Harlots go into Heaven before you!

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said: "What do you think? A man had two children, He went to the first and said, `Child, go and work in my vineyard today.' He answered, `I will not.' But afterwards he changed his mind and went. He went to the second and spoke to him in the same way. He answered, `Certainly, sir.' And he did not go. Which of these two did the will of his father?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them: "This is the truth I tell you--the tax-collectors and harlots go into the Kingdom of Heaven before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe in him; but the tax-gatherers and harlots did believe in him. And when you saw this, you did not even then change your minds, and so come to believe in him."

Food for thought!

Jesus told this parable in the temple in Jerusalem just days before they would arrest him and put him to death. For three years he had been preaching to the people, inviting them to repent and believe the Good News. He had discovered that, in fact, it was “public sinners” like the tax-collectors and prostitutes who responded to his invitation. The religious leaders, the High Priests, Scribes and Pharisees, even after they perceived the divine origin of the message of Jesus, not only opposed it but went as far as plotting to kill Jesus himself. And they did kill him! The “religious people” are sometimes the most irreligious people around.

Based on his own experience, Jesus uses this parable to teach us that there are two very common classes of people in this world. First, there are the people whose profession is much better than their practice. Second, there are those whose practice is far better than their profession. One group has no fine words but they have fine works. The other group has fine words but no corresponding fine works.

There are those of us who have the fine words, fine profession of faith; we go to church every Sunday and say to God "Amen! We believe." We wear badges and medals. But sometimes when it comes to concrete action in support of our profession, we are found wanting.

There are those who have no fine words: who barely profess any faith, baarely go to church, or pray. But when there is injustice they will be the first to rise up and condemn it. When there are people out in the cold they will be the first to donate a blanket. Wherever there is famine or earthquake they will deny themselves food and money to contribute to help the victims. These people have no fine words to say about God but when they do things such as these, they are doing what we are supposed to be doing.

It is not that going to church is bad. It is only the beginning. Going to church or to prayer groups and Bible groups can never take the place of works, and fine words are never a substitute for fine deeds. The son who said he would go, and did not, had all the outward marks of a Christian that goes every Sunday to church, but on Monday his or her actions live much to be Christian.

“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills." (Matthew 7:21-23)

Jesus is teaching us still that we can all change our mind either for a YES or for a NO; either for the better or for the worse. If until yesterday we were a NO people, today we can be a YES people. In other words, it is not how one has lived in the past that counts, but how one is living today; it is not what you did in the past that matters, it is what you're doing today that counts. You cannot claim to say, I used to pray, or to go to church, or sing in the choir, or be and do good. The good you were or you did in the past years is canceled out or confirmed by what you are doing this morning. This is what Ezkiel reminds us in 18:26-28

If a good person turns away from his good life and takes up sinning, he'll die for it. He'll die for his own sin. Likewise, if a bad person turns away from his bad life and starts living a good life, a fair life, he will save his life. Because he faces up to all the wrongs he's committed and puts them behind him, he will live, really live. He won't die.

This brings us to the main point. First, Jesus is saying that in life it all depends not on yesterday, not on tomorrow, but on today. We are free to CHANGE OUR MIND. And when we change our mind, we ERASE, DELETE all the past. For that reason, we do well to note that the most important day of our life, is not yesterday, is not tomorrow, is TODAY.

Be nice to your spouse today, forget about the past, and don't mind about tomorrow; be your best today; sing your best today; pray today as if you never prayed in your life and as if there is no tomorrow. Maximize the present moment.