|
The Parables
of Matthew
Much Ado
About Something
Matthew
21:28-32
Introduction: Lord, Show Me Your Will!
George Mueller (aka
Muller) is the much revered founder of orphanages that helped over 10,000
orphans in England during the nineteenth Century. The orphanage often seemed to
exist on faith alone. It was founded solely on the belief that it was God’s
will to do so. Mueller seemed to exhibit an extraordinary affinity for knowing
and doing the will of God during his almost seven decades of ministry. On the
topic of God’s will he observed:
I seek at
the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own
in regard to a given matter. 90% of the trouble with people is just here. 90%
of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s
will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually a
little way to the knowledge about His will now.
Do you ever want to know the will of God
for your life? It is a subject about
which each one of us has puzzled at different times. Some of you may have
questions about His will for your life right now.
·
You may
be on the edge of a crucial evaluation of the next steps in your life
·
You may
have questions about the alternatives before you
·
You may
wonder what God wants you to do with complex problems that defy solution
·
You may
want to maximize what God wants to do through you with the people you love
It’s at these kinds of
times when we will often pray, “Lord, show me your will.”
Two Basic Assumptions
Right here near the
beginning let me share two basic assumptions I bring to our consideration about
the will of God.
1st
Assumption: If we are seeking to know God’s will, it’s a sure sign that we are
out of it
As we move through the
study I think the support for this assumption will be clear.
2nd
Assumption: We cannot know the will of God unless we are willing to do the
obvious, primary thing God has already asked us to do
Refusing to do that thing
where God is already clearly dealing with us often leads us to seek advice from
friends. It’s good that friends can offer advice, but if God has already made His
will clear, the advice they give may very well be much ado about nothing. We have to ultimately go to God. Friends
can help but, let’s face it; their perspective is just as limited as our own.
God knows us absolutely and He sees the beginning from the end.
Philosopher Frederick
Nietzsche said little most of us can understand, and probably even less with
which we will agree beyond this: If you know your why, you’ll understand your how.
That’s the point made by
Jesus in The Parable Of The Two Sons. To understand the point we need to
consider the context in which the parable is given, identify the one teaching point,
determine what it tells us about the nature of God and then seek to understand
how it applies to how we live to honor God on a daily basis.
The Context
Jesus is in the last week
of His earthly ministry as we find
·
Jesus triumphantly entering Jerusalem (Matthew
21:1-11) ·
Jesus clearing the temple of money changers
(Matthew 21:12-13) ·
Jesus becoming the target of indignation
(Matthew 21:14-17) ·
Jesus teaching about the priority of faith
and God’s sure judgment (Matthew 21:18-22) ·
Jesus having His authority questioned (Matthew
21:23-27)
The mounting tension spins
toward confrontation when Jesus enters the temple to teach the people. The
chief priests and elders of the people openly challenge Him,
By what
authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?
Matthew
21:23 NIV
Jesus’ reply in the form
of a question is direct and cuts to the heart.
Jesus replied,
"I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by
what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism—where did it come from?
Was it from heaven, or from men?" Matthew
21:24-25 NIV
The teachers of the law
are stuck—and they know it! They reason with each other:
·
If we say heaven, He’ll ask, “Why then didn’t
you believe him?”
·
If we say men, the people will be upset with
us.
With no safe answer, they
evade the question with a wimpy, “We don’t know.”
The problem is that some
of them did know. They knew very well. Jesus was bringing them to the point: “How could they
deal with His authority as Messiah if they had not been willing to accept the
authority of John who was sent by God to prepare the way?” With this we are prepared for the parable: How can we know
the will of God when we have not responded to what we have already learned of His
plan for us? The leaders of the Jewish nation hadn’t been listening.
He had told them the source of His authority. Their question about His
authority is like our question about the will of God. We already know more than what we have done. We haven’t acted on
the knowledge God has already given us because to know is to do. Pastor George
W. Truett said, “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge. To do the will of
God is the greatest experience.”
Explaining The Parable—Matthew 21:28-32
The story features the two
sons of a man who owned a vineyard. You may want to note that the order of the
two sons and their responses is reversed in some translations. It’s one of
those times when the order was changed during transcription with no impact on
the meaning or truthfulness of the passage. The request of the Father is the
same—as is the ultimate outcome.
·
The Father’s Request: Son, go and work today
in the vineyard
·
The First Son’s Response: I will not. Later
he changes his mind and goes.
·
The Second Son’s Response: I will, sir. But,
he doesn’t go.
Jesus is now ready to
lower the boom as He asks,
Which of the two
did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.
Matthew
21:31a NIV
Remember the discussion about John the
Baptist? With their answer to this
question, Jesus takes them right back to it.
Jesus said to
them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are
entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the
way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and
the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and
believe him. Matthew 21:31b-32 NIV
Jesus compares the first son to the tax
collectors and prostitutes who had
consistently said “no” to God but were now saying “yes” and entering the kingdom
of God. They realized John came to show the way of righteousness. They
believed. The
religious leaders, who should have believed, didn’t. The second son represents
them. They refused to act on what
they knew had been revealed by God.
With their answer they
condemn themselves. With their answer they answer the question they had asked
Jesus about His authority to do what He is doing. Which one does the will of the Father?
The answer is the one who went. In other words, words alone are not sufficient.
Belief is always followed by obedient
action—and those who saw themselves as righteous refused to obey.
Understanding The Symbolism
The symbols are familiar
because we have seen them before in our quest to get to know God better through
the parables. The
Father is God and the Vineyard is His Kingdom. Those who go to work in the vineyard cooperate
with God in His plans and purposes for His people.
God says, “Go into my
vineyard and work.” The two responses of the two sons represent the attitudes
of God’s people no matter what
the day and year. There is the response of the pious who say they will go but never do.
There is the response of the resistant who say they won’t go but, after
thinking about it, do. I ask you, “Which of the two does the will of God?”
Our Place In The Story
Let’s consider first how we find
ourselves so often in the place of Son # 2 by making promises that
are never kept. We pray so readily, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven.” Even as we pray, clearly we are waiting for heaven
to actually do His will. While still on earth we prefer to keep our options open.
We become like the religious authorities Jesus exposed as the hypocrites they
were. They made a great show of saying yes to God, but never followed through.
Have you ever had the sense that God
wanted you to do something that you avoided? You fervently promise God what you are going to do for Him and then
you just neglect to do it. Do you identify with this son? I find I can casually promise God more than I
will match with my actions. What about you?
I also find myself walking in the shoes
of Son # 1. As God speaks into my
life I protest, “Not me, Lord. Not this time, Jesus.”
In many ways my grudging surrender to God’s call
into ministry over a two-year period is a Son # 1 scenario. My problem had
nothing to do with knowing what God’s will was. My problem was I understood it
far too well. I argued. I protested. I informed God in no uncertain terms that
I wasn’t interested. But, God continued to work and I finally said, “All right,
God. I give up. I’ll do what You want me to do and I’ll go where You want me to
go.” I’m glad I did. It opened the way for God to unfold more of His will for
my life that affected the education I pursued, the way I used my time and even
the woman I married.
It would have all been
very different if I had continued to insist that my will be done.
The Big Twist
I enjoy authors who are
able to develop their plot line only to surprise the reader with a big twist.
As the twist becomes evident you find yourself saying, “I sure didn’t see that
one coming.” It’s right here at this point as we try to figure out if we are
more like the first or second son that the big twist comes. Here it is.
Why should either son have to be asked
to go into the vineyard?
No accolades should be
given to either son. If they knew and loved their father, they would know, as
part of the family, the vineyard is theirs as well.
It’s here we discover the
key: The discovery of the will of God
comes from habitual, consistent, repetitive communion with God as our Father.
If we say, “I don’t know the will of God,” it tells something about our
relationship with God. I grant you that there will be periods of struggle but
those are special times of learning to trust God.
Spurgeon is often quoted
by preachers because he was the prince of preachers. This quote provides
insight about why he deserves to be so revered. Spurgeon practiced this
formula: He
who obeys God, trusts God; and he who trusts God, obeys God. The first step in discovering God’s will is to go
into the vineyard to work. The next step will be revealed when the first is
taken.
The Meaning For Us
Let’s move the story
forward to St. Cloud, Minnesota in August of 2009. What does this mean for us? How do we go
about applying the teaching of the parable to our world? You may think I’m making a big deal about this. I
am because it is a big deal. This is much ado about something that truly
matters. Our problem almost never
involves not knowing God’s will. It almost always comes down to not following
through on the will of God we already know. Here are three ways for us to
follow through.
The
Willingness To Work In the Vineyard Means We Care About People And Their Needs
God has made it clear that
He loves the world and the people He created. Because God is concerned that
others know His love for them, we are concerned, too. We deeply, genuinely care
that people learn that God loves them. Unless
our lives are being poured out for people who don’t know the Lord, we haven’t
yet begun to work in the vineyard. God has made it clear this is the desire
of His heart. How
can we plead with God to know more of His will when we haven’t acted on His
already revealed will?
The Willingness
To Work In The Vineyard Means We Acknowledge Our Responsibility To Our
Communities
Our families, homes,
churches and places of work and learning are places where God desires to work
through us. There are points in our lives when we arrive at strategic
crossroads seeking God’s direction. God has promised to reveal His will. In
fact, it’s often already been clearly revealed in the Bible where God provides
direction and insight on how to live with others. When we refuse to follow what
God has made clear, we are going to become increasingly confused about what to
do next. Start by acknowledging the responsibilities God has made clear and
honor Him by figuring out your steps to follow through.
The
Willingness To Work In The Vineyard Means We Will Praise God For The Guidance
Received
When we ask God for
guidance and He gives it, we thank Him. If we don’t, there really is no reason
for further guidance. The vineyard is His. He gives us the privilege of working
there. We praise Him for the His enablement. He then opens up greater
opportunities for us to serve Him and to grow.
Conclusion: Are You Like Either Of The Sons?
Jesus told the story and
now invites you to step into it. Are you like either of the sons? The first son resisted, repented and acted. The
second son recited the right words but never followed through.
Jesus made His point clearly: To know God’s will is to
do God’s will.
Bobby
Richardson, second basemen on the great Yankee teams of the 1960’s later became
a stalwart in the ministry of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. At one FCA
meeting he prayed, “Dear God: Your will, nothing more, nothing
less, nothing else. Amen.”
God wants to hear that
prayer from you. Are you ready to pray it—and then live it?
| 