The Parable of the Two Sons
“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.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same, and he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which 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. 32 For 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” Matthew 21:28-32.
This story reminds me why I love my church so much. My church is 100% inclusive. Everybody is welcome to come and worship and everyone is welcome to receive communion. “Tax collectors and prostitutes” are all welcome in my church.
Jesus is telling us above that everyone of us sins. What Jesus is looking for in each of us is that we believe in Him and that we try to change our minds and believe in Him. In other words, when we sin, we repents and confess our sins to God and try to change and believe in Him by the choices we make, the words we speak, and the life we live.
That’s why I love my church, because even someone like me is welcome, welcome to change my mind and believe in Jesus! We need all our churches to be remembered not by what they don’t believe in and not by whois allowed in, but we need to be known that we believe in Jesus and the gospel. We believe in love, and faith, and hope. We believe all fall short and need the mercy of God.
pray for that today. Pray that our churches will welcome everyone, because, after all, we are all sinners in need of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:35-39.
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