Understanding God's call
Our lectio divina group yesterday all agreed, this gospel passage is a difficult one to understand. But, maybe that’s appropriate, since this is about Jesus teaching in the temple, and I think many of the people listening to Jesus may have struggled to understand him too. While we might be able to understand the first paragraph, and we can understand the parable in the second paragraph, understanding what connects them is more difficult. The first paragraph shows us the chief priests and elders questioning Jesus’ authority in the temple. This happens shortly after Jesus was turning over the tables in the temple, so it makes sense that they want to know where he gets the right to come in and stir things up this way. The passage shows us Jesus’ typical response of deflecting questions from other authorities, and it shows the difficult position this puts them in, where they are then at risk of challenge either from Jesus or from the people by answering Jesus’ question. This scares them and they decline to offer an opinion. So we end up with a stalemate. Jesus does not justify his authority and the chief priests and elders do not have to comment on the ministry of John the Baptist. But what does this have to do with the Parable of the Two Sons?
The parable itself seems pretty straightforward. It's not difficult to answer Jesus’ question of who did the father’s will. As Jesus tells the parable, we don’t actually know how old the sons are, but I imagine them to be teenagers. I imagine them to be teenagers because I remember something I learned about teenagers when I was back in grad school. I learned that they generally operate on “the principle of least effort.” Whatever it is that they are asked to do, they will find the way that requires the least effort, and do it that way. This kind of sounds like the sons in this parable, where one straight-up says he won’t go but eventually gets around to it, the other says he will do it but never does get to it. Now, before we nod and say, yes, that sounds like all the teenagers we’ve seen, let’s pause and remember that it also sounds like the teenagers we’ve been. We’ve all been there. We’ve been the one who at first says no but eventually gets around to it, and we’ve been the one who never does get to the thing we said we’d do. And maybe because we’ve been there, it can be easy to see that only one of these sons did his father’s will. Obviously, it was the one who finally got around to doing what his father asked of him. In neither case did their words actually match their actions, but when it came down to their actions, it was answering the father’s call that mattered. Even if it didn’t happen right away.
And it’s this question of doing the father’s will that connects this parable to the elders’ question about authority. Jesus’ authority comes from doing his Father’s will, and maybe even from doing it immediately. The rest of us almost always stumble to get there, just like the sons in the parable. We question God or we doubt ourselves. We get distracted with other priorities, or assume someone else will do it. The reasons are endless, any one of them could have been what held up the first son in the parable, and maybe even the second son too. But just like with the tax collectors and prostitutes, it’s clear that answering God’s call, no matter where we start from or how long it takes us, is what matters most to Jesus. And when he tells the chief priests and elders that outcasts and known sinners are entering the Kingdom of God before them, I don’t think he’s trying to shame them, I think he’s trying to invite them. I think he’s asking them, what are you waiting for? Hurry up, and join us.
Join us in the Kingdom of God. Isn’t that the invitation Jesus offers to all of us? As we sit here today and hear God call us to work in the vineyard, what is our response? As it was for the second son, it may be easy to listen to God’s call in a church and say, of course, God, send me. I will go. The harder part is what happens when we leave church, when we are called to respond in the vineyard out there. But I don’t think it’s as simple as a yes or no question of whether or not we will go as the first son went, I think it’s more a question of which part of the vineyard is the one that allows us to answer yes. It can take some time to figure that out.
Discerning God’s call is rarely a single moment of clarity, it is more often an ongoing practice of listening and reflection. It involves paying attention to the needs of the world around us, noticing where our deepest gifts meet those needs, and trying things out in community with others. Through prayer, quiet contemplation, and dialogue with those we trust, we can begin to differentiate the subtle invitation of God from our own desires or fears, granting us the courage to step forward even when the full path remains unseen.
I’ve seen this over the last few years as I have served on the faculty of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry, where I facilitate a colloquium group for the second year students who are studying either to be a priest or a deacon. Whenever I talk with them about discerning a call, I hear lots of stories of years-long processes of discernment, and plenty of expressions of imposter syndrome. The desire to follow God can be there, but understanding the shape that will take is so much harder. That isn’t only true for ordained ministry, of course, it’s true for all of us. We are all called to work for the Kingdom of God. But we aren’t all called to the same place in the vineyard.
Ultimately, Jesus reminds us that God cares less about our initial hesitations or quick promises, and far more about our eventual response. Whether we identify with the reluctant son, find ourselves spinning our wheels in discernment, or feel unsure of our place in the vineyard, the invitation remains open and active. Discerning God's call is a continuous, lifelong journey, but we do not walk it alone. As we step out today, may we have the courage to listen deeply, move past our doubts, and humbly say yes to joining God's transformative work in whatever corner of the vineyard we are sent. Amen.