Many of us have said ‘yes’ before we’ve really given the matter thought because the reflexive “sure, I’ll take care of it” costs nothing in the moment.
But later, when the thing still isn’t done, you’re cursing yourself for agreeing to it and dodging the person who asked.
This week’s Gospel speaks to this tendency in us: that easy yes.
When a father asks two sons to work in the vineyard, the first says no outright, then something in him feels embarrassed, and he acquiesces anyway. The second son says yes immediately, which is the easy answer, and then…he simply doesn’t go.
Maybe you’ve not only done this yourself, but have seen this happen around you, or to you, in everyday life. This friction can feel frustrating and disappointing, and it can leave you wondering who you can actually count on.
The Gospel helps us view this scenario through God’s lens:
When Jesus asks which son did his father’s will, the answer is obvious, and it’s made clear to us that the test wasn’t which son sounded more faithful, but which actually did the deed, and even though he initially said ‘no,’ he did it anyway for his father.
Most of us would rather not disappoint friends, family, and co-workers. We want to give the easy yes, along with all its appeal: the peace it buys, the approval it earns, and ideally without the weight of the follow-through.
And in a moment of self-reflection, if we don’t follow through, we rewrite the story so it wasn’t really a promise, just something we said to be kind. We didn’t really mean it.
It is this gap Jesus is naming: saying ‘yes’ and believing is not the work. Does that ‘yes’ and believe make it from our mouth to our hands–and actions?
The mercy in this parable is that the first son gets to change his mind, and his choice to go still counts. His ‘no’ doesn’t follow him into the field because ultimately he did the thing.
So this week, find the yes you’ve been sitting on, whether it’s a promise, an apology, or the small thing you keep putting off, and go do it. Even late, it counts.
God Bless.
FF