September 28, 2008 - Pentecost + 20

Jesus Makes a New Way
Matthew 21:23-32 + Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
September 28, 2008 – Pentecost + 20

I don't know how many of you remember the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, but as a kid, I watched it quite a bit. It's the story of the Griswold family and their trek across country to go to an amusement park. The trip is masterminded by the husband and father of the family, Clark, who has his ideal vacation all planned out in his mind. But the trip is just one comic mishap after another. In one classic scene, somewhere in Arizona, cruising down the road in the Family Truckster station wagon looking for the Grand Canyon, Clark's wife begins to realize that they're lost. But Clark refuses to listen to her, arguing that of course he knows where he's going – How hard can it be to find the grand canyon? While they're arguing and looking at the map, they drive straight past a sign that says “Road Closed ahead.” And when their daughter tells them she saw a detour sign, Clark still refuses to admit that they might be on the wrong road. “Audrey,” he tells her, “when they close the road, they put up big signs, like that one,” as the car goes crashing through a barricade and flies through the air, landing in the middle of nowhere in the desert.

But even this isn't enough for Clark. He is bound and determined to be the hero, so off he goes into the desert to look for a gas station to send help back to his family. Well, of course you know that he wanders through the desert in the middle of the day for hours, hopelessly lost. When he finally stumbles into the gas station, his whole family is already there. While he's been out trying to do it on his own, they have been found and rescued by people on horseback who sent a tow truck to bring them safely in from the desert.

It struck me as I was thinking about the gospel for today that the chief priests and elders of the people were kind of like Clark Griswold. There they were, headed down the wrong road, but they didn't know it. They had checked all the maps, planned out their route, and by gum, no matter what happened, they were gonna stick to the plan. Their map was the law of God. They had been taught, and believed, that following the law to the letter, sticking to it religiously would lead to life, to God. And even though they haven't seen any signs lately that they are getting closer, they have continued down the same road, convinced that they are going the right way.

But somewhere along the road, they pass right by the “Road Closed” sign. It's not that the sign wasn't big enough – they were just too buried in their maps to look up and see the sign. And then when John the Baptist came along to give the warning, telling them to turn around, like Clark's wife & daughter did, they stubbornly refused to believe him. Does John think they don't know where they're going? They are the teachers and leaders of the people. Of course they know what they're doing! This is the right road – God's gotta be around here somewhere...

Until suddenly they find themselves barreling down the road toward a road closed barrier. The road of their self-reliance, of thinking they have got it all figured out dead ends, and they go crashing through. Jesus finally gets their attention, entering the temple, turning over tables, driving out all who were buying and selling, healing others, and accepting the praises of children.

And still, even though they are broken down, the priests and elders don't want to admit they have been driving down the wrong road all this time. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” And struggling with the question Jesus asks them in return, it's off into the desert to save themselves.

At times in our lives, all of us have set out, maps in hand (or GPS system turned on), convinced we are on the right road, knowing that if we just drive far enough, we will find the road that leads to life, to God. For many of us, those maps may be a set of moral rules for living, detailing what is right & what is wrong in every situation, down to the last detail. The maps also give us guidelines about who is or is not a suitable companion for the journey. But sometimes we get our noses so stuck in the map that we miss the signs and signals that maybe we are headed in the wrong direction. We may even ignore the warnings others give us, telling us that we're headed to a dead-end, and stubbornly staying the course. Because we want to be in control. We want to be in the driver's seat, and we can navigate for ourselves just fine, thanks! Even if we get lost, we'll just keep driving around in circles, rather than stop and admit that we don't have a clue where we are going or what we are doing, until we finally find ourselves crashing through a barricade, stranded on the side of the road.

But even when the road dead ends like that, when we've ignored the warning signs, Jesus comes and makes a new way. That's what the tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus speaks of understood that the elders and priests missed. The tax collectors and prostitutes knew they were going down the wrong road. And maybe they didn't know how to get themselves turned around and back on the right road on their own, but when John the Baptist came with his detour sign, they took it. They followed the detour and turned around – they repented. That's what repent means – to turn around. They turned from their sinful lives, from the road that leads to captivity and to death, and turned to new life, the new road that Jesus made for them. It's the road that leads to the kingdom of God – a road that was still open for the priests and elders. But the prostitutes and tax collectors recognized their need first, their complete inability to do it on their own. They accepted the help of the one who came to rescue them, & that's why Jesus said they would enter God's kingdom ahead of the priests and elders.

Jesus comes to us this morning too – This story is our detour sign, but it also comes with a promise. If you're going your own direction, whether you are convinced that it is the road that leads to life, or if you know that you are headed the wrong way – if you think you can get there on your own, you'd better turn around, because the road is out ahead. We can't find true life through our own efforts, we can't find it through following a million moral laws like they're a road map to heaven, we can't find it by stubbornly walking through the desert looking for help on our own.

But Jesus has made a new way – one that doesn't depend on us or our driving skills or sense of direction. It depends on Jesus, for he is the Way. He is always there, calling to us to turn around, to get off the road we have planned for ourselves and to detour back to him. He is always there to point us back to the road that leads to true life. And if we need it, he is the tow truck that comes to us out in the desert when we have crashed through the Road Closed signs of life. So what are you waiting for? Turn to Jesus and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. Turn, then, and live! Amen.