A God of Second Chances
A reflection for the 26th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Year A. The readings are Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalm 25; Philippians 2:1-11 and Matthew 21:28-32.
Last week we heard the parable about the owner of a vineyard who goes out to the market at dawn to hire labourers. Then he goes out mid-morning and at noon, in the middle of the afternoon and later in the day and hires more labourers telling them that he will pay them what’s fair. The whole point of the parable is that it doesn’t matter “when” God call us; what matters is “that” calls us. And God calls us: all of us. Today’s parable is about how we respond to that call. All those guys last week say, “I’m in. I’ll go.” But we don’t always respond that way. If I was Jesus (not that I will put myself in that category), in order to make that clear, I would have added a couple more guys to last week’s parable. The owner of the vineyard goes out at the end of the day and sees these guys sitting around smoking. “Why are you guys here? You too, go to work in my vineyard.” The guys look at each other and at their card game… “It’s already 6 o’clock. We’re not going to go work for just one hour. Thanks. Maybe tomorrow.” Everyone get’s called and it matters how we respond to the call.
That’s what today’s parable is about. The owner of the vineyard – maybe the same guy as last week – this time, asks his sons to go work. One says yes, I’m in, but then he doesn’t go; the other one says no, but then changes his mind and goes. It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t just say that one says yes and goes and the other one says no and doesn’t go. So, it’s not about whether we say yes or no (although that, obviously matters when it comes to eternal Salvation).
It’s about the fact that we can change our minds.
That’s the good news today. That’s the story of Christianity: Redemption. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are. It does not matter what you’ve done – or what you haven’t done; you can always repent. In a few months we’ll be starting the season of Advent and we’ll hear that message over and over again: repent, turn back, turn from your ways, return to God. That’s a beautiful and hopeful message of Christianity: God is the God of second chances; God is the God of third and fourth and fifth and as many chances as you need! The first reading from the Book of Ezekiel makes it very clear that those who turn back, no matter what they have done, will live. And the Psalm reminds us that God is merciful. Isn’t that the story of the Prodigal Son?
I think we got that. I don’t think we need to spend any more time on that son. I do think that we need to spend some time on the other son: the one who says yes and then doesn’t go. Because I think that’s what happens to most of us, most of the time in our spiritual life.
One of the best definitions of sin that I’ve heard is that “sin is saying no to God”. That’s it. Saying no to God. We want to say yes to God. We want to be a people or “yes”; a people of “Amen”. That’s what “Amen” means: It means: “let it be” or “let it be done”, or “I agree”. It means “I’m in.” How do we live our lives so that we are always saying “I’m in” to God?
It’s like, how many times have we asked our kids to clean their room and they say, “yes, yes,” but then don’t do it? Do they say “yeah, yeah” just to get us to go away and they never really intended to do anything? Or, do they actually intend to do it, but then either, forget or get distracted or find something more fun and interesting to do?
Are we that way with God? Do think we have good intentions, but then get distracted or forget or find something more fun and interesting to do?
Like, you decide that you should be praying more and make a point of getting up half an hour earlier every day so you can pray. You do it for a few days and then you forget or sleep-in or start looking at your phone when you wake up….
Another reason we may say no even though we have good intentions, when it comes to the Spiritual life, is that we may feel that it’s too hard. Many years ago, I decided I should read the Bible so I started reading the Bible cover to cover. I was fine for the first 20-30 days, reading a chapter a day, and then I got to the Book of Numbers and it was like, I had no idea what I was reading and nothing made sense. It was just too hard to understand and so I stopped. I never continued. Or it can be something that is genuinely hard, like breaking a bad habit or ending a friendship that’s not healthy. Those are hard.
In the spiritual life, we also can get feelings of shame or unworthiness. You try to change a pattern of sin and go to Confession, but after months of confessing the same sin over and over again you start feeling like there’s no point. You get discouraged and so you stop. Your well-intentioned “I’m in” turns into an “I’m out”.
A great thing to do at the end of each day is to do a quick examination of your day and ask yourself where and when you said “yes” and when you said “no” to God. When did you say “I’m in” with your words and actions and when you said “I’m out”. The more you reflect on that, you will find the better you will be at saying “yes” to God in the moment, with every word and action throughout the day.
I can hear people saying that they can’t say yes or no because they don’t even know what God is asking of them – but that’s not what I am talking about. I’m not suggesting we do this with every little decision of your day, like what does God want me to do every second. But, in general. We know what God wants. We know God’s will. So, in general, do we live our lives as a “yes” to God or not?
I can think of three things that God wants from us:
- God wants us to know him and he wants to know us: How do we get to know God? The same way you get to know anyone: you spend time with him, so that means prayer. Every day, make the time to pray. Make it a habit. Go to Mass. Not going to Mass on Sunday is saying no to God. Read Scripture: knowledge of Scripture is knowledge of Christ. Do the Bible in a Year podcast. Spend time in prayer and read, study and pray with Scripture. That’s how we get to know God. And let God know you. Don’t fall in the trap of thinking that God already knows you so you don’t have to share anything with him That’s saying no to God. He knows you, yes, but he wants you to share your thoughts, your fears, your joys with him. That’s saying “I’m in”.
- God wants us to follow him and his son, Jesus: How do we say yes to that without giving up or getting discouraged, or forgetting or getting distracted? Here’s one easy suggestion: follow the Church. Jesus left us the Holy Sprit and the Holy Spirit gives us the Church. If you want to follow Jesus, follow the Church. We have to trust that the Holy Spirit is in charge of the Church, otherwise, why are we Catholic? So, how do you follow the Church? Learn about the Church’s teachings. Pay attention to what the pope is doing and saying. Go to Mass (again). Read Church documents. Study the Catechism (do the Catechism in a Year podcast). That’s one way to say yes to following Jesus. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can follow Jesus without following the Church. That’s saying no to God.
- Last, God wants us to be good people: Be honest, be responsible, be humble. The second reading reminds us of this: do nothing out of selfishness, look after the interests of others; have the same mind as Jesus Christ. Be kind, polite, do your work well be good friends. Guys, be good husbands and good fathers. Don’t be rude, proud, entitled, holding on to grudges, don’t swear, don’t gossip, don’t complain. Don’t come to Mass on Sundays and then live a dishonest life, making excuses for our behaviour.
Do you know how many times we say “Amen” at Mass? Every time we say “Amen” we are saying “I’m in”, “I agree”. We are saying “yes”. After every prayer at Mass, we say “Amen”. When we receive the Eucharist, we say “Amen”. It means we are saying “yes, I’m in.” Let’s not just say “I’m in” with our words in here, but then with our actions, say “I’m out” when we leave this place.
God wants us to say yes. But it’s hard. Living the Christian life is hard. But don’t give up. You are not alone. Remember that God is kind and merciful. He is the God of second chances. He wants us to say yes to him, but remember he already said yes to us. It doesn’t matter how many times you say no to God, he will always say yes to you.
And then, when a bigger call comes to go into the vineyard, we will be ready to say “I’m in”. And after that, when the final call comes to join Jesus in Heaven with his Eternal Father, not only will we say, “amen, I’m in!” but God will say, “You’re in. Come. Enter into the joy of the Kingdom!”
