Prostitutes and preachers

Jesus had a favorite way of communicating truth, he told parables. A parable is an extended metaphor, that is, it communicates an idea by using a simple story that is parallel. It is effective because (1) it is easy to understand, and (2) the listener is active in learning. So lets look at one of the parables told by Jesus.
         A man had two sons and needed some work done in the vineyard. The first son said, “No way!” but a bit later went out to work. The second son said, “Of course” but he didn’t go out.
         “So,” Jesus  asked, “Which one did what his  father wanted?”
           Everyone there said, “The first.”
         Then Jesus explains the parable. Son #1 represents the “No way” group, the “tax-collectors and prostitutes” who resisted the righteous life but later changed how they lived.  Son #2  represents the “Of course” group, those who didn’t repent when John the Baptist told them how to live a truly righteous life.
         And how does the story end? Those ceremonially unclean rebels, the tax-collectors and prostitutes, “go into the kingdom of God” before the religious leaders who “did not repent and believe.” Simple story, powerful truth.
         We can understand how the story was understood when it was told. The Pharisees and their ilk did not repent when John told them that the kingdom of God was right there at the door. The problem for them is that it called for repentance and they said, No. Even when they saw the change in the lives of those who believed, they still did not repent and believe. Then there was the other group, that unclean bunch represented by harlots and tax-collectors. They said, “No way,” but a bit later they changed their minds and accepted what Jesus taught. That made all the difference: they entered the kingdom, the self-righteous did not.
         And how does the parable apply today? Let’s begin with those who said Yes but wouldn’t repent. Their Yes was phony. It seemed the thing to say, but when they learned that true religion called for repentance, they chose he comfort of hypocrisy. They would rather look righteous than pay the price to become righteous. What about the Nos? Their world did not have all the trappings of respectability. They were common, without religious practices. They even collected money from their own people and gave it to the Romans. But then something happened, the truth broke through and they believed it. Then they “went out to work” after all. Unclean by background, but spotless in Christ. Didn’t Jesus say something about the last being first? This is a good example.
         Now comes the question, who today are the first son phonies and who are he second son outsiders who end up enjoying God’s favor? Does God accept those who follow all the right religious requirements or those who repent and do what God wants them to? The answer is not difficult. It doesn’t matter where you came from or what you were doing; if you repent of your sin you are those who end up in God’s field. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how religiously respectable you were if you have not taken the essential step, that is, repentance,  you don’t get into the eternal kingdom. In the long run would you rather be a “prostitute or a “preacher”?