The Rev. Margaret Watson
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Jonah 3:10-4:11 | Psalm 145 | Philippians 1:21-27 | Matthew 20:1-16
Are you last or are you first? I like being last in procession here at Church. It means I’m presiding, and that’s fun. It’s the place of honor in the Christian procession. But that was not always the place of prestige, you know. Being last in the line up until about a century ago, meant that your eyes, mouth and ears and every other part of you would fill up by the dust, kicked up by those in front of you. In ancient times, FIRST in line was the place of prestige and the church and her wisdom mocked that, we put our leaders last where the servants and slaves walked. Every now and then, you will see me first in this procession and that’s when I’m with our kids. Every Sunday from September through May I have the great privilege of preparing a service for our young Christians. This service is called Kids Word. If you’ve never been to Kids Word, I encourage you to do so; we welcome short and tall Christians alike. At that service they hear the same readings that WE hear, except that the readings are put into kid-accessible language, imagery and ideas. This morning the general theme of the stories is, “but that’s not fair.” Have you ever said that? I know I have, and when I say it still I can hear my mama in my ear, “Nothings; fair, get a grip”. Is that what God was saying to Jonah, “Nothings fair?” Is that what Jesus is intending us to hear in this Gospel “Nothings fair, it’s all mine, I decide.” Let’s consider the stories. Imagine Jonah. He’d been sent by God to tell the wicked sinful people of Nineveh to repent, or else. So they repented. God didn’t make them pay for their wickedness. You’d think Jonah would be happy, but no! He’s upset that God has changed God’s own mind. A changing God? Jonah goes off, sulking, saying, “It’s not fair, these people should pay for their sins” He builds a fort and sits in it. God’s looking down on him saying “Oh Jonah, my beloved Jonah,” and He sees Jonah’s misery and plants a tree to give Jonah shade. A Jonah cheer up a little bit and spends the night and when he wakes up in the morning the tree is dead. So, he sulks some more. And God says, “hey, Jonah my point in case. First you’re mad then you’re happy, then you’re mad again. You can do it, I can do it. You changed your mind, it’s my tree, you’re mine, and the wicked people of Nineveh are mine. I decide.”
Fast forward about 800 years. Jesus is telling a story, a parable, about the
landowner, - a parable is a metaphor of sorts a story with underlying meaning, -
so we all know who the landowner is, don’t we? The landowner goes out and hires
some labors at breakfast time, some just after coffee, some after lunch, some
after a siesta, and some at dinner time. Then he pays them all the same wage. No
matter how long they worked. The laborers hired at breakfast time are pretty
upset. They say “That’s not fair” and the landowner says, “am I not allowed to
choose to do what I want to with what’s mine — I decide.” Fast forward about
2000 more years to the present day. What characters could we plug into these
stories? We could tell the story about those who have prayed, soul-searched,
sacrificed, labored long and hard in the church who are now looking over their
shoulder saying “who let you in” - that’s not right”. Or we could tell the story
about those who have labored long and hard in our city building parks and
schools , roads, balancing our budgets, who are looking over their shoulder
saying “you want to do what? Who let you in? That’s not what we planned.” Or
could we tell the story of those who have labored long and hard in our country
who have given their lives, the lives of their fathers, brothers, sisters and
mothers, who are now looking over their shoulders saying, “that’s now what we
suffered for, what are you doing?” That’s not fair.
Both of these stories hit right at the heart of things — breaking open our
assumptions about God - a God that changes - changes his mind about what is fair
what is right. With Jonah, the assumption is, if you do something wrong, there
will be consequences. But in this instance, God changes and there is no
consequence other than God’s forgiveness. With the Gospel, the parable breaks
open the principles of this world, such as, if you work long and hard you will
be rewarded. In this instance, it’s not hard work and merit, but God’s
generosity - God’s grace which rule.
What images of the world might we hold which are challenged by this Gospel,
Probably just about everything. As a culture, as a people as a church, we share
images about order and rank, hierarchy, position, power, wealth and longevity ,
that those who have been around longer, should have authority should have the
last word. We begrudge the gifts of youth and newcomers, or those who introduce
new ideas or principles in the face of Tradition. But if we are seeking God’s
Kingdom, if God can change God’s own mind, should we not be ready to change
ours? Both of these stories give us a glimpse, a revelation of God’s Kingdom, of
God’s culture. Both of these stories give us the opportunity to reflect upon how
different the Kingdom of Heaven is, where the last are first.
What work can we do to facilitate the revelation of God’s unfolding changing
Kingdom? That last, the least, the undeserving, those who have not worked as we
have worked, the whole sinful lot are as welcome as deserving, actually, they
are FIRST in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we who have been at if for a while go to
the back of the line. This call is not just merely to an upheaval of the status
quo, not merely to a reversal of power and hierarchy, but to a whole new culture
a whole new way of being in relationship with each other. Not striving for our
position, not desiring to put ourselves first, we are called to be servants, as
Christ was a servant. As members of Christ’s body through baptism, we are called
to the cross for the sake of others, not for our own salvation. We do not live
or labor for ourselves, but as Christ lived for the sake of the world. Paul says
to us today in this matter in being in relationship with each other in this new
way, “this is living in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.”
So how can we do this? How can we put aside those desires to be first and at the
same time, when we hear our mother in our ear, what work can we do for the sake
of the world? First, do what brings you joy. Because this is God’s greatest wish
for us. Whatever you do, do it with joy, in, by and for joy, in awe and wonder
at life itself, and second, and ultimately I say this cautiously, hoping you
will hear me, there is no real work we can do, “except that which fixes our gaze
on the goodness of God who is generous to all.”1 There is no work we can seek,
because the reality in God’s Kingdom is that we ARE those standing idle in the
marketplace at the end of the day, waiting for the landowner to come to us. We
don’t go out looking for the work - God seeks us. We don’t choose to work for
God — God chooses us and if and when we have labored long and hard or hardly at
all, it’s not our work that’s important but God’s overwhelming generosity, God’s
grace that gives to all alike. God’s Kingdom where we are all equally children
of God, an equality not of this world but which shines as the beacon of God’s
kingdom. There is a song that our children sing in chapel. You may know it — its
hymn 711, (the Hymnal, 1982,) I ask you to hold these words in your heart in all
that you do. It goes like this: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and its
righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Allelu, Alleluia.
Amen
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1 “Matthew” Douglas R.A. Hare, in Interpretation, A Bible Commentary, pg. 231,
John Nox Press