I’m not always very good at doing the things I say I’m going to do. About six or seven years ago, April and I bought an ant farm to give as a Christmas present to the children of some friends of ours. I had told April and myself that I would wrap it, put it in a box, and mail it to them. I failed to do that. So when a birthday for one of the kids rolled around, I said, “I’m going to mail it to her for her birthday.” The birthday came and went and I never mailed it. The following Christmas, I once again said I would wrap that ant farm up and mail it to them. And again I didn’t. This was six or seven years ago and that ant farm is still sitting in my basement, waiting to be mailed. Now, in case you were worried, there were not any ants in it. You had to send in for those. But the point is that it is really easy to say we’re going to do something and then neglect to actually do it.

In our reading today from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the story of a father and his two sons. The father goes to one of his sons and asks him to go do some work in the family vineyard. The son says, “No thanks, dad. I’d rather stay here and play on my Xbox.” But eventually he gets bored of playing Call of Duty and goes out to the vineyard to do some work. Now, when the first son said no to him, the father went to his other son and asked him to go work in the vineyard. The second son was a bit of a kiss-up and he was like, “Of course, dad! I’ll get right on that.” But then he tells himself, “I bet I can get in a round of golf before I go out there.” Then eighteen holes, five water hazards, and nine bogeys later, he has completely forgotten he’d agreed to his dad’s request. He may not have intended to not do what he said he was going to do, but that’s what happened.

I’ll admit that I often feel I’m much more like that second brother than I am like the first. April could probably list numerous times when I’ve told her I would do something only to get distracted and forget all about it. Gloria Pitzer has a great quote that I think speaks to this. She wrote, “Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will–tomorrow.” Oftentimes, we have good intentions but little or no follow-through. And that inability to do what we say we are going to do makes us look like liars and hypocrites. Sigmund Freud says, “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.” The second son believed that doing what his father asked of him was the right thing to do. But then he didn’t do it. So did he really believe that it was the right thing to do?

On the other side of the coin, we see the first brother. His dad asks him to go to work in the vineyard first. But he refuses. Then sometimes later he decides to go to work after all. You could argue that the first son is just as hypocritical as the second son. Yet the first son is praised for doing what was right. Author Oscar Wilde, in his book The Importance of Being Earnest, addresses this inconsistency with a bit of sarcasm. He writes, “I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” I can relate easily to the second son, but I find it a bit more difficult to relate to the first. I’ve had the experience of saying no to a request and then eventually doing it anyway. But I rarely see that as a virtue because often I am doing it out of guilt or a sense of obligation and not because of a true change of heart.

So what makes the first son an example of what a godly person should do? To me, the answer to that question is not immediately evident. But before we begin to answer that question, let’s look at how Jesus applies this parable to his audience. Jesus is speaking to the elders and the chief priests who have gathered around him and says, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.” Ooo burn! Jesus just laid the smack down on them. Jesus just told the highest ranking people in Judaism that tax collectors and prostitutes, the worst of the worst, will enter the kingdom of God before they will. I bet that got their attention.

Jesus is turning the idea of power on its head. The chief priests got their power from their position within the Jewish temple system. They were part of the Sanhedrin, the ruling group within Judaism. One of the chief priests was selected as high priest, who is basically the president of the Sanhedrin. The chief priests derive their power from their position within Judaism. The elders, on the other hand, were those who represented the people of different cities or areas. They were like the Congressmen of ancient Israel. So they too derived their power from their position, but for them it was their political position. If we think about the other powerful groups that oppose Jesus, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, we see a slightly different source of power. The Pharisees were not all that high ranking in Judaism, but the views they purported were very popular. So they derived their power from the influence they exerted on the people. The Sadducees, on the other hand, derived their power from their wealth. The high priest was almost always a Sadducee because of the power their money wielded.

Jesus showed us a different sort of power though. He showed us a power that came through servanthood and humility. Henri Nouwen, in his book In the Name of Jesus, writes about leadership, which could be pretty closely equated with power. He says, “A whole new type of leadership is asked for in the church of tomorrow, a leadership that is not modeled on the power games of the world, but on the servant-leader Jesus, who came to give his life for the salvation of many.” This servant-leadership looks very different from what the chief priests and elders thought leadership should be. They only saw leadership and power in the way that benefited them the most. Power for them came from political and religious positions, which Jesus had none of. He was considered a rabbi by his followers, but he did not have the training of other Jewish rabbis, who had to go through all of Hebrew school and then apprentice under an experienced rabbi. Jesus went straight from being a carpenter with his dad to gathering followers and starting a movement. And that movement did not gain steam because of money or position or status. It grew in popularity because of Jesus’ love and servant heart and humility.

So, how does this connect with the story of the two brothers? I’d like to suggest three possible connections that can help us understand the power of God displayed in Jesus. First, Jesus’ power is displayed in his servant-heart. The first son, though he said he wouldn’t go work in his father’s vineyard, he did it anyway. His actions showed a servant-heart. Jesus gathered with his disciples shortly before his death, and before they had their last meal together, he knelt down and washed their feet. It was a very unusual thing for a leader to do. But that act showed the disciples that power was not about controlling others but about serving them. We face choices every day like the two sons faced. Sometimes we say no and sometimes we say yes. But the deeper question is, “Are we seeking to serve God and our neighbor?” It is in serving that we find the power of God in us.

Jesus’ power is displayed in serving. And second, Jesus’ power is displayed in humility. The first son had to humble himself and admit that he’d answered his father too quickly and not in the right frame of mind. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he had made a mistake and seek to correct it. It is in our humility and weakness that God’s power is made known. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “The Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” Weakness here for Paul does not mean sins. He is not suggesting that we boast in our sins, but that we admit that we are weak and struggle to resist the temptation to sin. It is in admitting that weakness that God shows God’s power. For it is only through God’s power that we have any hope of redemption. So we must humble ourselves, recognize that we are not God and we cannot save ourselves. Jesus showed us the greatest example of humility in choosing to give up his life. Paul puts it this way in our passage from Philippians, “Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross.” He made himself weak in order that God’s power might be made strong. That should be our goal as well.

Jesus’ power is displayed in serving, Jesus’ power is displayed in humility, and finally, Jesus’ power is displayed in forgiveness. Jesus doesn’t tell us in this parable that the father forgave the first son when he changed his mind and did the work. But I think we can assume from the explanation Jesus used afterward that the father did forgive his son, just as God forgave the tax collectors and the prostitutes and welcomed them into his kingdom.

There’s a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

We all need forgiveness. And Jesus shows us that there is great power in giving and receiving forgiveness. The story of the Prodigal Son who takes his share of the inheritance, runs away, wastes it all, and comes home ready to beg, but his father forgives him and welcomes him home, illustrates this power perfectly. Forgiveness is often a radical act, but it is also a very powerful one. Jesus’ power is displayed in serving, in humility, and in forgiveness. It is not how the world views power. The world’s power is fragile and always looking for ways to obtain more. But God’s power is stable and always growing inside us. May find that power by living like Jesus, by serving, by living with humility, and by forgiving others and ourselves whenever possible. But even if we fail or do it wrong the first time, we can choose to change. For there is power in change as well. May our hearts be changed by God’s love for us and may we seek to serve humbly with forgiveness in our hearts. Amen.