IF A CHANGE OF MIND TAKES PLACE TODAY | Pentecost 18 | September 27, 2026 | Matthew 21:23-32 | David Zersen |

IF A CHANGE OF MIND TAKES PLACE TODAY

There are contexts in which a change of mind is problematic. Although it generally annoys me, I can understand why journalists and news pundits don’t like political candidates to do a 180, in other words, to change their minds. Especially if the reversal seems to happen just before an election or if it panders to donors who wouldn’t side with you before but now do. Some would give the example of Donald Trump’s opposition to cryptocurrency in his first terms but became a “crypto-evangelist” in his second term when millions of dollars became available from the crypto crowd for his election campaign. There are many such examples across all party lines, so much so that we common folk tend to believe that “flip-flopping” is always a bad thing.

In literature, in general, a typical ploy is to have the lead character change her/his mind as the plot unfolds. This could result in a negative character, but more typically we prefer the change of tune to be positive. As a story develops, it can be clear that a protagonist has a problem that can’t be resolved. Eventually, however, she/he finds a way through and embraces a better life. Most of us know characters like Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. He has little interest in anyone but himself and opportunities to show kindness are met with “Bah, humbug”. One night, however, apparitions or nightmares make him come face to face with his mortality, and with his failures in life. When morning breaks, Scrooge does a 180. He becomes a changed man. And none who know the story wish it otherwise. The results for his employees and their families, the results for the reader in general, are totally positive.

Although we don’t typically think of the Bible as literature, it has many literary categories such as history, poetry, saga, song, parable, chronicle, and, of course, narrative or story. The story of Jonah is a popular example because he was angry that God was going to forgive the reprobate people of Nineveh, so he sulked. He wanted God to destroy evil! However, the people of Nineveh repented, and God forgave them. Even for Jonah, all came to a positive end. The story of Saul, become Paul, is a great New Testament example. Surely there were supporters of Saul who were angry that because of the “Damascus Road experience” Saul changed his mind. He repented. And he became the great theologian who helped all of us appreciate the fact that through the forgiveness that Christ purchased at the cross, we are not measured by our own perfection, but by a faith that trusts in mercy.

The stories of Jonah and Saul are good examples of how change can be positive and they also help us understand today’s complex text. Jesus is talking to people who are not interested in change. The Greek word for change, by the way, is metanoia. We usually hear it in a biblical context in which someone calls others to “repent”. Generically, however, the term doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with sin. It calls for a change of mind. The Pharisees, a leading religious group of Jesus’ day, prided themselves in keeping commandments they had revered since childhood. They didn’t want to change, and for them, constancy was a mark of faithfulness. Jesus challenges them by asking some hard questions they’re afraid to answer because a wrong answer might mean they’re open to change. So, they say, “We don’t know the answer”. Now, Jesus takes them a step farther with a story, a parable. In it there are two sons, both of whom were asked by their father to do something, and both of whom changed their minds! One of them refused to do what the father asked but changed his mind and did it! And the other, who initially agreed to do it, changed his mind and didn’t. “Which of the two did the father’s will?” Jesus asks. This time, the people didn’t say, “We don’t know”! They realized that change could be for the good, it could be positive, it could mean following the father’s will. So, they said, “the first one.” Now Jesus had caught them. They had felt that change was not good. When John the Baptist called them to repentance and to righteousness, they remained proud and self-righteous. But who changed? The prostitutes and the tax collectors believed it was important to change. And, said Jesus, they will therefore, enter the kingdom of God before you”!

And how is it with us? How do we feel about change? I have a colleague in another country who has said to me, “We are Catholic, but we don’t believe in the church/” We all know people who say things like “The church is full of hypocrites and I don’t want to be a part of that.” There are those who rule out a more profound understanding of Christian spirituality because they are stuck in a childhood version of it. There are Christians who spend more time looking for faults in others but fail to do self-analysis. There are times when my temper has allowed me to say things to others that they would never in their angriest moment say to me. There are people who desperately want a cup of water, and we take running water in our homes for granted. And so, the examples can continue. While it may be true that some entertain change when it works to their advantage and it should be regarded as a negative thing. However, change can also be metanoia, a righteous flip-flop a new direction, a full 180!

Does it really take a Jesus standing in front of the tree and calling you out like Zachaeus? Does it take a Jesus who knows you better now than anyone else in this place, who knows our heart-of-hearts? Why is it that we love characters in stories who change their tune and become what even we didn’t expect? And why can’t that character be you, today, with just one aspect of the true “you” that has been called out? Summoned to repent. To change for the better?

It is not I, nor you, who need to call out a change in a spouse, child, neighbor, friend. It is you who are being called to love a word like metanoia, reorientation, revamping. It is you whom Jesus loves enough to show you the moment when change is good. Even now.

What happens if a change of mind takes place today?

Hymn: Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult

David Zersen, D.Min., Ed.D., FRHistS
President Emeritus, Concordia University Texas
zersendj@gmail.com