[ Today's Readings ]
Will we go out into the vineyard? It isn't what we say we're going to do, or even what we intend, that matters most. It matters the most that we actually get out there.
This means we must be cautious against fooling ourselves with good intentions and lofty sounding words that never seem to go anywhere. We must be cautious about being hearers of the word only (cf. James 1:22) who fool ourselves into thinking we are doers because we think or talk about it so much. Blog writers in particular do a lot of thinking and talking. But it does not mean we are necessarily in the vineyard.
The upside to this is that even if we are against going out into the vineyard, if are in the camp of the tax collectors and sinners, it isn't too late to change our minds. We might say, 'I will not serve,' truly believing that we never will. But it isn't too late to about face and start now.
This good news isn't just for new converts formerly committed to their lives of sin. It is for those of us who have put limits on our lives with God. Many of us are at places we consider to be, more or less, 'good enough.' We don't really intend to go much further, to seek radical holiness, or to become saints. But even if we don't intend to become saints right now we are nevertheless called to be saints. There are only saints in heaven. Even if we have accepted 'good enough' and are waiting to let purgatory do the rest we are invited to repent, to change our minds, and to get out into the vineyard this morning. God does not hold this reluctance against us. He is happy to see us in the vineyard. Even if we are late to arrive he will still give us the full day's wage.
The LORD doesn't want us to talk or think about him less. He wants us to do more. He himself is gives us the strength we need to do more. In fact, without him we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5). If we come to him he will bring our words and our lives into harmony.
For then I will change and purify
the lips of the peoples,
That they all may call upon the name of the LORD,
to serve him with one accord;
We no longer exalt ourselves in God's holy mountain because we see when our words are empty. And without God's strength our words are always empty. So finally we come to trust in the LORD and draw near to God. We accept the correction of our actions so that we are not just all talk.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
Nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue;
The LORD hears the poor when we call to him. Since we are too weak for work in the vineyard he himself gives us the strength we need.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
We need to abandon pretense. We need to come before him in humility. When we do we experience his salvation. If it breaks our hearts to realize that we are nothing without him, so be it, he is close to the brokenhearted.
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