Meditation for 2 December 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Matthew 21:23, 28-32

 

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching… [Jesus asked them,] 28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” ²⁹He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For 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.’

What We Do Matters

We are saved by God’s grace, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  I am convinced of that, partly through the testimony of scripture (see especially Ephesians 2:8-9:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”)  I am convinced that I cannot save myself - thus my need for a Savior.  Having said that, what we do (or don’t do) matters to God.  All you have to do is to read the very next verse in Ephesians 2:  “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”  Or, you can read again the little parable that Jesus told about the two sons (see above).  Our faith in God leads us to act, to do, to reach out in love to others.  As James put it, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:17)  Another way to say that is if your faith doesn’t have any feet to it, if it doesn’t send you out into the world to serve others in Jesus’ name, then anyone has the right to ask, “What good is this faith of yours?”

Most of us preacher-types enjoy talking about God and Jesus and the kingdom.  But when push comes to shove, if we don’t go out and serve somebody, you probably ought not to pay much attention to us, because we’ve probably lost our way.  Should that be the case, we are like the second son in Jesus’ story, who quickly says, “I go, sir”, and then does nothing.  The first son is refreshingly honest - like our children often are!  “No, Pops, I sure as heck am not going to go work in your stinkin’ vineyard!  Why would I want to do that?”  But then the first son gets to thinking about it, and realizes, for one reason or another, “Hey, it probably wouldn’t kill me to go do a little work.  I guess I’ll go.”  And he doesn’t even tell his father that he has changed his mind.  He just goes out to the vineyard and starts working.

Sometimes our kids act exactly like that.  In the name of hanging on to themselves and being their own person (works like separation and differentiation come to mind), they have their own viewpoint.  (This is healthy, parents, so don’t freak out and over-react, as I have sometimes done!)  Our children may think that what their parents are asking them to do, or suggesting they do, is totally ridiculous.  But then one day you see them doing it.  (What should you do as a parent in those moments?  Probably keep your mouth shut, and just smile a lot inside, and say a little prayer of thanks to the Lord.)

I like Advent because it is about waiting for something new to burst into our lives – either the new-born Jesus, or the returning (Second Advent of) Jesus, or the growing light of transformation and fullness and love.  But as Henri Nouwen, the Roman Catholic priest and writer once said, the waiting of Advent is not a passive waiting.  It’s a very active waiting.  It involves being on the lookout for God, while you serve somebody, while you sit with someone who is sad or lonely or scared or dying, while you tell someone what you love and appreciate about them, while you listen to someone who simply needs someone to listen to them – no more and no less.

Yes, sometimes you and I thumb our noses at God or our parents our spouses or the other people that come into our lives, but then – thanks be to God – we come to our senses and reconsider, because the grace that is the love of God freely offered to us through Jesus Christ gets through to us once again, and we say, in effect, “Duh, Lord.  What was I thinking?  Of course I’ll go.”  And we go.

And Jesus says that is way better than saying that you are going to go, and never getting off the couch.