"Work in the vineyard"-Sermon for Proper 21, Matthew 21:23-32
This past weekend I was at my family’s farm to help celebrate my mother’s 73rd birthday. And, out there, my girls have one of those battery powered toy buggies that little kids can safely drive around. Mary Ellen, my youngest, got it as a Christmas present 4 years ago and the battery has long worn out. So, for at least the last two years…maybe even 3, it has sat in a barn collecting cob webs and wasp nests. And, at some point along the way, like maybe two or three years ago when it first went dead, Mary Ellen asked me if I would replace the battery, and I promised that I would. But the truth is I have dragged my feet on it. We don’t actually get to the farm as much as we would like, so replacing it was never really top of the mind…a real priority. Also, these batteries are hard to find, quite expensive, have a short shelf-life, and take a lot of care to keep up. So…I simply hadn’t done it and didn’t really want to. Well, as we were preparing to head to the farm a week ago Friday, Mary Ellen reminded me, pretty forcefully, that I had promised, many moons ago, to replace the battery and, with a guilt inducing look on her face, asked if this time I was going to keep my promise, and so, with some consternation on my part, we did stop on our way out to the farm at a Walmart and found one and purchased it.
Then when we arrived at the farm, I found the charger, which after not using it for a couple of years felt a little bit like a miracle. We plugged the battery in, and then we pulled the buggy out of the barn to see what sort of shape it was in…and again it was in pretty bad shape. So, Mary Ellen said to me, “Are you going to clean it…you promised you would.” Well, that promise I didn’t actually remember. But, I knew that clearing off the spiders and their webs and removing the old wasps’ nest was not something she would feel safe doing along, so I took a deep breath and said, “let’s do it together.” And, we did. And, sure enough, the next morning she was zooming around the front pasture in her gleaming buggy that looked almost new, as full of delight as she was on that Christmas morning when she first unwrapped it. And, I’ll be honest, following through on the promise even if it took too long, felt really good to her dad.
And, in that moment…I sort of understood the motivations and really complex feelings of both sons in Jesus’ parable we just heard read. That is like the second son in the parable, who enthusiastically responded affirmatively to his father’s request to work in the vineyard, “I go sir!”, I remembered what it was like to say to Mary Ellen, when she first asked me to replace the battery, “I’ll do it…no questions asked…the very next time we go to the farm…no problem…happy to help!” It is so easy to say yes. In the moment, it made her happy. It put a smile on her face. It was what she wanted to hear. And that made me feel good…like a good father who provides…who makes his precious child feel heard and cared for. And, also like the second son, I remember what is was like when I really thought through the request, of course, only after I had made my enthusiastic response. I didn’t really want to go through the trouble of finding a new battery. I didn’t really want to spend $75 on something that she would actually use less times that I can count on one hand, and that will inevitably go bad long before the expense feels justified. And, so I didn’t. I just hoped she would forget about it…give me a pass. Maybe I wouldn’t get the battery, but I am a good dad who keeps, at least, the important promises. I can’t remember how many times we went to the farm after I made that initial promise and before this last trip when I finally followed through…but it was lots of times…lots of times of not following through on the promise I had made.
And, like the first son who told his father, “No…I won’t go and work in the vineyard,” but then does…as I noted above…I also remember…it was just a week ago…how it felt to finally follow through on her request…to go and get the battery…and then the delight on Mary Ellen’s face as she zoomed through the pasture…it felt great. For, though I never told her I would not buy it, I had long ago determined that I was not really going to get it and, again, hoped she had forgotten about it and moved on. But, in the end, she had not. And, though it took way too long, I got the car up and going, and it felt right. And, that’s the most important thing.
Now this may be a silly sermon illustration, but there is nothing silly about the health and well-being of our relationships. And, you have to know that nothing is more important to me than how we nurture our relationships…that is how we love well those who have been placed into our care...and following through on our commitments one to another…is an important part of that nurturing work. And, I think Jesus’ parable suggests a similar sentiment.
You see, the religious leaders that Jesus is engaging with that results in the telling of this parable are interested in justifying their own spiritual and temporal authority and power…and delegitimizing Jesus’ spiritual and temporal authority and power. But, Jesus refuses to participate in these sorts of questions. Rather than debating where the real power in the room lies, whose teaching is morally authoritative and whose is not, who should be listened to and who should not, who is right and good and who is not…rather than entering into that debate…Jesus tells a very short story, this parable, that suggests that the most important thing is not who one claims to be, what lofty words one uses, what company one keeps, what one’s past may or may not suggest about who they are today, what positions of privilege society has granted them deservedly or not…or even what promises one makes in the heat of the moment. Instead, what Jesus suggests is the most important thing…is our actions…our deeds…our follow through…how we use our gifts…spend our time and spend our money…in ways that benefit, first and foremost, God’s kingdom on earth…making it actually more like it is in heaven.
Further, it is no accident that Jesus’ parable has the father asking his sons to go work in a vineyard. For a vineyard, in the spiritual life of Israel, is a longstanding symbol or way of talking about God’s kingdom…a kingdom not geographically located…but located in human lives and defined by the loving and life-giving relationships shared between those human lives.
You see the two sons are all of God’s children…who are each and every one, without distinction, invited into building relationships of mutuality and trust…a sort of life together where all are loved and belong…where all can flourish. And, it doesn’t ultimately matter how we initially respond to that invitation. Some, like the second son, will respond enthusiastically…really wanting to say yes to the invitation…wanting to make the father happy…and at some level really meaning it…even if the all the costs have not yet been counted and the follow through is somewhat lacking. And some, like the first son, may out right reject the invitation, even if they know, at some gut level, they are being invited into a good thing. Maybe they are tired and worn out, maybe they have 35 other things on their plate, maybe the costs are quickly counted up and seem to high. But, at the end of the day, one’s initial response to the invitation is not the most important thing. Instead, it’s always what happens next…will we roll up our sleeves and enter the vineyard or not…will we use all the goodness God has given to us and sow it into the lives of the people, God’s own beloved, that are struggling to grow up into healthy and wholehearted people? Following through on that is always the most important thing. And, these are the sorts of questions Jesus suggests that his own religious leadership and each of us should be asking ourselves.
At the end of the day, had I not bought that battery, all would have likely been forgiven. Over time, Mary Ellen would likely not have judged me as bad father for one small promise not kept. But perhaps this little vignette, with which I began, does illustrate…and I consider this really good news…that answering Jesus’ call to enter the vineyard…to follow through on the commitments made one to another…to love each other well…doesn’t happen just once…but every time we get to nurture a relationship with another person…friend, family, or stranger…young or old…those who look, love, and believe like we do and those who don’t. Further, answering Jesus’ call to enter God’s vineyard, to enter into the life of other person in a healthy and helpful way, is often not some sort of grand occasion…but practiced in small moments…little moments…that create, over time, trust, which makes our mutual flourishing…the flourishing of God’s own kingdom on earth…possible. Amen.