The Rev. J.W. Messer
September 25, 2011
Year A, Proper 21, RCLExodus 17:1-7 , Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 , Philippians 2:1-13,
When I was studying in Oxford
Unfortunately the equivalent of this statement in the States is “I’m spiritual but not religious.” I can’t tell you how often I hear this statement, particularly in my age group. In fact it now is an acronym: “SBNR” and even has its own Facebook page.
I think there are a lot of reasons behind why people today say “I am spiritual but not religious.” One may be that they don’t want to admit that they do not belong to an organized religion, but want others to still think well of them. Another may be that they are so involved in soccer/dirt bike riding or whatever makes them happy on the weekends that they don’t feel the need to go to a church. And others may have been brought up in an organized religion but have fallen away, or they have tried to attend a few churches and when that service doesn’t fit them they give up going to church.
Or it could be something darker or sadder that they neither have the time nor inclination to examine or fix. Perhaps they had a horrible experience that has absolutely turned them away from organized religion. Or maybe they were literally dragged to church non-stop as children and have totally rebelled.
Whatever their reasons are to make this statement, to live this statement, I believe that underneath, they too are people looking for something bigger than themselves, but they don’t like or feel the need to be a part of organized religion.
Let’s be honest -- organized religion certainly is not without sin. It is undoubtedly easy to point to the disgraced mega-church pastors who have been brought down over the years by major sex, drug, and molestation scandals. But it is more than major scandals; it is about power, ego and money getting in the way. Organized religion can have its downside just as any organization; it’s just when something that is suppose to represent the ultimate good and love on earth betrays that trust, then it takes a long time to get over.
A lot of the time when people say they don’t like organized religion, they use it as a scapegoat, because they don’t like being told what or how they should act or live their lives. One way to view today’s parable is through this perspective. The parable is of two brothers, and they are told by their father to go out into the vineyard and work. This work that they are asked to do is something that is expected of everyone in the community, and the product they create impacts a larger community. Yet when asked, one son said he would go into the vineyard but didn’t go, while the other said he wouldn’t go but ended up going.
Applying this to our daily lives, the question has to be asked: Which one would we like to be? The one who will say that I will do what is asked of me, but I won’t go do it. Or the one who doesn’t want to do it but ends up working. We want to be the latter, but at points in our lives, we have been in both positions. We have not followed through on things we said that we would do, and we have been the people to go behind and do the work because it wasn’t getting done.
Applying this to our spiritual lives, the question has to be asked: Which one are we? The one who proudly proclaims to be a person of faith and of a certain tradition, but doesn’t follow through and won’t engage in a community? Or the one who doesn’t know who he is or if she is willing to fully sign up as a person of faith, but leads a life that in every way is that of a good and righteous person.
I think there is even more to this parable beyond these hard questions. The two sons are two different approaches to faith and doing God’s will. The first son answered the way he thought the Father wanted to hear which got the Father off his back so that he could do what he wanted to do. The other son, who first said no, thought about it, realized his mistake, changed his mind, and went out into the field to do the work the Father had asked him to do. Both sons were capable of the work, but it’s how they approached it.
Jesus first compared the son, who said he would go but didn’t, to the leaders of organized religion of the day who had earlier been on the right track but got distracted by all the frills and ended up being more concerned about appearing like people of faith than actually being people of faith. Jesus then compared the marginalized and rejects from society to the son who went and worked the vineyard after first saying no, because like the son, they had made bad decisions earlier in their lives and yet something happened to them, they repented, and they got back on the right track.
While most of us here present do not absolutely fall in either one or the other category, the questions still apply to us. How are we going to live out our lives when the Father asks us to work in the vineyard—when that work is so important with an effect far beyond the vineyard. Are we going to perhaps not always respond perfectly to the question, but after realizing our mistake, do the work? Or are we going to say what others expect to hear or the easy way out, when we have absolutely no intention of doing the work? Are we going to live our lives fully committed to God and God’s call for us? Or pretend that we are? Are we going to toil in the vineyard or walk away from it?
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Amen +
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