Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people,
What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He went and said to the first,
My boy,
You go and work in the vineyard today.
He answered,
I will not go,
But afterwards thought better of it and went.
Then the man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered,
Certainly so,
But did not go.
Which of the two did the father's will?
The first they said.
Jesus said to him,
I tell you solemnly,
Tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you,
A pattern of true righteousness,
But you did not believe him.
And yet the tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Even after seeing that,
You refused to think better of it and believe in him.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you,
Lord Jesus Christ.
What a harsh thing to hear.
These outcasts of society,
These people that are scorned and spurned and should not be mixed with because of what they do in order to remain alive,
In order to earn a living.
They're getting into heaven before the chief priests and the elders.
How dare Jesus say that?
We do everything right as elders and as chief priests.
We wear the right clothes.
We dress up.
We say the right prayers.
And yet you now come to us and say,
But.
Prostitutes,
Tax collectors.
Are getting into heaven before us.
How dare you?
But how often.
Do we find ourselves being.
Taken away from God and trying to be perfect for God.
How often do we find ourselves that in order to get all the form right of this is how I pray.
This is what I need to wear.
This is what I need to do.
This is what I need to say.
This is what I need to look like.
This is what people need to think of me.
How often does that get in the way of actually.
Praising God.
Being in communion with God.
I wonder.
How much God actually laughs at us.
For our religious vanity.
I know for a very long time.
I was.
Scared.
I was loath to.
To start opening my chapel.
Or this chapel.
The chapel of St.
Luke.
For people to come and worship.
Things weren't perfect.
I didn't have the right.
Candle stands.
I didn't have.
Everything that I wanted to be perfect.
I didn't have.
Locks of marble.
Because God deserves that.
And then Bishop Oliver.
Reminded me that.
God wants us to be wherever we are.
That stuck with me.
And I find myself.
Being faced with this constant tug of religious vanity.
Doing things the way that I think they should be done.
But then.
Putting them off.
And then how many people do we not show compassion to.
In those times.
How many.
Opportunities for showing the love of God.
The love of Christ.
Do we miss in trying to prepare.
Trying to get everything right.
And trying to get the best of everything.
And I'm not saying it's wrong.
Please don't think.
If.
That.
I'm saying those who can do it.
Is wrong but.
It's this very fine line of.
Focusing on.
What is.
The father's will.
Versus what we think is the father's will.
The song that we listened to in the beginning.
Starts with the words.
One day I'll pass into the great wide beyond.
The first thing.
I'll ask.
How well.
Did I love.
And so.
Perhaps a message for.
Us.
Is to just do.
Love.
Just do.
Compassion.
The rest all the paraphernalia everything else will fall into place when they have to.
But let's not stop being love.
Let's not stop.
Being compassion.
Just because I don't have the right color candle.
Just because.
I don't have the right robes.
To wear.
These robes.
Just a side note can be very distracting.
Because are they perfect?
Are they pretty enough?
And we lie to ourselves in the sense of.
I'm doing this for God.
This is for ego.
Unfortunately.
If I.
Stop sharing.
The love of God.
In order to get function and form right.
It has nothing to do with God anymore.
It has nothing to do with my ego.
And that is when the tax collectors and the prostitutes come past me.
And those people who actually yearn for God.
The being of God.
They get into heaven and they get into this space of divine love.
Because there's this understanding that nothing we do.
Will ever.
Be worthy enough.
To deserve the grace of love.
The grace that God shows us.
Nothing we do.
And I think where the tax collectors and the prostitutes have one up.
Is that they understand this.
And they accept the grace without trying.
To be worthy.
Without trying to put a.
Layer of lacquer of nail varnish over.
Something that.
Seems broken.
They understand that they are not whole.
And why are they not whole?
Because we are born.
With the illusion of separation.
We are not whole.
We are born with the illusion.
That we need to do something.
To attain heaven.
We are born with this yearning.
And instead of.
Trying to.
Cover that up and say oh no look at me.
I don't need that because I'm connected.
I'm perfect.
What if we just be.
Imperfect.
And from within that imperfection.
We realize that God that is all.
Is the perfection.
And we are part of that.
And when we realize that we are part of the perfection.
Nothing else matters.
Nothing else matters but love.
Amen.
