Sorry Is As Sorry Does

The word sorry can have several meanings. Someone can be apologetic and sorry describes an expression of regret for an action that has upset or inconvenienced someone else, such as I am sorry for hurting you. The word sorry can communicate sympathy for a person in a difficult situation such as I feel sorry for that family without a job in this time of economic downturn. The word sorry is also synonymous with describing something in a pitiful condition as in That house is in such a sorry state of repair, it is in danger of being condemned. Then there is the usage of the word sorry to describe something pathetically unsatisfactory because it fails to meet a certain standard of expectation. This meaning is conveyed in the statement He is a sorry excuse for a man. Someone or something can be said to be sorry when it is useless in the purpose for which it is mean to be used. It is in this last context that I make the statement, Dyess was a sorry dog.
Dyess was a good-looking, solid black, 90 pound military working dog at an Air Base in North Texas. John Young was his handler. When John sent Dyess out on attack, it was a fearsome sight to see. Dyess looked good as he bore down on the target, snarling and growling. He looked good. He made all the right noises. But when he got close to the person under attack, all that person had to do was snarl and growl back at the dog and the dog would change his mind and immediately change his direction! An attack-trained military working dog that will not attack is a sorry dog. Dyess was a sorry dog. And John Young was his handler. He could never help Dyess get past his sorry state of being and soon John was transferred to another assignment. Then Dyess met Cleophus Randall. Sergeant Randall was coming in from a tour of duty in South Korea. He was a dog handler and he was assigned to Dyess. A couple of weeks went by and Dyess began to adjust to the idea that he had much more than a new handler. He had a master. Under the influence and control of this new master, Dyess quickly became a new dog. The change was dramatic and evident for all to see. We no longer felt sorry for this sorry dog. He became useful to his master and effective in his service to achieve the purpose for which he was trained.
Jesus was telling stories to people who were not living up to the expectations and standards to achieve the purposes for which they were created. He told parables to them so they might come into an understanding of how they measured up to God’s standards. The outcome was that some of the people who heard these stories realized they were in a sorry, sinful condition. They were sorry that they had made some sinful choices in life. And they were changed. Others who heard the story thought that they had always met the standard of expectation as God’s people when they were in effect a sorry excuse for a representative sampling of God’s chosen people. Let’s listen to the story Jesus tells them about two sons. One of them was sorry. And the other was…well…sorry. Sorry is as sorry does. Hear the word of our Lord:
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, “I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)
God’s people become useful in God’s service when they repent from their sorry condition and believe the gospel proclamation.

I. SORRY PEOPLE PROMISE A WHOLE LOT AND DO VERY LITTLE.

Some hallowed promises become hollow ones. Holy matrimony is a good example. In any wedding that I am privileged to be a part, I require several sessions of premarital counseling. We talk through many issues and towards the end of the sessions we begin to focus on the vows that people promise to keep. A couple of times I have helped couples work through some of these vows that they want to write themselves. It is my job to keep them in a biblical framework. This is a vow that I have never had to work on with any couple: Do you promise to be hateful, critical, manipulating, unfaithful, and unforgiving as long as you both shall live? Who would want a marriage partnership like that? So why do we promise to love, honor, and cherish and fail to keep that promise? It’s a spiritual genetic defect.
Let’s look first at the second son’s response to his father’s command.
The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’ (v. 29)
The son promises to work in partnership in his father’s vineyard. The vineyard theme is prominent in this portion of Matthew’s Gospel. The Jewish community would have been familiar with the Old Testament prophetic images of grapes and vineyards. Vineyards were very prominent in the land. They were symbolic of the blessing of God. Jesus described Himself as the True Vine and His Father was the Vinedresser. The imagery of vineyards and grapes were understood in Israel as a covenant community family living and working together in the family business. That is the way salvation history began. In Genesis, man was placed in Eden by his Maker to tend the garden. No doubt vineyards were a part of that scenario. Then Adam lost the privilege to work in the Father’s business. And he was expelled to work outside of it. The Triumphal Entry lets us know that the Lord Jesus had come to His people to restore them to a rightful place in the Kingdom of God. He was telling them the vineyard story. And it included information as to how get back inside the family fold. The Father’s command is also the Father’s invitation…Son, go work today in the vineyard.
People hearing the Word of God could not depend upon their profession. Just saying the right words and making hollow promises did not grant them access into the Father’s business. They could not rely upon their earthly family heritage and the privilege of being born into Abraham’s household of faith to access the Father’s vineyard. Nor can we depend upon our church attendance or religious heritage to claim a place in the family business of the family of God, working in our Father’s vineyard. This son was a sorry son. He did not meet the requirements and expectations for service. He did not serve. But he promised he would. A valuable lesson for a disciple like you and me is saying I will doesn’t mean that I do. Saying I will serve God does not mean that I do serve God. Making a “profession of faith” does not mean I have faith or faithfully serve God on mission with Him. Saying so doesn’t make it so. Sorry is as sorry does. The story about this sorry son also tells us that…

II. YOU CAN BE SORRY WITHOUT BEING SORROWFUL.

…and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. (v. 29)

There may have been many reasons that this sorry son did not go. He may have been sick. He may have been busy. Something else may have come up. We can certainly understand how many times we have “overcommitted” and did not do what we said we would do. He may have just forgotten what he said. Sometimes that can be our problem. But the text only says he did not go.
Delayed obedience is disobedience. He may have had good intentions. But the bottom line that Jesus is driving at is that obedience is required for usefulness. We can talk about serving and we forget what we said because it didn’t really matter that much to us. This sorry son demonstrated dishonor to his Father. The Father’s will did not matter to the son. And the son was not sorrowful for his failure to meet the demands of obedience. Sorry is as sorry does. You can be sorry without being sorrowful…but…

III. YOU CAN’T BE SORROWFUL WITHOUT BEING SORRY.

A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. (v. 30)

This sorry son treated his father with open contempt and disrespect. It was in the mind of the son to rebel against the will of his father. This was probably the oldest son. A common theme in the parables of Jesus was that the oldest son was often more cynical in the relationship with his father. As in the prodigal son story, sorry is as sorry does. This son begins this exchange as a sorry son who arrogantly believes he can refuse to surrender to the will of his father. And he ends the exchange with a different mindset. This different kind of thinking leads to a change of moral direction.
He represents the sinfulness of presumption in the heart of religious people.
Often the people of God believe they are entitled to the goodness of God without the respect that is due Him. Humanity in general believes they can treat God as if He does not matter. This son had his mind changed. He began to regret what he had said and what he had done. He regretted how he had shamefully treated his father. This regret brought sorrow to his mind.
Sorrow is a condition of mental suffering where someone has been hurt. The most grievous kind of sorrow is the kind where we begin to take responsibility for our part which causes this pain. This is the message of Jesus to those bound up in religious tradition. This regret and remorse leads to repentance. Repentance is a change in moral direction that results from a change in our actions which begins with a change of mind.
This sorry son moved from one definition of sorry to another. By his active repentance he moved from a place of uselessness to usefulness in the vineyard of his father. Sorry is as sorry does. Repentance is turning from sinful self-will and self-service to learning about, thinking about, and doing the will of God.

IV. GOD’S WILL IS THAT WE ARE SORROWFUL AND REPENTANT.

Which of these two sorry sons did the will of his father? This was the question asked that day. And the people hearing the Word of God answered rightly. So does this question matter to us today? If so, why so? Because even though we hear the word of God we often fail to understand this teaching and do not realize that repentance is central to the message of the gospel. We must realize we are traveling the wrong direction before we are motivated to change. Some people in their sorry condition come to that clear understanding. They know they cannot come into the Kingdom of God unless they are born again and radically changed in their thinking. And others still fail to recognize themselves in the story. Hear the word of the Lord:
Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”
Repentance is central to the gospel message. You cannot live an eternal life without dying to the earthly one you are living. In Matthew 3 we get one account of the message that John the Baptizer was preaching. The essence of the message is that religious heritage and a Jewish pedigree does not spare someone from judgment. Religious people are to bear fruit of their repentance. There must be evidence of a changed life. This is what Jesus was saying. Tax collectors and prostitutes believed and were changed. Religious pretenders saw that happen and were unmoved by the power of the gospel message. They did not consider themselves in need of a change of moral direction. They did not believe. They were unbelievers. Because they did not repent.
Repentance was the message John preached. He was the last of the typical Old Testament prophets who called the nation to repent. Repentance was the message Jesus preached. Repentance was the message the disciples preached. Repentance was the message preached by Peter and the early church. Repentance was the message Paul preached to the Athenians on Mars Hill. Repentance is the predominant message of the last days in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a timely message for end times living. It is a relevant message to the church of our day. Repent. The Kingdom of God is near.
If the church is to be useful to God, we will be repentant. We will hear this instruction from this father in this parable and consider it to be the message of Jesus. We will agree that it is for us in our times. ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ In the church of America today there are people who are on the rolls of church membership who have never been sorrowful over their sin and have never repented. We have people who have prayed a “sinner’s prayer” and have made commitments to God, said they would serve Him, and did not go work in the vineyard. Without repentance, there is no belief. Unrepentant church leaders are practical unbelievers and religious pretenders.
Without repentance there is no forgiveness. Without forgiveness there is no eternal life. Without eternal life we cannot be with God and serve Him forever. Without the work of Christ on the cross on our behalf there is no realization of our need for repentance. When is the last time we have told God we are sorry? When is the last time that we have been sorrowful over our sin? God has hope for our sorry condition.
Now is the time to come. Repent, believe in the gospel. God’s Kingdom is near.