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Matthew 20: 1–16
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Lord, may we hear your voice in the words spoken in your Name. Amen.
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I guess it’s always a shock for the older siblings when the new
baby comes home and they realize they will have to share their
mother’s love with the new little arrival — who can’t
talk, can’t walk — can’t do much of anything but
demand their mother’s time and attention. So the older children
do what comes naturally – and resent the interloper. In my
husband’s family, when his youngest brother Matt arrived his
next–to–youngest brother Doug, then three years old, had
only one hope, which he wished fervently. Remembering some of the fairy
tales he’d been read, he said hopefully, “Maybe a wolf will
get him.”
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Well, in this morning’s reading we hear two wonderful stories of
God’s all–inclusive love – and how hard that love was
for some of his children to share. In our Old Testament reading,
it’s Jonah, having a hard time accepting God’s mercy and
forgiveness toward the Ninevites. And in Matthew’s Gospel
it’s some day laborers grousing about their pay as they witness
God’s generosity toward some late arrivals. We might never have
been to Ninevah or been part of a labor pool, but at one time or another
we’ve all been there – so consumed by our own resentment and
annoyance at someone else’s good fortune that we forget God’s
marvelous works of mercy and love in our own lives.¹
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Everybody knows the first part of the story of Jonah. Jonah sensed
trouble coming the minute God asked him to go east to Nineveh and preach
repentance to that reprobate city. Does he do as he’s been asked
and head east? No! Immediately Jonah books passage on the first
boat heading west – so he won’t have to preach repentance
to these people at all. But as he flees, a great fish — appointed
by God — helps Jonah rethink his travel plans.² And we all
know how that one worked out. So finally Jonah does go to Nineveh and
does preach repentance there. And today we read the second part of the
story.
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When Jonah finishes preaching to the Ninevites, hoping they will now
finally get what they richly deserve, he retreats to a spot overlooking
the city to watch the fireworks. But to his surprise, the Ninevites
actually do repent. And God, seeing their sorrow, decides not to
destroy the city. So Jonah is furious.
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“I knew it,” he fumes at God. “That’s why I
didn’t want to go to Nineveh in the first place. I knew you were
a gracious God, slow to anger, quick to forgive, abounding in love.
I knew you wouldn’t give those miserable Ninevites what they so
richly deserve.”
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You see, Jonah doesn’t want to live in a world that operates
according to God’s grace. He wants a world that works the
old–fashioned way: where you earn everything you get.
So if you work hard . . . or hold fast
to the rules . . . or beat out the
competition – you’ll win. You’ll triumph over
everybody else. Erma Bombeck once summed up this way of thinking in a
prayer, “Lord, if you can’t make me thin, then make my
friends look fat.”³ And that, of course, is the flip side of
this particular worldview. Though you’re careful not to say it so
anyone can hear, you want your enemies to fail. You want
them to experience the agony of defeat. Moreover, you want to be
there — to see it when it happens. And Jonah wasn’t
pretending he thought any differently.
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But God has another idea entirely. He knows the rules. He made
the rules. But he didn’t make the rules to include some people
and exclude others. He gave us rules so that everyone could
come to him, so everyone could follow those rules and be included. For
the Kingdom of God is a common good,4 open to everyone. And as
soon as we grasp that idea, as soon as we begin to reach out to one another
in love and forgiveness – we find ourselves included.
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It’s a simple idea, but it takes some people a lifetime to learn
it. So throughout the Bible, God gives us many stories that illustrate
his generous way of doing things. He tells us stories of younger sons,
disparaged by their older brothers, who by God’s grace are favored.
Think of Joseph and his double–dealing brothers. Think of David,
the shepherd boy, who rose to become the greatest king Israel ever knew.
Think of the prodigal son and his resentful older brother. Or he tells
us stories of outsiders, of people who don’t qualify according to
the rules, but who capture God’s favor all the same — Think of
Namaan the great Syrian general, who because he humbled himself and
trusted the God of Israel, was cured of his leprosy. Think of the Roman
centurion whose son Jesus healed . . . or
the Shunamite woman, who showed kindness to God’s prophet and so
received a prophet’s reward. Or think of the generous vineyard
owner in this morning’s Gospel passage.
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Every large city has its labor pools. In Northwest Atlanta, near the
church where I used to work, there was a labor pool just off Roswell
Road, where men waited every day for someone to hire them. There were
men of all ages there, of all shapes and sizes, but most of them seemed
to be from Mexico or Latin America and all of them were anxious to work.
A pick–up truck would pull up, and after a short conversation 2 or
3 or 5 guys would jump into the back of the truck and the driver would
take off. The men not chosen would light up a cigarette, sit back down
on the curb – and wait for the next truck to pull up. I don’t
know how long they waited, but by mid–afternoon there were always
a few guys still standing there.
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That’s the situation the day laborers in Matthew’s Gospel
knew. Early in the morning the vineyard owner went by the place and
hired a group of men to work in his vineyard. But again at 9
o’clock he went back, and hired another bunch of men. In fact,
he went back several times during the day, even hiring one last group at
5 o’clock in the afternoon. You see, he wasn’t as concerned
with the grape harvest as he was with the men themselves. He wanted to
include everyone, especially those that no one else wanted. So when
quitting time came he instructed his steward to pay those last–hired
men first – and to pay them the same wage the first hires would
receive. The last–hired men had no problem with that, but some of
the men who’d worked all day were upset. They envied those
who’d gotten the same wage for less work, and that envy, that
comparison, made them miserable.
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It’s the envy, you see, the comparison that ruined the experience
for them. The work, offered by the vineyard owner, was pure gift, pure
grace. Without it they had no hope of providing for themselves and their
families. But instead of appreciating that gift, they allowed their
envy of those who worked less time to creep in and sour the whole
experience.
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Jonah had the very same problem. He was fine with God’s acceptance
of him. But as soon as he saw God accepting people he considered serious
sinners – he was furious. As if God’s grace and love
couldn’t prompt them to change their lives, just as he had.
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But the Kingdom of God is a common good, open to everyone. And
the way we treat people around us is a pretty good indication of whether
we are in that Kingdom – or headed in the opposite direction.
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To God be the glory.
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Amen
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¹ Kevin D. Bean “God’s Economy”
http://www.stbarts.org/sermons/ser091805.htm
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² Jay Sidebotham “What kind of world?”
http://www.stbarts.org/sermons/ser092202.htm
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³ Ibid.
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4 Dean Breidenthal “God’s Eleventh Hour”
http://www.goodpreacher.com/backissuesread.php?file=6824
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