Year A Proper 21 Exodus 17:1-7 Matthew 21:23-32

Over time, sayings we once believed in have a way of becoming invalid. We live in an age of uncertainty. The more technologically advanced we become, the less we trust.

Think about photography. We used to say that “seeing is believing”, and applied that to photos as well as live sightings, but with the advent of digital photography – according to Sharon Farmer, the first African American and woman to become director of the White House Photo Office, “Digital imagery is not to be trusted, except based on the people who put it out there.”.

And that brings up another old familiar saying/question that is as important today as it has always been. “Who do you trust?”

In one congregation there was a woman member who seemed, when you met her, to be the soul of kindness and warmth. She eagerly would greet visitors, show great interest in them and their families, and make them feel welcome. She gave regularly to the church coffers and attended all the many functions and services held in the sanctuary or church hall. She was an active member of the choir and served on any committee to which she was elected.

It took time to notice that, with enthusiasm equal to that she exhibited in welcoming newcomers, she would gossip cruelly about anyone she didn’t like, trying to get them ousted from the congregation. She would use her position on any committee to which she belonged to try to force things to be done her way. Worst of all, the money she gave to the church, which was thus tax deductible for her, was given back to her in a church check on which she paid no taxes. This is an illegal practice known as money laundering and could have gotten the church in a lot of trouble

Interestingly, it does seem that this individual believed she was a kindhearted, generous, welcoming person. Dangerously, putting her soul in peril, she had no concept of herself as cruel, ruthless, and dishonest. She was a person whose insides and outsides did not match, and her ability to deny this truth was such, she never noticed the contradiction.

Who do you trust? Sometimes it is very hard to know.

The people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?"

In Exodus a lot of testing has gone on on both sides. God has tested the Children of Israel and they have tested God. Last week they cried out because they feared they would starve to death in the wilderness. Today they are once again fearful because there is no water to drink. Their level of trust is, it seems, based on the fullness of their bellies. Repeatedly, when things have been at their worst, they have turned to Moses and Aaron filled with anger and bitterness.

They ask, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" They seem to have no doubt that this is what’s going to happen. Their faith, so strong in the beginning, has weakened, their focus has shifted from God, to their livestock, their families, their bellies, themselves. They do not see that they have become faithless, and they are not aware of the dangers that their lack of trust poses for their souls. They have forgotten who is ultimately in charge, because they aren’t looking beyond their own self-interests.

We can understand the Israelites, because when times are rough, supplies scarce, and living becomes difficult, we too often make the mistake they have made, putting our faith in something or someone rather than in Jesus. The Israelites have shown great strength and conviction in leaving Egypt, but they have put their faith and trust, not in God, but in Aaron and Moses.

Moses, whose faith remains intact turns to God for help. God tells him, “Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink." Moses does as he is told, and one problem is resolved, but the underlying issue remains. The children of Israel still doubt, still lack the faith they need. They have forgotten all the miracles of the past, needing constant reminders and reassurance of the loving Presence of God. They have forgotten who to trust.

Moses called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

The question, simply put is, is God with Jesus, or not? They want to know, “Why should we trust You?”. But, though the question sounds both innocent and justified, it is not. Though asking for some sort of validation doesn’t sound beyond the pale, Jesus isn’t taken in. He knows that the chief priests and elders, representatives of the Sanhedrin, have an agenda. They want to maintain the status quo, discredit Jesus and His teachings, and above all prove that they and their ways are in the “right” and that Jesus is not. Their seeming exterior innocence belies their interior malice.

Jesus is well aware of what is going on. While the Sanhedrin has a worldly agenda, He does not. What follows is a carefully thought out, cleverly orchestrated verbal sparring in which Jesus is able to thwart the hidden and hostile intentions of His questioners. He is not “hooked” by their prodding nor is He deceived by the false face they present to the world. Then, having thwarted the chief priests and elders, Jesus tells a parable.

The owner of a vineyard has two sons and he asks both of them to come and work in the vineyard. One son agrees immediately, while the other refuses. The twist in the story is that the first son, the agreeable one, backs down and does not help, while the reluctant son changes his mind, rolls up his sleeves, and gets to work.

The parable is Jesus response to the chief priests and the elders who present one face, but actually follow a different path from the seemingly holy and blameless one they want others to believe they follow. To drive home His point, Jesus tells them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

“Who do you trust?” Which brings up another issue - how do we get the clarity to be sure we’ve reached the correct conclusion?

Retelling a story about Mother Teresa: When the brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months at “the house of the dying” in Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, “And what can I do for you?” Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him.

“What do you want me to pray for?” she asked. He voiced the request that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: “Pray that I have clarity.”

She said firmly, “No, I will not do that.”

When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”

When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”

We are human. Like the Israelites, we think we need to find people or institutions that we can trust to care for us and look out for our needs. Like John Kavanaugh we want the clarity to choose the “right” ones. So it comes as something of a shock to realize we are not called to seek clarity – because if we’re honest we only seek it in order to pass judgement. We are not called to decide what worldly standards and individuals are genuine.

We protest! Of course we have to do that! Yes, we do find we are often in situations where a “judgment call” is required – but while we decide which new dentist to visit, because ours has retired, or who to vote for in the upcoming election, we are called to remember that these are worldly issues. When we are put to the test, which can be any situation or occurrence in our lives, but especially in our relationships with others, our trust must be in God.

What this means for us is that we are to be the ones without an agenda, “called to the grey”. We are to be the quiet ones, the listeners, the ones willing to sacrifice the worldly victory of being “right” for the victory of being loving, humble, and holy. The Lord is always among us. Our worldly decisions may seem important, but in the end, it is where our heart is, where our trust is placed, that leads us to Him – for where our heart is, there is our treasure also.

Let us pray in the words of the Psalmist:

Show us your ways, O Lord, and teach us Your paths. Lead us in Your truth and teach us, for You are the God of our salvation. Help us to be able to always say, in You have we trusted all the day long. In Jesus Name – Amen.