Listen to these words of popular wisdom: talk is cheap; actions speak louder than words; practice what you preach; you’ve got to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Or to invoke the more theological wisdom of the letter of James: faith without works is dead.
Today’s gospel parable about the two sons whose father asked them to go out to work in the vineyard is all about these words of wisdom with which I began this sermon. One son at first refused to go, but later regretted that decision and then went out to work in the vineyard. The other son said, “sure, dad, I’ll go get it done,” but ended up doing nothing.
Jesus asked the question which had an obvious answer: “Which of the two [sons] did the will of his father?” Of course, it’s the first son who initially refused, but then who ended up doing the work – he’s the one who did the will of the father. It’s this son whose actions spoke louder than his words; it’s this son who ending up walking the walk, even if at first he didn’t even talk the talk; it’s this son who better illustrates the wisdom of James, “faith without works is dead.” His works revealed his faith.
As an open ended and evocative story, this parable, like most parables, reveals a lot about human nature. Why is it so hard for so many of us to just do the right thing and get the job done? Even if we end up doing what is asked of us, why do we often begin grudgingly? And then, in keeping with the other son, why do we make promises we do not keep in saying we’ll do such and such and then blow it off?
I suspect each of us in our own ways can identify with both sons in the story. Speaking for myself, I usually begin my day resisting what’s on my to do list. But by the end of the day, a lot ends up getting accomplished. But it’s also true that there’s a lot on my list that lives on the edges and doesn’t get done. It’s the human condition. Why is this so?
In short, burdened as we are by our own fallen humanity and our mortal sin, our wills are conflicted. Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish philosopher and theologian, observed that “purity of heart is to will one thing.” But we know from our own experience that more often than not we’re ambivalent, we will or want more than one thing simultaneously.
The apostle Paul got it right when he observed in Romans: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.” (Romans 7:15, 19-20)
People who struggle with addictions and who are in recovery know these dynamics well, that our wills are conflicted and often captive to forces seemingly bigger than ourselves. But all of us at one time or another struggle with our conflicted wills. Any procrastinators here? Procrastination is evidence of a conflicted will and is a common malady that afflicts many.
And it’s this condition of conflicted wills that prevents us from doing the right thing that leads to so much hypocrisy in the church, where too often Christians don’t practice what they preach.
When it came to the two sons whose father wanted them to work in the vineyard, the son who said he’d do the work but didn’t do it was apparently not plagued by pangs of conscience and was content with his business as usual. He was perhaps will-less, apathetic. Another common malady of the will afflicting humanity.
But when it came to the other son who as first refused, but then did the work, something happened in him that got him off the couch to get the job done. What was that? The biblical Greek here suggests he didn’t just change his mind, but he regretted his initial refusal.
In other words, his conscience bothered him, he experienced some sense of guilt and he repented, changed his mind, and did what his father asked of him. He became willing to do what was asked of him after first being willful and rebellious.
Or to put it in the language of today’s first reading in Ezekiel when the prophet speaks the word of the Lord: “Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me” [says the Lord] “and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:31-32) In short, the son who finally worked in the vineyard got a new heart and a new spirit.
How did the repentant son get that new heart and a new spirit? A changed mind? Of course, we don’t know from the story what provoked the pangs of regret that led to the willingness to make amends and ultimately doing the right thing.
Thus, we need to turn elsewhere in today’s readings, and we get the answer we need from Paul in the passage from Philippians, today’s second reading: “Therefore, my beloved, … work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.” (cf. Philippians 2:12-13) It was God working in the rebellious son that ultimately prevailed in making him willing to work in the vineyard.
To make this point more strongly, let’s return to Paul’s wisdom expressed in Romans when he acknowledges his conflicted will and struggle to do the right thing: “Wretched man that I am!” Paul exclaims, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Paul’s answer comes next: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” he cries with appreciation. (cf. Romans 7:24-25)
In the case of the son in the parable who ended up doing the right thing even after his initial rebellion and refusal, what made the difference was likely some combination of the interplay between law and gospel, some recognition of how much his father expected of him but also how much his father loved him and cared for him – that’s what made the difference in making him willing after first being rebelliously willful.
In short, in Christian terms, it is God’s love in Christ Jesus that sets us free. And it is God at work in us through the Holy Spirit enabling us to be willing to work.
And it was God at work in Christ on the cross and in the empty tomb that makes possible our freedom to do the right thing. Hence the wisdom of the great Christ hymn in Philippians: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but relinquished it all, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)
When we dwell with the crucified and risen Christ, in his word, in his sacraments, and Christ dwells with us through those means, we grow to take on the mind of Christ who was singularly obedient to the will of his Father, Almighty God. Then our own wills become less conflicted and we grow in the purity of heart to will one thing. And it becomes not so much what we have to do, but what we get to do. In short, Christ makes the difference.
And, of course, as I say Sunday after Sunday, it’s here in this place that we receive Christ, his mind, his will. It’s here we find our freedom despite our initial rebellion. We hear both the command but also the word of grace that inspires our regret, our repentance, our change of mind and heart, releasing us to do the right thing.
And we leave here in our new-found or renewed freedom to go and work in God’s vineyard – willing and able, because we get to, not because we have to, motivated by our thanks to God in Christ for divine love and grace and mercy.
And in our words and deeds, we get to share with others God’s love and mercy and grace, perhaps inspiring them to leave their own forms of rebellion or apathy to join us in tending God’s vineyard for the healing of the nations and all of creation. Amen. Let it be so, Lord Jesus, Amen.
