Proper 21 -- Ezekiel 18: 1–4, 25-32; Psalm
25: 3-9; Philippians
2: 1-13; Matthew 21:
28-32
A homily by Fr. Gene
Tucker, given at The
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Springfield, Illinois, on Sunday, September 28, 2014.
“OUR WALK AND OUR TALK”
(Homily text: Matthew
21: 28 32)
“Preach the
Gospel….if necessary, use words.”
This saying
is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day we will celebrate at
the end of this week (October 4th).
This blessed saint captures - in this simple statement - the essence of
authentic Christian living, a state in which our walk (our daily living) is
matched by our talk (what we say about our faith in God).
And so it
is that Jesus tells His listeners a couple of parables about a vineyard and
those who work in it. His audience is
made up of the chief priests and the elders of God’s people 2,000 years ago, we
learn from reading a few verses earlier in Matthew 21: 23. Once these parables are told, the chief
priests and their allies will perceive that Jesus has been telling these
parables as a judgment on them (see Matthew 21: 45).
The scene
where today’s parable is told is the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus has now made His triumphal entry into
the Holy City on Palm Sunday (narrated by Matthew in 21: 1–10). Then, He upset the normal life of the Temple
by overturning the tables of money that the moneychangers were tending to
(verses 12 – 16). So we find ourselves
in Holy Week, the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. The stage for the final showdown with the
Jewish leadership is set.
The parable
before us this morning is often known by the title “The Parable of the Two
Sons”. (We will hear the next parable,
which is known as “The Parable of the Tenants”, next Sunday.)
As is our
usual practice, we should begin by looking more closely at some of the details
of this parable.
The first
detail that catches our attention is the setting for the work which is to be
done: The vineyard. In Old Testament imagery, the vineyard often
represents Israel and God’s people. Jesus often appropriates this imagery to
apply His teachings to His original hearers.
It is quite likely that the chief priests and the elders who heard Jesus
tell this parable would have made the connection between the vineyard and
Israel.[1] Perhaps they wondered, “Is He talking about us, or about God’s people? Is He
talking about Israel?” But we would do
well to remember that, in last week’s gospel reading, Jesus also used the image
of the vineyard in His telling of the parable about the workers who were hired
at various times of the day, but who were paid the same amount, regardless of
their length of service.
Another
detail concerns Jesus’ explicit application of the parable to His original
audience, the chief priests and elders.
He tells them that the “tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the
kingdom of God before you.” Such a role
reversal is common in Matthew’s gospel account….often, this role reversal finds
its truth in a statement we read often in Matthew: “The first shall be last, and the last shall
be first.” Another theme that is
prominent in Matthew is the ultimate judgment.
Here, God’s judgment is implied.
In next week’s parable, the judgment is direct.
In truth,
neither of the two sons in today’s parable comes off with high honors, though
it is true that the second son, the one who initially refused to go work in the
vineyard, comes off better than the one who simply paid lip service to his
father’s request. Neither son’s walk is
matched entirely by his talk.
But God’s
grace, mercy and forgiveness seems to be in view here: The second son is the one who will enter into
the kingdom, because he repented of his original refusal and did the will of
his father.
In its
original context, the parable is clearly a judgment on the leadership of God’s
people in Jesus’ day. Their talk was
excellent, but their walk was terrible.
Jesus will summarize the disconnect between their walk and their talk in
Matthew 23: 2 – 3, which reads: “The
scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they
tell you, but not the works they do. For
they preach, but do not practice.” [2]
For
Matthew’s Church, composed as it most likely was of Jews and Gentiles both, perhaps
the meaning had a lot to do with those who had come to faith in Jesus Christ,
but who were latecomers in responding to God’s call, made in Christ. Perhaps both Jews and Gentiles alike had
initially refused that call.
For
Christians down through the ages, both the members of Matthew’ Church and
Christians today, the challenge is to continue to respond to God’s call to come
into closer and closer relationship with the Father through the Son. As we do so, we are called to allow the Holy
Spirit to integrate our behavior with our conversation, so that we preach the
gospel, and, as St. Francis says, “use words, if necessary.”
AMEN.
[1] This imagery is particularly clear in Isaiah 5: 1-7. Another example may be found in Jeremiah 12: 10.
[2] It’s worth noting that Matthew is fond of
repeating themes or teachings of the Lord in his gospel account. In Matthew 23: 2–3, we read in another way
what the Lord had said in today’s parable.
