His Authority, Our Choice: Remember, the Vineyard Is Always Open

Sermon delivered September 27, 2026 — Matthew 21:23-32

Grace and peace to you in the name of our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

His Authority, Our Choice. Remember, the Vineyard is Always Open!

We live in a world today that is full of authority and questioned authority. There is constant conflict all around us. This person against that person, this belief against that belief, this country against that country. Many of the conflicts center around authority. When there is this much happening all around us, it causes tension. When tensions rise, it can fuel more conflict. In today’s gospel Jesus’ authority is being questioned. Before we dive into that, let’s look back at what has been going on recently in this continuing story in the book of Matthew.

Remember in Matt. 21:1–11, Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. He arrives under authority. When asked who he is the crowds were saying: “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” In Matt. 21:12–13, we hear how Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and drove out merchants that were unfairly charging worshipers. The children were crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David” (Matt. 21:15.) Again, he demonstrates his authority. And now in our Gospel today his authority is questioned once again. We are told the chief priests and elders ask him: “By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority?”, (Matt. 21:23) and Jesus, being Jesus, tells them he will answer their question if they answer his question: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven or was it of human origin?” (Matt. 21:25) This puts them in a quandary. If they admit it was from heaven then their beliefs will be questioned as they did not believe John and if they say it came from human origin, they face ridicule from the crowds of Jesus’ and John’s believers. The only answer they felt they could give that would not cause grief for themselves is to answer that they do not know. As we heard in the reading, Jesus lets them know he isn’t going to tell them about his authority. Then once again, pulling another Jesus moment, he gives them a parable about the two sons who were asked by their father to help in the vineyard.

Isn’t this scene familiar to those of us who have experienced parenthood, or cared for, or taught children? One child will always fight back but then follows through and another child will say “sure” and never gets to it? I remember our daughters were somewhat like this sometimes when we’d ask them to do something. One would always say: “In a minute!”. While the other would give us the look, (you know what look I’m talking about) but then proceed to do what she was asked to do. We would sometimes have to prompt the first one again with the phrase “when is that minute going to come?”

In this parable, when asked which son was correct, the chief priests and elders discussed amongst themselves and decided the first son was right. The son that proceeded to do what his father asked after saying no. However, if you look closely, one can see it was clearly themselves behaving like the second son. Jesus let them know in no uncertain terms that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going to the kingdom ahead of them. You see, Jesus saw right through them. Please take note here, Jesus does NOT say the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going to the kingdom and the priests and elders are not. Or should I say not have a chance to go. No, he just says they are going ahead of them. Why? Because the tax collectors and prostitutes, once they repented, loved and followed Jesus with their heart. I’ll explain head versus heart a bit later. So now that we have the story, I will ask you the question: “Which son are you?”

Head vs. Heart

Are you, like the first son who says: “I will”, then doesn’t? or are you like the second son, who says: “I won’t” and then does? Are you worshiping with your head rather than your heart? What does this head/heart thing even mean? Remember the chief priests and elders often felt they were above others. Oh, they were so righteous. They were supposedly some of the most respected people of the temples. However, if they had been a believer of Jesus, they would have clearly stated that John the Baptist was sent by God as was Jesus to do the will of the Father. They would have outwardly recognized his authority. They would have repented for their wrongdoings of being on their high horse and their feelings of superiority over the lowly. They did not subscribe to the fact that all are the children of God. When Jesus gave them this parable message, he was pointing out their deficiencies. They knew it but chose not to admit it.

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves some important questions:

• Are we going to submit ourselves to the authority of Christ? Or are we going to do it halfway?
• Are we believers of our heads or believers of our hearts? Meaning if we can’t admit we are lost and a sinner, then perhaps we are religious by our head. If we recognize we are a sinner, losing our place all the time, and recognizing that Jesus is our lifeline, we are a believer by our heart.
• Are we, like the elders and priests or are we like the tax collectors and prostitutes. What is the difference? Why would Jesus say the tax collectors and prostitutes would enter heaven before these so-called religious people? The simple answer is they were religious by their heart. When they repented, they fully accepted the Grace of God. They knew they were sinners; they knew they would be saved. They knew the Grace of God was their only hope of reaching the kingdom of heaven. They were saved by Grace.
• Do we fully accept the gift of Grace from God? This is a very difficult concept for we humans. We still feel we must earn our way into heaven. Why are we like this? Perhaps it’s because of what we typically do in many areas of our lives. How we are wired to act. How we are expected to live our lives. We go to work and know that most times, we must do certain things to earn our way up the ladder. We learn that to achieve material things we must do increasingly more; we must earn it to enjoy it.

The Rope in the Middle

This week we are reminded that by God’s authority we have access to one of the greatest gifts imaginable. No matter how beaten and downtrodden we are, even when our sin is great, we are still salvageable if we repent and accept the gift of grace. As the first son in this parable shows us, it is acceptable to change our minds. We are reminded that we cannot earn our way into heaven. As humans we many times fall short. We say we love our neighbors but sometimes we turn our eye the other way instead of stopping what we’re doing and putting our neighbors first. We come to church every Sunday, which is a wonderful thing but are we really listening? Are we really living our faith? Are we living our baptism daily? Or do we become over-confident, pat ourselves on the back, and tell ourselves we are the righteous people? That we are doing it right? Maybe we should be clinging a little more onto the lifeline of Grace?

We have an angel on one shoulder and Satan on the other shoulder. The tug of war between them is constant. We try to do the right thing, but the devil keeps trying to pull us away from the right thing one little bit at a time. But wait, there is a hope — or I should say a “rope” — in the middle of those shoulders of ours. Something that can pull us out of the tugging and pulling of the works of evil. That is Jesus’ authority, treasured in our hearts. It’s Jesus’ willingness to come down off the cross, his authority that tells us to close our mouths and open our eyes. Jesus’ authority that brought down the powerful and lifted the lowly. Jesus lived, died, and rose again. He throws us a rope ensuring us that God loves us no matter what is happening in our lives. That rope my friends is forgiveness through Grace.

The Third Son

When I read this parable, it led me to notice a third son. This parable does not directly tell us who the third Son is in this story. The Son that is given authority, follows authority, and does what is expected. The Son in today’s gospel was teaching and telling this parable in the temple on Tuesday of Holy Week. The one that is the way, the truth, and the life. The one that doesn’t say we can never get into the kingdom of heaven. The one that is patient, kind, gentle, but can exercise tough love when necessary. The Son that died for every one of us so that we can live in God’s kingdom. Yes, you got it, it’s Jesus.

I’m sure you’ve probably heard the phrase that God loves us because of who we are. Earlier this week Pastor Chris Herrin from Evergreen Presbyterian Church said: “Perhaps, God loves us because of who he is and not because of who we are.” Let that sink in a minute. When she said this, my immediate thought was that God loves us, his children because of his own divine nature rather than because of anything we do or who we are. He gave his Son and we are given righteousness through the Holy Spirit by the means of grace.

The Vineyard Is Always Open

The good news for us is that it’s never too late to change our mind. If we are behaving like son number two — “going to church,” “feeling confident that we have the power over sin,” and “patting ourselves on the back” — but are not willing to go do the work in the vineyard, then maybe we need to re-evaluate our priorities. Maybe we need to ask ourselves, which son am I really acting like? Am I following Jesus with my head or my heart? Am I really repenting or going through the motions? Remember, the vineyard is always open. Remember, you and I are the eyes and ears, as well as the hands and feet of Jesus. We must embody grace and let the spirit guide us into giving that grace to others.

Jesus knows what we are facing. Remember, he walked beside humans, he knows our weaknesses, but he also knows our strengths. He knows that we are capable of loving others deeply, of being good neighbors. To each one of us he is letting us know the vineyard is always open and while we are saved by grace, there is work to do in the vineyard. By work I mean there’s good news to be spread, there are people on the margins that need our help, our neighbors that need our help. There are injustices that need us to speak out against. When we say we welcome all people, we need to mean all people. The good news is for all of God’s children not just select groups. Our call is to live by Christ’s authority understanding that we will miss the mark many times over but remembering that we have a lifeline called “Grace.” Accept it. Do your share of the work in the vineyard.

Let us pray:

Dear heavenly Father,

Forgive us for the times we say “yes” to You, but our hearts remain distant. Give us grace to move past our stumbles and falls. Help us to have the humble readiness of the first son, who changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard. Thank you for Your mercy that reaches the outcasts, the humble, and those who turn to you late. May we always know the vineyard is never closed, and your good news is always welcome to be shared. Help us to be a light that shines in your glory.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.