Life is Messy, God is Patient

The reading today is the story of two sons. Their father asked them to go into the vineyard to work. One says no, and the other agrees. But in the end, they both do the opposite. The one who said he would go doesn’t, and the one who said he would not go does. Jesus asks which did what the father wanted.

Sometimes, parables are challenging. At least for me, they are. I long for Jesus to clearly tell me what He is saying. This is one of those. I have always reacted to this parable by thinking neither son did what the father asked. They should say yes when they mean yes and say no when they mean no. Now, wouldn’t that be simpler? Simpler, yes, but realistic, no.

Jesus knows it is difficult to say yes to the call to live as Gospel people. It is hard to live as people of faith. Jesus struggled to say yes to the Father. We only have to look at the Garden of Gethsemane to see the difficulty of Jesus’ yes. He cried out, “Let this cup pass from me. But not my will. Let yours be done.”

We often blame God when terrible things happen in our lives. We all know people who have stepped away from faith and from God because they blame Him for the tragedies that they have endured. We hear words like, “If God cared, he would not have allowed that drunk driver to hit and kill that family. If God was really there, he would not have allowed that child to drown.” “God must have been on a coffee break when a stray bullet killed those kids playing in their yard.” 

But that is still quite abstract. The desperation comes when the family killed is my family. When the child who drowned is my child, and the stray bullet kills my children. We know anguish when my spouse is diagnosed with a terminal illness. We know it when life’s tragedies hit me and mine. We know it when the senselessness of illness, disease, and violence gouges furrows in our hearts. We know it when a storm comes; all we have worked for is gone in a heartbeat. The fierce winds of our lives can take our sense of ourselves, hope, and promise with them.

It is hard to say yes to going out and living our lives in the vineyard of the Lord. Jesus knows how hard it is. Jesus’ witness is our lifeline when desperation strikes our lives, and it seems impossible to say yes to God. In times of tragedy, believing in a God who loves and cares for us sounds absurd.

Of course, we know that God does not make cars crash, illnesses strike, or storms overwhelm communities. We know it. But, when tragedy strikes, we often only know it in our heads. Our hearts are submerged in agony and feel abandoned.

The Gospel today gives us hope for those times. The Gospel tells us that God has broad shoulders. He can take it when we say no. God can handle our refusal to walk the road that is ours to walk. He will be patient with us. God will love us in our no. He will love us when we blame Him for the tragedies that befall us. God will love us when we curse His name and turn from Him in absolute desperation and anger. God will love us, and if we allow Him to, He will help turn our no into a yes. Not a yes that overlooks tragedy, but a yes to placing our hand and our heart in His so we might heal enough to go forward in faith.

It is not as simple as saying yes when you mean yes and no when you mean no. Life is messy. God is patient. He will wait for us. When life slaps us around, and we want to scream out no, God will love us into a faith-filled yes if we let Him. 

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen