A Tale Of Three Sons - Matthew 21:28-32

Title: A Tale Of Three Sons
Date: January 9, 2007
Verse: Matthew 21:28-32

Introduction

- what kind of family did you come from?
- happy, depressing, open, secretive, sharing, tight-fisted, encouraging, big, small, spread out, closely knit?
- perhaps it was something less than the American dream of 2 parents and 2.3 children, owning a white weatherboard house with a white picket fence in the smack-dab center center of middle-class suburbia
- Matthew 21:28-32
- Jesus here is describing his own single-parent family - a father and his 2 sons - this is God's family!
- the 2 sons represent all of us, the good, the bad and the ugly
- today, we are talking about God's family

1. The Bad Son

- first let's take a look at the bad son, the one who said he would but didn't
- he looks good, but acts bad
- he seems to be the ideal son
- dad says to him to get the hammer and nails, and he says "sure dad!"
- seems like a peaceful, happy American family
- he looks good but he acts bad
- he's a fake, a liar
- no apologies, no change in his life, he's a sham, an imposter
- he is like the Pharisees
- Jesus calls the Pharisees, whited sepulchres, beatiful graves with skeletons hanging around deep inside - read Matthew 23
- look great, say all the right words, people say, "what a great guy/boss/dad/polititian"
- but when the rubber meets the road, there is nothing there, no substance to it
- it's all a lot of baloney!
- how many of us are fakes, like this son? we gather for worship, but are we here just because we have to? is it just a show? when we pray, is it just to look good? do we smile at people to their face but then cut their livers into mincemeat behind their backs?
- how many of us are like this son?

2. The Good Son

- dad is fair - he expects both sons to go work in the family business
- he tells the other son to go and do his share of work in the vineyard
- but this son says "no, I refuse"
- he is rude and disrespectful and uncooperative
- he doesn't give a reason, he just flatly refuses
- if his dad were my dad I would by now have received a whack up the side of my head!
- but this son changes his mind
- he gets up from the TV and goes and works in the vineyard after all
- this son looks bad - everyone tells their kids, "don't be like Johnny"
- but he changes his ways
- he looks bad, but acts good
- he is like the people Jesus was teaching - the beggars, the sick, the prostitutes, the tax collectors and barkeepers, the outcasts
- these people had sinned, they had thumbed their nose at God, refused to live his way
- but they repented when John the Baptist came along, they were baptized
- when Jesus called them and said "Follow me!" they left their fishing nets and houses of ill repute, their bars and ill-gotten gains, and followed him
- these were Peter, James and John, Matthew, Mary, Batholomew and Thomas
- these were you and me when we decided we would turn around and follow Jesus
- we repented
- but repentence is more than just feeling sorry about the wrong we have done
- repentance is making a change, it is letting our feet take us out into the vineyard
- the fruits will be evident
- it means no longer gosipping, no longer whining and complaining, it means putting in a good day's work because we are working in a ministry, we are doing it for others, we are doing it for God
- are we truly sorry, or do we say "forgive me God but I want to repeat this sin tomorrow"
-This son repented, he was sorry and remorseful because he had let down his dad, who was trying so hard to provide for him

3. The Third Son

- Notice that the father does not go off on a tirade against the sons
- the bad son, who lies and cheats and tries to put on a good front
- the good son who refuses to go and do the dirty work!
- so is this dad a wimp? is there no punishment for sin, no discipline?
- no, because there was a third son
- this son is the one who is telling the story, Jesus
- it was this son Jesus who took the punishment for the other sons' wrongs
- Jesus said I'll take the punishment on their behalf
- Jesus is the perfect Son, the Son who looks good, acts good, and is good
- he is so good He dies for the sins of the other two sons, for you and I.
- Jesus tells this parable on the Tuesday before he is crucified on Friday
- in just 3 days he will die
- he will be punished for his 2 brothers, for the disrespect, the rudeness, the disobedience, the hypocrisy
- how often have I stood up for people like this?
- but Jesus did it willingly

Conclusion

- if we are like the bad son, the one who tried to put on a good show but inside was totally disobedient, let's make a change in our lives
- let's be like the son who repented, who changed his ways, who left his unwillingness to obey behind, and actually went out to work in the vineyard
- let's be appreciative of the third son, Jesus, for taking the punishment we deserved, so that we did not have to be punished for our own inadequacies