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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