Yes and No

What bothers me is when people agree to do something and then don't do it. One of the easiest ways to ruin a friendship with me is broken agreements, such as meeting up, promises, and secrets.

I'm sure many of you would be upset if your friends are constantly canceling on you after agreeing for the hundredth time to meet up, especially if its for a school or work project.

The converse is the same: if a friend says no, but ends up changing their mind. It's a pleasant surprise, is it not? They say they won't come to your graduation ceremony, but end up freeing up their schedule and making it in time just brings a smile to your heart.

Jesus actually tells a parable about something like this back in the halcyon days of Ancient Jerusalem:

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Matthew 21 (Biblegateway.com), NLT:

²⁸ “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. ³⁰ Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.

³¹ “Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”^h]">[h]

Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. ³² For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.

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I used to think that this was a passage about obedience; and it is to a certain extent. Whenever my parents, friends, or authorities would ask me a favor/request, I would do my best to somehow finish the task, regardless of my verbal agreement or refusal to do so.

This morning, however, as I read, I couldn't believe how blatantly I missed Jesus' true meaning of his parable: salvation and the Kingdom of God.

Here is a short, simplistic breakdown:
1. There are many "sons" of God who say "yes" to God, but refuse to go out into the field and work for the Kingdom.
2. There are also many sons of God who say "no" to God, but end up obeying because they change their mind.
3. There are NO sons of God who willingly say "yes" to God and enthusiastically labor for the Kingdom.

Wow!!!! This is unbelievably convicting and true. Jesus isn't trying to discourage the Christian body and our efforts to follow Him. He is saying that it is naturally against our flesh to obey God.

Paul infamously wrote in Romans how his flesh often makes him do the things he does not want to do, and don't do what he wants to do. Jesus is acknowledging the sinful nature of man and granting grace! The first son refused to do so, but the father did not persist! This is our God, friends! He doesn't force us to do anything. The pursuit of holiness is through work of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, which changes our mind.

Jesus is saying that he KNOWS you won't say "yes." Actually, he probably knows you'll say "no" when he tells you to stop doing your work or errands to evangelize to that person standing in line/sitting across from you. But in the end, even though you initially outright refused, YOU are the son he wants. As I said before, he is just so pleasantly "surprised" that you ended up obeying! God is so good.

On the other hand, there are the Christians who follow #2. We think saying "yes" one time to Jesus is good enough. A sinner's prayer, one mission trip, and reading our Bible once a month is satisfactory. Shouting "OH YEAH! I'M SO GONNA DO THAT!!" every time a preacher challenges you at church is not what brings the fruit (which is the context of chapter 21). Just like Jesus says in v31 and v32, we are missing the Kingdom because of our religious spirit and practices.

Haha, but guess what's amazing? Jesus says "the [sinners] will enter the Kingdom BEFORE you." Does that mean we won't enter at all? By no means! It means that the church rats who play games with God and Christianity will/probably know what it means to have true salvation eventually, but they will be much slower in getting it. After all, there were a few Pharisees, Roman centurions, and other "pagans" who grasped the concept of the Cross and salvation through Jesus!

Isn't God unbelievably gracious?