"The Parable of the Two Sons" - Westminster Presbyterian Church

“The Parable of the Two Sons”

Scripture – Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Gregory Knox Jones

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Jenny and her younger sister reside in the same city where they were raised. Their father, who will be celebrating his 88^th birthday soon, lives in a retirement community nearby. When their mother died a few years ago, it touched off a crisis for their dad. For a while, he was adrift. He would forget to eat and the house became a jumbled wreck. The loneliness was crushing. He struggled to carry on without her. It took a couple of years before he began to adjust to life as a widower.

The past few years have become the second difficult adjustment. He had to give up his driver’s license. That’s a battle his daughters don’t want to relive, but his mental slippage prevented him from recognizing how much his driving skills had deteriorated. Now, without a car, he must depend more on his daughters.

He’s not happy about it. He hates to admit that he needs help and he hates to impose on his daughters. Yet, with little choice, he gives one of them a call. He asks his older daughter if she can pick up his blood pressure medication at the pharmacy. She tells him she will be able to get it the next day and she’ll drop it by. Three days pass and there is no sign of her.

He knows what has happened. She’s forgotten about it. The same way she did last time. What makes it even more exasperating for him is that she is always telling him to give her a call when he needs help. He does, then she fumbles the ball.

He hesitates to call his younger daughter because her plate is always so full. In addition to her job, her two children still live at home and she has to play chauffeur for the younger one. Reluctantly, he calls her and explains his dilemma. She sighs. Her day is so crammed that she doubts she can do it before tomorrow. But that evening as he is finishing his dinner, there she is, handing him his prescription and giving him a big hug.

Let’s go back 2,000 years. Jesus has entered the temple in Jerusalem and is teaching those who are curious to hear his message. While he is speaking, some not-so-curious figures drop by; a handful of religious leaders who view Jesus as a threat. While Jesus is teaching, they toss him a question. However, their question is not the innocent pursuit of truth, but rather a calculated trap designed to discredit him. They ask, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” The “things” to which they refer are not what he is teaching that morning, but rather his actions the previous day when he stormed into the temple and drove out those selling sacrificial animals and the money changers who were cheating their customers.

Here’s how their question is a trap. If Jesus says he is acting on his own accord, then he has violated the sacred space of the temple and they will throw him out on his ear. On the other hand, if Jesus claims he is acting on God’s authority, they will accuse him of blasphemy and have the grounds for killing him.

So to elude their snare, in good rabbinic fashion, Jesus brilliantly answers their question with a question. He says: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven or was it of human origin?” Immediately the religious leaders realize that Jesus has set a trap of his own. If they say that John’s baptism came from heaven, then Jesus will ask: “Then why did you fail to believe him?” If they say that John’s baptism was of human origin, then the people will come after them with a vengeance, because the people regarded John as a prophet. So in the end, they sheepishly mutter, “We do not know.” The situation is a stalemate. They are not answering the question Jesus posed and he is not responding to their question.

Then, Jesus breaks the impasse by telling a parable. “What do you think?” he says. “A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not;’ but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”

The answer is obvious and the religious leaders respond, “The first one.” Then Jesus says, “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

The essence of what Jesus is saying is this: “You know the way of God. You teach it every day. Yet you fail to live it. The tax collectors and prostitutes heard John’s teachings, and they changed their behavior. You mouth the words, but that’s the extent of your faith.” All talk; no action.

The words of Jesus were not only directed at the religious leaders of his day. They are intended for Christians in every generation; perhaps especially in this moment. Each of us is tempted to claim that we are a faithful follower, but what counts is not what we say, but how we live.

Commenting on the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Humanly speaking, it is possible to understand the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. But Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience – not interpreting it, but doing it. That is the only way to hear his words. He does not mean for us to discuss it as an ideal. He really means for us to get on with it.”[1]

Nineteenth century theologian Soren Kierkegaard said, “Jesus wants followers, not admirers. His question to us is more than, ‘Do you agree?’ He also asks, ‘Will you join us?’” And ever since the birth of the Christian Church, the challenge for every Christian has been to live our lives following the pattern set forth by the One who is the way, the truth, and the life.

What is it we say at Westminster? Not “Faith in words,” but “Faith in WHAT? Action.”

Last Tuesday, our nation held a monumental election. Your candidate may have won or your candidate may have lost, but whether you are feeling elated or distraught, the campaign took a heavy toll. Our nation is sharply divided. Many are fearful – fearful for Ukrainians and for Christian and Muslim women and children in Gaza and the West Bank. Many are fearful for minorities, women, God’s natural creation, and for our grandchildren and the world we will leave them.

Others are so angry they want to fight ill-will with more ill-will.

The teachings of Jesus and the prophets make it clear that people of faith are called to oppose mean-spiritedness with kindness. We are called to oppose prejudice with acceptance. We are called to oppose disdain with respect, dishonesty with truth, and hostility with love.

Love is key. But we must be clear about the nature of love that Jesus demonstrated. Christian love exudes compassion, but it is not sentimental like the way we adore our pets. Our love must be like the love of Jesus – love infused with courage.

We must have the courage to declare that every person is a child of God and should not be persecuted because they are a minority or trans or profess a different religious faith. We must have the courage to say that it is a sin against God to bomb schools and churches and hospitals, and to target children and aid workers. We must have the courage to stand for freedom of speech and declare that it is a moral outrage to target journalists because they disagree with you. We must have the courage to say that it is a sin to encourage violence against political opponents. We must have the courage to continue to follow the words of Jesus to feed people who are hungry, clothe those with only one set of clothes, visit people who are ill, welcome strangers, and liberate the oppressed. Even if we are harassed for doing it.

To possess such courage, we must draw closer to God. We must continually ask ourselves if we are putting God first in our lives. We must make prayer and worship a priority. And we must never cease learning the way of Jesus and then living the way of Jesus.

“Tom Long went to college and seminary in a small town in South Carolina. One day, when he was a seminary student, he was sitting alone in the school’s coffee lounge. The elderly pastor of the town’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, who had just finished a meeting, came in to get a cup of coffee and pulled up a chair. He and Tom knew one another, and began a friendly conversation.”

“Eventually the conversation turned to race relations in that southern town. The pastor told Tom several stories from the town’s past, including one about a funeral that was held in his church in the early 1950s. It was for a woman who had worked as a maid and a cook in the homes of several white families in town. The pastor said, ‘I did what I usually do at funerals. I asked if there was anyone in the congregation who would like to say a word about her. Several people spoke, but no white people said anything, even though there were a number of white folks present. I thought that wasn’t right, and I finally said, ‘is there someone from the white community who would like to speak?’”

“There was an awkward moment of silence, but finally a respected minister and educator in the town stood and came to the pulpit. He named the deceased and said, ‘We all loved her, and her loss makes us sad. But I’m sure that right now she is in heaven’s kitchen baking biscuits.’”

“Tom looked at the floor, embarrassed beyond measure. Finally, he mumbled weakly, ‘He didn’t know. He was a man of his time.’”

“The pastor turned toward Tom in fury. ‘No!’ He said, slamming his fist on the table. ‘That man had everything. He had standing, he had education, and he had the gospel! He had everything, but it turned out that he had nothing! Nothing!’”

“Indeed, the man who pictured the deceased baking biscuits in a heavenly kitchen disclosed by his comments that he envisioned the heavenly banquet as merely an extension of the unjust structures of this world and the privileged meals of the present age, with everybody in their proper place.”[2]

Do WE have the gospel? Are we like the son who said he would do the work that needed to be done, but never showed up? Or will we respond to the urging of God’s Spirit to love with the absolute fearlessness of Jesus?

Prayers of the People

Randall T. Clayton

Gracious God, you have been our God through all the ages in the past and will continue to be our God in all the days to come; knowing that we come before you this day, grateful that we are always held in your love.

As we move toward Veterans Day tomorrow, we pause to give you thanks for the selfless service of men and women who are veterans, whose devotion to us as a people led them to make significant sacrifices. Grateful for their service to this country, we ask that you protect those who are actively in service now.

For some this week has been a week of disappointment and pain. For others it has been a week of joy, and for others still, it has just been a week. Wherever we are, and whatever we are feeling this day, we ask that you fill our thoughts and our hearts with a vision of peace, and that our compassion might always flow beyond our own homes and interests and toward others.

When we see signs of oppression or hateful words or actions, give us the strength to stand firm on the side of love. In the face of fear, give us a certain knowledge of your presence. In the face of injustice, give us the courage to make things right. Knowing that it is sometimes easier to say we believe than to put our beliefs into action, we ask that you might show us how to love one another more fully as we recognize that you love each of us fully.

For those who are undergoing treatments for significant medical issues, and those who are frightened by a diagnosis, we pray, asking for your healing, peace-giving spirit to be present with them. And we ask that you guide medical teams and all who are providing care. Give them wisdom and compassion.

For those are grieving a death in their families or among their friends, we pray. In the face of death and grief, remind them again and again that your love is stronger than death and let them experience the care of this community as they travel through difficult days.

Again, we pray this day for the people and the nation of Ukraine as they continue to struggle against an aggressor nation. And we pray again on this day for the people of the Middle East – for all the people who call that part of the world “home.” Where bombs are lobbed and bullets are fired, where schools and hospitals are destroyed, where men and women and children are killed, we pray for peace. Oh, how we pray for peace. Give our world’s leaders a commitment to ensuring the dignity of all regardless of race or ethnicity, regardless of nationality or religion.

In the aftermath of national elections this week, we pray for all those who are newly elected – for those who are continuing their service, and those new to service in the federal state, or local governments. Give them wisdom and compassion. Guide their decisions and their words too.

Borrowing the words of today’s anthem, “give us courage, vision, and the grace to dare…you have called and claimed us, marked us as your own; through us may your mercy, truth, and love be known.”[3]

Remembering the prayer which Jesus taught we pray this day, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.”

NOTES

[1] Thomas G. Long, Proclaiming the Parables, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2024), p. 199.

[2] Ibid., p. 202-203.