Love hard at work, but right under our noses.

Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7 and Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 (Track 2: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 and Psalm 25: 1-8); Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32

Last week we heard the grumbling of the vineyard workers who worked all day and received the same wages as the workers called and invited throughout the day by the owner of the vineyard, and the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness, lamenting having left the "crock-pots" of Egypt, as Father Bill paraphrased it, while clamoring to be fed.

 

This week we find the children of Israel angry at Moses for leading them out of Egypt, and crying out for water. God has Moses strike the rock, and God's grace poured forth.

 

In the gospel lessons this week, and last week, we need to put Jesus' parables in context.  The stories in Matthew 21 center on controversies that occur days before Jesus goes to the cross. They draw our attention to issues of authority and obedience. Jesus is confronted by the chief priests and elders who want to know by what authority he has been doing "these things." We assume "these things" to be the events recorded earlier in this chapter: the entry into Jerusalem, the cleansing of the temple and now his teaching in the temple. Jesus is dead serious in wanting us to get what he means by "love" of God and our neighbor.  

 

Enough of sentimentalism. The children are crying out for sustenance - survival. God is at work in Christ, humbling himself in obedience, even to the cross, to give us more, far more than just survival, because of his love for us. Jesus is hard at work in his mission. The cross is near. Citing a story from a chapter titled "A Lady of Little Faith," in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, Laurel Dykstra tells us something about love hard at work, quoting Father Zosima, with a critique of charity which seeks to define and control 'who is in need': "for love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams."

 

"Love is central to the readings from Romans and Philippians this month. But the lections from Matthew, in which Jesus and his companions approach Jerusalem, lean more toward the harsh and dreadful. They ask what love means in practical terms. How do we resolve conflicts in community? How do we love one another in a world of complex economic and social relationships? How do we deal with authority and power? How do we honor our families?"

 

In the same vein, The Rev. Dr. James C. Howell asks "Is the Lord Among Us, or Not?" considering the complaints of the Israelites, and our complaints, too. Love hard at work, but right under our noses.