The Parable of the Two Sons: The Two Sons, Part 2 Will the Real Christian Please Stand Up? "Pastor, I just don't understand you at all. You know all of the things that are going on in our church and in the leadership. How can you stay part of that? Don't you know that the church is going in the wrong direction?" My head elder was adamant. The discussion had gone on in a subdued form for several months. Things were coming to a head. "The pastors in our churches don't preach the messgage any more. All they preach about is love. They seem to have forgotten how to preach the testing truths." I was quiet. I had explained it to him before. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Law without love is legalism. More and more we are hearing the call to come back to historic Adventism, to the truth. And I am for that. Unless you mean arguing over who the King of the North is. But I believe along the way that we have some words to consider from inspiration. Last week we looked at the parable of the two sons. Perhaps we should look at the text again. "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the f first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard. ' "He answered and said, 'I will not, ' but afterward he regretted it and went. ''Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, ' but he did not go. "Which of the two did the will of his father? " They said to Him, "The first. " Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. "For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him." Matt 21:28-32 The question that I want to begin with is "Do we want to do the will of our Father?" I am going to assume that the answer is yes. I do not believe that anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus does not want to do the will of the Father. In actuality, many voices that we hear calling out to us are calling us to do the will of the Father. And the voices are sincere, for the most part. How do we discern what to do? I have heard what not to do. Don't let the church service get too boysterous. Don't return your tithes to the organization. Don't preach too much from the New Testament. Don't use the wrong version of the Bible. Forget all this talk about love. Two sons. Both "lied." Both "repented." What made the difference? As we looked at the two sons last week, our focus was on the words and actions of the two. However, it is important that we look beyond those outward measures and seek for something else. Ellen White in an insighful passage interprets the father as representing God, the vineyard as the church.1 The son who said he wouldn't go represents those who live in open transgression, and make no profession of faith, who openly defy the law, yet when they hear the gospel, repent and confess their sins. The son who said he would go represents those to whom religion has become a mere pretense, and because of this, they reject the Savior. The sad thing is that the son who didn't go, probably felt good because of his proper response to his father. Then she continues by giving specific ways in which we can be like the son who said yes, but wouldn't serve his father. First mentioned is no true love for his father. Then no love for mankind. Self-righteousness, lack of self-denial and sacrifice, sleepy indolence, leaving deeds undone and words unspoken, make these unsafe to take to heaven. Look at these things again. It is not any of those things that we would normally consider to be gross sins that are mentioned as the problem of the first son. No adultry. No swearing. No murder. As we consider the leaders in the temple I am sure that in their own minds these people had it all together spiritually. The church service was in perfect order, except for a little buying and selling.. They followed all of the prescribed rituals. They bathed at the correct times. They wouldn't defile themselves by touching some of the common people. Their food was all kosher. They tithed, fasted, and prayed frequently. People you would love to have in your church. Except. There was no love. Except for themselves. And their traditions. But not for God. Or His Son. Or the squalid masses He came to save. John the Baptist came talking of repentance. They hated him. They didn't need to repent. Jesus came talking of the love of God for the world. They didn't want to hear that nonsense either. God didn't love the world. He loved the Jew. The Pharasee. And maybe the Sadducee. He might tolerate the average Joe. But the average person didn't have time to do what it required to earn God's love. They were too busy trying to scrape up enough money to eat tomorrow, or maybe today. God didn't care too much for them because they weren't rich. And everyone knew that if God loved you He blessed you. God couldn't be impressed with them, because they could not spend all the time in the temple that they needed to. You see, the son who said he would go, agreed to obey because it was what was expected of him, and he wanted to "keep face" in the eyes of the father. Yet he did not care enough about the father to actually back up his words with actions. Maybe he had to go to the temple and offer a sacrifice. Maybe he had to meet with the Sanhedrin. But he didn't have time to show his love for his father. The son who said that he would not go had things to do too. Perhaps he had in mind to go into town and see one of the less reputable ladies. Or maybe he was on his way to race his mule against cousin Benjamin's. Or maybe he had a hangover from a night of too much "fun." But as he thought about it, he remembered how much his father had done for him in the past. Feelings of love welled up through his heart. "How can I not do this for the man who has done so much for me?" So he went and spent the day working in the vineyard, doing his best, showing his love. Christ's Object Lessons says, "In the command, 'go work today in My vineyard,' the test of sincerity is brought to every soul. Will there be deeds as well as words?"2 "God stands toward His people in the relation of a father, and He has a father's claim to our faithful service. Consider the life of Christ. Standing at the head of humanity, serving His Father, He is an example of what every son should and may be. The obedience that Christ rendered, God requires from human beings today......." "Thus we are to serve God. He only serves who acts up to the highest standard of obedience. All who would be sons and daughters of God must prove themselves coworkers with God and Christ and the heavenly angels....... "God's great object in the working out of His providences is to try men, to give them an opportunity to develop character......3 "There are only two classes in the world today, and only two classes will be recognized in the judgment -- those who violate God's law, and those who obey it Christ gives the test by which to prove our loyalty or disloyalty. If ye love Me, He says, keep My commandments......." From that may we assume that if we really do not love God, that there is no merit in commandment keeping, no matter how rigid? So do we commend either of the two sons? Is there any praise for refusing a father's request? No. Is there any applause for the life style of the prostitutes and tax collectors that Jesus mentioned? No. Is there any commendation for one who says he will go and does not? Hardly. Yet the one thing that does bring distinction with it is repentance. Repentance working through love. But something even beyond that. That is motivation. Those who recognized the trough that they were living in, and felt the drawing pull of a Savior's concern, were able to respond in kind. Those who in their own minds had already expereinced the fullness of God's regard, when they got a peek of their own wrechedness, slammed the doors shut and refused to accept the greatest gift ever given. Which brings to a necessary conclusion. Both sons had a pull towards obedience. And a pull towards disobedience. All Christians expereince that. It is normal. Again, I believe that all Christians want to do what is right. But there is one factor that makes the difference in the long haul. Maybe not at the moment. The little spark sometimes takes a while to burst into flame. But in the long run, it is love, God given AGAPE love that steers us to make the important choices. And I believe that God is intensely interested in our motivation. Just look at Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' In this parable, Jesus makes it cleart that the outward deeds alone are not sufficient to determine one's standing before God. We as Adventists might be uncomfortable with that, but we can come to no other conclusion. It is not the act that is important, so much as the motive behind the act. It is true, love can be preached in such a way that it is devalued. It can even be preached so that it is undervalued. And it can be preached in such a way as to cause us to misplace it's value. It's not the love of the vineyard that brings us around. It's the love for the father that makes the difference. It's not the love of doctrines and rituals that finds us a place in the kingdom. It is a love of the one who died for us, who was resurrected, and who lives in our hearts that draws us to heaven. It is not necessairily a quite orderly church service that honors God. And it is not only a up beat worship that respects God. It is a service that pours forth from the hearts of saved sinners glorifying their Lord in the way they know best. "When all is said and done," someone once said, "more is said than done." Sad, but perhaps true. But not with Love. Maybe we have been preaching too much about love. I don't know. Maybe we have been preaching too much about how God loves us, and not enough about why we should love God. Maybe we need to start living love. If you said "No" before, why not reconsider. If you said "Yes." go on and follow through. If we look to Matthew 24:10-12 "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Here we have Jesus teaching that those who are without the law, or who do unrighteousness (v.12) are the ones who do not have agape love. The one without the law, in the context of the Two Sons, may actually appear at first to be the one upholding the law. Yet the factor that separates the authority from the rabble is the love that they accept from and return to their Lord. In a word, motive makes the difference. Finally, Matthew's position can be summarized by Jesus' command that the fulfillment of the commandments is love. This means for Matthew that the entire body of the law is still in effect but that it must be evaluated though the principles of Love that Jesus preached Jesus' point in this story is that doing is more important than mere saying, It is, of course, best for a person to say he will do God's will and then do it. But it is immeasurably better to at first refuse His will and then repent and do it than to hypocritically agree to do it and then refuse to. What Jesus is saying to us is that the doing of God's will relates to acceptance of the gospel, of receiving Jesus as the Messiah and as Savior and Lord.4 So how do we change our motivation? Can we force ourselves to love? I can see only one way to accomplish that. That way is to get to know him better. It's hard to love someone that you don't know well. And how do we get to know him better? I believe that you know that already. Through His word. By talking to Him. By listening for that still small voice that calls you closer to Him. By spending time reflecting on Jesus' life, His ministry, His sacrifice. Today I ask you to respond to the following if that is your desire. 1. I want to accept God's invitation to work in His vinyard, beginning with my life. 2. I want to know Jesus on a more personal level through the working of the Holy Spirit. 3. With the Spirit's help I will spend more time in prayer and learning God's Word. Pastor Laurie DeWitt