One brother “talked the talk.” The other brother “walked the walk.” Jesus asks: Which of the two did his father’s will?
We all know about “talkers.” “Talkers” will tell you exactly what you want to hear. Usually, but not always they are “quite insincere.” They will tell you anything! These are the ones – who may tell you “what you want to hear,” just to shut you up, or to get you off of their backs or to alleviate some manner of guilt (that they might be bearing!) They have no intention whatsoever of following through.
We say, “they talk a good game.”
It’s all “for show” and “quite meaningless.”
“Blowhard’s” is what they used to be called. A person who blusters and boasts about everything they have or everything they hope to obtain…
Talk is cheap.
Anyone can talk.
They insist they are going “to do this” and they are going “to do that” – and “in reality” everybody knows they are going to do nothing. Nothing at all. Just talk.
All talk, we say…all talk and no action.
You “know” the type.
Maybe some of these “types of people” are your “friends or acquaintances” or even “family members…”
You know “their kind…”
“Walkers” are usually pretty good. You can usually be sure where they stand. Their word is good – their word for the most part is sincere. Their word means something. When they tell you they are going to do something, they usually do it…they “walk the walk.”
Today’s gospel is a short but powerful parable.
It is provocative. It provokes thinking. It makes us question about which-one-are-we?
And of course, you may realize – that there is a difference between “what we say” – about “ourselves”…how we see us…and how “others actually see us as being!”
Are you a “walker” or a “talker”…
To an audience of “talkers,” Jesus says that talk is cheap. He seemed a little bit miffed, a little put out…
Jesus is liturgically in the temple in Jerusalem and he has not come to “find favor” with the “religious movers and shakers.” He has not come to “whisper sweet nothings in the ears of the choir.”
He is “upset” with everything he sees in the Holy City.
The Temple leadership, the priests, the Sadducees, the Pharisees and the scribes are taking advantage of the people.
They know that they are…and still they continue to do it.
They “talk the talk,” but they definitely do not “walk the walk.” They tell you what to do. They tell you how to act and behave…and “they” get away with doing …just the opposite.
They seemingly have all the right sounding words…the right language, the right phraseology, they just do not follow through – themselves.
It is that old “do what I say” NOT AS I DO – routine!
Jesus comes as the “new sheriff in town” – sent by his Father to clean up Dodge. And he doesn’t like what he sees and what he hears.
He comes to right things again. He comes to get people on the right track,
The Pharisees had “argued” the life right out of God’s covenant…
“Endless debate and ritual” – had totally replaced the “purity of religious devotion.”
“Spiritual leadership” had become “a trophy” for “semantic gymnastics” — a meaningless prize that went to “the clever,” and not at all to “the loving.”
And with it came – “the pride of being self-satisfied,” – self-absorbed and “pious frauds” basking in the “trappings,” not in the reality, of God’s favor.
Hypocrites…actors…phonies…
Then along comes Jesus to blow the “hot air” right out of the temple…to replace all the “cheap talk” with a “priceless message” – “Love the Lord with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself.” Got it? Good, now go do it. Don’t just “talk” about it.
Show me…walk the walk!
To his “clever audience” and to us Jesus adds a final rebuke and appeal.
You folks are too smart for your own good. Snap out of it. God expects a lot more than “lip service.”
John the Baptizer proclaimed it and even the tax collectors and prostitutes heard and understood it. It is simple…and nothing too complicated.
It’s a wake-up call for everyone.
We can’t be “Sunday morning” Christians…Or “Saturday night” Christians…or “Wednesday night” Christians.
Last time I looked there were seven days in a week.

We have to be 365 day-Christians.
We can’t say a few prayers, sing a few hymns and then forget everything as we cross the church parking lot.
We must live in Christ and Christ must live in us. Full time.
We are here to witness his love in the world.
We are here to make a difference…actively helping, sharing, giving and forgiving… and then getting up the next day and doing it all again.
We are committed to “walking the walk” with Jesus. And he is committed to “walking us” all the way home to him!