The Rev. Dan Rondeau
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 | Psalm 25:3-9 | Philippiams 2:1-13 | Matthew 21:28-32
The things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us the grace to labor for. Thomas More
Don’t you love it when Jesus is so clear? Don’t you hate it when Jesus is so clear? Short, to the point, even his enemies could get it.
“What do you think?” Jesus asked. “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?” They said, “The first.” (Matthew 21:28ff)
Even his enemies could grasp the point of Jesus’ story: the son, who said “I won’t go” but later did go and worked in the vineyard, did the will of the father. The “good son” who said all the right things “I go sir [to work in the vineyard, you can count on me, yes sir]” and did not go, was revealed as a fraud, a failure, no help at all.
We have a saying about this don’t we? Actions speak louder than words.
As Jesus applied it, he was telling those around him: the ones who understood John and John’s call to repentance, the tax collectors and the prostitutes, the ones who understood and changed, are doing the will of the father. The “good sons” who observe the laws externally, at least, but have made no change in behavior, are in peril.
As Jesus speaks this parable to you and me in 21st Century America—what are we to understand? How does it, to borrow another saying, “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable?”
We can look in our Book of Common Prayer for both the affliction and the comfort of Jesus’ parable. I direct your attention in the Green Worship Booklets to the Baptismal Covenant (page 4; Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305). After our profession of faith, our Covenant with God and with our neighbor proceeds:
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? I will with God’s help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? I will with God’s help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? I will with God’s help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? I will with God’s help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will with God’s help.
Change one little word and we may or may not be as comfortable as we hear Jesus’ parable. Change the word “will” to the word “do.”
DO you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers? I DO with God’s help.
DO you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord? I DO with God’s help.
DO you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? I DO with God’s help.
DO you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? I DO with God’s help.
DO you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I DO with God’s help.
Changing one little word drives home to me, and, I hope, to you, how much we are
like the second son. Afflicted in my comfort, knowing I could do more, or do
better, knowing that I have NOT DONE these things with all my heart and soul and
mind and strength, I join my voice to yours in the Confession:
“…we have sinned against you…by what we have done, and by what we have left
undone…. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus
Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and
walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.”
Fortunately, recognition of spiritual poverty is the first step up and out of that poverty. Having confessed we receive God’s forgiveness and strength: “Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.” And we try again to DO what we say we will DO with God’s help.
A simple message then: let your actions speak louder than your words. Let God’s Word, God’s Sacrament of Holy Communion, be the help that will let you progress from WILLING the good of the Baptismal Covenant to DOING the good of the Baptismal Covenant.
Let me finish with this prayer from our Prayer Book. It was written by William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944. It is not so much about saying the right thing as doing what God would have us do. It is a prayer of self-dedication. It is in the Prayer Book beginning on p. 832. It is an expansion of the words of the Lord’s Prayer “thy will be done on earth.” It is another way to step into the teaching of Jesus in today’s Gospel—don’t just say the right things, do the right things, accomplish the will of the Father, that is your calling.
Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee; and then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory, and the welfare of thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.1
Amen.
1 The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 832-33