TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN Ord time:A. Sep 28, 2008

Ezekiel  18:2528 Psalm: 25 Philippians 2 : 1-11   Matthew 21: 28-32

“the will of his father”

1. Daphne du Maurier has written a book called, “The Key to Rebecca”. The Will of the Father seems to be the key to understanding the Gospels. When we look at the world today, we seem to be in a mess:

• Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae –Mortgage resources
• The Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
• The AIG bail out.
• Random killings in schools in Finland.
• the threats of nuclear wars - on the global and political scene.

• Yet this was not the “Will of the Father.” If you remember the Advent-Christmas passage from Isaiah 11:

• the wolf and the lamb will sit together
• the lion and the ox will eat hay
• the baby will play by the cobra’s den and not be harmed.

There would be perfect harmony not only between humans but also between humans and animals. So where and when did we go wrong? Our Gospel today gives us the cause. Like the first son, we said Yes, and then we go on our own way.

2. Saying yes and doing it demands “WILLPOWER”. This does not seem to be the strong point of our human race. One wise philosopher has said, our society is made of three types of Bones. Yes, I said bones.

Those with just a WISHBONE. They wish things would work out. They wish for a peaceful society. They wish people would not take revenge. But they do nothing to work for these wishes. They are always at the wishing stage.

Then there are those with a JAWBONE. They will tell you why some work must be done. They will tell you how it must be done. They will spend the rest of the time telling you how busy they are. They will volunteer you for the job.

The ones who really get things moving are those with a BACKBONE. They are often the silent time. They see what needs to be done, they roll up their sleeves and do it.

3.  When we speak of the “Will of the Father” in our spiritual life, it raises the stakes to a higher level. We speak of “your Kingdom come, your Will be done.” Doing the Will of the Father will not only get us eternal life, but it will also help restore the peaceful and harmonious world in the Vision of the Prophet Isaiah.

3a However, even here we have excuses and barriers - just as the wishbones and jawbones in our secular society. No wonder Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” Matthew 7:21. There we have it again: The Will of the Father.

4. In the gospels we had persons who wanted to do the Will of God. There was the rich Man in Luke ch.18 who wanted to do the Will of God. In fact he had kept all the commandments. Jesus looked on him and liked him. Then Jesus asked him to kick it up a notch. Sell all you have, give it to the poor and come follow me. He was the Wishbone type of person. He wanted to do the Will of God provided the will of God coincided with his life style, his goals in life, his plans for himself.

 Then we have the Apostles. They too wanted to follow Jesus and do the Will of the Father. But they had conditions. They wanted to sit at the right and the left of Jesus in Heaven. Peter would give up father and mothers and everything else, but he wanted to know what he would get in return.

 Doing the will of the Father is like giving a blank cheque to God - and you sign your name on the bottom. Our second reading shows Jesus as our model. He does precisely that. He was in heaven - all powerful, all self sufficient. The Word of God needed nothing. But we are told Jesus emptied himself. Jesus took the form of a slave. Jesus became like in all things but sin. That was the will of the Father and he was willing to pay the price.

Jesus was able because of doing the Will of the Father -

• restore some harmony in creation,
• reconcile to the father and
• achieve our salvation.

5. I said “SOME HARMONY” because as members of his Body, he wants you and me to complete that task. Paul would say, “I complete in myself what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.”

He wants you and me to bring the good news in a world of unrest, chaos, murder and mistrust. 

Whether you are in a hospital bed or a nursing home,

whether in a difficult family or financial situation,

you can do the Will of the Father. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane you can say, “father I do not really want this but not my will but your will be done.”