The Power of "Yes" and "No"

Dear Friends,

One commentator I read recently referred to today’s Gospel as “The Better of Two Bad Sons.”

The first son said “yes,” he would go work in the vineyard, but he didn’t. Talk is cheap. There was no commitment in this man to follow his words with actions. The second son said no – but later went. He didn’t want to work. He didn’t want to do what his father asked. Maybe he was lazy or preoccupied. But then he went. Conversion. The second son had changed.

In this parable, Jesus is talking about those powerful words Yes and No. Yes, I will obey. I will cooperate. I will go. I will come. No. No, I won’t. No, I don’t want to. In Jesus’ way of talking about life, Yes and No are about hearing the word of God and keeping it. 

As Jesus travelled, spoke, challenged his hearers, he met people who relied on their track record of responding to God’s word. They claimed they were obedient, cooperative, indeed, fastidious about living according to God’s law. At the same time, they scorned the tax collectors and prostitutes – the ones who had said "no" to God, no to accepted religious practice, no to the values that the self-righteous had espoused. But these very people, the ones who had apparently said No had changed in the warmth of God’s love. Their behavior had changed. They went into the vineyard and worked hard, loved hard, became committed.

The thing to note about these two sons in Jesus’ story is that they were free – free to say Yes or No. They were called to obedience, but there was no manipulation or coercion involved.

The question that was put to the two sons in Jesus’ parable today is the same question that was initially put to us at our baptism. We spend a lifetime answering Yes and No, because the questions keep changing with the times. In this new moment, will we be faithful to the Yes of our baptism, as others want to destroy the community through attitudes and practices which disparage people because of their race, gender, economic status?

As the pre-election season heats up, it will be important for us not just to hear what the candidates say, but to study the implications of their platforms for the good of all. Over lunch with a group of women recently, we got onto the economy. One of the women was adamant that the economy was just fine, “After all,” she said, “look at your portfolio!” But a healthy portfolio for one or a few is not equivalent to a robust economy which makes all ships rise. We don’t have to say No to “What’s in our wallets?” in order to step into doing all we can so that the poor are less poor. “Yes” to doing what we can so that others may live securely is a Gospel Yes.

The conversion that Matthew speaks of the Gospel today is individual conversion. Ezekiel, in the first reading calls for corporate conversion. We are in this moment, this ongoing economic crisis together. Yes to one another is Yes to God. 

~ Sister Joan Sobala