that
reside herein." Jesus was all about transcending barriers. One of
my favorite novels that was mandatory reading in high school was
A Separate Piece by John Knowles. I like the part where
the first person narrator confronts Phineas who is the character
that bounds with enthusiasm and love and radiant caring for
everyone.
"Phinny", my voice broke but I went on, "Phineas, you
wouldn't be in the war…even if nothing had happened to your
leg." A look of amazement fell over him. "It scared me, but I
knew what I had said was important and right and my voice found
that full tone that voices have when they are expressing
something long felt, long understood and release at last.
"Phiney, you'd get someplace at the front and there would be a
lull in the fighting and the next thing anyone knew you'd be over
with the Germans or the Japanese asking if they'd like to field a
baseball team against our side. You'd be sitting in one of their
command posts teaching them English. Yes, you'd get confused and
borrow one of their uniforms and you'd lend them one of yours.
Sure, that's what would happen. You'd get things so scrambled up
that nobody would know whom to fight anymore. You'd make a
mess…a terrible mess, Phiney, out of the war."
And you see, that's was Jesus did. In confronting
the status quo, he made a mess out of everything…out of all
barriers. Nobody knew whom to fight any longer. That was his
great crime and the reason he had to be punished with death. He
recognized no barriers…rich or poor, old or young, male or
female, this tribe or that tribe, this ethnicity or that
ethnicity, this color or that color…it made no difference
to Jesus. The only thing He cared about was that you would report
for duty in the fields of the Lord. Jesus had friends in low
places. They didn't have power. They didn't have political ties.
All they had was the opportunity to choose Him and the kingdom of
God. They had that choice back then and you have that choice
today.
Dr. John Frederick Fiedler
(This sermon comes from the First United Methodist Church of
Downtown Dallas website and we are grateful to them).
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