St Matthew 21: 28 – 32
Jesus said: “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For 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.
Reflection
I wonder why the second son did not go to work in the vineyard. Did he tell his father that he would go, never intending to go near it? Or did he say ‘yes’, with the intention of going to the vineyard, ‘a bit later’, or ‘when he’d done such and such’ and never quite got there?
Then again, did the second son discover that his brother had said ‘no’, when asked to go to the vineyard, and so decide not to go either, never knowing that his brother had changed his mind?
If ‘time got the better of him’, I wonder how bad he felt at the end of the day, when he hadn’t got anywhere near the vineyard. Did he go to his father to apologise and to promise that he would go there bright and early the next day, and do a full day’s work? Perhaps it’s more likely that he simply shrugged and said to himself, ‘I’ll do it another time’, without making any specific plans. Possibly, he even gave a sigh of relief.
We can be very good at putting things off, until ‘another day’, which never comes. We also have a tendency to avoid doing what we know we should, because others are shirking. Where would we be if Jesus had done that?
To follow Jesus authentically, we need to be proactive in doing what we are called to do. We also need to pay active attention to our consciences, even though life can be easier when we find plausible reasons to leave things to another day, or to another person.
So whether we’re late to take action or not, let’s be like the first son and do what our father is calling us to do, and not like the second, in putting it off – possibly indefinitely.
Prayer
Living and loving God,
we know that we are your children.
Help us to listen to and for your call to us in the mundane and the exciting.
Open us to admit to ourselves and to others what you are asking of us.
Then give us the strength and determination to follow where you lead.
Thanks be to God,
Amen.