Exodus 32:1-14 Matthew 22:1-14 Philippians 4:1-9
As I was growing up, there were several things that happened consistently on Sunday. There was always church, followed by our family Sunday dinner, and then Dad would watch golf and take a nap. It was quite a few years before I realized how well naps paired with watching golf on television. Golf has a pace that is different than nearly every other sport. If you fall asleep watching any other sport, you wake up wondering what important things you missed. But in golf, once they flash the current scores, you’re pretty much caught up. As a spectator, focus seems to be less important for the sport of golf than for any other.
But for many other things, focus is critical. I used to work with welders, and you learn quickly not to interrupt them while they are controlling an arc and running a bead. You can’t weld and hold a conversation at the same time. If their attention is required, they stop welding, say what needs to be said, and then return their focus to what they were doing. Farming is similar. To plow a field straight you have to focus on the path ahead. Jesus once said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) And farmers will tell you that this makes sense because once you look away from path ahead, the line that you are plowing goes crooked. And it is this same loss of focus that we see as we return to the story of Israel’s escape from Egypt in Exodus 32:1-14 where we hear this:
32:1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
As we heard in last week’s message, there was a gap between what was familiar and what was not. Learning how God wanted the people of Israel to live was new and unfamiliar. Moses, who had been raised in Pharaoh’s house and had been absent for forty years, was unfamiliar. But Aaron, who had grown up among them, and had lived among them for the forty years that Moses had been absent, was known to the people and was familiar to them. Likewise, worshiping idols that represented the gods of Egypt was familiar, even if they hadn’t personally worshiped those gods.
And so, when Moses goes up the mountain to speak with Israel’s God and does not come back for days and even weeks, the people grow impatient and afraid. They lose focus. Rather than focusing on the path forward, on what God had done for them, the miracles that they had seen, and the leadership that Moses had shown them, they focused instead upon their fear. And reacting in fear, they demanded that Aaron make them gods that were familiar. But this loss of focus led them all to stray from God’s path and God became angry enough to destroy them all and start over with Moses as he had with Abraham. Thankfully, Moses appeals to God on behalf of the people, reminds God of his promises to them, and God relented and did not bring disaster.
Then, in Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus offers a parable that gives us a glimpse into eternity and the Kingdom of God.
22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
A group of people were invited to the wedding of the king’s son. They all knew about it. They knew when it would be. They had time to prepare and make whatever arrangements they had to make. But when the king’s servant came to tell them it was time to attend the banquet, they refused to come. That stops us short. While we live in a constitutional republic with democratically elected leaders and are thousands of miles and hundreds of years separated from any kind of monarchy, we understand saying ‘no’ to the king is not a good plan. Even today, the king or queen of England has an annual Royal Command Performance for which even American entertainers are loathe to refuse despite not being under any obligation to a British ruler.
But not only do those who were invited refuse to attend, when the king sends more servants to be more insistent, and tell them that the dinner is being prepared, they mistreat and even kill some of the king’s servants. As one might expect, this did not go over well with the king. In the end, the king not only destroys those who refused to attend the banquet, he fills the banquet hall with people off the streets who would normally never set foot in the king’s palace. At some point, the people who had been invited lost focus. They forgot that they had an obligation to the king. They assumed that their business was more important than doing what the king had called them to do. And their arrogance cost them their lives.
A similar thing happens in real life in the church at Philippi and causes Paul to write a letter to remind them of the things that were of real importance. We hear this in the words of Philippians 4:1-9 when Paul says:
4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Paul reminds everyone in the Philippian church that he loves them all, longs to return to see them again, is proud of them, and holds them up as one of his greatest achievements. But then he immediately begs two leaders of the church, women with whom he has labored alongside for the cause of Jesus Christ, and who he knows he will see in eternity, to please stop fighting. But notice how Paul began that request. Before Paul pleads with Euodia and Syntyche, he says, “stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends.”
Of course, the original texts did not include punctuation. Our modern translators have added it to help make our reading easier. But I wonder, in this case, where the translators have concluded that sentence with an exclamation point, if we wouldn’t understand it better if it were a colon. That first sentence really doesn’t include an object. Paul says, “stand firm in this way” but doesn’t say in what way. But if we read that sentence as ending in a colon, then what we hear is “stand firm in this way: please stop arguing with one another and be of the same mind in the Lord.”
When Israel got impatient, they lost focus and they moved away from God and were rescued from destruction by Moses. When the people who had been invited to the king’s banquet became selfish and self-focused, they lost sight of their obligations to the king and brought about their own destruction. And in the church in Philippi, people were losing their focus on God by focusing instead on their personal differences. And that is the same sort of thing that happens in churches every day. We would do well to take Paul’s advice to heart. Rather than allowing our neighbors to witness our arguments, let them instead see gentleness, prayer, thanksgiving, and the peace of God. Rather than finding ways to divide us, think about things that are pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
You can’t weld and hold a conversation at the same time.
You can’t plow a straight furrow through your field if you shift your focus from the path ahead.
And we cannot be effective at doing the work to which we have been called if we lose focus.
Let’s keep our hands on the plow… and focus on Jesus.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
