The Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, "If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven."
"I don't think I'll be there," the boy said. "You don't even know your way to the post office."
In today’s reading we hear of the story of two young sons: one younger and the other one older. We had in the story one of the sons who said yes when his father asked him to go and work in the vineyard – and then did not do it. We have the other one who refused to work in the vineyard, and yet later changed his mind and went and worked in the vineyard.
I would like to ask those of you who are parents here today – do you find this story familiar to you? Did you ever have one of your children promising to do something, and then not do it all? Let us have a show of hands…..
Have you ever had one of your children telling you that they would not do it, and yet later on had a change of mind and did it for you? Can we again have a show of hands…?
This seems to be a common enough experience for parents, and it is no wonder that Jesus used this story in order to demonstrate to us what obedience is and what is not.
There was this man who had two sons. He went to the older son and asked him to go and work in the vineyard today. And the boy answers – and I think that you can very well imagine some of the things that his son might have said. I also think that you can imagine the tone of his response.
No father! I will not go! I already make plans for today. I cannot do it. No way. It is not my turn to work in the vineyard today. Get my little brother to do it. You are always on to me. It is not fair. Forget it!
There was absolutely no sign of respect from the boy – no honouring of his father – no respect – no admiration.
How do you think the father felt – he had a sick feeling right in the pit of his stomach – a feeling that his son is going astray – that his son does not care – that the entire thing is out of control – his family is going out of control and nothing good will come out of such a situation – indeed most likely – great harm will come out of it.
As parents most of us have been there, have we not? But can you for one moment put yourself into Jesus’ shoes? Imagine it from His point of view – the very Jesus who wanted us to work with him in order to build a better world – the very Jesus who invites us to work in the vineyard that produces the best fruit in the entire world – in the vineyard that produces the love and joy and peace and hope and strength that is so much needed in this world of ours…..
“I slaved and laboured so hard every day for my son, I have given him everything, a fine land, a fine home, and countless blessings, thinks only of himself!”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is that not what is happening with a lot of people in this world? This happens not only with little children – but with so many adults as well.
They are all living in a fine land, they have fine homes, prosperity, good health, and blessings too numerous to count, and they say to God, the source of all good things: “Who are you? I do not owe you anything. I have better things to do with my time and my life than going to church. I have better things to do with my money than sharing it with people who are too lazy to work.”
“I am not going to go to church every Sunday and listen to someone telling me all those things about faith, or sing all those silly hymns. My time will be better spent sleeping for a couple more hours. When should I spend my time in church, when I could be looking at ways to win at the horse races or with betting on soccer games. No way am I going to help make the experience of the Christian community any better by joining the choir, helping with Sunday School classes, or being friendly and encouraging toward other people as they enter leave the church building. This is just not for me.”
“Why should I bother myself to go out there and tell others about all the wonderful things that Jesus did for me? Why should I go on prison visits? Why should I care about injustice in this world? Why should I help those who are in need of help? Why should I ever help anyone who is not a family member? Preaching the Bible is for those mindless insensitive and crooked bible thumpers! It is only for those who are either in trouble or have nothing better to do! If people would just stop spending their money on such needless causes, or stopped spending money on killing themselves off, they will be fine. They do not need me!”
No. I will not help you!
No, I will not work for you!
No, I have better things to do with my time and my money!
No, what you want is not important!
No, I do not care!!!
Thank of how our Father in Heaven feels!
Yes, think of how our Father in Heaven feels!
How wonderful it must have been for the father in the story when he went to talk to his other son. In this story it was the youngest son, and the son in reply to the father’s request said, “Yes, Father, I will go!”
Imagine it for a moment.
Imagine how the heart break of the Father turned around.
My child cares for me, for the family and for what I want!
My child has respect for me!
My child is willing to help!
My child is wiling to do the work that the world needs doing if the fine fruit of my vineyard is going to grace the world as I wanted it to; if my healing word is to spoken to others, and my healing touch to be experienced by all those children of mine who are in need of it.
But we do know what happened, do we not???
We know from the story that we hard this morning, the story that Jesus told us, what happened. We know from our very own experience with our own children, with our own families, and from our own friends just how the Father felt. We know just how God feels. When the willing son did not do what he promised to do. When the unwilling son changes his mind and did what he was first asked to do….
Some people said that Jesus told this story for the benefit of the chief priests and leaders of the people in order to shame them – in order to force them to recognize that they were just like the younger son – worshipping and obeying God as an appearance – but deep inside, they were rebellious, self-righteous, hypocritical and disobedient.
Some people will tell you that one should understand the words of this story in the context of verses 23 to 28 of our Gospel reading of this morning, where we have the chief priests and leaders challenging Jesus about his authority to teach do work miracles.
We are told that we should understand this story to be how Jesus got back at the chief priests and leaders of the day. He did it by suggesting to them that they are really like the younger son – disobedient children of God. And that the sinners, were like the oldest son, who came to Jesus for forgiveness and for mercy, were those who changed their minds as to the way they were living their lives. Those were the people whom the chief priests and scribes could not abide with because those were the tax collectors and prostitutes.
This may be the case with the way that Jesus ended the story when he told the chief priests and leaders in verses 31 and 32: “You can be sure that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.”
But to leave this story at this level of understanding is to miss the importance of the story for us here today. It only reduces the Gospel to simple history, and the Gospel is not and never was meant to be seen as history.
We here today know that the Chief Priests and Leaders of the people make a bad mistake. We know that their religion was only a matter of outward appearance rather than real inner passion.
So what???
What message does it give to us today?
What value to us apart from making us feel good does this judgment have on us today?
It is of great value if we ask ourselves as to which child are we?
Are we the ones who can recite the creed – the ones who can have our children baptized – even ones who work in the church and do all the things that make us seem holy – and yet nor really seeing and believing that God is working in and around us – just like the chief priests refused to believe that God was working in John the Baptist or in Jesus the Son of Joseph and Mary?
Are we familiar with religion – practiced even at religion? But not familiar with faith and with what it requires of us in our hearts and our heads and in our attitudes and our actions. What does it require of us and what does it do for us?
Or are we the ones who said at first – no way God – forget it; you do not even exist – and if you do – you are not what I want in a God – I have better things to do than pray and read that silly old book with all its rules and regulations, it wars and woes, its contradictions and craziness.
Are we the ones who led a life that was clearly wrong – ones who cheated on our friends, who stole from our employers, who drank and did drugs and lived on the street anyway we could? Are we the ones who do are using the excuses of being too tired from work to attend fellowship on a weekday?
And then changed our minds! Then, when listening to the pain that is within every human being; and to the voice promising forgiveness and wholeness that comes from without, through people like John and Jesus turned and received a new life?
Or are we somewhere in between? Children of God who try hard on some days to be faithful – and on other days – let our hardness of heart, our selfishness, our unwillingness to see God and listen to God in our daily routines get the better of us?
That is the benefit of this passage for us today – in asking ourselves who we really are – and what it really means for us.
And in asking who we are and what it means considering the Gospel that Jesus proclaims both in this story and elsewhere: the good news that it is possible to change one’s mind; that it is never too late; today at least – to become a child that is destined to see and enter the Kingdom of God.
It is all a matter of saving faith, a matter of seeing that God is and that God is willing and able and of accepting that and going forth and labouring at the work He has asked us to do for Him.
A matter of seeing that God is forgiving and gracious; of seeing that God is more interested in saving His children than in allowing them to perish; of accepting that God will give to us a new life – no matter how bad our old life is; and that He is able to accomplish all this in us; no matter how defiled we think that we have become when we turn to Him and allow Him to have His way with us…
It is a matter of seeing that God is present in the most unlikely persons that work each day around us, that as He spoke through the wild man of the wilderness; the one who wore the worst clothing and said the strangest things that as He spoke through a carpenter’s son and worked wonders in the world around him, so God is present today and in the most unlikely persons, in the least of our brothers and sisters; and that while present there in them He wants us to minister to him, to minister a cup of cold water; to minister some clothing to cover his nakedness; to minister hope and encouragement when he is placed in prison; and to bring comfort when he is sick in bed.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the good news I am preaching here today is not a gospel of what work we must do or not do.
It is not a matter of what we offer in terms of percentage of our income to God each year. It is not a matter of how to successfully avoid committing one or other of the seven deadly sins…
The good news I preach today is the Gospel concerning faith. It is the Gospel of believing; and in believing, in hoping and in praying, and in opening oneself to the power of God and to the will of God.
Today it is not too late to get right with God.
It is not too late to say to God – I believe – help me in my unbelief.
It is not too late to say to God – YES – I will go out in the vineyard after all. I will go with you as you go with me, and to work to bring the good news of your love to my family and my friends and to the whole world in all that I say and do. I will worship you and work with you and obey your will.
IT IS NOT TOO LATE!
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