“THE SAD THING ABOUT THE SADDUCEES”

LUKE 20:27-40

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,

28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children.

30 And the second

31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

32 Afterward the woman also died.

33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons [7] of the resurrection.

37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”

40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

You might want to brace yourself for the revelation that I’m about to share with you.  This is probably a good time to share this revelation with you.  That’s because it involves one of our time honored Christmas traditions.  Don’t worry.  The somewhat shocking revelation doesn’t have anything to do with the story of Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus.  The somewhat shocking revelation has to do with the story of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  It seems that Robert May the man who created Rudolph was wrong.  According to the Fish and Game Department for the State of Alaska female reindeer keep their antlers throughout the winter.  Male reindeer loose their antlers each year in the fall.  What that means then is that Rudolph, who is always pictured pulling Santa’s sleigh with antlers, was actually a girl.

Robert May was wrong. We’re all wrong from time to time. No one is perfect.  So, when was the last time you were wrong?  Here’s an even better question for you.  When it happened were you able to admit it? 

It’s hard to say those three simple words.  I was wrong. That’s why it isn’t hard to understand how a philosopher and a theologian felt one day when they got into a heated argument.  Both of them were convinced that they were right.  Neither of them wanted to admit that they were wrong.  So, they dug their heels in and went at it.  After a while, the theologian became exasperated and anger shouted, “You’re unbelievable. You know what?  A philosopher is like a blind man in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn’t there.”  “Maybe so,” the philosopher replied, “but you and I both know that a theologian would find it.”

If you’re like more people you find it hard to say those three simple words.  I was wrong.  The Sadducees weren’t able to admit that they were wrong.  Just look at what happened that day when they went to Jesus and asked him that question.  Now the Sadducees didn’t believe in life after death.  That’s because they couldn’t find any evidence for life after death in their sacred Scriptures.  They only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as sacred Scripture.

So, the presented Jesus with a hypothetical situation.  It involved a man who died before his wife gave birth to a son.  The Sadducees then reminded Jesus that according to the commandments when that happened the oldest brother in the family was supposed to marry the man’s widow and produce a son.  That’s what happened here, only it didn’t just happen once or twice.  It happened seven times. This woman went through husbands like a baby goes through diapers.

In the end all seven brothers died without producing a son.  So, the Sadducees went to Jesus and asked him the obvious question.  Whose wife is the woman going to be in the life to come?  They thought that they had Jesus stumped but he surprised them.  He quickly responded by pointing out that things in heaven are different.  People on earth get married.  Angels in heaven don’t get married. Jesus then went on to point out that there is evidence of life after death in the Book of Exodus. 

Jesus called their attention to the words that God spoke to Moses from the burning bush.  God said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  God didn’t say I was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.   It’s present tense which suggests that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are alive and with God.

So, here’s the sad thing about the Sadducees. Jesus proved them wrong.  We know that he proved them wrong because they didn’t continue the argument. Luke says that no one dared ask him any more questions.  As far as we know though not a single one of those Sadducees was willing to admit that he was wrong.  Not a single one of those Sadducees was willing to admit that he might be wrong.

Why is it so hard to say those three simple words?  Why is it so hard to say, “I was wrong.”  Wouldn’t it be refreshing if just once a baseball player who gets caught cheating would admit that he was wrong? Wouldn’t it be refreshing if just once a company that gets fined millions of dollars for doing something illegal would just admit that they were wrong?   Last Friday the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company set up a $5 billion fund to pay people who had heart attacks or in some cases died from taking their Vioxx drug.  However, they didn’t admit that they were wrong.  Wouldn’t it be refreshing if just once a politician who gets caught in a scandal would admit that he was wrong? 

That’s not what we do these days though.  When someone is wrong they don’t admit it.  What you get instead is a lot of explanations, excuses and expletives in some cases.  Or you get an elusive answer. Take Winston Churchill for example.  He was made a statement once that was deliberately misleading.  When another member of Parliament caught him Churchill admitted that his statement was a little bit of a “terminological inexactitude.”  Upon hearing that the other member of Parliament replied, “I prefer to call it an l-i-e.”

It isn’t easy to say “I was wrong.  What I did was wrong.  What I said was wrong.  What I thought was wrong.”  When you say that it makes you vulnerable.  On the other hand when you are able to say those three simple words it opens the door and makes it possible for God to work in you and through you and for you.  It makes it possible for you to grow in wisdom and to experience God’s grace.  It makes it possible for you to put a mistake behind and to go on and succeed.

Paul McCartney offers a wonderful example of what can happen when you’re able to say those three simple words.  While being interviewed back in 1995 the former Beatle said that he once wrote a song that began with the words, “Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs.”  If you’ve never heard that song that’s not a big surprise.  You see McCartney realized that those lyrics were all wrong.  So, he threw them out and began again.  This time the song began with the words, “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.”    That song which is the second most played song on the radio in history only came into being because McCartney was able to admit that he was wrong.  The original words that he wrote were just plain dumb.  By the way, since I know you’re going to ask the most played song on the radio in history is the Righteous Brother’s 1965 hit, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling. (According to digitaldreamdoor.com). 

The ability to say, “I was wrong” makes it possible for you to leave a mistake behind and go on to succeed in life.

The ability to say, “I was wrong,” makes it possible for you to let go of a something that just isn’t true and grow in wisdom.

The ability to say, “I was wrong,” makes it possible for you to save a friendship or a marriage.

The ability to say, I was wrong,” makes it possible for you to experience God’s grace.

Some of you have heard me share this grace filled moment from my own life before.  If you have I hope you’ll bear with me because it really does show you what God can do when you’re able to say those three simple words.  When I was growing up I was the achiever in my family.  I got good grades.  When I was in high school I was asked to serve as a deacon in our church.  When I was in college I was asked to serve on the board of directors for a counseling agency in town.  Every time I received an award or honor my father would say the same thing to me.  “I’m proud of you son.”  As time went by though I began to resent those words for a very simple reason.  They made me feel as though love was something that you had to earn.  It wasn’t something that was freely given.  So, as I got older my father and I drifted further and further apart.  I resented the pressure that I always felt to achieve.  I resented the chaos that we had to endure after my parents were divorced.  I resented the fact that my father was such a strict disciplinarian.  It wasn’t a warm and fuzzy relationship by any stretch of the imagination.  Then one day I experienced a little miracle.  It happened the day I graduated from seminary.  We were all heading down Route 128 in three or four difference cars to do out to dinner.   My father and I were alone in the car that I was driving.  I was on a huge emotional high when I suddenly heard those words that I had come to resent so much.  “I’m proud of you son.”  I could feel my knuckles turning white as a clutched the steering wheel.  I said to myself, “On no.  Please don’t say that.  Not today.”  Then my father said something that I’d never heard him say before.  My father who had always said, “Parents may not always be right but they’re never wrong,”  paused and then said, “I’m proud of you son.  You succeeded in spite of me.”   That grace filled moment changed our relationship forever. 

God can do amazing things.  Sometimes all you have to do is swallow your pride and say those three simple words.  I was wrong.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 11, 2007