Yes and No brothers Matthew 21:23-32 Proper 21A
12-step Eucharist St. Mark’s October 4, 2023
Today’s parable hits home. Jesus talks about the times we say we are going to do something, change our minds, and do not do it. Anyone in 12-step recovery can identify with this situation. We have an awareness of our addiction, whether it is, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, shopping, gambling, work, or relationships. Each morning we wake up and say “This is a new day. We will stop using or drinking or smoking. We are going to seek help from a recovery group or counselor. We will never use or drink or smoke again.” Usually by early or late afternoon, we have forgotten this promise and are back to our old ways. This is the brother in today’s story who says “yes” in the morning, but by late afternoon does not change.
It is so easy to get our thoughts mixed up with actions. Each of us is aware of at least ten people who deeply love their families, but for various reasons spend very little time with them. We passionately believe in protecting the environment, but we do not practice recycling and drive cars that get less than ten miles to the gallon.
I remember the year I decided to simplify my life. I have a whole bookcase full of books I read about making my life simpler, taking care of the environment, and returning to Walden Pond. At the end of the year, I had only made one change in my life. I stopped using paper towels… and that only lasted for a year. It is a peculiar thing, this vacuum between what we think and what we actually do. We say we are going to work in the vineyard, but instead of harvesting the grapes, we spend our time rearranging the stones along the path.
Whether we say yes or no to the changes God calls us to make in our lives is apparently less important to God than what we actually do. The important thing is what our lives say, and this is as easy to figure out as the story of the Yes and No brothers. Jesus asks us to look into the mirror. What is moving? Our mouths… or our hands and our feet?
Barbara Brown Taylor, “The Yes and No Brothers,” Home By Another Way, pp. 187-191.