Over the past few weeks, we have discussed what it means to be good stewards of what God has given to us. Being good stewards is critical to our spiritual wellbeing. We must listen to God’s voice and then serve God in our actions.
How do we serve God in our actions? The Old Testament and Jesus gave us the guide lines to follow in serving God. When we serve those who are in need: the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger, we are serving God. The vineyard in today’s parable is the world and the sons are everyone living in it. The parable gives us two very different responses to the father’s request of the sons.
We have talked before about how public family life is in Middle Eastern culture. The conversation between the father and sons in the parable would have taken place in the market area in front of all the community to see and hear. One son, to save face and his honor, tells his father that he will go into the vineyard to work without any intention of doing it. The other son tells his father no even though that would be disrespectful and dishonor him in front of the others observing the discussion between him and his father. He has a change of heart and goes into the vineyard to work as his father requested.
The two sons represent the religious leaders and the religious outcasts who followed John’s call to repentance. Jesus put the religious leaders in a difficult position. If they answer the son who honored his father by saying yes, but did not go, the people could turn against them. They responded with the son who said no but then repented and went into the vineyard and worked. The chief priests and the elders condemn themselves by the answer they give to Jesus’ question. Jesus responds with a condemnation because they refused to act and accept John’s call to repentance.
Being a Christian is more than just talking the talk like the son who said yes but did not go; it requires that we walk the talk. The religious leaders in the parable were great at instructing the people how to follow the rules, and they were great in publicly obeying the rules, but like the son who said yes to the father, they did not follow the rules in their hearts or in their private actions.
The two sons point to the difference between saying and doing, a theme that is important in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus constantly used the teaching from the Psalms as a guide for how to live: take care of the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger.
Many people today talk the talk by explaining what is wrong with the system and how we must make changes to help the marginal in society, but most never get beyond the talk. Some actually take action to change laws, to provide for others needs and help heal those who are discouraged and in the depths of despair.
There are many ways for us to take action: the Outreach program at Holy Cross, Food for the Poor, Catholic Community Services, Peter’s Pence and many other Catholic organizations who follow Jesus’ teaching and work to make a positive difference in the world.
Each of us can also work through the legislative process to tell our representatives to enact laws and regulations that protect those on the margins of society. The orphans, the children who are detained by Immigration without any place to go; the homeless, who wander the streets of the areas where we live without a place to get in out of the rain; the mentally ill who need medical help but there is no funding for them to receive treatment.
Jesus gave us the parable of a father who asks his two sons to do something: one says he will do it but doesn’t, the other son said no his father, but then does what the father asked.
We often treat God, our Heavenly Father, like one of the persons in the parable. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Jesus gave us an example different from either son in the parable; he not only said yes to his Heavenly Father but also willingly followed his father’s will – even to death on a cross for the salvation of the world.
We too can do the same. We can say yes and live our lives serving others: the poor, the orphans, the widow and the stranger. The underlying lesson in the parable is that we need to be good stewards of God’s blessings to us by serving those in need.
In the parable, the father told both sons to go into the vineyard to work. What will happen to those who are in need if we fail to act? The orphans detained by Immigration need someone to speak for them. Will we contact our legislators in Washington DC and Olympia to push for immigration reform? The homeless need a place to stay and a warm meal. Will we volunteer some time at the Gospel Mission to serve a hot meal and a smile with a person who has lost everything; including their dignity? The mentally ill need someone to push for funding so they don’t end up in the jails due to lack of treatment. Will we ask the government agencies and our legislators to provide more funding for medical treatment to help them?
These are the people who need our help the most. Will we move away from telling everyone what’s wrong with the system and go into the vineyard of the world to work for positive change?
