Unexpected Saints

September 28, 2014

Exodus 17:1-7 Pi!ippians 2:1-1" #atte$ 21:2"-"2

Recently there was a miniseries on television about the life of Harry Houdini. Houdini was one of the most
famous escape artists of his day and performers today still aspire to do the things the he did almost ninety
years ago. Houdini was not only an amazing escape artist, but was an accomplished magician and a
consummate showman. One reason that Houdini was able to do the things that he did, as is often true of
good magic shows and illusions, is that the public didnt see everything that was really happening.
When you watched Houdini, or any magician or illusionist, things are not always as they seem.
A few years ago, someone gave me a copy of a newspaper article from ennsylvania. !n it was a story
about a man who had attended his local church for many years. He lived in a sad loo"ing shac" on the
edge of town and was often seen wal"ing along the roadsides pic"ing up bottles and cans for recycling. He
was "nown to be a genuinely nice guy, but everyone thought that he was dirt poor. #ut when he died, he
gave several million dollars to his local church.
$hings are not always what they seem.
And both scripture and e%perience tell us that the church is not immune to this phenomenon either. Weve
all met a few hypocrites both inside and outside of the church. &ometimes people are not at all what they
seem. We begin once again by re'oining (oses and the people of !srael in Exodus 17:1-7, again, not long
past the crossing of the Red &ea and now scarcely past )ods provision of *uail and manna and in this story
we hear the people of )od complain+
+again.
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The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord
commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drin.
!
So they "uarreled
with #oses and said, $%ive us water to drin.&
#oses replied, $'hy do you "uarrel with me( 'hy do you put the Lord to the test(&
)
*ut the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against #oses. They said, $'hy did you
bring us up out of +gypt to mae us and our children and livestoc die of thirst(&
,
Then #oses cried out to the Lord, $'hat am I to do with these people( They are almost ready to stone
me.&
-
The Lord answered #oses, $%o out in front of the people. Tae with you some of the elders of Israel and
tae in your hand the staff with which you struc the .ile, and go.
/
I will stand there before you by the roc
at 0oreb. Strie the roc, and water will come out of it for the people to drin.& So #oses did this in the
sight of the elders of Israel.
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2nd he called the place #assah and #eribah because the Israelites "uarreled
and because they tested the Lord saying, $Is the Lord among us or not(&
,
$he people who were "nown as -the people of )od. seemed to be continually grumbling, whining and
complaining about )od rather than trusting )od. $his part of the story seems to be worth reading and
remembering because, being human, our own behavior seems to drift in this direction. Our temptation is to
complain about our problems, rather than to re'oice over the wonderful things that )od has done for us.
#ut this reversal, the idea that people are not always who we thin" that they are, goes even farther that we
might have suspected. !n #atte$ 21:2"-"2, /esus tells a story to the priests and leaders of the temple that
really twists up many of our ideas of our heavenly reward.
!)
3esus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people
came to him. $*y what authority are you doing these things(& they ased. $2nd who gave you this
authority(&
!,
3esus replied, $I will also as you one "uestion. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am
doing these things.
!-
3ohn4s baptism5where did it come from( 'as it from heaven, or of human origin(&
They discussed it among themselves and said, $If we say, 67rom heaven,4 he will as, 6Then why didn4t you
believe him(4
!/
*ut if we say, 68f human origin45we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that 3ohn
was a prophet.&
!1
So they answered 3esus, $'e don4t now.&
Then he said, $.either will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
!9
$'hat do you thin( There was a man who had two sons. 0e went to the first and said, 6Son, go and
wor today in the vineyard.4
!:
$6I will not,4 he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
);
$Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. 0e answered, 6I will, sir,4 but he did not
go.
)1
$'hich of the two did what his father wanted(&
$The first,& they answered.
3esus said to them, $Truly I tell you, the ta< collectors and the prostitutes are entering the ingdom of %od
ahead of you.
)!
7or 3ohn came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him,
but the ta< collectors and the prostitutes did. 2nd even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe
him.
/esus says that ta% collectors and prostitutes, two groups of people that -good church people. thought were
terrible, awful, sinners who )od hated, would li"ely get into heaven before the priests and the church
leaders.
Ouch.
Why0 #ecause they were the ones who actually did what )od as"ed them to do.
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/esus compared the priests and the church leaders to a son who said, -&ure 2ad, !ll do my chores.. #ut
didnt actually do any of them. !n contrast, it was the ta% collectors and the prostitutes that /esus said were
li"e the other son. !t was they that said, -3ah, ! dont thin" so.. #ut then had a change of heart and did
what they were as"ed.
!n the end, regardless of what has been said, and regardless of who loo"s more important on the outside,
the ones who love /esus are the ones who do the things that /esus as"ed them to do.
When all is said and done, what is done is more important than what is said.
&o, 'ust to be sure that were all on the same page, what is it that we should do0
!n Pi!ippians 2:1-1", aul reminds everyone in the church to find encouragement in being a part of the
wor" /esus is doing in the world, and in the process, reminds us all of how we ought to be more li"e /esus.
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Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with =hrist, if any comfort from his love, if
any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
!
then mae my >oy complete by being
lie?minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
)
Do nothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
,
not looing to your own interests but
each of you to the interests of the others.
-
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as =hrist 3esus@
/
'ho, being in very nature %od, did not consider e"uality with %od something to be used to his own
advantage
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rather, he made himself nothing by taing the very nature of a servant, being made in human lieness.
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2nd being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death5
even death on a crossA
:
Therefore %od e<alted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
1;
that at the name of 3esus every nee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
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and every tongue acnowledge that 3esus =hrist is Lord, to the glory of %od the 7ather.
1!
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed5not only in my presence, but now much more in
my absence5continue to wor out your salvation with fear and trembling,
1)
for it is %od who wors in you
to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
!f we are to be li"e /esus, and if we are to encourage one another and find comfort in /esus love, then, aul
says, we should wor" together, have the same "ind of love for one another, and be united on mind and
spirit. 3ot only are we to get along with one another, but we are called to value others more than ourselves.
$hats hard.
!t isnt always easy to drop the things that we li"e to do on 4riday nights, so that we can go to our "ids
football games, or soccer games, or swim meets, or dance recitals. #ut we love our children and we are
willing to set aside our desires to show them our love and support. #ut aul says that we need to
demonstrate this same sort of love for people that are not family members. As followers of /esus 5hrist,
we are called to care for the interests of others instead of our own.
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$hin" about that.
We are called to care about the interests of others, before our own.
$hat means that we should worry that other people eat, before we eat. We should worry about what other
people need before we buy more things that we really dont need anyway. We should worry about the
interests of others, in food, clothing, housing, in worship, and in everything.
$he model of /esus was not that he was -at large, and in charge. of the church, but that he made himself to
be a servant. Although he was capable of commanding the elements and had power over life and death,
/esus humbled himself and made himself nothing. aul understands that this is not an easy thing to do. He
encourages us to -wor" out. our salvation. Acting li"e /esus is going to ta"e practice.
$he people of )od witnessed )ods amazing power7 they saw )od perform miracles to rescue them from
slavery in 8gypt, and still, the tested )od and were continually arguing with him and with one another.
)od calls us to get along.
$he leaders of the church made a good show of following )od, but they were more concerned with their
own needs and desires than they were with the needs and desires of others.
/esus calls us to put the needs of others ahead of our own.
$hings are not always what they seem. !n )ods system of 'ustice, the saints will not be the people who
said they would follow, but will be the ones who actually followed. $he saints will not be the priests and
the harisees who made a good so$ of following )od, but instead will be the ta% collectors and the
prostitutes who actually did the things that /esus as"ed them to do.
When all is said and done, what is done is more important than what is said.
!n the end, we are most !i%e /esus when we act li"e /esus.
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:ou have been reading a message presented at $rinity ;nited (ethodist 5hurch on the date noted at the top of the first
page. Rev. /ohn artridge is the pastor at $rinity of erry heights in (assillon, Ohio. 2uplication of this message is a part
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3ew !nternational Cersion unless otherwise noted.