Jonah 3:10–4:11
Matthew 20:1-16
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| Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard —Rembrandt (1606-1669) |
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 24, 2023
If you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to sit down and read the book of Jonah. It’s four short chapters. It should only take you about 15 minutes to read. It’s a story written to make you laugh at the prophet and our pettiness and stinginess and laugh at God’s outrageous love for all people and all creation. God calls Jonah to preach against the people of Nineveh. But Jonah runs in the opposite direction. He gets swallowed by a great fish. Jonah runs because the Ninevites are guilty of terrible violence against the people of God. Jonah wants them to get what they deserve—for God to turn them to ash like Sodom and Gomorrah. When the Ninevites repent, God spares them. He has mercy on the Ninevite people—and the Ninevite animals. It makes Jonah angry. He is angry that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love toward even this violent nation.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a similar story of a landowner who hires workers for his vineyard early in the morning. They agree to work for the usual daily wage. But then the landowner goes out to hire more workers at different intervals during the day. Some of the workers only worked for the last hour. At the end of the day, they line up to get paid. The landowner pays them all the same wage. Those who worked many hours and bore the heat of the day feel cheated. They are keeping score. God does not. And so they express their outrage. But the landowner reminds them that they agreed to the usual daily wage. He is free to be generous to the latecomers. And so they despise the landowners super abundant generosity and grace.
Both these stories remind us of a very important distinction between humans and God: what we think is fair does not always line up with what God thinks is fair. We want retributive justice. In other words, we want people to suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing. We want others to pay for their sins. We want others to earn the good they receive. That is the old way: retributive justice—people getting the punishment or stinginess they deserve. It does not change minds, hearts, or lives. We think it brings balance to the world. But God does not want the world to simply be fair. He wants everyone—and everything—to experience his bountiful and extravagant love. He does not want retributive justice but restorative justice. God wants our world to experience his lavish forgiveness. He wants us all to live by his exceeding mercy. He wants this world to overflow with his generous grace. He wants you and me to pay forward with his excelling love.
It says something about the human heart unmoved by the Holy Spirit: we actually can get angry with God when he extends his superabundant grace toward those we have deemed unworthy. We are actually playing God. And we are not that great at it. In fact, thanks be to God that God seems to often err on the side of grace and mercy. Thanks be to God that God is not who we sometimes want him to be. What would the world look like if we always got what we deserved for our shortcomings—the harm we do to others—our hardened hearts? What if God simply turned everyone to ash who deserves it? According Scripture, there would be no one left since “we all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory” (Rom 3:23).
That is what mercy is: God withholding the punishment we deserve.
What if God was as stingy as we are—only blessing us with what we have earned by way of faithful service to him? What if God kept score? We would likely have no blessings at all. Because “all our righteousness is filthy rags” (Isa 64:6).
That is what grace is: God loving us and blessing us even when we do not deserve or have not earned it.
Several weeks ago I was at an installation at Our Savior Lutheran Church in the Bronx. One of the pastors there is a Suffolk county police chaplain. He received the news that 13 year old Anthony Stinson, who was hit by a police car, had died. The police chaplain’s heart broke for the young boy and his family. The chaplain’s heart also broke for the police officer under his care. She tragically was responsible for hitting him in her squad car. Anthony’s mother, Claudia, is crying out for justice. But it is not retributive justice she seeks. With a big crucifix behind her, she cries out for restorative justice. She questions why squad cars do not slow down at intersections. She will fight to put in an overpass at that intersection to prevent other tragic accidents. Leaning on her faith, this single mom relies on God to give her the strength to move forward after the loss of her only child. Several years ago, Anthony and his mom already decided to donate their organs. Claudia said Anthony had a big heart. In another move of restorative justice, Anthony’s big heart will go to one of the many children waiting for a heart transplant.
All this points to our Savior’s big heart. While facing his own unjust death, he did not send out his angelic army for retribution, but cried out for restoration. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And to the condemned one next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
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