Saying….or Doing?

Matthew 21:23-32

Our text for today is Matthew 21:28-32 but there is some necessary context to understand:

• At the beginning of the chapter Jesus has entered Jerusalem on a donkey (as a king) with everyone cheering “Hosanna!”
• He then enters the temple area and throws out the money-changers and all that are buying and selling – “It is written…my house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of robbers.”
• He then returns the next day and is teaching in the temple area again. The leaders, who are still shook up from the previous day now ask him:

“By what authority are you doing these things?… and who gave you that authority?”  Jesus answers them with a question of his own. “I’ll ask you a question. And if you answer me, I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”

“John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it from heaven…or of human origin?”

The leaders plead the 5^th. They don’t want to incriminate themselves. If they say “it was from heaven” Jesus will ask them, “then why didn’t you believe John and repent?” If they say it was merely of human origin, the people would riot and become angry – because they all respected John as a prophet from God. So they say “we don’t know” and Jesus replies “then I won’t answer you either.”

And that brings us to our parable for today: the story of the two sons. Now in the English it says the “first” and “second” son…In Japanese it says the older and younger son.

In the English it is the first son that says “I won’t” but later goes and works. It’s the other son who says “I will” but doesn’t go. When the leaders are asked who did the father’s will….they then answer “the first one”.

Jesus is clearly calling out the leaders as “the son who says yes, but doesn’t go”. He is also pointing to the tax collectors and prostitutes as examples of the son who says “No, I don’t feel like it.”…but then later goes.

The parable is a challenge to each of us today. Which son (or daughter) are we?

• Are we the one that says “yes, I’ll go!”…”yes, I’ll be a good Christian and follow Jesus” but in the end pretty much ignores what Jesus teaches? Ignores the difficult work of repenting, dying to self, sharing our wealth, caring for the poor, etc. ?
• Or are we the daughter or son who says “NO, I don’t feel like it. No, I don’t believe in that stuff…I don’t want anything to do with it”…but then has a change of heart, repents, and follows Christ?

To be honest, I wish there was a third option! I don’t really want to be a hypocritical priest…or, a repenting prostitute. I want to be a “third kind of son” – one who says “yes” and then does what I promise!

And of course, by God’s grace, that’s the kind of son or daughter that we’re becoming. But for the sake of this parable lets think about these two options. Which one are we?

Most likely we are both…. at one time or another. At times we’ve been the child who says yes, but doesn’t follow through. And at other times we’ve said “No”, but later had a change of heart and did what we should.

The tough teaching here is: “Actions speak louder than words.” Do we just say “Yes” to Christ, but never follow through? Are we constantly just “saying…but never doing”?  Are we just “words….but no actions”?

It’s not the person who says they’re a Christian, but the person who actually follows Christ that is a true believer.

This statement is true, but it doesn’t feel very much like the gospel. If I sent you home only with that truth…you may simply be discouraged. Because there’s ALWAYS a gap between our best thoughts and motives and our actions.

But here’s the teaching from the parable that feels like gospel to me: It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve goofed up in the past. It doesn’t matter if you’ve betrayed Jesus three times like Peter (which was pretty extreme!). It doesn’t finally matter that you haven’t been a “successful” Christian in the past. You always have a chance TODAY….to repent, to change your mind, and to start fresh! God always welcomes a repentant sinner! When Jesus told this parable of two sons, the religious leaders were angry….others were thrilled. Which are we?

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on October 1, 2023.)