September 27th
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Now Matters the Most”
Paraphrasing the prophet Ezekiel… when it comes to our relationship with God, “Now matters the most.” That which God would see if He took a Polaroid snapshot of us right now is what is most important. If God were to take a snapshot of each of us today, what would God see? What does God want to see?
A Jesuit once shared a measuring stick I like: “The love I have for God is equal to, yet no greater than, the love I have for the person I love the least.” The thought of this being the lens through which God takes a snapshot of us can be unsettling. Honestly, this makes me squirm. Like the “Yes Sir!” son in today’s Gospel, for most of us loving God is not the problem. (We can readily say “yes” to this.) The problem is loving many of those humans that God creates. The problem is actually going out to work in God’s vineyard. Yet, Jesus has pretty clearly linked the two: our love of God is connected at the hip with our love of neighbor.
Faced with Ezekiel’s message that “now matters the most” in our relationship with God, we who have grown accustomed to counting on our past merits may be a bit nervous.
Isn’t my past good behavior a kind of insurance policy for my future? Isn’t my past good behavior a kind of savings account I can draw upon if I am unexpectantly called upon by God to give an accounting? Apparently not. Although our past good behavior can be said to position us for our future, and even with some accuracy predict our future decisions, it cannot ensure our future. This is because our past only connects to our future by way of our present moment. “Now matters the most” because it is in the present moment that we exercise our freedom to do God’s will or not; only in the present moment that we can embrace God or not through our fellow human beings.
As that first son in our Gospel must learn, “now matters the most” because it is in the now that we can make our past “yes” to God real by going into His vineyard and loving our neighbor, especially our enemy neighbor. But don’t forget the other son in our Gospel. For those of us who doubt our future with God because of our past “no’s”, Ezekiel’s message that “now matters the most” may be a ray of hope.
“Now matters the most” in our relationship with God, but “now matters the most” from God’s perspective too. C.S. Lewis once wrote that for God everything is now. God’s concern for each of us is immediate. This is why God stands poised to forgive our past so readily, if only we will turn away from the wrong path and seek to know and follow His will. This, after all, was why Jesus tells the Pharisees and Scribes today’s parable in the first place. He held out hope that they would repent. He held out hope that each of them would choose another trajectory other than the one they were on. Scripture shows us throughout, that when it comes to judgment, our God is inclined to drag out cases indefinitely. As long as I am capable of a free choice God allows for the possibility that I will choose to go out into the vineyard. God never despairs of anyone!
The love I have for God is equal to, yet no greater than, the love I have for the person I love the least. If you are the one in the Gospel who said an immediate “yes” to our Father’s will, but today find yourself not out in the vineyard, there is still time to go.
If you are the one in the Gospel who said “no” to our Father’s will, you can still go today into the vineyard and become the hero of the story. Remember the prophet’s words, “Now matters the most!” Seize the moment!