Ezekiel 18:25–28; Philippians 2:1–11; Matthew 21:28–32.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The guest preacher was really getting the congregation moving. Near the end of his sermon, he said, “This church has really got to walk” to which someone at the back yelled, “Let her walk preacher!” The preacher then said, “If this church is going to go, it’s got to get up and run” to which someone again yelled with enthusiasm, “Let her run preacher!” Feeling the surge of the church, the preacher then said with even louder gusto, “If this church is going to go, it’s got to really fly” and once again with ever greater gusto, someone yelled, “Let her fly preacher, let her fly.” The preacher then seized the moment and declared, “If this church is really going to fly it’s going to need money!” Now, someone at the back mumbled, “Let her walk, preacher, let her walk.”
As his ministry draws to a close, Jesus tells the Chief Priests and elders of the people this parable: A father asks his first son to help out in the vineyard and this son says, “I won’t” but ends up going. The father similarly asks the second son who says, “Certainly, I will” but doesn’t go. The question is: “Which son did the father’s will?” They correctly answered that it was the one who initially said “no” but thought better of it afterwards and went.
The responses of the two sons reflect two ways faith can be expressed. Some may not formally profess any faith, for instance, they have no creed. But they have good deeds. They promptly respond to needs; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, working for justice and peace. They are ever ready to volunteer their services in emergencies. A priest once reported how his church projects were overwhelmingly sponsored by the local nightclubs and casinos (the bad guys) while the members of his Parish Council fought over who got the contracts.
On the other hand, there are those who have the best words. For instance, when we renew our baptismal vows, we say a lot of ‘yeses’ to God in rejecting Satan and all his works and empty promises. Every Sunday at Mass, we profess our faith saying “Yes! We believe.” Some of us also have angelic voices. We send people to heaven when we lead the singing at praise and worship sessions. Yet, we don’t care what happens to them here on earth. Talk is cheap as the above-mentioned Guest Preacher learnt.
In relation to the mission of Jesus, the son who initially said “no” but later goes to work represents those who once lived outside the Law and will of God, but then, with Jesus, they had a rethink and welcomed the Gospel. In the three years of his ministry that Jesus called people to repent and believe the Good News, it was public sinners that had a rethink. These include tax-collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus, and disreputable women like the Samaritan woman at the Well and the woman with bad name in town, who lavishly anointed the feet of Jesus. They cooperated with the grace that is extended to all who turned up no matter how late in their life (like the latter labourers in the vineyard of last Sunday).
Thus, the invitation to work in the vineyard exemplifies this action of God’s grace which is continually extended to us and the initial “no” of the first son reflects human nature “Original Sin” which makes us lean towards selfishness; the tendency for self-preservation. Change or having a rethink is the fruit of cooperating with that grace. On the other hand, the son who says “yes” and does nothing represents those who knew God and followed his law to a certain extent but did not accept Jesus and his message of love which was the fulfilment of the Law.
That was the religious establishment, the Chief Priests and the elders of the people. Rather than the deep and personal conversion to which Jesus calls all, their religious behaviour and relationship with God was usually self-serving and superficial, reduced to observing rituals and rules. Their self-righteousness is often expressed in their rash judgment and strict enforcement of the letters of the Law which undermines love, the spirit of the Law that Jesus preached. Jesus concludes that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are finding their way into the kingdom before the self-righteous priests and elders.
The religious leadership would consider this not only outrageous but totally unjust. But the Lord responds in the First Reading: “Is what I do unjust?” “When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies precisely of the effect of the evil he has committed.” In other words, the punishment for sin is the poison of the sin itself. Our selfishness, for instance, begets isolation. And, as a rebellion against God the source of life, sin only alienates. Thus, it is not God that punishes the sinner; the punishment for sin is the sin itself, it is therefore self-inflicted.
As far as our past is concerned, God doesn’t remember. That’s why a convicted felon who made a last moment act of faith got the promise of paradise. What matters in life therefore is not how we started but how we finished. Yet, a person’s final choice is essentially not random. It has a history. During our entire life, we are consciously or unconsciously making choices that shape us or dispose us to be moulded into a particular shape that only comes to full expression at the end. People may see one thing on the outside, but God sees something different inside. Hence, it wouldn’t help to think that I could live a life of total selfishness with the intention of making a last-minute death-bed conversion.
Moreover, as sin is its own punishment, so is virtue its own reward, and brings with it the truest and highest pleasure – St John Henry Newman. As we acknowledged last Sunday, it is the righteous person who lives by the Gospel that experiences real happiness while the life of sin and immorality is often based on a futile search for happiness. Yet, while the first son eventually did the father’s will, ideal sons and daughters are those who say yes to their parents and also do their bidding. We are therefore called to be people who profess their faith in word and deed.
Meditation
“Virtue is its own reward and brings with it the truest and highest pleasure.”