Matthew 21: 23-32 (2026)
Send us your Spirit of wisdom, O God, that we may hear your Word speaking through the Scriptures and understand what you are saying to the church today. Amen.
Point of view is a powerful thing, as the following story shows
It is a true story from the June 1996 Presbyterian Record
It is the story of the son of a minister
Rev Art White was a freelance writer who lived in Clementsville, NS when he wrote the story
He wrote of being in a funeral home and trying to talk to the family of Jeff Eaton who had died at the age of 15 from leukemia
Jeff’s family had no religious ties, and the funeral director has asked Art to take the service
In talking with the family, he found out that Jeff was a good student
Had lots of friends
Jeff didn’t complain much about his treatments either, even though they made him nauseous for days
The Eaton family was profoundly sorrowful and told Art of the depth of their feelings
As Art listened, he saw his own son enter the room and walk to the open casket
He stood there quietly for a moment
Then went to speak to other Eaton family members who were talking to no one
Now as Art looked at his son he felt he was dressed more for a trip to the Y than a funeral home
Sleeveless T shirt, cutoff jeans, unlaced high tops sneakers
Art went across the room to speak to his son
“Hi Dad” the boy said
Art said hi. Then “I didn’t expect to see you here,”
Hoping his son would take the hint
“I wanted to come by and pay my respects” the young fellow said
“You knew Jeff?” Art asked
“Why yes we played baseball together”
At this point the son prepared to leave
He said to his dad, “say some nice things about Jeff Dad; he was a real good guy.”
Then he said, “See you Mr. Eaton. I was proud Jeff was my friend. I know he was proud he was your son.”
The two dads caught each other’s eyes
The pastor gave the grieving dad a handkerchief to wipe his eyes
And in the few more minutes before the service was to begin folks continued to circulate and quietly talk
Just before the service was to begin the funeral director spoke to Rev Art White
He asked about the young fellow who came in looking a fright
He said “I was just about to speak to him to ask him to leave when I saw you speak to him.”
“I don’t know what he thought he was doing here looking like that.”
“The nerve.”
Art said, “They played on the same ball team a few years back. He was here to pay his respects to a friend.”
“Maybe so “said the funeral director, “but couldn’t he have shown some respect for the living?”
After the service and the internment, as the two dads walked together to the car
Mr. Eaton returned the handkerchief that had been lent and thanked Art for a very meaningful service.
Then he added, “I want to thank your son for coming to the funeral home.
No offense Rev White, but his being there meant more to me than anything else that went on today.
Your Brad is a fine boy, a fine young man, you must be very proud.”
White said “I was”
To one man Brad was a rude eye sore
An intrusion into a dignified space
To the grieving father Brad was a source of comfort
Maybe even the way the love of God was shown that day
Our gospel lesson also talks about point of view
There is the point of view of the first son
He seems to be a bad guy from the outside
He defies his father
The father says “go and work in the vineyard today” and the son says “I will not”
But then he changed his mind and went
The second son when told the same by his father said “I go sir”
But he did not
Now said Jesus, which one did what the father wanted
The crowd of leaders to whom Jesus spoke answered “The first”
Jesus said “Truly the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going to get into the kingdom of heaven ahead of you”
So is Jesus saying that it doesn’t matter what you say as long as you do the right thing in the end?
Does Jesus prefer the company of bad people over proper people?
This parable could throw a lot of beliefs on their ear
Does appearance count for nothing?
I think there are a couple of things to think of here
One is that Jesus sometimes used hyperbole to make a point
By exaggerating he could get the attention of the target group
Here he is talking to the leaders
And he says, “the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into heaven ahead of you!”
He doesn’t tell the leaders they won’t get into heaven
He says they won’t be first in line
And the ones who will be ahead in line are the two most despised groups
The tax collectors and prostitutes
Maybe today Jesus would tell us that street people and politicians would get into heaven before the Presbyterians
Jesus is shaking up the point of view of those who thought they were better off in God’s sight than others
However; there is always room in God’s kingdom
We don’t get to decide who is in and who is out
Secondly Jesus is drawing the attention of the leaders and any others who might be listening to a definite fact
The fact is that that it is not enough to merely say you want to obey God, you must actually do it
The first time that I preached on this text I said from my point of view neither of the sons did what the father wanted
As a mother I have been on the receiving end of both a son who would say he would do something and then did not do it
And of the opposite
I wasn’t too impressed in either case
I thus drew the conclusion that fathers must be more patient than mothers
I doubt very much that the lesson Jesus intends for us is that we may to do a half- hearted job at being faithful
Or that partial obedience is our goal
Rather he wants us to know that even when we fall short there is room for repentance
The sons were in a relationship with their father in such a way that there was room for improvement
Just as we are with God
Jesus is telling a story that shows the importance of repentance
There is room for change and growth
Those who first heard this parable of Jesus’
Would also know another parable about a vineyard
There is a Jewish parable in which God offered his field (Torah) to all the nations
But only Israel was willing to take the responsibility for cultivating it
And even though Israel let it lie fallow it belonged to the Israelites because they were willing to undertake the task
Thus the parable teaches that it is better to make resolutions to try to do God’s will than to than to never commit at all
Jesus takes the teaching even further
What counts with God is actual righteous conduct
And even those who do not know they are working for God will be rewarded
Through this parable we can see that we may come to God expecting to be welcome
There is no entrance exam set
There is no choice of only the pretty, smart and talented
In fact in God’s kingdom
Sometimes the choice as to who is doing God’s work may be surprising
If the kingdom is made up of those like tax collectors and prostitutes
What do we have to learn?
In our story I told at the beginning about Brad White we saw a messy teenage boy was the way a grieving father was comforted
There are times when we can see that the established people,
Whether they are Jewish leaders in biblical days,
Or government leaders in modern times,
Or church leaders today,
There are times when we can miss what we are to be doing
And there in the midst of our work and stress we can find
A business man who takes time to discuss the scripture for Sunday’s sermon
Or a literacy learner who prays for all the people she knows
Or an elderly woman who graciously accepts an act of kindness
God uses us as we are
We aren’t asked to be the best vineyard tenders in the world
To have the highest productivity
To discover the best fertilizer
To employ the most efficient means of harvesting
We are asked to be faithful
This Sunday is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
A day to remember many things
To remember to love our Aboriginal sisters and brothers
A day to recognize how much they have to teach about loving and serving
God the Creator
This is a day to recognize the damage done by the doctrine of discovery and the resulting colonization of Turtle Island
This is a day to thank God that “From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.” (Acts 17:26)
Let’s sing our chant
Take O take me as I am
Summon out what I shall be
Set your seal upon my heart
And live in me
Think of that
God takes us as we are
And summons out what we will be
There is more to who we are and want we are about that we can see or know
But God sees potential
When we say we will do something and then don’t
There is room for repentance
God can summon something more out of us
We have the vineyard
The torah
The law of God
The torah has been given to the world
And only the Israelites would take the responsibility to care for it
But in Jesus’ parable
The one who said he would work in the vineyard wouldn’t
And the one who said he wouldn’t did
And the work of the one who changed his course of action was accepted
The vineyard, the law of God
Is available to not only the nation Israel –
That is the ones who could identify themselves as God’s people –
But the gift of God is for all who will walk with God
It is for all who will undertake to do the work of the vineyard
Not just for the ones who stood and listened to Jesus on that day
Not just for the ones who studied the law
Who were identified as holy
But for the tax collectors and prostitutes
There are a few lessons to be drawn from this parable
One can be “don’t be fooled by appearances”
God knows what we look like for sure
He knows what we own
What our job is
How well we do in school
All of the things that may get us attention in our community
But more importantly God knows what we think
What we desire
What we intend
Those who seek to offer themselves to God, who want to be labourers in the vineyard may do so
We pray together as we sing our chant:
Take O take me as I am
Summon out what I shall be
Set your seal upon my heart
And live in me
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
We bring you our prayers for the world, for people and communities harmed by conflict and war, discrimination and hate, poverty and injustice. We pray for our loved ones, and for our neighbours, both friend and stranger.
Creator God, you created us in your image and set us in the world to live in peace with you and one another. We pray for those facing hunger or housing insecurity. We pray for those who are hurt and hurting because of discrimination related to race, class, or gender. We pray for those facing conflict and war, and those who love and are afraid for their sake.
Bring your comfort and justice.
Comforting God, we pray for strength and healing for Survivors, intergenerational Survivors, their families and communities, and all people who were impacted by residential schools. May your loving care bring strength and courage for healing.
God of transforming love, the wounds of injustice continue to this day, imbedded in the fabric of our institutions and governments. Let your compassion and wisdom flow through all public policies and practices. Where power is horded, bring your equity and justice. Where racism is resisted, bring your courage and strength to acknowledge and address it. We pray that our communities, churches and country will be places where there is justice and where people protect the dignity of all creation.
We pray:
…for people whose bodies, minds and souls are in pain and those struggling with physical or mental illness;
…for people who experience violence in their relationships, in their home, workplace, community or country, and for those who have been displaced by war, unjust economic systems, the climate crisis, and ongoing impacts of colonization around the world;
…for people living with housing insecurity: where home is inadequate for the needs of the people it must shelter, is unsafe, unaffordable, or inaccessible;
…for people who are struggling with economic insecurity, barriers to education or employment, unfairness in policies or practices, for those struggling with the cost of food;
…for people at the frontlines of social support systems who daily face the evidence of systemic injustice and continue to strive for the safety and dignity of people and creation.
…for human rights advocates, land defenders and peacebuilders; strengthen and empower them.
Hear us now as we pray in silence…
And now we join our voices into one prayer and pray in Jesus’ name
Amen
Commissioning and Benediction
Go into God’s good creation
praying that the Spirit will open our minds to receive truth,
open our hearts to seek peace,
and strengthen our bodies to work for justice.
Let the Spirit guide you in ways of love and justice,
to walk lightly and humbly and seek truth, reconciliation, healing, and wholeness.
And may the blessing of Creator, Christ and Spirit rest upon you this day and everyday.