Sunday, October 1, 2017

Twenty sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

Matthew 21:28 – 32
There was a rich man who became very ill and his doctor told him that he might not survive. “Doctor,” he said, “there is so much I want to do with my life. If you save me I'll donate a million dollars to this hospital.” After a while he recovered. Weeks went by. One day the doctor ran across the rich man and reminded him of his promise. The rich man laughed and said, “I must have really been sick to say something like that!”
In one translation of this gospel reading, Jesus asks, “Which of these honored his father?” To the surprise of missionaries to certain African villages, about half the people sided with the brother who said “yes” but did not do the work. And we know from studying the times when Jesus walked the roads of Palestine, the people there would probably feel the same way. Because people would imagine these scenes taking place in the pubic square – everyone would hear the dialogue between the father and the son, and for a son to publicly refuse a request from his father was dishonorable and insulting to the father. To these people the son who, though he had no intention of doing the work, answered his father with respect for his authority, was the one who honored his father.
And that's probably why modern translations have Jesus asking, “Which of these did the will of the father?” And of course we all agree with the pharisees that it was the first son. And Jesus goes on to compare the first son to the tax collectors and sinners, who were changing their lives in response to the preaching of John the Baptist, as opposed to the Pharisees and Scribes, who were diligently carrying out the letter of the law but forgetting that according to the prophets, God desired mercy, not sacrifice.
But I wonder what Jesus really said 2000 years ago in the Aramaic language he spoke? Because all we have are english translations of an ancient document written in Greek about 80 years after Jesus had ascended in to heaven. And the author of Matthew may not have even understood Hebrew, let alone Aramaic. Many of Jesus other parables make you stop and think. The translation we just heard doesn't seem to do that. Maybe Jesus was a little ambiguous when he asked the question; maybe he wanted everyone who heard him to ask, “which son am I?”
And we are probably both sons. I know I am. There have been many times in my life when I said I would do something but didn't, or made a promise that I didn't keep. There have been times when I've said something I didn't mean, because I didn't want to start a fight or get in a long argument. I remember a time when I was at a party and someone I knew approached me, having had a bit more to drink than he should have. He began insisting in a loud voice that radiation therapy was poison, that it did more harm than good, that doctors who used it were charlatans. I made a few statements in defense of radiation therapy, but he just got louder and angrier, so I ended up agreeing with him and suggesting he should go tell the doctor over there who actually was a radiation therapist.
And of course I'm the first son as well. Like you, I've had moments when I really didn't want to do something, it didn't matter who was asking; it was easier to just say no. But then after prayer, after second thought, I go ahead and do it. If you are a deacon or a doctor or a husband or wife or in fact anyone, you will have many moments in life when you will initially resist doing something you should do, but then end up doing it. An interesting difference between the two sons is that the first son did not have to struggle with himself to act as he did – he just lied. The second son, on the other hand, had to change his mind, had to repent, which is always a struggle.
But both sons have something in common; they say one thing and do another. It's secondary whether one does the will of his father and the other honors his father. When Jesus compares the tax collectors and sinners to the first son, he notes approvingly that these individuals have changed their lives in response to John's preaching, but what he doesn't point out is that those who have changed their lives in doing so have said yes to the father they want to serve. And when he compares the Scribes and Pharisees to the second son, he does not say they will not get into the kingdom of heaven, but that they were lagging behind those others and they should now change their minds and begin carrying out what they already knew and taught.
I think a final lesson can be learned from this parable, and Jesus lived his life demonstrating it. That is, authenticity should be a virtue we strive for. Whenever we say one thing and do another, even if we are like the second son, it speaks to division within us, and that is always something that holds us back. Jesus showed us a truly authentic life and that was part of his appeal to the crowds who followed him. His words and actions were always in alignment. He was the one who said, “My food and drink is to do the will of my Father”. And he was the one who told his disciples that the Son of Man had to go to Jerusalem to be tortured and killed and rise again, and he did that.
I've been the first son and I've been the second. And rather than beat myself up because I have shown myself to be inauthentic those times, I look at them now as opportunities for self examination, so that I can live a more authentic life, where my words and my actions are aligned, where I walk my talk, where I say what I mean. And it is a wonderful feeling to have moments when there is no division in my spirit, where, for a brief moment at least, I am in the kingdom of heaven.