Doing the right thing

Last Sunday I preached about the parable of the two sons. The short form is this: Father tells one son 'Work in the vineyard,' and the first son says 'Yes, I will.' Father tells the second son 'Work in the vineyard,' and his reply is 'I will not!' The first son never works in the vineyard; the second son regrets his response and works in the vineyard. Who is right? Who did the right thing? Let's break this down more:

a) The first son replied with respect, he didn't backtalk, he respected the authority of his father. I think of times when my son said 'Yes' and didn't do his chore, or when I said 'Yes' and didn't do my chores, or some of them. Saying 'Yes' is a reply that shows respect to the requester. Not living up to my obligation does not show respect, but that shows sometimes talk is cheap.
b) The second son 'I will not' does not show his father respect, I'd say it was rude. As a father, I'd notice that tone of voice quite quickly and might not have a gentle, Christian response to it. However, the son who says 'NO' is the son who went out and did the work anyway, he changed his mind and did the right thing.
The hard part about parables is the answer is not as easy as it looks. If there was option 'c', the son who says 'YES' and does the work; we'd all have our answer and go home happy. But the parables don't work that way; there is the twist to the story.

The twist is metanoia, a Greek term meaning 'change the way' or 'change the course.' In my younger years I spent time on boats and with boaters. On a boat when you move the tiller or turn the helm the boat makes the turn, gradually. The course changes but not immediately, it may take a bit for the turn to happen. It may not seem like it, but it does.

That changing the course, metanoia, is what Jesus teaches in the parable. The people who say 'yes, yes', make the proper motions and gestures, they look like they're doing the right thing. At the end of the day they didn't do the work, they didn't change. The people who said 'NO', but later changed their ways; metanoia, changed their course in life - those are the people who heard and reacted to Jesus' message. The Gospel passage speaks of prostitutes and tax collectors, the society outcasts, as the ones who followed Jesus because of metanoia. As the person in the fancy long black robe on Sunday (like a temple elder), telling the story and preaching, I have to think hard: which son am I? Am I changing my course?

This week let us consider the invitation Jesus makes to change course as we live in our world today.

Peace and blessings this week. See you about church.

From Eric Metoyer, St. Cyprian's Intern