Jonah was a bit of a whiner, wasn’t he? He was sent to Ninevah to turn them away from their “evil” ways. Then, when the people do change their tune, leading God to “spare” them, Jonah is furious. In our section of scripture this morning it’s difficult to fully understand just what Jonah is ticked off about, but suffice it to say that Jonah begrudges God giving God’s grace to the people, without, in Jonah’s mind, giving HIM an equal measure of that grace. He’s envious. He’s ungrateful. He’s a bit of a brat.
God responds, “well Jonah, it’s my grace to give and I choose to give it extravagantly. You can be angry about Ninevah, you can be angry about the withered bush…but neither of those things are your concern….it’s my creation, my choice.”
That’s the thing about God’s Grace. It’s given according to Divine Rationale, Divine Choice, Divine Decision. And the fact that God’s Rationale, Choice and Decision doesn’t make a lot of sense to us from our limited human perspective---is why Jesus gave us the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.
It’s tough to be a day laborer . With no regular employment –the workers stand in the town square hoping that some landowner would hire them for the day (This still happens today with the migrant workers up in Niagara County.) Trouble is, there were more laborers than labor. So while some folks—the healthy looking and lucky-- were chosen to work all day. The unlucky or unhealthy were passed over. But in today’s Gospel, everyone’s lucky. Over the course of the day they’re all hired, some for a 12 hour shift, some for just an hour---yet EVERYONE is promised and receives a fair wage -- nothing more, nothing less -- just as they were promised. Those who worked more hours than the others were angry. It just doesn't seem fair. But as the landowner reminds them it is fair – they’re being paid just what was promised... It’s not their concern –It’s his choice to pay the later workers a full day’s wage, after all it’s his money, it’s his treasure. The landowner’s generosity isn’t based on time worked. His generosity is based on his abundance and his willingness to give extravagantly out of that abundance----sound familiar? But, still, even though it’s the Landowner’s prerogative, just like it’s God’s, the laborers who worked the longest—get cranky. It isn’t fair!!!! Perhaps the laborers have been talking with Jonah!
So why all the crankiness at the generosity of the landowner, the generosity of God? At the good fortune of others? Because deep within in our human nature lies a fear of scarcity---a fear that there won’t be enough. That if our neighbor has more, then we’re destined to have less… there isn’t enough for everyone. When we lack trust in God, when we fail to believe what Jesus has told us—time and time again!—we become insecure, a little whiny and definitely cranky-- assessing our lives not through the abundance we’ve been given by God but instead by what we feel we still lack. Cain and Abel, the freed yet still sojourning Israelites, the disciples arguing over who is the greatest--- we tend to look at life from a sense of what we could have, should have and don’t have instead of what we do have, through the grace of God. It’s joy vs. despair, faith vs. fear. Gratitude vs. resentment.
The gloom of despair overshadows the brightness of joy. Gratitude cannot co-exist with resentment. Faith has a difficult time elbowing out fear.
Gratitude begets joy and abundance, while fear begets resentment and scarcity.
Soon we’ll begin our Stewardship campaign—a time when we ask for all of us to consider what this parish means to us and how much we’re willing to give to keep our mission going.
Is our economy in tough shape? You bet. Is it easy, is it fair to ask people to increase their pledge during these tough times? Well, if we ask from a stance of fear, probably not. But, if we ask, if we answer from a stance of gratitude--when we answer out of our joy, and our faith then it is Absolutely fair. For what is fair is realizing that all that we have, no matter how sparse it may seem in comparison to others, is God’s bounty, graciously and abundantly GIVEN to us out of our Creator’s love for us. Our job, both as the people doing the asking and as the people doing the responding, is to focus on the gratitude of what is, not on the despair of what has been, what might be or what could be.
Last week the Bishop preached about new life emerging from the dust of death. About joy coming out of sorrow, about the abundance of hope promised by God through the gift which is Jesus of Nazareth. He mentioned that the imagery of Psalm 30 was a great comfort to him during those dark days post 9/11. When I reflected on the psalm I realized how much it speaks to me when I consider the choices presented during a stewardship drive—I wonder if it spoke to Jonah as he considered the events in Ninevah or to the laborers w hen they considered the landowner’s generosity in the vineyard:
“O Lord be my helper, turn my wailing into dancing….my heart sings to you without ceasing, O Lord My God I will give you thanks forever.”
We can wail or we can dance. We can be miserable or we can be joyful. Our choice is whether we want to fan the flames of hope or douse that fire of hope with fear. As Bishop Bill said, we can look down into the pit of despair or up into the heavens with praise.***yesterday I walked in the Bosom Buddies Fundraising Walk for Roswell Park’s Breast Cancer Resource Center. As I was given my Pink Survivor’s T-Shirt, I burst into tears: tears of gratitude, tears of faith, tears of joy. For I know that my choice, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer was to wail or to dance. Because of my faith community, because of our faith community, I was able to dance. Because of the love and support I received from the parishioners at Good Shepherd and the trust I have placed in God [I hardly ever, snatch it back. ;-)] my gaze is turned toward the heavens, shouting praise….***
Our stewardship campaigns at both Good Shepherd and Ascension will be about the hope that rises out of the dust, the faith which defeats fear and the gratitude that beats back resentment.
Our hearts can sing to God without ceasing, I think they should sing to God without ceasing, I think they will sing to God without ceasing, because God’s love showers us without ceasing.
Joy, faith and gratitude will beget more joy, more faith and more gratitude. We have made a huge leap of faith and it is paying off…our attendance is higher than it’s been in a long time, there’s a spirit of togetherness and love which is palpable to all those around us. Our Bishop has challenged us to live out our faith in new and bold ways, trusting us to joyously journey into this new covenant-- singing our hearts out and stepping ahead in faith, trusting that God’s unequaled and divinely fair abundance leads the way. So let the journey continue- my heart is singing, my faith is dancing and my joy knows no bounds.
Amen.
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