The Message, November 5, 2023: "Partners," Matthew 23:1-12
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
November 05, 2023
“Partners”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 23:1-12
[I
approach the pulpit accompanied by big fanfare on the organ and timpani.]
Friends
… Family … Fellow Church Members … Here we are … Consecration Sunday!!
The
last two Sundays, I offered messages that set the stage for today’s message,
the culmination of my sermon series. Two weeks ago, we focused upon giving
Caesar what is Caesar’s, and giving to God what is God’s. We give everything to
God. God is the center of our lives. God is the basis for our thoughts, actions
and emotions.
Then
last Sunday we focused upon the Greatest Commandment: loving God with all of
our hearts, and souls, and minds, as well as the second that is like it: love
our neighbors as ourselves. We love God totally, rather than partially or
sporadically. We love our neighbors by making a steadfast commitment to care
about them and to care for them.
Today,
we come to the third of our “stewardship” messages, and we focus upon how to
love … ME!
I
want to thank everyone that has already prayerfully completed and returned your
pledge cards. However, I have a whole stack of new ones. I would like you all
to take a new pledge card and DOUBLE YOUR COMMITMENTS. Because I need a big,
fat raise. No … let correct that … I DESERVE a big, fat raise!
You
see … I drive a ten-year-old Ford Explorer with the pain coming off of the
hood, and a dent from a screen that blew off of the parsonage. Surely you do
not want ME driving around town in a vehicle like that! It is embarrassing for
you!
And
speaking of the parsonage … it is not the largest house on the street. You
really do not want me living in a house that is smaller than my neighbors’
houses, do you?
And
the fringe on my stole … it was eaten by the mice that shared my office with me
at the church in New Hampshire. I cannot lead worship properly with this puny,
mouse-eaten fringe.
The
fanfare this morning was nice, but I would like to add an entourage to
accompany me.
And
while we are at it … we have members of our virtual congregation that
participate all around the country: Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Texas. I
should really go and pay them pastoral visits, and you do not expect me to fly
coach, right?!
So
… First Parish Church … how much do you love ME?
That
is the spirit of Jesus’ message this morning, right? I have interpreted it
perfectly! (Sadly, there are some churches, and some “pastors” that seem to
have skipped over this passage.)
Obviously,
we all know that this was NOT the point that Jesus was making. We know that he
was making the opposite point. In the previous chapters of his Gospel, Matthew
recorded the interactions with Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees. As he
taught with parables, he indicated that they were like the son who says that he
will obey the father, but then fails to do so. (Matthew 21:28-32) They are the
invited guests who mistreat the messengers. (Matthew 22:6) They are the tenants
who have been entrusted with the care of the vineyard but kill the vineyard
owner’s son. (Matthew 21:33-44)
Throughout
the entire exchange, Jesus was telling the crowd that had gathered that the
Pharisees held positions of power, influence and privilege but had used them
for their own purposes. Essentially, he was saying that they held the keys to
the Kingdom of God but had chosen to lock the gates.
As
we heard, Jesus honored the teaching of the Pharisees. After all, they taught
the Law. They taught the Torah. Jesus did not come to reject the Law. Instead,
he came to complete it, to fulfill the Law.
Now,
let me pause for a moment to offer a little historical context. Jesus and the
Pharisees did not always have an antagonistic relationship. In the beginning,
Jesus and the Pharisees actually stood on common ground. Originally, Pharisaic
Judaism was a small, reform movement that was critical of other Jewish leaders
that had thrown their lot in with the Roman authorities. Much like Jesus, the
Pharisees originally rose in order to restore a faith that had been corrupted
by the Roman influence.
However,
when we encounter the Pharisees at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, their rise in
power and influence had corrupted them as well. After the Pharisees had
repeatedly attempted to trick and trap Jesus so that they could stop him from
doing what they had initially set out to do, Jesus turned to the crowd that had
gathered. Remember, all of this took place in one day, Tuesday of Holy Week.
All of this took place the day after Jesus overturned the tables of the money
changers that had defiled the Temple courts. And, as we heard in this morning’s
passage, Jesus said to the crowd and to his disciples, “Do not do what they
do.”
“Yes,
follow the Law of God. Yes, follow the Ten Commandments. Have total reverence
for God. Love and respect your neighbors. Do all of that, all the time. But do
it with a genuine heart. Do it because that is what God calls us to do. Do it
because that is who God created us to be. Do NOT do it to glorify yourselves.
Do NOT do it so that others will honor you. Do NOT do it because you hope to
receive some personal gain. Do it because you love God with every fiber of your
being. Do it because God is at the center of your life. Do it because you are
partners with God.”
Jesus
began this address with those warnings to the crowd. “Do not do as they do.”
But he concluded this segment with what he intends for us to do … to be.
Partners.
Do
not expect to be called “rabbi” which had become the practice of the day. Over
the centuries, we have come to interpret the word ‘rabbi’ as ‘teacher,’ but in
that day it was “my great one.” Do not expect to be called “my great one,” for
there is only one Great One, and that is God.
Do
not call anyone here on earth “father,” for there is only one who is father …
parent to us all, and that is God.
Instead,
we are all ‘students.’ In some translations it is ‘brothers and sisters.’ All
of us are fellow learners. We are all siblings in the faith. Our role, as those
who are perceived to be the leaders of the faith is to break down barriers
between clergy and laity. For in Jesus’ ideal church … in his ideal community …
there is no stratification or classification.
We
are ALL learners together. We are ALL servants together. Leadership in the
Kingdom of God is SERVANT leadership. As I said a couple of weeks ago … It is
not about ME … it is about WE.
As
we come to this Consecration Sunday, we consider the gifts that we present to
God. We ask ourselves:
What
can WE do to love and glorify God?
What
can WE do to love and serve our neighbors?
In
our living and in our giving, what can we do as partners with God? Are we
willing to love as God loves?
Amen.
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