Making the Father Proud

RECORD

Well today is Father’s Day and as you have undoubtedly noticed I didn’t go all crazy with our Father’s Day service this year

No duck calls, no tricycle races around the oval, which I think would have to be a drag race now anyway with the current configuration of the pews

I may return to those ways in the future cause I do have a few ideas that I think would be great, but for today, yes we want to honour the fathers that are amongst us and make it clear just how much we appreciate and need them,

But this morning I want to instead place my focus on our heavenly Father

I want to talk about what it is our Heavenly Father expects out of us and how we can respond in such a way as to make Him proud of us

To do that we are going to take a look at one more of the lessor known parables of Jesus, it is called The Parable of the Two Sons

Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew’s gospel the 21st chapter and we’ll begin at verse 28

Matthew 21:28–32 NIV

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

I have a lot of stuff that I want to get through this morning so let’s jump right in

First there are a few background things about this parable that you need to know to help you understand it

First the timing, Jesus speaks this parable during what we have come to call passion week, those several days leading up to His arrest and crucifixion

It comes after the triumphant entry, the cleansing of the temple, the healing of many people at the temple, and the withering fig tree

Secondly is the audience

Because of everything Jesus had been saying and doing His popularity began to skyrocket and the religious authorities began a full court press as it were to knock Him down and so they began to publically question where He got His authority to do these things

This parable is a direct response to those religious leaders

Finally His opening statement

Jesus begins this parable unlike any other that He teaches, when He says, ”What do you think?”

This serves two purposes, one is that it was a figure of speech used to tie together what was about to follow with what proceeded

Secondly, and more importantly, Jesus used this expression to involve His audience in the outcome of this parable

Matthew Henry’s Commentary refers to this as a ‘Reproving’Parable’ and says, “Reproving parables are appeals to the offenders themselves, and judge them out of their own mouths.”

It’s similar in nature to what the prophet Nathan did with King David after David had sinned with Bathsheba and lied and murdered to cover it up

Instead of simply condemning the religious leaders Jesus puts out there the scenario and let’s them make the call which He then uses against them

So let’s look at the parable

The first thing that I want to look at is the Father and what His will is

The basis of the Father’s call

“There was a man who had two sons” that’s it, that’s the basis upon which God predicates His call upon us, we are His sons (and daughters)

Paul wrote in Romans,

Romans 8:12-

Romans 8:12–17 NIV

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

The Father has work that needs to be accomplished and who more than anyone should be interested in the accomplishing of that work if not His children

Hirelings can be had for a certain wage, but it is love and duty that ought to compel us to do what the Father wants

Secondly is the desire of the Father’s heart, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

In Jesus said to His disciples, to His disciples! “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

There’s a lot of work to be done and far too many of God’s children are sitting idly simply waiting for the day of their inheritance instead of being out working for the Father

‘What does it mean to work for the Father?’ You might ask

Well I don’t think that it was a coincidence that Jesus used the image of the vineyard in this parable

John 15:1-

John 15:1–4 NIV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

The job that the Father has for you is to be fruitful, to display the fruit of the Spirit in your life in increasing measure as you continue to focus on Christ

He’s not asking you to go out and “get people saved” but to work in the vineyard where He can prune you and make you fruitful and He will produce the results

The third thing that we see is the urgency of the Father’s call, “…go and work today...”

In the original Greek language those words are written in the emphatic imperative tense which means it was commanded with the utmost urgency

A number of years ago I was in Ottawa taking a weekend course to be licensed for display fireworks

That’s not those little ones that you can buy in a store but the large ones like the city uses on Canada day and the such

These licenses are federally issued by the Explosives Regulatory Division of Natural Resources Canada because you get to work with some pretty powerful stuff

One of my professors on that weekend had a shirt that read, “Explosives Expert. If I’m running, you better run”

That’s an emphatic imperative!

We are not called to work for the Father once we have enough information, or once we have enough training, or enough experience, or are old enough, or young enough, or when we feel like it, or once we get around to it

God calls you TODAY because He knows what you don’t, He knows what lies ahead tomorrow and why that will be too late

John 9:

John 9:4 NIV

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Is God calling you to take a meal to your neighbor? Do it today!

Is God calling you to speak some encouragement to someone else? Do it today!

Is God calling you to step out in faith in some way that scares you? Do it today!

Now let’s switch our focus and take a look at the two sons in this parable

First their response to the call of the Father

The first son doesn’t mince his words and he flatly rejects the father and says that he will not do what has been asked of him

Maybe the weather was bad that day, or maybe his dad woke him up too early, or he already had other plans, or any of a thousand other reasons that we could think of, regardless he, in short order shoots down the father’s call

The other son however, look at his response, “I will, sir”

“Sir” this kid knows how to play the game, he has the lingo down and can say just the right things at the right time

But something happens, both sons have a change of heart

The first, for whatever reason, recognizes the sin of his attitude, swallows his pride, and commits himself to the will of the father

Whatever the reason was for his initial refusal, he repents and follows through with his obligations as a son

The second son though, Jesus doesn’t say why he didn’t go to work, maybe he never intended to or maybe he just got busy, or maybe something else came up that he deemed more important but the reality is “he did not go”

Unfortunately the big “C” Church is full of people who know the right things to say, they know how to talk the talk but they come up short when it comes time to walk the walk

Jesus refers to these same people when He quotes from the prophet Isaiah in

Matthew 15:8 NIV

“ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

As one author that I read put it, ‘Some promise more than they prove; others prove more than they promise’

God is looking for workers not talkers or as the great theologian of the late 19th century, W.F. Adeney put it, ‘God prefers rude obedience over polite disobedience’

As a son I feel what just about every other person on Earth feels, I want to make my father proud of me and as a father I also want to be proud of my children, which I am by the way

Likewise our Heavenly Father wants to be proud of us and it should be our desire to make Him proud and the way that we do that is to respond to His call

To work at becoming fruitful for His glory and to not put off to another time what He has called us to do today

There is an old proverb that says, ‘The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The second best time is today.’

So let me close with a couple more passages about what it means to work for God and make Him proud,

Matthew 25:31-46

Matthew 25:31–46 NIV

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

James 1:27 NIV

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

let’s pray