The broken are the blessed

Mt 21:28-32

I was teaching a class at a lock down rehab facility.  By rehab I mean addicts and by lock down I mean some where there because they wanted to be, some because they had to be, and some hated to be.  Which means some wanted to be clean, others were trying to make the choice to be clean, and some wanted to go get high.  I don’t remember exactly how now, but the subject of “normal” people came up and the consensus among them were that they were pretty lucky people.  Then they looked to me for confirmation of that.  I shook my head no.  The reason I put normal in quotes and shook my head no has a lot to do with the Gospel reading today.  Before I go into that I’ll also add another thing. 

I was watching a Christian documentary the other day where a man described the world in such a way that peeked my interest.  He said the world was divided between the conflict zone and the comfort zone.  (Hint, if you are reading this you are probably in the comfort zone.)  He talked about the bravery of the Christians who lived in the conflict zone where their faith alone could cause their death.  He had my attention, and then he went on to say basically how worthless we who live in the comfort zone were, how weak our faith was.  That’s where he lost me to a degree.  Now, in the light of the Gospel I will explain why.

Matt 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:

"What is your opinion?

A man had two sons.

He came to the first and said,

'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'

He said in reply, 'I will not, '

but afterwards changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order.

He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go.

Which of the two did his father's will?"

They answered, "The first."

Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you,

tax collectors and prostitutes

are entering the kingdom of God before you.

When John came to you in the way of righteousness,

you did not believe him;

but tax collectors and prostitutes did.

Yet even when you saw that,

you did not later change your minds and believe him."

As I contemplate this scripture the world around me opens up and I begin to see, not what the world shows me, but the word reveals.  The illusion that the world is divided is just that, an illusion.  The entire world is in conflict, one person at a time.  The most important battle we fight isn’t on the exterior, but internally.  Which, is why I told a room full of addicts that the “normal” people weren’t the lucky ones that they were.

Every single one of us, is broken.  Jesus was trying to tell the disciples this in this parable.  Some of the men He had with Him, in His time, might well have been considered one of these normal people.  Let’s take Peter for example and translate him into modern understanding.  Peter owned his own boat and had a fishing business, he would have been considered a commercial fisherman.  He had people that worked for him, a wife and a family.  He worked hard and provided a living for the people in his employ and of his house.  Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?  He was just like the guy who owns his own business that sits next to us in church, or on the train to work.  Perhaps, he is just like us.  Yet, it isn’t him that Jesus says is one of the lucky ones.  Why?  Well, what is the major difference between Peter and a prostitute or thief (aka tax collector)?  There are many differences.  One is trying to do the right thing for the right reason, taking care of his family, living that life in the world attempting success.  One is living on the margins of society, doing what they know is wrong, harming themselves and others in the process.  On the surface of this, the Peters of the world seem super lucky.  Not so much.

Jesus points out that it is the second kind of person who followed what John was preaching, and the Peters of the world who rejected the teaching.  In other words, the people who were blessed enough to know they were broken who sought forgiveness and redemption.  People like the Peters of the world whose lives seemed comfortable and normal who rejected it, because if it doesn’t seem broken, and if your life seems full and content, why search for what you don’t think you need? 

This is what I explained to that room full of addicts.  Every day, that factory worker with 2.5 kids and the white picket fence, lives his life filling it with the temporary stuff of the world.  Every day, they go about believing they have what there is to have and see no need to change.  Their souls are in mortal peril just like anyone else’s, just like the addict and the prostitute, but the difference is that the addict and the prostitute are way more likely to know and search for something to deliver them from the darkness. The war is real, and the illusion of comfort and peace is just as dangerous as a man with a knife to your throat or a bomb in your home.  Blessed are the broken people, for they will seek and find.  The illusion that there is a comfort zone is just that, because the enemy has insidious weapons, weapons that appear to be everything we ever wanted or needed.  The cost of losing this battle is our eternal soul. 

Just some food for thought and prayer….

Heavenly Father, reveal to us our brokenness so that we may cling to you.  In Jesus name, AMEN!

Here I am, Lord, send me,

Lisa Brandel