The Bucket List
(Ezek.18:25-28; Phil.2:1-11; Mt.21:28-32)
Rob Reiner’s film The Bucket List (2007) tells the story of two terminally ill men – a tycoon played by Jack Nicholson, and a mechanic played by Morgan Freeman. [i]
They share a hospital room with only months left to live, and decide to write a list of all they want to see, do, and experience before they ‘kick the bucket.’ They then go skydiving, driving fast cars, and flying around the world.
It’s an entertaining film, but its basic message is profound: nothing focuses the mind quite like a deadline. When we realise that our time is short, our priorities soon change. The trivia we used to worry about fade, and the things we’ve avoided, like faith, family, and forgiveness, suddenly become urgent.
The spiritual reality, however, is that we all have a terminal diagnosis. It’s called our mortality, for no earthly life lasts forever. As St James reminds us, our life is ‘a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.’ (Jas.4:14)
Because life is so short, the choices we make today carry eternal weight. We cannot rely on past merits, and we cannot blame our forebears. This is the warning the prophet Ezekiel gives us in our first reading today.
The Israelites have been complaining that God is unfair, and God replies that it’s time for them to take responsibility, for things are getting urgent. He says that if good people turn away from virtue to commit sin, they will die in that state. But if a wicked person turns away from sin to do what’s right, he will surely live.
In other words, our spiritual life is not static; it’s a daily choice. But too many of us have become complacent, perhaps thinking, ‘I’ve been a good person for years; I can coast for a while.’ But such coasting is a trap. We cannot afford to delay our ongoing conversion, because we just don’t know when our final hour will be.
This message is reinforced in today’s Gospel, in Jesus’ Parable of the Two Sons. A father asks his two sons to go and work in his vineyard – not tomorrow, but today.
The second son says, ‘Yes,’ but doesn’t show up. Given that life is so short, his choice is tragic. He thinks he has plenty of time and treats his Father’s vineyard like a chore he can return to later.
How often do we do the same thing? How often do we procrastinate? How often do we say, ‘I’ll work on that relationship later,’ or ‘I’ll return to my faith when I have time?’
We too often act as though tomorrow is guaranteed, but the vineyard owner demands action today, because today is the only time we actually possess.
The first son initially refuses to work in his father’s vineyard, but then realises his mistake. He repents, and does the right thing. This is the kind of person Ezekiel praises. He has made mistakes and has wasted time, but as Ezekiel says, ‘he has renounced sin and become law-abiding and honest,’ so ‘he deserves to live.’
Jesus then shocks his listeners. He says that tax collectors and prostitutes will enter God’s kingdom before they do. Why will they? Because when they heard God’s call, they didn’t argue about it. They understood that life is short and moved quickly to clean up their lives.
In The Bucket List, the two men come to realise that staying in luxury resorts doesn’t bring them peace. True peace comes from reconciling with estranged family, and practising selfless love.
At the end, the dying mechanic asks two key questions: ‘Have you found joy in your life?’ and ‘Has your life brought joy to others?’ These are questions we all need to answer, because they get to the heart of things.
Jesus asks the same question: Have you entered God’s vineyard, and are you doing the Father’s will?
Very helpfully, Jesus has prepared a spiritual bucket list for you. Here it is: Repent while you can. Forgive while you can. Return to God while you can. And love while there is still time.
For the only life that will stand before God on Judgment Day is not the life we planned to live someday, but the life we choose to live today.
Let’s no longer live with the empty politeness of the second son. Let’s get real like his brother.
However often we might have said ‘no’ in the past, today we can still enter God’s vineyard. Today we can still say ‘yes,’ by turning to Jesus Christ.
And that yes, lived now, is the beginning of eternal life.
[i] The Bucket List. Directed by Rob Reiner, performances by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2007.