Parables of Two Vineyards

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 19, 2014

Matthew 21:28-32

(and Matthew 20:1-16)

Parables of Two Vineyards

Compassion for souls means being honest about the sin of lazy

indifference towards our dear Father's call to faith and work.

-

The greatest good work is receiving by faith the precious

gifts of God for the forgiveness of our sinfulness.

†

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I.

Last week Jesus told a story about a vineyard and the people working in it (Matthew 20:1-16). Today Jesus tells another parable where the characters are different and it's much shorter, but it's also set in a vineyard (Matthew 21:28-32).

Last Sunday Jesus told a story with a vineyard, a landlord, a foreman, and many hired workers. Today He tells us of a vineyard, a father, and his two sons.

Last Sunday all the workers in Jesus' story were called by the landlord to work. They all said yes and they all came and worked.

Today the two sons are called to work in the vineyard by their father. The first son said no and then changed his mind and worked. The second son said yes and then changed his mind and stayed away from his father's vineyard. He worked on his own.

Each vineyard parable is different because Jesus is calling out different sins. Last Sunday's parable was about pride. The first hired workers grumbled about the Master's generosity because they thought they were better than the rest. Today's parable is about lazy indifference toward our dear Father's call to faith and work.

Please notice that the work in both these stories is only mentioned in passing. Important, yes, but the central joy of each parable is the call of our dear Lord to faith and work. And the greatest good work in His vineyard is receiving by faith the precious gifts of God for the forgiveness of our sin.

II.

Every congregation is a mix, more or less, of these two sons. For that matter every believer is a mix, more or less, of these two sons. You are here today because you confess that your sinful You says No to the call of our dear Lord. But through God-given faith you cling to His promises of mercy. And in faith you repent, that is, you change your mind and your new You says Yes to your heavenly Father's call to follow Him. And where does He lead you?

He leads you to His fruitful vineyard, His church. He gives you food and drink, and you go and labor in your little patch of His vineyard. Instead of plants and vines, you live and work and serve other people. We are the branches of the Lord's vine (John 15) and tend these other branches with mercy.

III.

But there are also those in our congregation who follow their own path and do their own work. They are members through a profession of their faith or by baptism. By having become members they have said Yes to our dear Father in heaven. But at some later time they repented—changed their mind—and do their own thing.

Since working in God's vineyard means receiving God's gifts of grace, namely, hearing the preaching of Christ crucified and eating and drinking the true body and blood of Christ, there are many under our spiritual care who are not working in God's vineyard. They don't receive God's gifts here or at any church. They are content to do their own thing.

So as humble and repentant sons and daughters of God, what is our responsibility to these second sons?

First of all, invite them again and again with our dear Father's call to work, to receive His gifts in the Divine Service. If they don't listen, then after a time we will gently, but firmly remind them of the spiritual danger of lazy indifference toward God's call to work.

If even then they refuse to change their mind, we do the only thing that true love calls us to do. We remove from their promise to be faithful to Christ, so that they will stop being hypocrites like the second son who said Yes with his lips, but No with his life. Jesus said,

"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21

IV.

And this is where the other vineyard parable from last Sunday comes back into the discussion. The only people that our dear Lord called and saved where people standing idle in the vineyard. They had no illusion that they were in the vineyard. They knew what they were. Out of His mercy these are souls that God called to faith and work.

At the end of the parable for today the second son is dead and damned, because he thought he was still in the vineyard and in the family. But Jesus said that the father did not want the second son. It is unloving to allow those who say yes with their lips and no with their lives to remain indefinitely under an illusion of false security, which they may get from their church membership.

Since we care deeply for these precious souls, let us confess the many times daily we say No toward our Father's call. And let us receive forgiveness and rejoice that He has changed our minds to say Yes and follow Him.

Then let us pray for courage and gentleness as we call on our fellow members to join us in turning away from saying No to our Father and change our mind and go to work in His vineyard.

And if and when it may become appropriate to remove someone from our membership, keep in mind that we are not giving up on them. It means that we are simply applying the Law, a different Word of God, to them for the sake of their soul.

V.

But these parables above all exemplify the Gospel. He loves us. He calls us. He brings us into His vineyard and puts us to work by receiving His gifts. Let us share this truth with strangers and with our own loved ones.

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.