Doing The Will Of God In the parable of the Two Sons, another parable unique to Matthew’s Gospel, the father calls one son first to go work in the vineyard. He refuses, but later relents and goes to work. The second son placates the father with a quick agreement to go and work but he never actually goes. Then Jesus asks, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” He tells a story and then asks the listeners to answer a question. The answer seems straightforward on first glance. The first son did the father’s will. But with a second glance, we see that both sons brought dishonor to the father, the first by his words, the second by his deeds. Neither son was in the right. One had the words, and the other had the deeds. We remember from Matthew’s conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount that merely saying the right words does not ensure entry into the kingdom of heaven. Active obedience to Jesus’ teachings must be present. Matthew probably meant his community to hear this parable as a summons to the Jewish leaders of their day to imitate the first son and join them in believing in Jesus. He also meant it as a nudge to those Christians who had initially said ‘yes’ and then wavered. [Living Liturgy 2017] Some people struggle to ever make a commitment in the first place, but once they do, are able to muster the discipline and enthusiasm to honor it. Others seem to have less trouble coming to a decision, but then have trouble following through. Many of us fall somewhere in between. Learning God’s ways and changing may, indeed, be a slow and practiced way of life for all of us. Dying to self means our yes is yes and our no is no. To all of us imperfect disciples, Jesus addresses the question, “Which of you is doing the will of the Father?” Adapted from Renew International Prayer Time Cycle A
Doing The Will of God In the parable of the Two Sons, another parable unique to Matthew’s Gospel, the father calls one son first to go work in the vineyard. He refuses, but later relents and goes to work. The second son placates the father with a quick agreement to go and work but he never actually goes. Then Jesus asks, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” He tells a story and then asks the listeners to answer a question. The answer seems straightforward on first glance. The first son did the father’s will. But with a second glance, we see that both sons brought dishonor to the father, the first by his words, the second by his deeds. Neither son was in the right. One had the words, and the other had the deeds. We remember from Matthew’s conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount that merely saying the right words does not ensure entry into the kingdom of heaven. Active obedience to Jesus’ teachings must be present Matthew probably meant his community to hear this parable as a summons to the Jewish leaders of their day to imitate the first son and join them in believing in Jesus. He also meant it as a nudge to those Christians who had initially said ‘yes’ and then wavered. Some people struggle to ever make a commitment in the first place, but once they do, are able to muster the discipline and enthusiasm to honor it. Others seem to have less trouble coming to a decision, but then have trouble following through. Many of us fall somewhere in between. Learning God’s ways and changing may, indeed, be a slow and practiced way of life for all of us. Dying to self means our yes is yes and our no is no. To all of us imperfect disciples, Jesus addresses the question, “Which of you is doing the will of the Father?”
To Do God’s Will I irritate some people because I cannot make up my mind. However, living with people who constantly change their minds drives me batty! Such a simple thing as to what to have for dinner can bring ten things out of the freezer and take a half hour to decide! In this instance changing our mind has no serious consequences -maybe time lost and nerves frayed, but these are forgotten as dinner is finally served. In our Gospel today, two sons change their minds about how they carry through on their response to their father’s command to go and work in his vineyard. The point of the parable goes far beyond simply doing work. Jesus is telling us something about the kingdom of God and salvation. We cannot dilly-dally around. Our belief must be decisive and our actions must carry through and be consistent with our belief. No matter what we say, the real issue is what we do. Any change of mind we have must be about turning ourselves from mere talk to doing God’s will. This is how we enter the kingdom of God. All of us are a little like both sons. Sometimes we hear and respond faithfully to God’s will, but at other times our actions don’t carry through what we hear and believe. The good news is that God does not change the divine mind about calling us to salvation. Whether we say yes or no to God’s call, God keeps calling us. We are the ones who need a change of mind. We are the ones who must believe in God’s offer of salvation and faithfully do God’s will.