Sunday, September 20, 2020

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Second Reading: Philippians 1:21-30
Gospel Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

What we do is turn it into a fairness story.  We make it about what is fair.  The parable is clear though, that no matter when one came on the scene the wage is the same.

It is offensive to our sense of fairness—those who worked all day expect to get more than those who have only worked a little while or not at all.  It is only fair. 

We are well intentioned, but we want it to be fair.  We look at it from the perspective of the workers and we want to see that everyone gets what they deserve.

Yet here the key is not the workers and how long they have worked.  We are workers, so we make it about the workers.  Hey friends, sometimes it just is not about us.  This is one of those times.  It is about the landowner—he gives everyone in the story a denarius.  It is a day’s wages; it is what it takes to get through the day.  They all receive it.

That landowner is the way God is—all in—everyone.  It is not about earthly fairness—it is not about earning your way in.  It is about God’s justice.  It is about the justice of this generous grace and mercy God.  All receive.

What if we looked at others in the way God sees them?  What if we treated people in a just way with the compassion that God extends?  What if, in this global pandemic and world of major change we were, as God, all in with seeing ALL others as loved by God? 

One needs only to look at social media or watch a few minutes of television to know that we are quick to deem others as wrong, stupid, bad, and so on.  Every person we look at that way—God is “all in” with love for that person.  What if, we, like God, were “all in” with love for others?

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk