Sermon for All Saints-by-the-Sea
Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 1, 2008, Proper 4
by The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey L. Bullock


“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

Just about thirty years ago, our seminary class faced the General Ordination Exams, the six-day challenge test of our learning. For nearly all the students, their future vocations in the church were on the line. Good grades were a must. The pressure was on and many a face was set and grim. But not Peter’s face. Our classmate showed up with his normal exuberant smile. He came in, stood by his front row desk and took off his coat where on one shoulder he wore a button reading, “Question Authority.” We started laughing when we read on his other shoulder a button reading, “How the heck should I know?”

Where does authority come from? We live in such a culture of suspicion, I suspect we’d find it hard to respond. In the past decade, we’ve grown skeptical of all kinds of authority. All the honors and public recognition we know doesn’t seem to confer the authority we seek. And why shouldn’t we feel that way? Hardly a week goes by where we have sadly discovered someone operating off a trumped up degree. Look at the number of books and newspaper articles claiming to be true accounts, only to be found fictional. A LA newspaper had an article not so long ago about the traffic in fake military decorations. Some were even claiming the Medal of Honor. And speaking of authority, what institution do you know that can claim unadulterated authority? Do governments or schools or universities or for that matter, churches, have that kind of authority? I think we could agree the answer is “no.”

Once upon a time we could establish our authority with expertise or learning. Degrees and awards often conferred influential titles on people. But now in a world gone wackily out of control, who among us can claim to have enough expertise or enough learning to command our subject area? My brother in law earned a degree in the unusual field of ceramic engineering. Just five short years after college graduation, his degree was out of date. Learning and expertise doesn’t establish our authority unless we are dedicated to it over a lifetime.

The whole Gospel of Matthew is shot through with questions about the authority of Jesus. It’s fundamental to the Gospel: from where does Jesus gain the authority to teach us what to do? Matthew even anticipates the challenge in today’s Gospel when he reports that Jesus was one who taught with authority unlike the scribes, titled and honored though they might be. How did it come to pass that so many leaders questioned the authority of Jesus?

If we travel back just a few verses, we’ll find out. This part of the Gospel begins with Jesus ascending a mountain and preaching the Beatitudes. Make no mistake; the symbolism is critical. When Matthew’s Jesus ascends the mountain, he’s like Moses ascending Sinai. Moses delivers to the people of God the Ten Commandments. Jesus delivers in parallel the Beatitudes. No wonder the scribes and Pharisees felt threatened and offended; as so often happens in the Gospels, the enemies of Jesus get the point before his followers do. God has given Jesus the leadership of the Kingdom of God.

Just climbing the mountain and delivering the Beatitudes doesn’t finish the work of Jesus. In fact, as we read through the verses just prior to this morning, we begin to realize even more fully why the scribes feel threatened--Jesus is calling the people of God out of the world’s way of living into God’s way of living. Founded in the authority of God, Jesus is calling us to be merciful, meek, pure of heart and peacemakers. And just in case we miss the point, the world will likely resent us for living by these Beatitude rules. Why? Because we are in the world but not living by the world’s rules. We are living by the rules, the expected way of life, of the Kingdom of God.

Okay, let’s say for a moment we accept the perspective of the scribes and Pharisees. Let’s turn the tables. Jesus is questioning the ways of their so-called “real world.” By what authority is he doing this? In some places in the Gospel, the worldly authorities, the Pharisees and the scribes, will ask for a sign to prove Jesus’ Godly authority. Jesus disdains the call for a proof. If you want to understand the authority of Jesus, you only need to act like him.

That word “act” is far more potent than its size might imply. If Jesus calls us to ‘act’ on his words, how should we understand him? We have our own way of saying the same thing Jesus speaks. When we say someone is as good as their word, it means we can bank on their promise, treating it with confidence. If someone pledges to do something, we take pledging seriously. If we fail to follow our pledge, we believe we have failed ourselves. We know well what it means to act on our word. It means we’ll follow through on what we believe. We understand then when Jesus calls on us to ‘act’ on his teaching. Founded on the Beatitudes, Jesus is urging us to live by his way of living, by his practices, by his commitments. Jesus calls us out of the world’s ways, which often can be divisive and even self-destructive, to live by the non-judgmental, forgiving love of the Creator.

Let’s stop and notice something important in the Gospel story this morning. Many “prosperity preachers” either imply or claim that if you have a strong faith you will be preserved from loss and suffering and in fact, you will likely get rich. Look how carefully Jesus uses exactly the same words to describe the threats to the house built on sand and the other on rock. The same threats: the same rains fall, the same floods burst, the same wind batters but each home suffers different outcomes. Jesus doesn’t tell us that if we live like him, we will be preserved immune from the struggles of the world. Look at him. Look at his example. Jesus too had to pass through our same world, suffering the same losses and disappointments we do. But here’s the difference for sand and for rock: if we build our house on the way of Christ, we have something promised us no amount of storm can destroy. We have what Jesus is giving us by going before us. We have the promise of eternal life.

So where does the authority of Jesus come from? His authority comes from our living the Beatitude life. Try it, he almost seems to urge. If you are living by the ways of the world, how is that working for you? Now try living by the way of life of Jesus, with mercy, compassion and love. Now ask yourself, isn’t the real source of authority the better way of living? Amen.

The Rev. Jeffrey Bullock
All Saints-by-the-Sea Church
Santa Barbara, CA 93108