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 What authority have you to say these things?

This is the challenge of today. Just as it was in Jesus’ day.  How can you say there is a God? How can you talk of eternal life, heaven and the like? Who says I shouldn’t  have sex with who I please? Your religion is all about spoiling our freedom and making life miserable for others. Actually we are coming on to Jesus’ attack on the religious leaders of the day and on the subject of their hypocrisy he is scathing. But what right does he have to say anything to our society in our day? Well the question was asked in his day.

Jesus, while in Jerusalem, spent a lot of time in the temple. That was a vast courtyard, in festival time heaving with pilgrims, on holiday, with time to listen, so someone like Jesus, who was known for his wise thinking and miracles, soon gathered a crowd. And the crowd came to the notice of the authorities and they send a demand for authorisation. 

 "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"

Notice the question is in two parts. By what authority and who gave you this authority? The first looks for a piece of paper signed by the relevant authority. The second asks a more serious question who gave you the authority?  I had to deal with this problem  over our daughter-in-law Sarah’s application to teach in China. She obtained a International equivalent of the DBS certificate, saying she did not have a criminal record. We sent it to the FCO who checked the signature and the added a notice that they had verified that this was an authoritative document. Then we sent it to the Chinese embassy, who checked that the FCO document was genuine and added their notice. Then it was sent to China who now accept the authority because the Embassy said the FCO notice was authoritative and the FCO said the Certificate was authoritative.  That’s bureaucracy at work. If you have a piece of paper with the right stamps, signatures, etc. on it, you have the authority. We live in a society full of lawyers who trace out what you can and can’t do. But rarely do we try to answer the question “Who says?” because in our multicultural society there is no final authority. Essentially Parliament is meant to define what is right and wrong. And that opens a whole can of worms of a political kind. Sadly, most decisions are based on what wins votes rather than any higher authority.

So more interesting is the question  who gave you the authority?

When I was deputy head of department at Eltham Green School, I was given a written and signed letter authorizing me to use the cane. The whose authority in this case was the Head. The letter was a formality. I was told that it was my job to use the cane in the correct way and the rules were in that letter.

Anyway, coming back to Jesus, whose authority was he acting on?  Well Jesus was never afraid of answering this question and frequently said he was doing the will of his Father in heaven, so why do they ask the question?

The answer to that lies in understanding why Jesus refuses to answer the question.

Listen to the reasoning that the chief priests and the elders use.

They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven', he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men' -- we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."

Every political agent in the country uses the same argument. Which answer will win the most votes?  Although in this case no-one has a vote, they are caught between the mob turning on them or publically accepting that John was a prophet which would identify Jesus as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So they opt for silence. They wriggle out with a damage limitation exercise, we don’t know. More significantly, they won’t be drawn on whose side God is. For all their posturing as leaders and the religious police of their day, they dodge the challenge to be authoritative and make a pronouncement.

So when you are in discussion about being a Christian or who Jesus is, don’t be surprised if your friends are not willing to push the argument. The option to not have to choose is very attractive.

So what do you believe about Jesus?  What authority has he in your thinking? Where do you believe that authority come from?

The key problem here is who’s word do you take on it? Ultimately, time and gain, Jesus claims an authority all of his own. He does point out that John announced him, he points to his miracles as secondary evidence, but the primary evidence is that he says he is the son of God. “Because I say so” does not sound convincing but you believe in Jesus because his claims have a ring of truth about them.  You have to trust him to be true about himself. This makes it difficult for others to understand because they want external independent evidence. And you can’t have it where God is concerned. He alone is God. He alone is from everlasting. He alone created you and sustains you. And you either believe in Him by listening and believing what Jesus says about him or you have to choose another religion or no religion at all. But you and your friends have to make a choice. The chief priests and elders, wriggled out with a damage limitation answer but they rejected their Messiah. They rejected God because they feared they would lose face. Sadly many of our friends do the same, try to keep their options open but in effect, reject their Saviour. 

Jesus then tells three parables, all of which underline that the chief priests and the elders had rejected the Messiah, Jesus their Saviour and redeemer if only they would turn to him.

The  two children we read today are followed by the tenants of the vineyard  which is next weeks subject and the wedding banquet which you will have to wait until 15^th Feb for Oli to speak on.

 This parable of the two children is simple enough. He asks each child. I am avoiding the word son as the Greek text uses child not son.  He asks each child to go and work today in the vineyard.  The first says “ I won’t”  but changes his mind and goes.  The second says “Here am I” [Heb. הנֵּנִי , hinnēnî; ] but does not.  The question is “who did what his Father asked”. To which the answer is the first, the one who said “I won’t.” 

Simple enough, isn’t it? Its not what you say you will do that matters but whether you do what your Father asks. So, The question this morning goes beyond just ‘do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?’ to ‘are you doing what he says?’  There are lots of people who claim to be Christians, who claim to be believers but the acid test is do you do what Jesus says. Do you follow his rule for your life? Do you receive the forgiveness of sins by grace or because you were christened and confirmed, baptised, or attended the right number of  church services or gave enough to the poor or whatever other means of salvation we invent to circumnavigate grace. Salvation is to be received as a gift. Following Jesus is living the new life you received by grace in the power of the Holy Spirit. Are you doing the Jesus walk?

Jesus says the tax collectors and prostitutes are ahead of the religious leaders. Why? Because they believed the Prophet John the Baptist. The religious leaders not only failed to embrace the good news they resented those who were receiving it.

 We encourage you to read your Bible every day. When you read it, one question that you need to ask is what does God want me to do today which comes from my Bible reading? You see we know that reading and even agreeing with what it says is not following Jesus. Following Jesus is going and doing what he tells you.

The world is full of religious fanaticism. It leads to murder, rape and genocide. It is not religion that is the problem, it is those who trade dogmatism for compassion, the trappings of religion for the reality. And it does not matter whether your religion is highly dressed up with robes and relics and idols and the like or austere, private and meditative. It is whether you do what God is asking you to that matters.

 James 1:27 says

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

 Listen to Jesus, Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

This is disturbing stuff. Coming to church and worshipping on a Sunday and singing the songs and praying does not add up to much if you do not do what the Father calls you to do. What is the point of endless prayer if it is not accompanied by obedience?

I challenge you who like Charles Wesley’s carols and hymns to read his sermon The Almost Christian

Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the university, on July 25, 1741. In it he describes as an almost Christian the sort of person we would think utterly committed. Here is a taste :To this, if we add the constant use of family prayer, by those who are masters of families, and the setting times apart for private addresses to God, with a daily seriousness of behaviour; he who uniformly practises this outward religion, has the form of godliness. There needs but one thing more in order to his being almost a Christian, and that is, sincerity.

Jesus goes even further he says you can be actively using the spiritual gifts, as we call them, and still not receive salvation as a free gift.

It is not what we do in church that matters or even in our private devotions, it is whether we believe on Monday morning and live by the doing what Jesus says on Tuesday, trusting God for Wednesday, obeying Jesus of Thursday, accepting his grace for Friday and resting on his promises on Saturday.

 So the test is whether God’s word changes your actions and thoughts, attitude and motives this week. That has to start in humility before the throne of grace. You have to stop at the threshold of heaven and remind yourself that you only right to enter is that Jesus died for your sin, that he offered you his righteousness in the place of your own, that your salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life is a gift to be received in repentance and faith. That repentance is not just saying sorry but committing yourself to change in your life, to listen to God as you read the Bible and say “Henneni, Here I am, I go, Lord” and then ACT. Jesus says it is better to say No and then repent and go than say yes and forget what you have promised. Are you ready to go today? Where is the vineyard, going back to the parable, that you are called to work in? Will you be going into the Lord’s vineyard today, tomorrow and the rest of the week and living out the Good News to everyone you meet?  In the end that is the test of who is the authority in your life. Not what I can gave a political answer to wriggle through in life to get away with it, but plain, simply obedience to the one who loved us and gave himself for us. You cannot obey on your own , you need the power of the Holy Spirit to enable you.