In today’s gospel, Jesus makes the point that tax collectors and prostitutes, considered by many to be deplorable sinners, were entering the kingdom of God before the chief priests and elders. I imagine that his listeners were scandalized to hear what he said.
As the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people, the chief priests officiated at religious services, served as the primary religious teachers, and had the task of protecting Jewish law. They were what our bishops are for us today, the guardians of their faith. The elders, known also as the Sanhedrin, were men respected for their wisdom, who made up the town council, passing and enforcing laws.
As we heard, Jesus was critical of the very people whom others in the community considered holy. He made the point that while they outwardly appeared to be holy in the sight of others, the chief priests and elders did not back up their words with any credible actions. Unlike the tax collectors and prostitutes who heeded the message of John the Baptist, they refused to repent. Like the second son in the parable, they were quick to make promises, but they did not keep them.
The tax collectors and prostitutes, on the other hand, accepted the teachings of John the Baptist and changed their lives. Like the first son, they changed their minds and did what God asked of them. They repented. By turning their lives around, Jesus pointed out that public sinners can enter the kingdom of God.
By doing so, they experienced conversion. Those of us, who are cradle Catholics, think of conversion as a formal change of one’s religion. However, conversion can signify a deepening of one’s faith as well. The tax collectors and prostitutes did not change their religion, but by deepening their faith, they changed their lives.
Conversion doesn’t come easy though. In studying the lives of saints, we often find there was a sense of incompleteness or discontent that led them to change. Thomas Merton, for example, was a playboy in his college days at Columbia University. One night, while traveling through Europe, he was struck with an awareness of his sinfulness that prompted him to really pray for the first time in his life. Turning away from his bohemian lifestyle, he sought to do what was right. Not only did he find Christ, but also at age 26, he became a Trappist monk, and went on to become one of the best known Catholic writers of the 20th century.
Conversion isn’t limited to saints though. Many ordinary folks also experience that same sort of dissatisfaction with their personal lives as the first son in the parable did. Like Merton, they use prayer to find the spark that ignited the fire within them to change.
The legendary country singer, Johnny Cash, was addicted to drugs in the 1960’s and consequently went to jail several times. Cash overcame his addiction by renewing his faith. He tells how a shoeshine man taught him a lesson for living back in 1956, that took him several more years to really understand. “I was expecting a fast, snappy job like the young folks do,” Cash said, “and he was going about his job real slow. I said to him, ‘You don’t seem to be doing much snapping.’
“That shoeshine man looked up at me sort of sideways and said, ‘That’s the problem with the world these days—there’s too much snapping and not enough shining.'” These readings are inviting us to shine so that by our actions others will see that God matters to us.
Paul offers beautiful advice when he says, “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” If we did, then Christ’s values would influence the choices we make. If our values were Christ-centered, we would recognize that God’s ways are not so unfair after all. When Christ is the basis for our daily decisions, we will enter the kingdom of God.
Alas, the driving force for many Christians is anything but Christ’s attitude. Like the second son, their driving force is often self-centeredness and they are apt to consider God’s ways as being quite unfair.
However we may feel about our past life, many saints have demonstrated that we too can experience a change of heart and God’s mercy. They initially said “no” to God but later changed their minds and said, “Yes,” and so can we.
The gospel message is clearly one of hope for you and me. We can enter God’s kingdom, but to do so, we must constantly examine our lives and try to fulfill our promises by turning our words into deeds.
God has given us the freedom to say ‘yes’ or to say ‘no’ since our yeses would have no value unless we could say no. What matters is that we back up our words with actions. Every day we can turn one of yesterday’s no’s into one of today’s ‘yes’s.