Acting on Faith: The Parable of the Two Sons

In my recent faith journey I have been reflecting on the importance of acting. You know, actually doing something. Unfortunately , like most people I find this hard to do.

I'm busy/tired/being a father/washing the dishes/writing a blog/reading a book/watching television/eating a meal/ grading papers...I think you get the idea.

I grew up in a church that preached a "soterian gospel" as Scot McKnight puts it. The soterian gospel emphasizes that salvation is given by the grace of God in my faith in Jesus Christ. You believe and you're saved, it's all that simple. You see this message often in churches, television and billboards. It's seducing because it feels good to be saved and frankly it is half true, it's just not the full story. 

We are saved by grace but we are judged by our actions. Never once does Jesus judge someone based on the wrong theology. This wasn't due to a lack of opportunity either. In his meeting with a Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) he doesn't correct her theology but her actions ("Go and sin no more"). When Jesus heals the Roman centurion's daughter (Mark 5) he doesn't stop to ask what the Roman believed about God (likely he was one of the "God fearing" Gentiles but how well could he have understood God?) - instead Jesus praises the faith he does have.

We find believers fighting until they are blue in the face about theology, rules, traditions, worship practices, rituals...all the things Jesus spends little to no time preaching about. We have made faith primarily about the way we think about God instead of the way I act in life.  Rather than uniting behind righteous deeds, endeavoring for justice, and good works, we find ourselves judging those who don't believe the same things about God that we do.

I am reading a great book about Jesus' parables by Snodgrass called,  Stories with Intent. A few weeks back I came to the section on the parable of "The Two Sons".  As is often the case with the Bible, it hit me for some reason as if I had never read it before. 

What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Matthew 21: 28-32

According to Jesus, judgement always comes to people based upon their actions (or lack thereof). This parable is a double-edge sword. It makes me feel good that God can see through all the b.s. we put up - the divisions of religion, domination, theology, etc. I think Jesus is discussing "the kingdom" here on earth (and not necessarily "Heaven"). As Jesus reveals elsewhere and multiple times, one can't be too sure who will make it to the other side based on our earthy knowledge.

So the last shall be first and the first shall be last... (Matthew 20:16)

At the same time it makes me fear that I am not doing enough. As we wait for our son to get home we're stuck in middle of maybe (possibly) doing something radical. But maybe I am just using this as an excuse - I mean when is it a good time to start all over and do something scary/crazy/life-altering? “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:60

Deep down I'm scared about letting go (this has been a reoccurring theme of this blog). I am plagued by doubt about myself and about God. Maybe this is all a charade I am playing in my head. I question my assumptions and beliefs to the point where I undermine myself. I am learning to let go of it, but the self is a hard thing to defeat (ask anyone trying to be "spiritual').

So it seems the words of Jesus have brought me down, maybe even bummed me out a bit. The truth is that I need to be challenged. Who said life was easy anyway? However, I have also found comfort and encouragement as well. Even my own blemished and fractured faith can be enough to change everything.

If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. (Luke 17:6)

Just Being

A few weeks ago when the rest of my family was out of town on a Sunday, I went for a walk instead of church.

This made me happy because nature makes me feel more spiritual than going to church.

I can't exactly place my finger on why walking outdoors feels more comfortable or "spiritual" than going to church. It might be because I'm really a introvert who forced myself to be an extrovert. Maybe it's because when I'm walking I'm more interested in just being and experiencing rather than trying to rebut the sermon I'm listening to.

Life seems to make more sense outdoors. In the world I'm surrounded by doubt, drama at work, disappointment, and always searching for answers. Most of the time all my thinking just leads to more questions or unsatisfying answers. I don't mean to say my life is horrible - it's just that life out in the world often amounts to unsatisfying conclusions.

When I am in nature - it - no, I am different.


I'm more at peace with life, I'm more calm and relaxed. Even walking towards no destination I seem more purposeful.

Anyway, back to the walk I was talking about....after walking for about thirty minutes I sat down to pray and attempt to meditate. I was reminded by the wisdom of Daoism which sees nature not for what can be done with it, but seeks to emulate it in its very being. Nature doesn't seek answers. It doesn't worry or have any drama. It just is.

"Nature is not kind - It treats all impartially" - Dao De Jing

Sitting there I realized that everything of the world; the rat race, my doubts about God and myself seem so absurd and petty. Our answers are all right here in front of us. When I pray outside I feel closer to creation and my creator. I feel assurance - that there is a purpose for it all. Being busy and constantly doing things creates separation from the natural world or natural way of living.

As I sat down I first watched as a light wind came upon the trees around me like waves in the ocean. It was so quiet, I only heard the leaves rustling above and around me. No planes were overhead and the wind masked the far off highway as well. This solitary moment felt right. I meditated for a short while (honest disclosure: when I meditate, its only for a few seconds at a time). I then prayed for a long time for the first time in a long while.

I continued walking, moving wherever it struck my fancy. I prayed three separate times on that walk. Each prayer was for a long period of time followed by just walking and very little thinking. I wasn't so much asking for things in these prayers as I was just talking and expressing my hopes, concerns and dreams. Some might say I was talking to myself, and maybe that's what part of prayer is. The point is this experience away from church put me in tune with the divine more than church ever does. It was the salve for a tired-churched out guy.