Ezekiel 18:25-28
Phil 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32

Bishop Untener's Homily

This Gospel comes up on Sunday every three years. The word of God is always fresh, always "live" - not just a re-hash — because the Lord is present in his word, and the Lord speaks to us here and now through his word.

All of which is to say that, in reading this Gospel afresh this year, something struck me that I had never thought of before. Now, not everything that strikes me should necessarily strike you (for the word of the Lord is addressed to each of us in an individual way), but I have a feeling that what struck me may have the same effect upon you. It has to do with saying "yes" or "no" to the Lord.

We have examples in the Gospels of people who said "yes" or "no" to the Lord. There was the rich young man whom Jesus called to follow him. He thought it over, and he said "no". There was Peter, Andrew, James and John whom Jesus called to follow him, and they said "yes". They left their boats and their nets and followed Jesus. But later on, Peter said "no". He flat out, and under oath, denied Jesus three times. Then, after Jesus had risen from the dead, Peter said "yes". Jesus asked him three times, "Do you love me?" and Peter three times said, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Then there is Mary. She said "yes": She said, "Let it be done to me according to your word."

Then there was Judas who, having first said "yes" to Jesus and accepting the call to be one of the Twelve, later said "no," and handed Jesus over to be arrested.

This raises some questions and some thoughts. I think that we say "yes" to the in Lord those long-haul decisions - for example, to be a member of the Church, to come faithfully to the Eucharist... or to be a Lay Minister... or a religious... or a priest. But in the short-term decisions, I don't think we say "yes" or "no" to the Lord. We just sort of figure that the general direction of our life is a "yes" and that's it. We've said a long-term "yes". We belong to the Church and are faithful to participation in the Eucharist, and live out our "yes". The problem, I think, has to do with our short-term "yes" or our short-term "no".

I'm not sure that in our day-to-day short-term decisions we say "yes" or "no" to the Lord. On a given day, there are a lot of "yeses" and "nos". If we allowed ourselves to think about it, we'd be pretty sure of what the Lord is calling us to do or not do - to say or not say - in the situations of day-to-day life. We don't flat out say "no" to what the Lord is calling us to do, or not do. Instead, we say nothing. We simply go our own way. We don't say "no". We simply don't do what the Lord is calling us to do.

It comes down to this. We know that we have made a long-term "yes", and we maintain that "yes" by remaining a faithful member of the Church... but then we waffle on the short-term "yeses" of day-to-day living. We go our own way, and never consider the fact that we're saying "no" to the Lord. After all, we are living out our long-term "yes". But in the short-term stuff of the day-in day-out living of our lives, we say "no" time and time again without even thinking about it.

Now, I can tell you from experience the best way to do this. Here's what you do. You simply avoid acknowledging the fact that the inkling to do this or that - which is clearly the right thing to do - comes from the Lord. You make up your mind as though it were simply a matter of your own practical decision. And we make the choice on our own terms. It's not a "no" to the Lord. It's simply a matter of fact choice on our part, not a response to the Lord's will.

I ask you this... and I ask myself this. Would you or I directly say "no" to the Lord? I think not. So, I have a suggestion. Taking this parable seriously, we need to be up front and honest. Is the Lord calling me to do, or not do, this? We need to have the honesty to say "yes" or "no". If I decide "no", then I should say it.

You know what? I don't think we would do that very often. If, instead of avoiding the decision, we looked it in the eye, we would say "yes". We might say "no" at first, like the young man did in today's Gospel. But we'd come to our senses.

It comes down to this. Are we willing to listen to the Lord in the short-term situations of day-to-day life and honestly say "yes" or "no"? I believe that if we faced up to it in that way, we'd say, "yes" much more often than we do.

It would be a good idea to make those yeses explicit. And it would be a good idea to make the "nos" explicit. It's not only a good idea. It could make all the difference in the world.

Originally given on September 29, 2002