God's Good Pleasure

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

October 1, 2017

                                                     21 Proper A

As the mother of two sons, truth in preaching requires me to disclose that the parable of the two sons is quite possibly my favorite of all Jesus’ parables.  What parent hasn’t had to deal with a child who says “no,” and does “yes,” or says “yes” and does “no?”  Suppose I ask one child to go out and shovel the snow.  He says “no,” but later changes his mind and shovels.  I ask the other child to shovel the snow, since the first child refused, and he says “yes” but goes to a movie instead.  One child says “no” and does “yes.” The other says “yes” but does “no.”  I believe that the child who said “yes” shoveled the snow, since the driveway is now clear, when in reality the child who said “no” did the work.  Nothing is worse in the eyes of sons than giving the wrong child credit for the job that was done.  The question is: which son has done the will of their mother?  If we say “the first son” since he actually did shovel the snow, then we are saying that only our works are important, but not our words.  If we say “the second son” who agreed to do the work but then went to a movie instead, we are saying that only words are important, and not our actions.  We clearly don’t want to go there!  So, which of these two children did the will of his mother? Any way we answer the question, we lose.  And does it even matter, since the driveway is now clear?

Of course, in Jesus’ parable, there is a lot more at stake than trying to get kids to shovel snow, but the problem is still the same. Which son did the will of the father?  The son who refused to work in the vineyard but changed his mind or the son who promised to work in the vineyard then failed to keep that promise. Which son did the will of the father?  Either way we answer the question, we lose.

While we are busy trying to figure out which son did the will of the father, Jesus says “Gotcha! Trick question!” Common sense, as well as most of the commentaries, tell us that, if we must choose between the two sons, the one who actually goes to work in the vineyard does the will of the father.  But that answer is way too obvious.  Jesus almost never asks a question with an obvious answer.  In the first part of our gospel reading this morning, Jesus was confronted in the Temple by the chief priests and elders, and they demanded to know by what authority Jesus acts.  Jesus turned the question on them and asked “Did the baptism of John come from heaven or was it from human origin?”  This is a trick question, because if they answer “from heaven,” Jesus will ask why they did not believe John.  If they say “from humans,” the crowd will revolt because they believed John to be a prophet.  Either way, the chief priests and elders are stuck.  Just like in the parable, there is no clear answer to the question Jesus has posed, and whichever answer the chief priests and elders give, they lose.

The parable of the two sons follows right on the heals of the question about John the Baptist.  If we’re thinking like humans, of the two sons, clearly the one who actually works in the vineyard does the will of the father.  But if we’re trying to think like Jesus, the correct answer is that neither did the will of the father.  The parable is another trick question!  When the chief priests and elders answer Jesus and say that the first son did the will of the father, what does Jesus say to them?  He says “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”  That does not sound like “right answer!” to me.  Jesus’ answer is the ultimate put-down to the chief priests and elders.  The tax collectors and prostitutes will get into heaven before the chief priests and elders do. 

Neither son did the will of the father, because the will of the father is not a choice between right words or right actions.  The letter to the Philippians describes the relationship with each other and with God that we are called to have, and it does not look like the relationship either son had with the father in the parable.  The apostle Paul writes “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.  Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  Does that sound like either of the sons in the parable?  I think not.  Paul makes it sound like the one who does the will of God is the one whose actions and words match, and whose actions and words look to the interests of others and match the words and actions of Christ.  That is the person who does the will of God.

God wants our words and our actions to match.  In baptism, we are asked five questions about how we will live as baptized people, and we reaffirm our answers to those questions every time someone is baptized here.  God asks us if we will continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers.  God asks if we will proclaim the good news by word and example, if we will resist evil, if will seek and serve Christ in all people, and if we will respect the dignity of every human being and work for justice and peace.  Our responses to those questions are always an enthusiastic “I will with God’s help.”  For our words and actions to match, we are called to build our busy lives, including the use of our time, our skills, and our financial resources, around those promises.  How can we better match our words and actions when we consider our response to people who are marginalized because of their religion, their economic status, or sexual orientation?  Or as we consider our response to the disaster in Puerto Rico and other places at home and around the world?  Or as we consider our stewardship to our church as we talk about how to be a more vibrant presence in our community?

When Jesus says “Which child did the will of the father?” he is not asking us a question with an either/or answer.  Neither son did the will of the Father.  The will of God is that we say “yes” with both our words and our actions, and that both our words and our actions reflect the mind of Christ.  Let us be children who both speak and work for God’s good pleasure.

Amen.