Ez. 18:25-28; Ps 25:4-9; Phil. 2:1-11; Mt. 21:28-32
Jesus Christ is Lord! He is Lord over life and death having emptied himself “God greatly exalted him” giving his name the honor of our worship. There is power in the name of Jesus. It is the power of God’s mercy when we turn from our sin and ask for forgiveness. Today the Lord is responding to those who say “The LORD’s way is not fair!”. This is a theme carried forth from last week when all the labor workers received the same daily wage regardless of the hours they worked. Not only did they receive the same wage but Jesus responded “The last shall be first.” “Not fair” we say but who among us has the mind of God to judge his ways or his will.
The Lord asks “am I not free to do as I wish?” We answer to God and he does not answer to us thanks be to God, otherwise who would be saved since we are all sinners. God in his generosity is reminding us of how much he loves us by demonstrating his mercy upon those who turn from evil and sin to do “what is right and just”. The error in our judgment is thinking that our negative behavior has no consequences with God. We hear that God has atoned for our sins on the cross thus our sins will be forgiven in the end and we all get to go to heaven. How foolish to think our mind is the mind of God.
I am reminded of a picture I saw on Facebook of a little girl pointing her finger with a serious look. The caption at the top of the picture reads “you don’t have to worry about dying, you will live forever”; then at the bottom the caption says, “worry about location, location, location”. Location implies heaven, hell, and purgatory. Hell is for the dammed who refused the mercy of God. Heaven is for those who have reached the glorified state of holiness. Purgatory is for those who turned from their evil ways and sins but by their imperfection upon death must suffer the pains of purification of the soul before entering heaven. Thus, the Lord’s ways are both merciful and just according to his will. The Lord desires for all to come into his glory but there is a road to travel that all must pass through that is fair and just.
Our goal of life is to reach salvation by following the “paths” laid out for us by Jesus who desires us to come to “truth”. The first right step in this journey is to come to him in humility with an open mind and heart to be fed from the table of salvation. This table is God’s offering through the sacramental life of the church. It is to be church where we become “of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing” that we may empty ourselves out for him by our love of God and charity to neighbor.
The gospel message reminds us that we are called to obedience even when our own will rebels in our humanity, even when we have refused in the past, even when we think God is not interested in our actions. God knows our faults but is waiting for our obedience with his gift of mercy. If we only give the illusion of being obedient externally for all to see we fool only ourselves before God. This is the day to say “yes, Lord” and just do it, that is the obedient step towards God who is waiting for us with all his love.
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