Change Is Possible, Change Is Necessary

Here’s a list of seemingly unrelated things: coffee, the light bulb, refrigeration, the forward pass. What do each of these things have in common? Believe it or not, each of these inventions was at one time opposed by those who wanted to keep the status quo. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine a morning without a cup of coffee, or living indoors without air conditioning, or watching football without wide receivers, but people actually were against those things at one point in time. Change, even change for the better, is sometimes resisted simply because it is new.

In the Gospel today, Jesus highlights something new that is happening, and he is resisted by the chief priests and the elders, the highest authorities of the Jewish religion. The parable he crafts for their consideration is simple enough: a man had two sons; he tells both to go work in the vineyard. One says “No,” but then goes after all; the other says “Yes,” but does not go. The first son resists the father’s invitation, but some reflection about what is best, he decides to change his ways and do as he was called. The second son, having responded correctly and politely, is content with his “Yes,” but fails to put that into action.

The key to this parable is not in the story itself, but in the audience to whom it is addressed. Jesus had at this time been in his public ministry for about three years. His message, at its heart, was very simple – repent and believe in the Gospel. And that message had resonated with thousands, with people who recognized their own need for healing and conversion: tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners of every kind. Their lives had previously been a “No” to God, but hearing the Good News of Jesus, they responded with faith and with conversion of life. The chief priests and elders, on the other hand, the authorities of the Jewish religion, resisted and even ridiculed this same message. They appeared by external appearances to be faithful sons of the father, but as Jesus pointed out, their “Yes” to God was hollow.

The change that Jesus announces – which is heard by the tax collectors and sinners but resisted by the chief priests and elders – is that the kingdom of God will belong not to those who only appear to do God’s will but rather to those who really humble themselves and do it. What God desires is not just exterior conformity to his commandments, but also interior conversion of heart. The sinful person who does terrible things, realizes their error, and repents of them is much closer to the kingdom of heaven than the person who fails to see their sinfulness at all. The chief priests and elders, for all of their exterior piety and correct religion, fail to grasp what the tax collectors and prostitutes have – the simplicity of repenting and believing in the Gospel.

Eugene Burnand, The Two Sons (late 19th cent.)

This Gospel naturally makes us think, “Well, which son am I?” Most of us naturally gravitate toward thinking of ourselves like the first son. At times, we respond “No” to what the Lord calls us to, out of selfishness or laziness, but eventually, because of guilt or a sense of duty, we do the right thing: forgiving that person who has hurt us; helping that person who is continually in need; praying with the person who is troubled; giving of our time to serve our parish in that area where no one else is stepping up. Of course, it would have been better if we had responded “Yes” and done the good thing right away, but at least we are not like all those other people who never do the right thing, right? We can think of any number of people who are living much more sinfully than we are. Thank God we are at least better than they are!

Perhaps we can see the problem with that way of thinking – it sounds very much like that of the chief priests and the elders. Like them, we too can be guilty of letting our “Yes” merely be one of lip service, one that doesn’t touch the depths of our own heart. It also ignores the ways that we tell the Lord, “Yes, I will,” and then fail to follow up: giving up that sinful habit; making sure our family attends Mass every Sunday, even when we’re traveling; inviting someone we know who has fallen away from the parish to come back and join us. For as many ways as we say “No, I won’t” but then respond, there are at least as many where we say “Yes, I will” but never do. Like the chief priests and the elders, the Lord wants us to look honestly, critically at ourselves and recognize where we really stand. He wants to deal fairly with us, but it is we who are not fair with him.

The Good News, of course, is that change is possible. Not only possible but necessary! Like the tax collectors and prostitutes, we must recognize that the path to the kingdom of God is conversion, which begins with conversion of heart – and a recognition of where we have fallen short – and then which proceeds to a conversion of our ways. Jesus offers us that grace to us – the grace to respond to the Lord’s invitation with a firm “Yes,” and then follow through with action. It can be a little scary, but like refrigerators and coffee and the football forward pass, learning how to be humble and open to repentance are changes we should not resist. They will make our lives far better than they would be otherwise.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, whose feast day our Church would typically celebrate today on the 1st of October, once wrote: “Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.” Let’s ask ourselves today, “What is God’s will for me? What is he asking me to do? Where is he calling me to change?” With the grace of this Eucharist, may we hear God’s invitation, personal to each of us, and respond today, not just with our lips but with our lives, “Yes.”