“By what authority are you doing these things?” Matthew 21. 23
At first sight the question the chief priests and elders ask Jesus is perfectly reasonable: “ Who gave you permission to do these things? Who appointed you? What are your credentials?
It’s the kind of question we ask all the time, sometimes without even noticing. We want to know who’s in charge and by what authority they are speaking and acting.
But Jesus doesn’t give them a straight answer.
Instead, he asks them a question.
“Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”
And suddenly they are trapped. Because they are not really interested in the answer. They are interested in protecting their position. They are interested in being right. And Jesus is a challenge to this. And he knows it.
So he tells them a story.
A father asks his two sons to go and work in the vineyard.
The first says, “No.” But later he changes his mind and goes.
The second says, “Yes,” but doesn’t go.
“Which of the two did the will of his father?” asks Jesus.
The answer is obvious. The one who went.
And this is the simple - but enormously hard to live out - heart of today’s gospel reading. Knowing the way to go, knowing what’s right is one thing. Doing it, quite another.
But God is interested in what we do, not just what we say. And the Christian life isn’t just about saying Yes to God, it is about putting that yes into action and walking God’s way; following Jesus and going where he sends us and doing what he asks and expects us to do. And this isn’t easy. But this is the source of Jesus’ authority. He does the will of God. And it is the reason that tax collectors and sinners are leading the way into the kingdom of God.
But where are we ? Are we those who say yes with our lips, but not with our lives? Or could it be that we said no, but didn’t realise we could change our minds?
Pilgrimage can help us here.
Pilgrimage is about journey. It is about setting out. It is about deciding to go a certain way.
As someone once put it -
You can spend a very long time talking about the journey. You can read the guidebooks and download the app. You can get yourself an expensive pair of walking boots. You can set the compass and study the map. You can talk and dream endlessly about the journey you plan to make, but eventually there has to be a moment when you put the rucksack on your back and walk out of the door.
And just as there is a difference between knowing about the journey and actually making the journey, there is also a difference between knowing about Jesus and actually following him.
One son says yes, but then doesn’t go. The other says no, but then changes his mind.
Or put it another way: He repents. Which means literally turn around. Change direction. Seek a new path.
This too happens on pilgrimage. Both the decision to set off. And the wrong turnings, re-orientations and corrections which take place on the journey.
So we are faced with a question. Has our faith - our following Jesus - become theoretical. Or worse, judgemental. Is it just words and ideas or are we seeking to live out our faith, to actually walk in the way of Jesus.
Going on pilgrimage, as Bishop Tricia and others of us have done this weekend, reminds us that we must embody and live out our faith in what we do. And this is what today's scriptures teach us as well. Though pilgrimage also teaches us about the constant changes and day by day repentance that is also needed if we walk closely with Jesus.
One son said yes. But never followed through on that yes. And as with us, there may be all sorts of reasons - good and bad - why this happened.
But the other son, even though he initially said no, was able to do what his father asked him.
This holds out the hope to us that we do not need to be defined by the wrong decisions we have made in the past or a lack of commitment to follow Jesus today, because with him there is always the chance to start again. And whether we are those who have said yes and never followed through, or those who have said no and would like to change our mind, God comes to us in the journeys of our lives, as he did to Cleopas and his companion on the first Easter day, and walks at our side, shows us the true meaning of scripture and is known to us again and again - and here this morning in this lovely cathedra - in the breaking of bread. We can, in the words of our reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians, ‘know the mind of Christ,’ receiving from him who though he was in the form of God, emptied himself and was found in human likeness.
And can be found again today. This morning. Here.
This is the amazing and beautiful thing about the Christian faith. Jesus doesn't just show us the way, doesn't just ask us to follow. He is always alongside us. Always explaining. Always comforting. Always forgiving. And always providing. There is a banquet prepared at the journey's end and there are the iron rations of scripture and sacrament to keep us going on the way.
If you have regrets. If you know you have made mistakes. If there is sadness in your life. If you are frightened or concerned about the way the world is going. If you feel lost. Then turn to Jesus who turns to you and invites you to live your life his way.
Dear friends, this is very good news indeed.
