Church of the Good Shepherd, Richmond, VA

19 Pentecost, September 25, 2005, Year A, Proper 21

 Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25:1-14 or 25:3-9; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:28-32

When Yes Means No

      On the face of it, today’s Gospel can seem obtuse. In it Jesus tells the parable of two sons who say one thing and do another. Isn’t that a surprise? -- It could well be a story about our teenage sons responding to a parental request. The second one says, "Sure Dad, I'll take care of it," and then doesn't do it. The first one says, "No way Dad." And then later on regrets his decision and does what he was originally asked. Who actually did what his father wanted? Clearly it is the first son, the same one who had earlier said no to him.

      Both sons are disobedient. They just work out their disobedience in different ways. I know the boys! I've met them before! So have you! And the sad truth is that sometimes they're not the teenagers we often associate with such behavior. Some times the sons in the parable are both me. And sometimes they are both you.

      But before we get too focused on the details of the story, let’s try to understand the context in which this particular parable was offered—and to do so we need to pull back and see what prompted Jesus to use this story. Jesus told this parable in the temple in Jerusalem just days before they would arrest him and put him to death. For three years he had been preaching to the people, inviting them to repent and believe the Good News. He had discovered that, in fact, it was public sinners like the tax-collectors and prostitutes who responded to his invitation. 

      Upset by the growing number of followers of Jesus, and the company that he seemed to keep, the Pharisees begin to challenge his authority and from whence it came? “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?”

      The religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, even after they understood the divine origin of the message of Jesus, still opposed it instead of accepting it. They had greeted John the Baptist with the same attitude. And when they were challenged directly by Jesus regarding the divine nature of John the Baptist’s mission, they would not acknowledge it. As Jesus said to them, “even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him” (Matthew 21:32). Religious people are sometimes so bent on proving that they are right that they fail to hear the voice of reason and the voice of God.

      In the Gospel story, Jesus equates the second son with the scribes and Pharisees. This son says "Yes father, I'll take care of it." And then doesn't do the work. He talks a great story; however there's little or no action.

      Jesus equates the first son with tax collectors, prostitutes, and known sinners. The first son says, "No father, I'm doing it." Later on he regrets it and goes to work. He's a definite No, but with regret and repentance he's later moved to action. Just as the tax collectors, prostitutes, and known sinners had repented at the River Jordan with John the Baptist.

      And what of you and me? Sometimes we talk a great story like the second son and yet there's little or no action. At other times we are just as disobedient as the first son, yet through repentance we return to the Lord and get on about His work. Another way to consider this parable is to ask the question, "Is what I profess on Sunday carried out on Monday?"

      We say Yes to God on Sunday Morning:

      Then end up blowing our temper before we even get home; or We end up talking negatively or unflatteringly about our neighbor having just worshipped with him or her in the sanctuary.

      We say Yes to God on Sunday Morning:

      Then a friend tells a joke ridiculing someone that really isn't funny, but because they laugh, we laugh; or we see someone act in a way which we know to be wrong, but we silently look on, too timid to intervene.

      We are not always what we appear to be, nor were the scribes and Pharisees of the gospel. Our yes to God is often like the response given by the second son. All too often many of us fail to embody in our lives what we say we believe with our lips. The yes of Sunday morning doesn't make it to Monday morning and sometimes it doesn't even make it out of the Church parking lot.

      The second Son says yes to God, but for many reasons, can't carry through with the yes.

      We've been there....

When we fail to love ourselves,  
When we fail to love our neighbors, 
When the sins of pride, judgment, gossip, and anger come between us and our neighbor,  
We've been there—the second son isn't much different than many of us.

      And, like the first son, there have been times when we've said "No" to God and to each other and then have regretted and repented. Thankfully, in our repentance, our actions have spoken much louder than our original words. It might be that this parable is attempting to tell us that God is more interested in what we do, than in what we say.

      But perhaps the best news of all is that whether or not we identify with the first or the second son' whether we initially say Yes and end up with a No, or we say No and end up with a Yes. The good news is that God loves us anyway. God loves us and emptied himself for us as we hear in today's reading from Philippians. Yet, because we often tend to be like the second son, we do not always receive and experience this love freely given.

* * * * *

      I want to close here with a prayer this morning—a prayer for much and for many.

But I choose not a prayer of lament—although some may do so;

Not a prayer for guidance and strength—albeit needed

But a prayer for new beginnings—for Nancy, for Brenda, for Olivia –

For our brother Ralph as he enters into a glorious new life in his Journey with Christ

And for Allen, as he begins a new phase in his life and career,

And for each of you—as individuals and as a parish as we start a new year in search of new beginnings in our service to our Lord—

I will speak the words, but know that the prayer is a personal one, coming from each of you to express your hope to our God :

God of history and of my heart,

so much has happened to me during these whirlwind days:

    I’ve known death and birth;

    I’ve been brave and scared;

    I’ve hurt, I’ve helped;

    I’ve been honest, I’ve lied;

    I’ve destroyed, I’ve created;

    I’ve been with people, I’ve been lonely;

    I’ve been loyal, I’ve betrayed;

    I’ve decided, I’ve waffled;

    I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.

You know my frail heart and my frayed history—

and now another day begins.

O God, help me to believe in beginnings

and in my beginning again,

no matter how often I’ve failed before.

Help me to make beginnings:

    to begin going out of my weary mind into fresh dreams,

daring to make my own bold tracks in the land of now;

to begin forgiving

that I may know truth;

to begin disciplining

that I may create beauty;

to begin sacrificing

that I may accomplish justice;

to begin loving

that I may realize joy.

Help me to be a beginning for others,

      to be a singer to the songless,

      a storyteller to the aimless,

to become a beginning of hope for the despairing,

      of assurance for the doubting,

      of reconciliation for the divided;

to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,

      of comfort for the sorrowing,

      of friendship for the forgotten;

to become a beginning of beauty for the forlorn,

      of sweetness for the soured,

      of gentleness for the angry,

      of wholeness for the broken,

      of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.

Help me to believe in beginnings,

      to make a beginning,

            to be a beginning,

so that I may not just grow old,

      but grow new

each day of this wild, amazing life

      you call me to live

            with the passion of Jesus Christ.

                                    --Guerrillas of Grace