Grace to you and peace from our loving God, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Early this past week, the earth's orbit brought North Americans to the turning of the season—to autumn, to turning leaves, shorter days, and the approach of cooler air. This week's gospel directs our attention to the turning that is repentance, conversion, and change of heart. Turning. The theme leaps from the words of the readings for today.

It begins with Ezekiel:

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.

Turn and live. Turn away from your transgressions. Put away the evil of your heart. Turn away from the path you have been following. Return to the Lord. Turn, and live. Such are the messages of this day.

Unlike so many of the weeks at worship, the selection of this Old Testament lesson dovetails beautifully with the gospel. It establishes the theme from ancient Israel that is exactly that addressed by our Lord in Jerusalem with the chief priests and elders. There always remain those people who refuse to see or to turn, those who sit on the sidelines and criticize, those who find it difficult to be true to their word. These are the people we meet in the stories of this morning's gospel.

Jesus enters the temple and is confronted by those supposedly in authority with a question (intended to trap Jesus) about the nature of his own authority. In response, Jesus poses a question that they must answer first. The chief priests and elders are shrewd enough to see that Jesus' question creates a double bind, and so they say, "We do not know." With their failure to answer, Jesus is off the hook.

First a word about the situation. Although it is not new for Jesus to be challenged about the nature of authority in his preaching, teaching and healing, the context of today's gospel lesson makes this particular confrontation dangerous.

Jesus has now entered Jerusalem, the scene of all the passion events he has predicted. Furthermore, his entrance into the Holy City and the holy temple has not been unobtrusive. You will recall that when he enters Jerusalem, he does so amidst an enthusiastic crowd chanting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who come in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:9)! Then, when he reaches the temple—the most religiously sensitive space in all of Judaism—Jesus comes out swinging, driving out the merchants and money-changers (Matthew 21:12). He is drawing lots of attention in the capital city.

It is not surprising, then, that the "chief priests and elders" show considerable concern and exercise some caution with respect to Jesus' presence in the temple. One would wonder if they didn't. These are, after all, the same men who will later stand before Jesus and condemn him to death. It is unlikely, then, that their question is an expression of genuine interest in the nature of his authority.

And still, Jesus keeps the door open for them.

In the behavior of these priests and elders, there is clearly subterfuge. Their question gives the appearance of genuine interest. But their motives are sinister. They aren't seeking after the truth, at least not as we view it. They are willing to try to manipulate the situation for their own purposes.

There is no honesty of heart and soul here. There is no spiritual circumspection, no willingness to search the inner being for those things that might keep one separate from authentic life and genuine relationships—especially with God. There is here only calculating assessment of advantage and protection of status and privilege.

Nevertheless, behind this conversation is Jesus' persistent hope that even these hard-hearted men, part of the backbone of the nation of Israel, would somehow open themselves to the authority they witness. And still, they pose a question that is intended to set a political trap. Yet, even in his brilliant evasion of a snare, Jesus remains hopeful of repentance and watchful for a turning of heart away from death and toward life.

If there is any doubt of this intent and hope on the part of our Lord, his parable that follows removes it:

"What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today,' He answered, 'I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him."

Parables call us to reflect about our lives. Jesus wants the chief priests and elders to reflect about theirs. They have position, they have respect, they have the rhetoric of the law and the prophets down pat; but their words are hollow-sound and fury, signifying nothing of substance. They say "Yes" with their lips and follow immediately with the "No" of the heart. Tax collectors and prostitutes can acknowledge that they have no righteousness of their own, but those in high positions are too enamored of their accomplishments and status to think that they have need of repentance. They lack awareness of the need to turn, and so are kept from discovering a new and fruitful life.

This theme of turning, of course, is just as important to our lives as it ever was to the people of Israel or to those who chose to oppose Jesus.

I'll start with myself.

Turning is something I do a lot during the summer and at the change of seasons. What a privilege it is to take time to "smell the roses." I think of the time in Traverse City, Michigan this summer at the Trinity Seminary Conference, sitting again at the feet of scholars and feeling like a student again. I return in my mind to the beauty of sunsets over Traverse Bay and the flavor of Cornish pasties at a local restaurant. It is the simple things that come most to mind—the fun of heading to Madison, Indiana with Marie on the back of the scooter, a walk on a steep trail in Clifty Falls State Park, and a quiet lunch sitting on the north bank of the Ohio River. Or having a meal with our children on the shore at Lake of the Ozarks.

Just yesterday morning, as Marie and I sat on the back deck sharing breakfast, we remarked on the beauty of the day, the wonder of a hummingbird coming over to hover near us—checking out the interlopers so close to his feeder, and the sudden chill in the air that signals the arrival of fall. During this summer and now in early fall, I have been turned around in awe at the simple wonders of God's created world.

I have turned too, in the quiet hours, to consider deeper matters of purpose, motivation, and my way of being in the world. What does God intend for my perhaps over-sensitive nature, my perhaps over-fondness of solitude, or my ascerbic humor? I am reminded that God is not done yet with any of us, and that further turning—a fuller repentance—always beckons.

I have also been turned by gratitude. In these days of financial turmoil, tight budgets, political campaigns, and family crisis, it becomes more difficult to remain aloof or to take for granted the many blessings that God grants. Gratitude is more often in my thoughts and on my lips these days. It seems easier to sit and talk with the traveling people who include St. Thomas in their continuous circle of life, running from something while chasing a dream. It becomes an honor to offer what little assistance I may.

And I have been turned by grace. For it is grace alone that provides the spaces for turning and returning—the times for reflection, rediscovery, and redemption.

This matter of turning in order to rediscover life is ever new and always important. From Ezekiel to Jesus and the religious leaders to me, to you—turning is the work of the spirit in our lives. And when we give it up, we have lost sight of the gospel.

You see, God ever calls us to the work of conversion. A song from the nineteenth century Shaker tradition—celebrates this invitation to center our lives in Christ. The refrain of "Simple Gifts" includes the line (sing): "to turn, turn, will be our delight 'till by turning, turning we come 'round right."

Jesus addresses it from the perspective of authority. In his subtle ways, Jesus is telling the priests and elders to give up thinking that they have all the answers, and believing that they can arrive at the answers on their own. That is the word of gospel that touches my heart, and that I believe can touch us all.

You see, we are tax collectors and prostitutes. We are the ones who are constantly aware of our need of God and of our sinfulness, our failures to give God proper glory, our continual temptation to trust in ourselves.

When we begin to think like the priests and elders, we have lost our souls. When we being to think that we are better than tax collectors and prostitutes, when we fool ourselves into thinking that everything that we need to have done has already been done, then our souls are forfeit.

As a reforming people, we are not turned, we are turning. In Ezekiel's (prophetic) language, we need to "return", to turn and to live. Luther called it "daily baptism" and "daily dying and rising with Christ." Yes, we've done it, but we get to do it again and again, every day, repenting, turning, letting God bring grace to bear on our lives, and letting that grace go down deep, beyond the excuses, the protections, the resistances, all the way past our halting yeses and into the heart, the hands, and the feet, so that the entire temple of our lives becomes the holy dwelling place of our Lord. Jesus is always clinging to the hope that we will do so. Amen.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto eternal life. Amen.