When we say, Amen, does it always mean a Yes that joins together what we say and what we do?

We can always find scripture passages explaining who God is in the Old Testament. I think this one from Micah 7:18-20 is one of my favorites: “Who is a God like you, who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever but instead delights, in mercy, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our inequities? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loyalty to Abraham. As you have sworn to our ancestors from days of old.”

As children we often complained, “That’s not fair!” Jesus gives this earthly platitude an eternal twist: heaven may seam that way also. Why? Those who have sinned seriously may still enter heaven first. Rather than stomping our feet like jealous children, we can find great hope in Jesus’ promise of abundant mercy as described in this passage from Micah chapter 7.

Another soothing consolation in scripture is the popular parable about sin and second chances, The Prodigal Sin. This popular story tells of a father and his two sons, reminding us at times we have behaved like both. The younger son in Luke’s gospel by his rash actions, rejects his father’s intentions for him, yet in the end, he is the one who best understands his father and comes back with a right attitude.

Conversely, the elder son, who has been present to his father all along all along and so should know better, fails the test of understanding what his father’s value really are.

Jesus stresses the power of changing our minds, turning from sin to God: the transformation of conversion. This surrender will open the door to Jesus’ kingdom. Those with the most to lose, in wealth, power, or privilege, often find it hardest to imagine that the last could “actually” be first.

Yet such is the blessedly backward logic of God’s love. This promise extends the nudge we need to turn our initial no into a yes, to overcome our internal protests, and even our temper tantrums at the feet of God.

In conclusion, we are all given the same command…Go out and work in the vineyard. It’s never too late to change our minds and turn back and work in the vineyard. 

And keep in mind: God’s ways are not our ways. We gratefully thank our Creator for this!