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| Andre-Rublev's Saviour |
Homily preached at Winmalee by
Br. Simeon Sunday 21st September 2014:
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16
The
parable of the generous vineyard owner:
“Are you envious because I am generous?
Thus the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
May I
speak in the Name of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Be honest. When you heard the
reading of the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard just a few minutes ago,
did your heart leap for joy? Were you thrilled when you heard that the workers
who'd toiled and slaved all day long in the hot sun were going to get the same
day's wages as those who'd worked only one hour? I think not!
The first part of the 20th chapter of Matthew records another story that
Jesus told, this time about the wages paid to the workers in the vineyard. It
clearly is about serving the Master, or working in the kingdom, but the twist
here is that many of those who worked in the vineyard did not think that the
wages were fairly paid.
The story follows logically the
ideas of the last chapter concerning wealth and the kingdom of heaven, that is,
following the Lord and the cost of that discipleship. The theme of the last
being first and the first being last ended that chapter, and this one as well.
God’s economy of grace is not the same as the natural order people expect.
The parable of the generous
vineyard owner (which appears only in Matthew’s Gospel) is the first of several
parables and exhortations challenging the Pharisees and scribes and those who
criticised Jesus for preaching to tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus makes two points in this
parable:
First, the parable speaks of
the primacy of compassion and mercy in the kingdom of God. The employer (God) responds to those who have
worked all day that he has been just in paying them the agreed-upon wage; they
have no grievance if he chooses to be generous to others.
God's goodness and mercy
transcends the narrow and limited laws and logic of human justice; it is not
the amount of service given but the attitude of love and generosity behind that
service.
The parable also illustrates
the universality of the new Church. The contracted workers, Israel, will be
joined by the new “migrant workers,” the Gentiles, who will share equally in
the joy of the kingdom of God.
Today’s Gospel strikes at our
tendency to judge everything and everyone in terms of how it affects me. How someone else benefits or is lifted up
doesn’t matter — my hurt feelings trump their
joy. Christ calls us to embrace the
vision of the generous vineyard owner: to rejoice in the good fortune of others
and their being enabled to realise their dreams, instead of lamenting our own
losses and slights.
We have our scales, time clocks
and computer printouts to measure what is just and what is not; but God is
generous, loving and forgiving with an extravagance that sometimes offends our
sense of justice and fair play.
Christ calls us to look beyond
labels like “tax collector” and “prostitute” and seek out and lift up the
holiness and goodness that reside in every person who is, like each one of us,
a child of God. The parable of the
generous vineyard owner invites us to embrace the vision of God that enables us
to welcome everyone to the work of the harvest, to rejoice in God’s blessings
to all, to help one another reap the bounty of God’s vineyard.
Amen.
