Lord of All the Harvests in the World
Sermon by The Rev. Rick Millsap preached on September 27, 2026 at St. Paul’s, Year A, Proper 21.
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ 24Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ 27So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
So, Jesus came into Jerusalem and turned the city upside down. He taught and spoke in a way no one had heard before. Right after Jesus finished the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matt. 7 – Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Naturally, it got the attention of those in authority and He was challenged by the chief priests, elders, and scribes: “Who gave you this authority?”
In true rabbinical tradition, Jesus answered a question with a question: “I’ll tell you, if you tell me whether John got his authority to baptize from heaven or it was just his own idea – something human beings thought up.”
It must have been almost comical to watch these leaders huddle in front of all the people in the temple you can almost hear them discussing it harrumph, harrumph, harrumph. They were well and truly trapped:
If they said, “Of God ” then they convicted themselves for not believing John and probably got themselves in trouble with the Roman authorities for whom they kept the peace. If they said, “Of Men ” they feared the crowd who regarded John the Baptist, rightly, as a prophet. They’d probably stone them.
And so, they took every politician’s time-honored way out: “We don’t know.”
And so, Jesus began to tell a parable. It is said there are two kinds of parables: Window parables & Mirror parables. Window see through to understand something: Last Week Laborers in the Vineyard see through to the generous nature of God who rewards all equally. Two weeks ago Wicked Slave forgiven by king who would not in turn forgive his fellow slave window into God’s forgiving nature.
But the other kind of parable is the Mirror. A mirror is held up and we see a truth often an uncomfortable truth about ourselves. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we see ourselves in a mirror. If you haven’t read that parable in a while, you’ll learn that priests are not the heroes of that story.
Sometimes we are saddened as we look into the mirror of the parable and see we are the priest or the Levite who see the injured man lying by the side of the road but we don’t see that poor man as a fellow child of God, and we avoiding him, and pass by on the other side of the road.
And sometimes we rejoice because we see we have truly learned who our neighbor is, and we are the Samaritan who had compassion on a perfect stranger.
So, he held up a mirror, and the Scribes and the Pharisees looked into it. A man asked his two sons to go into his vineyard and work: One son said, “I go,” but didn’t. I don’t why. Maybe he was just lazy and thought he could get away with it. Maybe he really meant to go, but later began to have doubts if he could even do the work.
The second said, “No,” but later changed his mind and went. Maybe he was just a rebellious teen, but later was ashamed of how he had acted. Maybe he had doubts and fears just like the first son, But he went ahead anyway.
Jesus asked the leaders of Israel, “Which did the will of His father?” The leaders of the temple didn’t even have to confer this time for educated people, they weren’t too bright at times They said, “The second.”
Jesus then, brought the lesson home and held the mirror up not only did you not believe John but even when you when you saw how John’s teachings dramatically changed the lives of people like prostitutes and tax gatherers, you still wouldn’t believe. And they didn’t like what they saw. Boy, did Jesus tell them!
But before we get too smug, maybe it would be a good idea to take a look into the mirror ourselves. Looking over the shoulders of the priests and elders and scribes, I look into the mirror, and I realize I am both sons!
I have been the son that said, “I go,” but I was rebellious, or distracted, or too afraid and I never went. I have also been the son that said, “No!” because I was angry or afraid at first I couldn’t do it, but later, I can hardly believe it myself, I found myself working in the vineyard, and having rather a good time.
For most of us I think we are afraid we can’t measure up to the person Jesus can see in our eyes. Do you notice how over and over in Scripture Jesus said, “Do not be afraid!” Storm at sea Jesus calms the raging waters… Why were you afraid? Comes walking over the sea at night terrifying the disciples… Do not be afraid! Appears alive again in the garden after his crucifixion… Do not be afraid.
I was raised with the scripture read today – Philippians 2:1-13 – “ work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Growing up in my faith tradition, that meant, “Be very afraid you could mess it up at any moment.” And I was afraid. They never looked at the context, which is one of humility toward one another in the church, not being terrified of making a wrong move. Unfortunately, in my upbringing they left out all that part about grace and mercy. You could live 90 years, a godly sinless life, but in the last 10 minutes before you die, you doubted — BAM! No heaven for you, Buddy! What an unloving unjust God that would be. But Jesus tells us he is absolutely the opposite: God is just and God is loving.
Revisiting today’s parable in modern language in the light of fear vs. God’s radical grace: The second son says, “I love you father, and I love my brother Jesus. I would do anything for you.” But, when faced by the example of what the love of Christ required – giving to others, loving the stranger among us, seeking salvation through emptying oneself, trusting grace, he was afraid and backed off. Or maybe he thought he was inadequate to the work. He didn’t trust that the same God who gives light and life to all could give him the ability to do amazing things.
The first son said, “I am afraid father. I cannot live in the radical freedom of Grace.” But, when faced with his fellow children of God, he surprises even himself, that he can see Jesus in them, and the harvest is gathered. I have had moments in which I have stood in that marvelous light and felt the freedom of Grace, but I fall back.
We seem to live in a world of competing forces, all of whom want us to be afraid: Afraid of Change… of War… of Disease… Afraid of Crime… of people who just don’t look like I do.
It’s easy for us to slip into fear there’s inflation, we worry about getting our kids through college, we’re afraid we don’t have enough saved for retirement, afraid of getting old. And we find we spend our time and investing our resources in worldly, sensible ways, yet, without knowing it, we have become the second son: Oh, we get by, but we never bring in the great harvest both in our lives and the lives of others God wants us to. Instead of believing in God’s grace and abundance, we begin to believe in scarcity. There isn’t enough money security power bread or love to go around I have to protect what is mine.
Theology is a fancy word for what we think God is like. If you’ve ever talked about what you think God is like, congratulations, you’ve done theology you’re a theologian. Jesus says our God is not a God of scarcity, but a God of grace and abundance who says, “Just go into the field don’t be afraid I’ll give you the strength you need for today.”
And Jesus says, “In God’s grace, everything is provided there is no limit. Giving to another of your time, your love, your resources, doesn’t endanger you — Instead, I promise, it will enhance your own life. And suddenly, we find ourselves working in the vineyard, and there’s more than enough of the harvest to go around.
Dom Camara was Brazil’s “Archbishop of the Poor” — or so he’s been called, for his abundant compassion toward the slum and shantytown-dwellers of his country, and his writing against the violence that so often engulfed them. The following is a poem he wrote about learning how to not be afraid to share bread with others, to believe in God’s abundance:
If you share your bread
in fear,
mistrustfully,
undaringly,
in a trice
your bread
will fail.
Try sharing it
without looking ahead,
not thinking of the cost,
unstintingly,
like a son of the Lord
of all the harvests in the world.
—Dom Helder Camara, A Thousand Reasons for Living (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1984), 98.
Amen.