This was my first ever sermon, preached while I was in Seminary. A side note: I preached without any notes for this my first sermon.
Proper 21A; Matthew 21:28-32 - Parable of the Two Sons
(Philippians 2:1-13)
Sermon Preached at Saint James Church, Fair Haven, Connecticut
Almighty God, Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in your site, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Yesterday I was in New York City for the Rolling Stones concert. At one point during the show, I was struck by the words that Mick Jagger sang in one song: “Every sinner is a saint.” “Every sinner is a saint.” I was reminded of today’s gospel where Jesus tells us good news about the kingdom of God in a parable. However, before we look at the parable we need to understand its context.
Jesus ministry eventually took him to Jerusalem and into the Temple where he began flipping over the moneychangers’ tables and driving them out of the Temple. Understandably, the religious leaders—the Pharisees, the elders, and the chief priests—were very upset with Jesus. They approached him in the Temple and asked him what in the world he was doing and on whose authority he was doing such things.
Instead of answering their question, Jesus asks them a question. Where, he asks, did the baptism of John come from: Heaven or men? The elders are put on the spot and realize that they cannot say from Heaven. If they do, Jesus will ask them why they did not believe John if his baptism was from Heaven. However, they realize that they cannot say his baptism was from man either. The people all thought that John was a true prophet. After all, he lived in the wilderness, he looked like a prophet, he ate locusts and wild honest—only a prophet would eat that—he spoke like a prophet, and most importantly people reacted to him like he was a prophet. John preached repentance, confession of sin, and amendment of life. His preaching was heard and accepted by many and therefore the people regarded him as a prophet. If the elders were to say he was not a prophet, the people would be very angry and very upset. Therefore, they answer Jesus’ question by saying that they don’t know where John’s Baptism came from. Jesus then responds to them by also refusing to answer their question. It is at this point in the story that Jesus tells them the parable.
If you will open up your pew Bibles we will take a look at the parable. Jesus tells us that there is a man with two sons. He goes to the first and tells him to go work today in the vineyard. Basically he is telling his son to forget about any plans he might have had—even that concert to see the Rolling Stones—because he wants him to work hard all day. The son refuses, saying:” I will not”. Later however, that same son changes his mind and goes to work in the vineyard.
The father then goes up to his second son and asks him the same thing: Go work in the vineyard today and forget any plans you might have had. This second son responds exactly as he should: “I will go, sir”… This second son, however, does not go. He does not do what he said he would do. He does not go to work in the vineyard.
Jesus then asks the Pharisees and chief priests: “Which did what the father wanted.” They answer: “The first.” This is the obvious answer but they Pharisees only know this because they know the whole story. Imagine if we were to witness the exchanges between the father and his two sons without knowing what they later did or didn’t do. We would think the first son was no good and we would think the second son was an ideal son. We might go so far as to note what a good kid he was. We wouldn’t know the whole story so we wouldn’t have any idea what the truth was. With this in mind, we wonder what Jesus is going to say next. We know already that Jesus and the Pharisees do not get along, so probably he isn’t going to say: “Hey, that’s right! We agree! You see we are on the same page after all!” Lets take a look at what he does say.
Jesus says to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” What in the world does that mean? Why would the Pharisees, the religious leaders, the people who hold the best positions in society, follow after prostitutes and tax collectors? Prostitutes and tax collectors represent the worst type of people. They are at the bottom of the social barrel. Why does Jesus say that the prostitutes and the tax collectors will enter the kingdom of God before the Pharisees?
Jesus answers this question himself. He says: Because “John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” The prostitutes and the tax collectors believed John but the Pharisees did not, even after they saw the effect that John’s preaching had on the people.
Jesus is telling us that John’s baptism was from Heaven. Those who believed John will enter the kingdom of God. If we look back at the parable, we see that the prostitutes and the tax collectors match up with the first son while the Pharisees match up with the second son. Jesus is using the tax collectors and prostitutes, on the one hand, and the Pharisees and chief priests, on the other hand, as examples of the entire range of people…all the way from the bottom of the barrel and the worst of the worst to the top of the heap, the best of the best. I’m not a prostitute but I’m also not a Pharisee. I am somewhere in between, we are all somewhere in between. Sometimes we might be closer to one end of the spectrum than then other but it is not possible to be lower than the bottom of the barrel or better than the best of the best.
Jesus is telling us some great news! He’s saying that even the bottom of the barrel is able to get into the kingdom of God! The kingdom of God isn’t restricted to a certain group of people. It isn’t restricted to the best people. Its open to everyone! This means we can all get into the kingdom of God!
Jesus tells us that all we need to do is believe. But, believing in John means we need to repent, confess our sins, and live a life of righteousness and that can be a very hard thing to do. Jesus himself compared this to working in a vineyard. Working in a vineyard is not easy. Jesus tells us that we need to leave everything else behind and do the hard work he is asking us to do. For some of us that sounds too hard, it might even sound impossible.
But we don’t need to worry because there is more great news and this is just as good as the other news! We need only trust in God and we know that we are not alone. In today’s epistle Paul tells us that: “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” God is on our side. We must believe. We must trust in God. When we trust in God we know that God will help to do the hard work he asks us to do. With God’s help we can begin to lead a life of righteousness and act according to the purpose that God has set before us! With Gods help every sinner—every single one sinner—can become a saint!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
