Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral

Sermon

Everybody Up, Let's Go!

September 25, 2005 (Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 21)

By The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

• Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32
• Philippians 2:1-13
• Psalm 25:1-14 or 25:3-9
• Matthew 21:28-32

(From The Lectionary Page)

When I was a high school student, Saturday morning meant one thing: sleep. After five grueling days of school, and a day before getting up early on Sunday for church, Saturday was clearly meant to be a day of sleep. I was sure that Sabbath was Hebrew for “sleeping in.”

When I was a high school student, Saturday morning meant one thing to my father: chores around the house. Let me be more precise: chores that only his older son could carry out. And further, it was absolutely necessary to begin the Day of Chores as early as possible.

Thus, my father and I celebrated the following ritual most Saturday mornings. I would hear my father’s footsteps as he descended the stairs. He would enter my bedroom none too quietly, and I would pretend to be asleep. In a voice that was a cross between a football cheer and the sing-song of a drill instructor, he would boldly proclaim: Everybody up, let’s go. His enthusiasm was disgusting. Next in the liturgy came intense shaking of the allegedly sleeping son. And then would come the Dismissal, as the theme of today’s work was announced: “Today we are going to....”

If I was lucky, I was told that I was going to mow the 1/2 acre yard as he was cut weeds. The most feared news was either an announcement that I had to split firewood or that together we were going into the 40 acres of timber on our property to kill black locust trees that were plentiful. That task required wearing long sleeves and work boots so that the black locust thorns which could grow to 6 inches in length would not cause harm as we chopped off bark around the tree and applied a poison.

I was of an age where I was not asked to carry out this work; I was told. But I still managed to show my displeasure by getting dressed slowly, or working half-heartedly at my task lest I finish too quickly and be given more. And that was always a problem for me: when I completed my chores satisfactorily and in a timely manner I was never sure if I would be rewarded and given the rest of the day off or simply given more work until it got dark.

Looking back, perhaps I didn’t want to carry out my father’s wishes because I was rebelling in some fashion, and I certainly didn’t understand that as a member of the family I shared responsibilities for some household chores. But most of all – I had no clue that what my father may have been saying quite clearly by giving me chores was that he needed me. He wasn’t trying to make my life miserable, he wasn’t punishing me by giving me work to do. Rather, he needed me or else some work would not get done.

Jesus told a parable about a father who said to his two sons: “Go and work in the vineyard today.” We aren’t told that the father had to wake up these two, or that the sons were teenagers who preferred to sleep in. But because the father says that he needs the two to work in the vineyard today, the setting is most likely at the start of the day, perhaps following morning prayers or while gathered for breakfast. Perhaps each had other plans for the day, or even if they planned to be working they thought that other chores needed to be done first. In any case, in response to the father’s directions, the first son said, “No, I won’t go” then did, while son #2 said, “Sure, I’ll go” and then did not.

At least one facet of this parable concerns the struggle that always goes on once we say “yes” or “no” to God.

For the first son, at some point his “no” became a “yes.” As the day progressed, for reasons one can only guess, he changed his mind. He spent some of the day not following his father’s direction, maybe even wasted the day, but eventually ended up working in the vineyard.

The second son who said “yes” never made it to the vineyard. Ever had a day like that? You start out with a set calendar or list of things to do, and end up nowhere near where you planned? Sometimes for good reasons, and sometimes for reasons less than noble, you end up not doing what you said you would do?

If the parable were only about the struggle we go through to live up to our promises then this would be a pretty wimpy parable, very un-Jesus-like, the lesson being simply that though neither son is a perfect model, clearly the first son is the better one to imitate.

But then Jesus, like a great Cajun cook, kicks it up a notch or two and goes on to identify the two sons.

Now by this point in his ministry the religious leaders are consistently following Jesus closely, and Jesus, being as wise as a serpent, is watching them closely, too. Likewise, because Jesus has been spending time eating and talking with prostitutes and tax collectors and all sorts of sinners—all those on the outside of the religious community—Jesus has watched those people closely, too. And in this parable, Our Lord pronounces that those who have never said ritually how much they love God and the Law often live more righteous and caring lives than those of the religious leaders he has encountered. Enough of saying with your lips that you love and serve God – say so with your actions.

Let us consider the entire passage in the light of the conclusion.

Jesus may be saying something powerful about how a “no” that we first speak can later be transformed into a “yes.” In your life to date, have you ever changed mind about a group of people you were sure were sinners or not as worthy of God’s love and favor as you? I have.

With this parable Our Lord may be challenging us as the Church to be mindful that a “no” spoken at one point in the Church’s history may at some later time become a “yes.” Not so long ago, a divorced person, whose first spouse was still living, could not be married a second time in the Church. But the Church’s pastoral practice changed. A “no” became a “yes” and many here this morning are grateful for that.

So the litmus test, as it were, has to do with how we live as faithfully as possible, and how we respond to what God asks of us and allow God’s Spirit to lead us. Despite our struggles and our lethargy and the other concerns which sidetrack us – this parable teaches that it is never too late to change a “no” into a “yes” and live accordingly.

Finally, let us note where the sons were asked to go and work: in the vineyard. For Matthew, throughout his Gospel the vineyard is the world. For us, also, the vineyard is the world.

The reading from Ezekiel calls us to repent, reorder our lives and say yes to serving God, because the day will come when we will be judged for our actions not our thoughts. The second reading from Philippians commands us to empty ourselves so completely that no inclination to say “no” to God can ever be found in us.

Though I do not hear footsteps coming to rouse me from my sleep, we know that we must work in the vineyard. Together then us examine what causes us to sleep in, pull the covers over our heads, say no, or say yes but then not follow through. And then, let us repent from such laziness.

Jesus is calling us to serve not to overburden us or test us in some way. He is sending us to the world because he loves us and wants us to know our responsibilities to the whole household of human kind – in other words, wants us up and out there because we are needed.

My friends, let us be grateful for the free will to say “no,” but let us live lives that say “yes.” And may our “yes” to God be followed up with commitment. In the words of my father, “Everybody up, let’s go.”