Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145:1-8; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16
The Rev. Candice B. Frazer
“Nobody loves me, everybody hates me guess I’ll go eat worms.” Growing up whenever my sister pouted about not getting her way, she would plop herself down at the dinner table and sing this song in response to being asked why she was unhappy. Over the years, it became one of those inside family jokes—whenever someone was asked (or told) to do something they didn’t want to do, they would simply sigh and say, “guess I’ll go eat worms.” It was a realization that though one did not want to do the task at hand, there was no getting around it. You might as well get to work and get it done—though we were not so noble as to do so without complaint.
Jonah is not without complaint. God has told him to go to Nineveh and preach a message of repentance. Jonah is not amenable to God’s call and journeys in the opposite direction—attempting to outrun God. He ends up putting others in harms way, getting swallowed by a whale, spit up on shore, and finally, begrudgingly acquiescing to God. He goes to Nineveh—an arch enemy to Jonah’s people. The Ninevehites have turned from God. They have gone the opposite direction and followed other gods. Jonah preaches a message of repentance. And they do. The people of Nineveh, who are not Israelites, who do not know the God of Jonah’s ancestors, put on sackcloth and sit in ashes as an act of repentance. They turn from their evil ways and God changes his mind about the calamity that he said he would bring upon them. Jonah’s worst nightmare has come true.
Jonah in his disappointment and frustration with God goes outside the city to sit under a bush and pout. You can almost hear him singing, “Big fat juicy ones, eensie weensie squeezey ones, oohey, jooey, fuzzy, wuzzy worms…”. Jonah doesn’t simply sing about eating worms, he tells God, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah literally wishes he were dead rather than live with an experience of God’s grace that has offered salvation to so many others. Sure, he ran away from home. Sure, his boat almost capsized. Sure, he got swallowed by a whale and vomited out on a beach. Sure, he had to walk across a foreign city for three days, proclaiming, “Repent, or die.” Sure, the one small bush he sat under for a moment’s reprieve has now withered and died and now the sun is beating down upon his head. Sure, everything seems against him—but I wonder how different his experience might have been had he just gone to Nineveh in the first place. How different his experience might have been had he accepted that the grace of God was available for all to receive; that neither he, nor the Israelites, have exclusive rights to the kingdom.
Jesus is more than aware that God’s grace and mercy is available for all. He tells a parable to his disciples about laborers in a vineyard. The ones hired at the start of the day are paid the same wage as those hired at the end of the day—and that offends them. They complain to the owner of the vineyard, grumbling against the landowner that the ones who worked the last hour have been made equal to those who have borne the burden of the day. Notice that they are not complaining about the wages. They never say, “You owe us more. “ or even, “We worked harder than they did so we should earn more.” They say, “You made them equal to us.” Equality is the offense—not fairness or socialism or unfair labor practices—equality.
Just as Jonah is offended by God’s saving act of grace for those that Jonah sees as lesser than himself, so too the day laborers in Jesus’ parable are offended. Jonah’s and the laborers’ complaints seem to offer some legitimacy. The Ninevehites were enemies of the Israelites. And the laborers hired early in the morning had worked longer and harder than those hired an hour before quitting time. If anything, the parable expresses the unfairness of God’s grace and we are offended by it. We resonate with the complaint of those hired early in the morning who have done a full day’s labor. They deserve more. Besides, if this is the standard labor practice, we all know how many people are going to show up early to work tomorrow.
The joy is that, though offended neither the laborers nor Jonah disconnect from God. Instead the opposite is true—they complain to God. They enter into dialogue—Jonah with the Lord, the laborers with the landowner. They express their dissatisfaction and are heard. God does not cut them off or punish them for their questions, their anxiety, or their frustration. God hears them and then God offers them a new perspective; an inclusive vision of the kingdom. We don’t know if they accept that vision but we are given to understand God’s motivation. The kingdom of God is for everyone—it is all inclusive.
As I think about the workers who were hired in the early morning, at 9am, at noon, at 3pm, and at 5pm—I am struck by the landowners question of them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” They respond, “Because no one has hired us.” It is not that those hired later in the day were lazy, more likely they did not appear as strong as the men hired first. It’s a little like captains picking their team at recess—of course you are going to pick the best players first and save the worst players for last. The landowner has hired the weakest laborers at the end of the day and treated them the same as the strong who had been hired at the start of the day. Mind you, this is not an “everybody gets a trophy” kind of grace. It is a grace that says everyone is worthy—those who have stepped up and dug in as well as those who showed up late for the party. Those who agree with us and those who differ in their beliefs. Those whose lifestyles mirror our own and those who live lives we have trouble comprehending. God’s grace is generous to all. It is poured out upon all of us in equal measure—Baptist and Episcopal, black and white, male and female, gay and straight, neighbor and stranger, the first and the last. And yet, sadly, some of us are mortified and offended by such grace.
Today marks the start of our annual stewardship campaign. Some of us will give because we have been taught that we are to give to the church and work to a tithe of 10%. Some of us will give because we have been blessed by the church and see its value to our family and our own lives. Some of us will give because we want to be part of something bigger than we can
imagine or provide. Some of will give to ensure a legacy—a church that will continue to nurture and encourage Christians in the building up of the kingdom. Some of us will give because we know the church transforms lives and we want to be a part of that. All of us give in response to a generous God—a God who has given us more than we deserve. We give as a response to grace.
We can choose to pout and sing songs like, “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me…” and eat the worms of dissatisfaction and disengagement or we can choose to give as God gives to each of us. We can choose to be offensive in our grace—giving in such a way that is unexpected, even to ourselves. The parable Jesus tells this morning is one of equality in the eyes of God. It is also one of choice—we can choose to be the laborers who rise early and get to work—giving fully of ourselves and expecting fully of God. At the end of the day, we will receive our salvation along with those who have labored only a few hours. And yet, our labor will be the work of our lifetime—and though our salvation is no different from any other, the joy and fulfillment we have in the work we have done gives to our lives meaning and encouragement that sustains us in all our labors; that builds up the kingdom; a kingdom in which all are included; a church in which all belong.