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Rez is a community where Jesus welcomes, shapes, and sends disciples for the good of our neighborhood. No matter where you are in life, this is a place for you.
Life Together In The Goodness Of God
So last week, I'm driving home from work, from the office, going north on Mopac. As I maneuvered to the left lane and accelerated, I noticed a pickup truck in the right lane towing a trailer that had a bunch of junk tied down on it. As I passed the pickup truck, the junk became loose and scattered all over Mopac. Now, I was in the far left lane, unaffected by the debris spilling onto the highway. But as I looked in the rearview mirror, I saw cars and trucks screeching to a include some tires, a bookcase, and various metal items. Now, as I sped away, I thanked God for the lead foot that I was born with and that I was not caught up in the messiness that was sure to follow. But what I didn't do was stop and make sure everyone was okay, that no serious harm came to anyone or even call emergency services. No, I just kept upon my drive trying to make it home to watch the game I was so invested in. Some internet sleuthing revealed to me that passengers from the pickup and others were able to clear the debris from the highway without any injuries or damage, thank God. But what I failed to do was go into the vineyard. What I failed to do was respect the humanity of my fellow man. I said no when I should have said yes, and that is why I've been thinking about our readings this week. Our gospel passage today opens with chief priests and elders confronting Jesus, demanding to know by what authority Jesus is doing all the things that he's doing. And instead of answering, Jesus poses his own question, promising to answer their question if they answer his first. See, Jesus is setting a trap. Jesus asked them about John the Baptist. He asked whether John's baptism came from heaven or was it of human origin? The trap Jesus set here is subtle, but it is very real. You see, if the elders and chief priests say that John's baptism is of heavenly origin, their contention that Jesus was a false prophet would then be negated. However, if they said John's baptism was of human origin, the people, the common Jews of the day, would revolt because they all saw John as a prophet of the one true God. So here the elders and chief priests are caught in a conundrum, and so they answer, we don't know. Jesus, keeping his word, then tells them he will not reveal what authority he has to do such things. And then Jesus, here y'all, Jesus gets all Jesusy and tells them a parable. Now this parable, which I think is a little tricky, is only found here in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus tells of two sons who are commanded by their father to go and work in the vineyard. The first son says, nah, I ain't doing that hard pass, but he thinks better of it and eventually goes and does the work. The second son says to his father, yes, sir, I will go right away, but he just says that to appease his father and in fact does not go into the vineyard to work. And this is something I think we can all relate to. We have all, I think, said yes to something we knew we had no intention of doing. Whether at work or in our personal lives, in our marriages, in our relationships, we have all said, sure, okay, what we really meant to not do, that ain't gonna happen. And the reverse, I think, is also true. We have all said no to a request, then thought better of it. At least I know I have. Case in point, several years ago my cousin Trina called me out of the blue at the time she and her family lived in Memphis. She told me she found this festival happening in Austin that she and her husband wanted to attend, and she wanted to know if one, they could stay with us, and two, if we could go to the festival with them. My initial response was, girl, no. But after talking to my mom, and her mom, I relented, and they stayed with us, and we went to the festival. Now it turns out it was a fantastic weekend. Trina, her husband, me, and Chris, we all had a great time hanging out, eating at some of the best restaurants in town, and enjoying what is the Austin Food and Wine Festival. It's now an annual tradition for us. It's actually coming up in a few weeks. We've been planning for months, and I'm so looking forward to it. But my initial response was that of the first son in the parable, a hard no. This is where Jesus asks the pivotal question, which of the two sons did the father's bidding? And here the text gets a little murky by saying they all answer, and here I think that they are the elders and the chief priests. They all answered that the first son did the bidding of the father. And here's where Jesus flips the script. Jesus points out that the sinners, the tax collectors, and the prostitutes turn their back on God and God's will. But when they heard John the Baptist, when they encountered Jesus of Nazareth, they their hearts. What the Gospel writer Matthew wants us to notice here is that Jesus came for the sinners, those who have turned away from God and yet have realized that the living God in the form of Jesus is before them, and they have to follow him. But Jesus doesn't stop there. He reminds us that those who have seen God, those who have encountered the truth, the life, and the way, and yet still continue in their lives that offer them comfort and privilege, those are the ones who will not see the love of God. And that is the lesson I think of our Ezekiel reading. Here the prophet Ezekiel is claiming God's word that those who repent and turn from wickedness, those who give their lives over to God, those are the ones that will be exalted. As the prophet says, cast away from you all the transgressions you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. And so all this is swirling in my round in my head this week. Now it was a week ago today that Wilbur Rafael Garcia Pérez was shot twice in the back by ICE agents here in Austin. That shooting took place a mere three miles from my home. Mr. Pérez, a native of Venezuela, was working as a door dash driver on his way to deliver an order when ICE chased and rammed his car and then shot him twice. Though the details of the shooting are still being investigated, what we know is that Mr. Pérez was taken to the hospital but his wife, a U.S. citizen, was not allowed to see him. What we know is that doctors did not remove the bullets from his back because they were too close to his spine and yet he was still taken into custody and given no further medical treatment. What we know is that Mr. Pérez is a creation of God, someone called good upon his creation, and someone redeemed by that same Jesus of Nazareth. What we know is that Mr. Pérez, like many of us, is akin to the tax collectors and the prostitutes in the parable from Matthew. What we know is that God is calling out for us to react. Jesus is calling us to stand for the marginalized, calling on us to cry out for justice for the oppressed. Mr. Pérez entered this country with proper paperwork and yet and still was hunted and shot down in the streets, in our streets, in our city, in my neighborhood. And so, what are we to do with all of this? Jesus is calling us to remember our baptismal covenant, to respect the dignity of every human being. Jesus is calling us to be more like the first son in the parable, knowing that we are initially resistant to stand up for those who are vulnerable but we have to use the privilege we have to cover those who walk without that same privilege. You see, Rez, we are all filled with love, grace, and mercy that could only come from God, and though some may not show it, it is up to us to show it to all to whom we encounter. And that means showing up for our neighbors as they need us, and Rez, we always do that so well. But we have to keep at it, even when the fight feels useless, even when it feels like we are making a difference, know that God hears us, know that God's justice will win, and know that God is with us when we are standing up for the vulnerable, the weak, the lost, and those whom society and those in power have deemed the enemy. As Psalm 25 says in our reading earlier, remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions, remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, oh Lord. A friend and colleague, a fellow priest, states the following to her congregation when she gives her final blessing. Don't be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. Though we are not called to complete the work, neither are we free to abandon it. That charge has been running through my head all week. I can admit I may have failed to walk to that earlier, but I have tried to live into it by standing up and for Mr. Perez. And I know you all have been trying to figure out how you can stand up, what you can do. So let's take a moment and listen how the Spirit is calling us to do that, to do justice, to love mercy, to walk humbly. Amen.