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When God chooses David as King of Israel, despite being the youngest and most humble of the sons of Jesse, he says through Samuel the prophet: “the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” So also, Christ tells us in the Gospel this weekend. He tells the parable of two sons, one who only obeys in words without action, and the other who despite initial resistance, later does act according to the will of the father.

Christ is clear that this parable is a challenge to those who think that the external trappings of faith will be sufficient before God without conversion of heart. Why are “tax collectors and prostitutes entering the kingdom of God before” the “chief priests and the elders?” They enter first because they have actually passed through the moment of conversion that is essential for friendship with God.

Appearance and lip service do not count for anything before God, who is truth itself, and sees everything hidden within the human heart. He calls us to real friendship, which requires acts of humility, repentance and obedience on our part, no matter who we are. There must be an honesty before God in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is this honesty that Christ finds in repentant sinners, and not in the chief priests and elders of his day.

So, we must ask ourselves, am I honest before God? Do the quiet and unassuming acts of faith follow my public acts of worship? Do I strive to live privately according to the belief I profess publicly? Am I willing to be humbled before God and carry out the simple and continual works of loving repentance, or will I remain behind a wall of self-assurance, telling myself and God that I am basically good, and even perhaps that I am better than whomever I happen to think is far from God? Do I place my hope in appearances or in the Lord himself who calls me to the actual, practical love of God and neighbor?

The truth is that the moment we decide to be totally honest before God, we have nothing to fear. The Lord already knows that on our own, we cannot be holy, and that we need his mercy at every moment. He already knows in exquisite detail everything present in each one of us. He sees “not as man sees,” but “looks on the heart.” He perceives every thought, desire, action, of our lives in one simultaneous moment, knowing clearly even what we would hide from ourselves. In that one moment, seeing everything, he loves and calls us. He came specifically to call sinners, not the righteous, and opens heaven to everyone who confesses their sins, everyone who turns to do the good with their whole heart, everyone who recognizes their need for the Lord’s constant help and presence.

Nothing hides from Christ. He sees all and openly calls. As St. Augustine famously wrote: “Do not despair, one thief was saved. Do not presume, one was not.”

We cannot trick God with appearances, certainly, but he is also never trying to trick us and is extending the hand of his grace to draw us closer to him. No matter which son in the parable we take after, so long as we are alive, we can choose to turn to the Lord and do as he has asked.