Summary
In this week’s service, Cindy Seifert explores the foundational laws provided in Exodus, emphasizing the Ten Commandments as the spiritual and moral absolutes required to live in covenant with God. Through the lens of Jesus’ parable of the vineyard owner, the message warns against the dangers of rejecting divine guidance and calls for a self-examination of how we respond to God’s messengers in our own lives.
The service further examines the example of the Apostle Paul, whose focus shifted from his own credentials to the mission of sharing the gospel through his personal witness. Cindy explains that the “heavenly prize” is not an escapist pursuit of a distant afterlife, but rather a call to embody righteousness through service, justice, and community. Ultimately, the sermon invites believers
Now, I must admit to most of you that I get most of my news from this little device right here. I don’t know if any of you are in that same boat anymore, but to sit and watch network news is just intolerable to me. The negativity shown, the scenes of war, destruction, political unrest, and cruelty are difficult to understand. Yet the nature of humans in despair is often to lash out at each other and forget, or yeah, and forget, or some may never have known the laws provided in Exodus.
Our first reading this morning are the laws which God gave to Moses to take to the Hebrew people. These laws are a result of God wanting to be in covenant with the people. He wanted the Israelites to know Him, to know Him as Yahweh. I am who I am. This name affirms the power, authority, and eternal nature of God. The law of God within the Ten Commandments, as we read, and these are God’s absolutes for spiritual and moral living. The first four commandments focus on loyalty to the Lord. Have no other gods before me. Do not make an idol. Do not bow and worship, and do not serve them. I’m a jealous God, punishing the children of the father’s inity to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. But showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. No work is to be done by any man, servants, or animals. Now the next five focus on dealings between humans to make our society stable. Honor your mother and father so that you may have a long life in the land I have given you. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not commit adultery. Do not give false witness against your neighbor. And the final commandment addresses the inner life, the source of wrong actions, including murder, adultery, and stealing. Coveting reflects greed, which is idolatry, meaning worshiping physical objects or images as if they were divine. So, do not cover, covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servant, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Now these are the laws that all of us are to strive for to allow us to live in complete covenant with God.
Hearing these laws reiterated many times does not make them any easier to follow. How many of these laws do we struggle with? Do we always put God first, or do we put ourselves first? Do we strive for wealth of material goods, or wealth of spirit? Do we keep the Sabbath day holy? Do we even keep a Sabbath anymore? Jesus was speaking in the temple when the chief priests and elders entered and questioned him about who gave him his authority. Jesus did not directly answer them, but told them parables. As Flo read Matthew twenty-one thirty-three to forty-six, which is the second parable of the vineyard owner, Jesus uses the imagery of a vineyard owner who rented out his vineyards to tenants. In this parable, the tenants end up mistreating and even killing the servants sent by the owner to collect the fruit. When the owner finally sends his son, hoping they will respect him, they instead kill him, thinking they can inherit the vineyard. This parable symbolizes God as the vineyard owner, sending his prophets and messengers, the servants, throughout history to guide and lead people back to Him. Despite these efforts, there are those who reject and harm these messengers, culminating in the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, the owner’s son. The parable serves as a warning about the consequences of rejecting God’s messengers and his message. The chief priests and Pharisees realized he was speaking about them. Even though they were trying to find a rest, a reason to arrest Jesus, they feared the crowds because the people regarded Jesus as a prophet. The parable highlights the seriousness of disobedience and the ultimate judgment that awaits those who persist in their rebellion against God. It prompts us to reflect on how we respond to God’s messengers in our own lives, and whether we are bearing the fruits of faith, love, and obedience in our relationship with Him. The parable challenges us to consider our own attitudes towards God’s guidance and the importance of heeding His call to repentance and transformation.
So, why is this relevant today? The message of stewardship and accountability resonates with us. God has entrusted us with various gifts, responsibilities, and His message of love and redemption. The parable warns against complacency and rejection of divine guidance. It calls us to self-examination. Are we faithfully stewarding what God has entrusted to us? The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, moves us forward in the story of our accountability. The Reverend Derek Weber, director of preaching ministry, states in his writings that follow that Paul gives us a history lesson, then sets that history aside in favor of the mission of the church. Okay, granted, it reads like a humble brag. Paul, who was big on humility in his writing, manages to sneak in some considerable self-referential information that sounds like one-upmanship. The familiar, “I’m better than you,” so you should listen to me, and more than that, he actually says, “Do what I do, join in imitating me.” A couple of verses past the reading of this week. But let’s take a little deeper look. After his catalog of suffering and attributes, which are surprisingly in the same list, he says it really doesn’t matter. Moreover, he says he considers all that stuff garbage. The Greek word is skabala, translated as rubbish, garbage, or dung. It’s a strong word, offensive in some circles. And that’s how he feels about his own resume. At least compared to knowing Jesus, compared to the call to share the gospel, to widen the circle, to embrace the hope, and encourage others to embrace with him. What Paul knows is that when we come, when it comes to all of that, to well, let’s just say it, evangelism. Another strong word, offensive in some circles. But when it comes to evangelism, all we have is our stories. All we have is the witness of our lives. Paul isn’t ashamed to use what he has to tell of the relationship he has with Jesus Christ. He is ready to lay his life down as a witness to the power of the redeeming Spirit of Jesus. Not to use it as a way to increase his own glory, climb some social ladder, or enrich himself, he chooses to let his story be an invitation for another to hear, embrace, and move closer, and know the one who gives Paul his strength and purpose.
The best thing about Paul’s story, he would no doubt point out, is not his history, but his future. Not who he has been, but who he is becoming. We’re pressing on, Paul argues. But pressing on toward what? What does Paul call us to do or be? Well, we think it is obvious, isn’t it? It’s about getting to heaven, about lounging on a cloud with a halo and a harp, about basking in the presence of the Lamb on the throne, or however we might envision that realm. Indeed, Paul talks about leaving to be with Jesus in other passages. That escape into a place where kingdom rules apply sounds enticing in today’s world. Yet it seems unlikely that Paul is arguing here for an escapist mentality. Rather, for Paul, the prize is righteousness, and righteousness is not a strict adherence to rules and laws, but an embodiment of God’s mercy and justice. Embodiment is an important concept. It’s how we live. It is the actions we take, the positions we hold, and the values we embrace. We are, in other words, called to become like Christ. When Paul rails against flesh, he doesn’t mean our bodies. What we do with our bodies matters a lot to him, as we can express our faith through our bodies, our words, and our inner being. But flesh represents anything that gets in the way of embodying faith in a Christ-like way. Flesh is self-centered, as opposed to other-centered. Flesh prioritizes empire, status quo, and nation over the kingdom of God. When we press on, we press on through many avenues. We press on through spiritual disciplines. We press on through acts of mercy. We press on through justice work and world-transforming efforts that bring wholeness to all people. We press on to build community, not just to take care of ourselves. Through his story, Paul issues an invitation to partner with the Spirit and working toward the vision that Jesus the Christ gave to us. That heavenly prize is, as we regularly pray, the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. For Paul, faith is a deeply embodied journey that calls us into the present, embodied reality of loving and living with God, self, neighbor, and all creation. We press on together here and now by the grace through which Christ saves us. Amen.