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.
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