Two Sons
Text: Matthew 21:23-32
I have to have at least some sympathy for my parents. Raising children, as I am soon to find out, is never an easy task. My parents had two sons. Two sons who are quite close in age, being little more than a year apart. My parents had two sons with overactive imaginations, very creative when it came to our playtime, and yet very poor cleaning habits when it came to cleaning up the messes that we would make. It’s a wonder my parents can still walk after spending many years accidentally stepping on wayward Lego™ pieces in our basement.
It was far too easy though, having a brother nearby made a convenient scapegoat. “John, who’s mess is this?” they would ask. Without looking up, I said, “David’s.” David, on the other hand, would also return the favour. Needless to say, my parents learned not to ask who the mess belonged to… because it belonged to us. The trouble is, they still had to ask us to clean it up.
I would like to think of myself as the agreeable type. I’m the older sibling, so responsibility is my thing. So when my parents asked me to clean up the mess, I’d say “sure!” I’d go downstairs, kinda get started, and then get distracted by one thing or another… Several hours would go by, and the place was just as messy, if not worse.
My brother was the more typical of the younger brother, so when my parents asked him to clean up the mess, he’d kick up a fuss and refuse. It’s John’s mess! I didn’t make it, why do I have to do it? The trouble is, after a while David realized he couldn’t find anything downstairs, so he changed his mind and a few hours later it’d be all cleaned up.
Now, which of the two of us did the will of our parents? The answer is obvious.
Essentially, this story is a modern-day retelling of the parable Jesus told – a case where the promises far exceed the performance, a situation where someone says “yes” all too easily and then doesn’t follow through. Truth be told, my brother and I often traded roles as to which one would say yes, and which one would actually do the work… but I do have to fess up to my own role. This parable that Jesus tells strikes much closer to home than I would like to admit.
These situations happen not only between parents and their children, but between teachers and students, and also in the church. Many of us have been people who make all kinds of grandiose promises to God, but our performance doesn’t live up to our promises. We say that we will be faithful disciples. We claim that we will carry out the will of the church. We say that we will do God’s work in the world, and get the job done. But…many times, we don’t do a thing. And so God goes and finds some less churchy people who actually go and do what God wants done in this world.
It is a harsh parable, especially when we realize it is about us. Originally, Jesus told this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people, the religious authorities of his day with whom he was in conflict. These were the ‘yes men’ – the ones who lived the letter of the law, but not the spirit of it. The chief priests and elders were the ones who took great care to appear religious and proper. They didn’t think they needed a change of heart …they were just fine the way they were, thank you very much. As a result, they were always trying to trip Jesus up, to catch him saying something that went against God’s laws. On this particular occasion, they were questioning Jesus about his authority.
Jesus responded with a simple story: “There was a man who had two sons. He said to the first son, “Will you go and work in the vineyard today? The vineyard is a mess, and there is so much work to be done. The rocks need to be picked up. The planting and pruning need to be done. The grapes need to be picked, and the wine produced. Will you do the work in the vineyard today?”
In other words, the man asks him, “Will you care for the sick and dying, the blind and the lame, the deaf and the dumb? Will you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison?”
The older son replies, “Of course, you can count on me.” Then he went off to the vineyard...where he conducted a worship service, held a Bible study in the Old Testament, and then enjoyed some wine and cheese and fellowship with his friends who also had come to the vineyard.
But the vineyard was still a mess and there was much work to be done; and so the father approached people from the lower rungs of society to see if they would do the work. He approached the tax collectors and tanners; the pimps and the prostitutes; the bookies, the bartenders, the exotic dancers and asked them the questions: “Will you do the work in my vineyard? It’s a mess. Would you care for the sick and dying, the blind and lame, the death and dumb? Would you feed the hungry? Clothe the naked? Visit those in jail?”
The tax collectors and prostitutes responded, “Are you crazy? Who do you think we are? A bunch of goodie-two-shoes? Get real!” They started to walk away from the mess, but then took a second look, had a change of heart, and went and did the work that needed to be done.
Then Jesus looked the chief priests and elders in the eyes and asked the penetrating question, “Which of the two sons was faithful to the father’s will?” The answer was obvious.
But Jesus didn’t stop there. He hit the nail on the head when he told them, “The tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you, even though you look and act so religious.”
Ouch! What a zinger of a story! It hurts because it is not hard to see ourselves as the ones whom this parable is aimed at. I believe that Jesus tells this story to the chief priests and elders, to us as those who follow his example, as an invitation to go and do God’s work in the vineyard, in the messed up world in which we live.
It may come as no surprise, but to live as a Christian is WORK. There are so many hurting people to care for, so many sick and dying, blind and lame, deaf and dumb, so many without food, clothing and in prison. In the last year, our world has been ravaged by natural disasters like the tsunami in East Asia, and hurricane Katrina in the Southern States. There are so many families are without homes. There is a lack of clean drinking water and safe food supplies. There is so much to be done. So who will care for those in need?
Sadly, our reaction as a church to the work that needs to be done has been to hold our worship services in the middle of the vineyard. We have our Bible studies and small group studies in the middle of the wine estate. And so Jesus, tells a parable that is an invitation for us to be true followers of God. It challenges us to have a necessary change of heart, a change inside us, so that we can truly see the painful needs of hurting people around us. We are called to have a change of heart so that we go out into this messed up world and do the necessary work for God.
The parables of Jesus are brilliant, perceptive, and so right on. They reveal the very mind and heart of God. The challenge comes in how we respond – will we be ‘yes people’ who eagerly say yes, but then don’t follow through? Or will we be like Christ, and respond to the needs of the hurting world around us? I hope and I pray, that our answer to God will be obvious. Amen.
Adapted from a sermon originally written by The Rev. Sarah Fanning
I have to have at least some sympathy for my parents. Raising children, as I am soon to find out, is never an easy task. My parents had two sons. Two sons who are quite close in age, being little more than a year apart. My parents had two sons with overactive imaginations, very creative when it came to our playtime, and yet very poor cleaning habits when it came to cleaning up the messes that we would make. It’s a wonder my parents can still walk after spending many years accidentally stepping on wayward Lego™ pieces in our basement.
It was far too easy though, having a brother nearby made a convenient scapegoat. “John, who’s mess is this?” they would ask. Without looking up, I said, “David’s.” David, on the other hand, would also return the favour. Needless to say, my parents learned not to ask who the mess belonged to… because it belonged to us. The trouble is, they still had to ask us to clean it up.
I would like to think of myself as the agreeable type. I’m the older sibling, so responsibility is my thing. So when my parents asked me to clean up the mess, I’d say “sure!” I’d go downstairs, kinda get started, and then get distracted by one thing or another… Several hours would go by, and the place was just as messy, if not worse.
My brother was the more typical of the younger brother, so when my parents asked him to clean up the mess, he’d kick up a fuss and refuse. It’s John’s mess! I didn’t make it, why do I have to do it? The trouble is, after a while David realized he couldn’t find anything downstairs, so he changed his mind and a few hours later it’d be all cleaned up.
Now, which of the two of us did the will of our parents? The answer is obvious.
Essentially, this story is a modern-day retelling of the parable Jesus told – a case where the promises far exceed the performance, a situation where someone says “yes” all too easily and then doesn’t follow through. Truth be told, my brother and I often traded roles as to which one would say yes, and which one would actually do the work… but I do have to fess up to my own role. This parable that Jesus tells strikes much closer to home than I would like to admit.
These situations happen not only between parents and their children, but between teachers and students, and also in the church. Many of us have been people who make all kinds of grandiose promises to God, but our performance doesn’t live up to our promises. We say that we will be faithful disciples. We claim that we will carry out the will of the church. We say that we will do God’s work in the world, and get the job done. But…many times, we don’t do a thing. And so God goes and finds some less churchy people who actually go and do what God wants done in this world.
It is a harsh parable, especially when we realize it is about us. Originally, Jesus told this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people, the religious authorities of his day with whom he was in conflict. These were the ‘yes men’ – the ones who lived the letter of the law, but not the spirit of it. The chief priests and elders were the ones who took great care to appear religious and proper. They didn’t think they needed a change of heart …they were just fine the way they were, thank you very much. As a result, they were always trying to trip Jesus up, to catch him saying something that went against God’s laws. On this particular occasion, they were questioning Jesus about his authority.
Jesus responded with a simple story: “There was a man who had two sons. He said to the first son, “Will you go and work in the vineyard today? The vineyard is a mess, and there is so much work to be done. The rocks need to be picked up. The planting and pruning need to be done. The grapes need to be picked, and the wine produced. Will you do the work in the vineyard today?”
In other words, the man asks him, “Will you care for the sick and dying, the blind and the lame, the deaf and the dumb? Will you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison?”
The older son replies, “Of course, you can count on me.” Then he went off to the vineyard...where he conducted a worship service, held a Bible study in the Old Testament, and then enjoyed some wine and cheese and fellowship with his friends who also had come to the vineyard.
But the vineyard was still a mess and there was much work to be done; and so the father approached people from the lower rungs of society to see if they would do the work. He approached the tax collectors and tanners; the pimps and the prostitutes; the bookies, the bartenders, the exotic dancers and asked them the questions: “Will you do the work in my vineyard? It’s a mess. Would you care for the sick and dying, the blind and lame, the death and dumb? Would you feed the hungry? Clothe the naked? Visit those in jail?”
The tax collectors and prostitutes responded, “Are you crazy? Who do you think we are? A bunch of goodie-two-shoes? Get real!” They started to walk away from the mess, but then took a second look, had a change of heart, and went and did the work that needed to be done.
Then Jesus looked the chief priests and elders in the eyes and asked the penetrating question, “Which of the two sons was faithful to the father’s will?” The answer was obvious.
But Jesus didn’t stop there. He hit the nail on the head when he told them, “The tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you, even though you look and act so religious.”
Ouch! What a zinger of a story! It hurts because it is not hard to see ourselves as the ones whom this parable is aimed at. I believe that Jesus tells this story to the chief priests and elders, to us as those who follow his example, as an invitation to go and do God’s work in the vineyard, in the messed up world in which we live.
It may come as no surprise, but to live as a Christian is WORK. There are so many hurting people to care for, so many sick and dying, blind and lame, deaf and dumb, so many without food, clothing and in prison. In the last year, our world has been ravaged by natural disasters like the tsunami in East Asia, and hurricane Katrina in the Southern States. There are so many families are without homes. There is a lack of clean drinking water and safe food supplies. There is so much to be done. So who will care for those in need?
Sadly, our reaction as a church to the work that needs to be done has been to hold our worship services in the middle of the vineyard. We have our Bible studies and small group studies in the middle of the wine estate. And so Jesus, tells a parable that is an invitation for us to be true followers of God. It challenges us to have a necessary change of heart, a change inside us, so that we can truly see the painful needs of hurting people around us. We are called to have a change of heart so that we go out into this messed up world and do the necessary work for God.
The parables of Jesus are brilliant, perceptive, and so right on. They reveal the very mind and heart of God. The challenge comes in how we respond – will we be ‘yes people’ who eagerly say yes, but then don’t follow through? Or will we be like Christ, and respond to the needs of the hurting world around us? I hope and I pray, that our answer to God will be obvious. Amen.
Adapted from a sermon originally written by The Rev. Sarah Fanning
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