Finnish Lutheran Church in Ball

Pastor Timo’s sermon, September 28th, 2008

20th Sun after Pentecost, Matthew 21:23-32

”Better late than never”, is today’s topic in a nutshell. One son makes a promise, but doesn’t deliver. The other son does not make a promise, but ends up delivering.

First and foremost Jesus wanted to describe the difference between his antagonists and his followers with this parable. If people had believed that John the Baptist was a prophet sent by God, they had better believe in Jesus too, because John had been working for Jesus and Jesus only. That is why the leaders were between a rock and a hard place in regards to this matter. They were typical populists who lived off the words of others, off the popular opinion. But they were not strong enough to resist Jesus and His gospel yet, because people had believed in John the Baptist’s mission.

Sometimes the door of human heart does not open to God and he ends up becoming God’s enemy. After all, it is hardest to stay neutral in issues that are of life and death. The leaders of Jesus’ times tried to be neutral in regards to Jesus, but in the end they were the ones who became Jesus’ enemies.

As a counterbalance to the leaders were a completely different crowd; prostitutes and publicans who were shunned and thought of as godless and lost causes. These people opened the doors of their hearts both to John the Baptist’s repentance sermon and to Jesus’ gospel about God’s Kingdom. But maybe these people were the ones who knew themselves best. They knew what they held deep inside. They didn’t even dream of being worthy of standing before God by their own merits and righteousness, but they came as they were, without their own merits to ask for grace and forgiveness from God. And that is why Jesus invited them into God’s Kingdom.

”Better late than never”. It is so easy to postpone things and think that ’I will do this and that’. I will clean tomorrow, call my friend, buy flowers to my spouse, fix the coat hanger – tomorrow when I have more time.

Naturally we are different when it comes to something like this, too, some of us cannot stand having things unfinished, the sooner it’s done, the better. I once talked to a daughter who had lost her elderly mother. She remembered that her mother had been a very punctual and pedant person. Or actually ’prepared in advance’ described her better than punctual. The mother became more and more ’prepared in advance’ the older she got. If they had arranged to meet each other at six on previous years, mother started showing up at five and as she got older, sometimes even two hours before the meeting, always dressed up to the nines. Finally the daughter had to start tricking her mother about their meeting times, telling her a later time on purpose so that they would meet at the same time.

But often it seems to be the case that we don’t do anything until we have to and at the last possible moment. And sometimes this leads to being forced to go with hindsight, the worst kind of wisdom there is [hindsight in Finnish= jälkiviisaus; lit.translation=after wisdom]. Had I known this, I would not have procrastinated, or had I been wiser I would have sold my house to the first buyer.

Many bankers and borrowers would have different thoughts in this country now if both had seen in advance how the economy will change. And that’s just it; life would be easy if everybody had enough ”inside information” about what kind of choices to make and when, when to sell the house, who to commit to, when to retire.

In this parable he who DOES is wise, not he who SAYS he will do. Flip flopping may not be politically correct, but in the gospel he who has the courage to admit that he was wrong is the wise one. One of the sons did not want to work for his father but changed his mind later and ended up working after all. Whereas the other son gave the answer that looked wise and correct on the outside. Of course he would do what his father asked. But as soon as the father turned his back, the son did the opposite. One of the sons realized that he had been wrong in refusing to work and wanted to return because of that. The other son appeared to do the right thing but did not really want to do what he said he would.

Therefore the question is about the most important issue, the relationship between humans and God. What is my reply to that question? Did you notice that the parable shows how merciful God is. When one son said that he does not want to work at his father’s vineyard, meaning that he does not want to accept God’s invitation to repentance and salvation, God did not close the doors for him because of what he said.

The son got time and freedom to think about his own things. He looked deep inside himself just like the prodigal son (Luke 15:17) and finally returned to his father. The journey had been a costly one, but the door was open for him to come home and the reception at the father’s home was jubilant.

This was and is also Jesus’ message to us all. God calls us to be with Him, to return to Him. Sometimes it requires looking deep inside ourselves, becoming humble and repairing our relationship with our Heavenly Father. When it comes to this issue, we have also been called to be exceptionally honest to ourselves. Like the saying goes; ”honesty is the best policy”. The other son of the vineyard’s owner accepted the offer, but only lightly and technically, just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ times. On the outside they were righteous and orthodox in their religion, but on the inside it was other things that were dearer to them, and that is why Jesus’ words hurt them.

The other son, on the other hand, lived like publicans and prostitutes. On the outside distant from God, but on the inside they were the ones who had the most need and thirst for something lasting, pure and real to fill the emptiness of their lives. They had a Jesus-sized hole in them. After travelling their own paths for a while, they wanted to return to the communion that God had created for them and invited them into.

”Better late than never”, still don’t linger when God is calling. A relationship with God withholds our own doubts, our searching and our failures. But the one thing that God wants to warn us about is becoming a ”show-believer”. Religion and faith do not exist because of a habit or appearance. God is not interested in which church we go to or how active we are as members. God is interested in if there’s room for Him in our hearts. It all begins with what is in the heart, like the Bible says: ” For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:10).” This is why the most important thing, the most important choice of our lives is not, no matter how important it seems, the kind of a house we live in or even how we choose our profession, workplace or spouse. The most important choice is an eternal choice, our relationship with God and Jesus Christ. This choice has already been made for us, because Christ has died for our sins and paved us the way to eternal life with His resurrection. It is our part as imperfect and erring humans to answer this eternal call. To return to it, to grow roots it in. To return to it even when we have first denied it. And to return to it even when we have felt strong and trusted our own righteousness, said one thing and yet done another.

No matter what the situation in our lives, the communion table unifies us with Christ’s invitation. To accept His forgiveness, atonement and all the gifts of salvation.

Saarnat Suomeksi	Previous Sermons in English
Syysk. 14, 2008	*Sep. 14, 2008*
Elok. 31, 2008	Aug. 31, 2008
*Elok. 24, 2008*	*Aug. 24, 2008*
Toukok. 25, 2008	May 25, 2008
Toukok. 11, 2008	May 11, 2008
Huhtik.27, 2008	April 27, 2008
*Maalisk. 30, 2008*	Mar. 30, 2008
Maalisk. 23, 2008	Mar. 23, 2008
Maalisk. 09, 2008	Mar.09, 2008
	Feb.10, 2008
	Jan.27.2008
	Jan 13,2008 Baptism of Our Lord