{"id":511513,"date":"1996-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1996-09-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-21T08:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:41:34","slug":"we-encounter-a-couple-of-proper-21-a-1996","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/we-encounter-a-couple-of-proper-21-a-1996\/","title":{"rendered":"We Encounter a Couple of&#8230;, Proper 21 (A) &#8211; 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We encounter a couple of real charmers in today\u2019s Gospel! The kind of boys I\u2019d rather not have around my house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second son reminds me of the Auto Mechanic who \u201cpromises\u201d to have your car ready in four hours and when you go back to pick it up, he hasn\u2019t even looked at it, much less touched it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first son is just the opposite. When we bring him the latest task, he says: \u201cThere\u2019s no way I am going to do that for you! I don\u2019t have the time and it\u2019s not going to happen!\u201d Then you go elsewhere to get it done and when you come back home \u2013 he\u2019s completed the task anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two real charmers in today\u2019s Gospel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second one says, \u201cSure Dad, I\u2019ll take care of it,\u201d and then doesn\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first one says, \u201cNo way Dad.\u201d And then later on regrets his decision and does what he was originally asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both sons are disobedient. They just work out their disobedience in different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two real Charmers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I know the boys!<br>I\u2019ve met them before! And so have you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sad truth is that sometimes they\u2019re both me.<br>And sometimes they\u2019re are both you.<br>Or as the cartoon philosopher Pogo used to say, \u201cWe has met the enemy and he is us!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Gospel story, Jesus equates the second son with the scribes and Pharisees. This son says \u201cYes father, I\u2019ll take care of it.\u201d And then doesn\u2019t do the work. He talks a great story; however there\u2019s little or no action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus equates the first son with tax collectors, prostitutes, and known sinners. The first son says, \u201cNo father, I\u2019m doing it.\u201d Later on he regrets it and goes to work. He\u2019s a definite No, but with regret and repentance he\u2019s later moved to action. Just as the tax collectors, prostitutes, and known sinners had repented at the River Jordan with John the Baptist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And what of you and me? Sometimes we talk a great story like the second son and yet there\u2019s little or no action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At other times we are just as disobedient as the first son, yet through repentance we return to the Lord and get on about His work. Another way to consider this parable is to ask the question, \u201cIs what I profess on Sunday carried out on Monday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We say Yes to God on Sunday Morning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Then end up blowing our temper before we even get home; orWe end up talking negatively or unflatteringly about our neighbor having just worshipped with him or her in the sanctuary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We say Yes to God on Sunday Morning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Then a friend tells a joke ridiculing someone that really isn\u2019t funny, but because they laugh, we laugh; orWe see someone act in a way which we know to be wrong, but we silently look on, too timid to intervene.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are not always what we appear to be, nor were the scribes and Pharisees of the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our YES to God is often like the response given by the second son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I remember my own youthful disillusionment, when as a teenager, I worked one Summer for a man I admired greatly. He appeared to be an exemplary Christian a man of honor, a man of Christian virtues, at church every Sunday. Unfortunately, when I worked in his place of business that summer, I learned an important and painful lesson. His employees were put down, often harassed, and any justice dispensed was his as Christian virtues were not practiced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All too often many of us fail to embody in our lives what we say we believe with our lips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Yes of Sunday morning doesn\u2019t make it to Monday morning and sometimes it doesn\u2019t even make it our of the Church parking lot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second Son says YES to God, but for many reasons, can\u2019t carry through with the YES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve been there\u2026.<br>We\u2019ve been there when we fail to commend the faith within us,<br>When we fail to love ourselves,<br>When we fail to love our neighbors,<br>When the sins of pride, judgment, gossip, and anger come between us and our neighbor,<br>We\u2019ve been there\u2014the second son isn\u2019t much different than many of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And, like the first son, there have been times when we\u2019ve said \u201cNo\u201d to God and to each other and then have regretted and repented. Thankfully, in our repentance, our actions have spoken much louder than our original words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It might be that this parable is attempting to tell us that God is more interested in what we do, than in what we say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the best news of all is that whether or not we identify with the first or the second son\u2019 whether we initially say Yes and end up with a No, or we say No and end up with a Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The good news is that God loves us anyway. God loves us and emptied himself for us as we hear in today\u2019s reading from Philippians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, because we often tend to be like the second son, we do not always receive and experience this love freely given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t like to think of myself as a scribe or a Pharisee, much less a tax collector, a prostitute, or a known sinner. I also don\u2019t like thinking of myself as one of the two sons in today\u2019s gospel. But I am, and quite possibly, so are you. I wish I could always say yes and mean yes and then follow through. But I don\u2019t. Thus, I can see myself at various stages of my life slipping into each role. Sometimes I can even see myself as each of these people all in the course of a single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My pharisee\/scribe\/tax collector\/prostitute hat comes on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When I know I\u2019m right and you\u2019re wrong<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When it has to be my way and my rules<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When I won\u2019t budge from my position<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When I only look out for myself<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When I seek to succeed at the expense of others<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When hurtful things are said and not retracted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When I do what I want instead of what God wants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chances are you have a pharisee\/scribe\/tax collector\/prostitute that you occasionally wear as well. When we put it on, we are like the second son. When we take it off and offer ourselves to Christ through repentance, our No becomes a Yes like the first son and God\u2019s forgiveness and love filter thrugh the darkness like rays of sunlight after a thunder storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is then that we experience God\u2019s grace, love, and forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They are there for each of us and are constant and everlasting. God is always reaching out to us, inviting us into relationship with Him, even when we act like the two sons in today\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ultimate sign of God\u2019s love is the outstretched arms of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the wood of the cross, for you and for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today\u2019s Gospel parable tell us that God is more interested in what we do rather than what we say. And because His Arms are out stretched for us in a posture of love and forgiveness; we can each be about Our Father\u2019s business by doing His will; and sharing His love on Sunday and Monday and each day thereafter with our own arms stretched out in love one to another; And when we fail, may we know that he loves us and forgives us as we start over again\u2026Doing His Will and Sharing His Love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>Chris Gray<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We encounter a couple of real charmers in today\u2019s Gospel! The kind of boys I\u2019d rather not have around my house. The second son reminds me of the Auto Mechanic who \u201cpromises\u201d to have your car ready in four hours and when you go back to pick it up, he hasn\u2019t even looked at it,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,1953],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-511513","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-21a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":107,"label":"Proper 21A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3475174,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511513\/revisions\/3475174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}