By: Dr. Dale Stoops, Lead Pastor at Terre Haute Southside
The Parable of the Two Sons, found in Matthew 21, contains a familiar theme. Two sons are asked to work in their father’s vineyard. One denies his father’s request, but later changes his mind and goes anyway. The other agrees to work, but, when the time comes, never goes to work in the vineyard.
Imagine how many times you have asked someone to do something, only to find out they never followed through.
Parents are keenly aware of this. They ask their children to do a chore or clean their room, hear the response, (with the typical child/teen frustration) “Yes, I’ll do it,” then discover later it was never done.
Our children find it difficult to pause their fun. They are afraid they will never get back to it or the game will be ruined.
The greater frustration for a parent is when you know they heard you, even acknowledging they will do what you asked, then discover they either lied, after the fact, or failed to obey out of negligence.
Why bother asking?
It is out of love for one’s children that a parent wishes to instill a sense of responsibility and integrity.
Jesus confronts the Pharisees because they are not being faithful to that which they have stated to believe.
This discussion takes place in the Jerusalem Temple after Jesus had overturned the tables of the money changers. He rejected elitism and exclusivity, embracing the outcasts.
The question now arises: who is it that truly believes and obeys? Is it the ones who have been “in” or the ones who have been left out? Though both sons say one thing and do another, the repentance of the first is preferable over the hypocrisy of the other.
What matters is their action, not their words.
In fact, this is standard Jewish theology.
There is no surprise here. So, the point is not the parable but the application.
James says in his letter that faith without deeds is dead. It is not just what one believes but what one does that counts in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus says it is the repentant tax collectors and prostitutes who are entering the kingdom of God.
They sit on the lowest rung of the Jewish social and religious ladder. They are the opposites of the religious authorities who maintained their belief that their allegiance to God was equal to doing God’s will.
But the Pharisee’s hypocrisy prevents them from seeing what Jesus was doing in their midst.
Jesus’ summary of the parable was whether the Pharisees believed and received the message of John the Baptist or the person of Jesus.
The tax collectors and prostitutes did, but the religious elite did not. Those who believed they were good, were in the wrong. Those who were in the wrong repented and are now in the right.
In the Kingdom of God, a re-orientation of one’s life is what counts. We cannot rely on our profession of faith or intention to do well.
We are called to action. We are called to live our lives in a manner worthy of Christ. We are called to attend to the means of grace and tangibly love through acts of compassion.
It is one thing to say Jesus called us to love our neighbors, it is another to find ways to bless their lives. It is one thing to say Jesus called us to love God with all that we are and another to surrender our time and resources for his service.
What things are keeping you from fully investing in the life God has for you? Are you saying one thing and doing another?
This Advent season, be encouraged to live authentically for God’s Kingdom.