Parable of two sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. Now he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29 “‘No, I don’t want to,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
30 “The father said the same thing to the other son, who replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he didn’t go.
31 “Which one of these two did his father’s will?”
They said, “The first one.”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom ahead of you. 32 For John came to you on the righteous road, and you didn’t believe him. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Yet even after you saw this, you didn’t change your hearts and lives and you didn’t believe him.
Reflection
Jesus fulfilled the Torah and the Prophets by teaching how they express God’s will, as well as by living out God’s will in his own life. By doing so, he became an enemy of both the religious Jewish establishment and the Roman Empire. Today’s passage describes the difference between doing the RIGHT thing according to the kingdom of heaven vs doing the WRONG thing by following the corrupt contemporary religious authorities. This is a lesson that threads its way throughout the gospels, especially in the Gospel of Matthew.
Life is full of choices to be made. A similar passage (Matthew 7:21) says “Not everybody who says to me “Lord, Lord” will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. ”The lesson here is that we should live according to God’s will, what God wants of us, not what WE want.
In today’s passage, the first son who was asked to work in the field said, “No. I don’t want to.” He later realized the error of his ways and went back to work in the field. When the father asked the second son to work in the field, he obediently replied, “Oh, yes. I’ll be happy to get that work done.” And then he promptly forgot all about that task his father had asked him to get accomplished. Then Jesus asked, “Which of these did his father’s will?” His father’s will was to have a son who will work for him and will get the job done. The father doesn’t care if his son SAID he would work in the field. The father only cares that his son DO what was asked of him.
by Kathleen Stolz
For Pondering and Prayer
When I experienced my call to ministry and began exploring theology with my pastor at the time, I expected to follow a traditional path and become an Elder in the typical position of the pastor of a local church. The more I studied and prayed, the more I realized that I had a choice to make. Was God calling me to be an Elder and shepherd a congregation? Or was my call more focused on teaching the lessons of Jesus to a new generation? The answer came back that I was called to speak to the evils of our time using the scriptures and the life of Jesus translated into modern scenarios and language. The role of the Church in Society was what tugged at my heart. That decision has led me down a very different path than I expected when I first experienced my call. I have made some congregants very unhappy when I followed in the footsteps of Jesus and exposed evil at work in the religious, political and social structures of our time, but I do not regret any of my decisions as a child of God.
I leave you with this to ponder: Lyndon B. Johnson said, “Doing the right thing is not the
problem. Knowing what the right thing is, that’s the challenge.” What about you? When have you felt that God was calling you to speak up, to do God’s will rather than your own? When have you wanted to say “No” and then realized God was calling you to say “Yes!”
Prayer: Loving Lord, the world is full of choices, and we thank you for your amazing gifts. Guide our decisions for “this” or for “that” so that we always choose what is best for your children and the world you have created. Amen.
