The Extravagant Generosity
Matthew 20:1-16
It is said that every parable Jesus told contains the Gospel in miniature. This one of the labourers in the vineyard certainly does as it arrestingly proclaims “the extravagant goodness of God.” It was told to the religiously resentful the Scribes and Pharisees those with a “charter-member” mentality. The parables vindicated Jesus ministry among the outcasts, and proclaimed the wideness of God s mercy.
Hunter, Interpreting the Parables
I am trying to imagine the situation that gave rise to a parable like this Could it have been that Jesus was being criticized for giving an inordinate amount of time to the poor and those considered to be outcasts of society rather than with the “righteous” who often thought that they should have special status because of their great piety? Could it be that Jesus was giving the tax collectors and prostitutes an equal share in his Kingdom to the disgust of the Scribes and Pharisees, “the righteous” who thought they should have more? I think the key phrase in the passage is that spoken by the landowner , “Do you begrudge my generosity?”
There is no room for status-seekers and power-seekers in the Kingdom of God. In this parable we realize that we are all equal in the eyes of God. We come face to face with the fact that “God’s ways are not our ways” . Our way is likely thinking that our good works entitles us to special rewards from God or in thinking that we can earn enough of God’s love to put God in our debt. How many times have I heard people say that because of their great faith and good works, God has blest them material wealth or abundant profits in their business. However, that is not the way of God. According to this parable, God’s ways are such that rewards are not given according to what we think we deserve but according to our real need. And if God chooses to love an alcoholic or drug addict with equal love as a saintly pastor, that is God’s right! God is God and God is Good…. all the time.
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I have experienced this kind of entitlement in parishes today. There is this attitude that because we have been faithful to God and been following Jesus Christ’s way for a longer period of time, we have greater status in the eyes of God and among other people. There are many long time members that feel that they have greater status, and stand more favourably with God than newcomers in the church.
Years ago, I became new Rector of a particular parish on the Canadian prairies. There hadn’t been many newcomers in the church for a number of years, so most of the people in the parish had been there for a long time. They had settled into set ways of doing things. From day one of my arrival there I was told that they wanted new people in the church. They bemoaned the fact that there were so many empty pews. They wanted to see the church full. “How was the church going to survive?” they asked, “We need to attract new younger families” was their cry. After a couple of years, the church started to grow. We had a number of new families. Many of them were younger families with children. The pews were filling up.
However, the new people brought new ideas. They wanted to change some of the ways that we did things. They wanted to reach out into the community ecumenically. This was something that the older members didn’t expect. It was alright for these new comers to join with them as long as they accepted the set way of doing things. They wanted these new people but didn’t want their ideas. or any hopes and dreams that they might have for the parish. They had to accept things the way they were. Oh yes, they wanted these new people but just as bodies sitting in the pew not as whole people. But new people came to be a part of the Christian community not as passive bystanders. They had gifts. They had vision. I felt that they deserved to have as much respect as any of the other people in the church. I believed that their ideas deserved to be heard and acted on.
Some of them were eventually elected to the parish council. I remember one parish council meeting when one of the newcomers presented a few new proposals for ecumenical involvement. One of the ideas was to worship together with other churches on Easter. There was outrage by some of the older members. One woman said, “I’ve been a member of this parish practically all my life, and we have never done something like this before. This is my church and I don’t want this Johnny-come-lately waltzing in here trying to change the way we do things.” Some others spoke in the same manner. After much debate the proposal was accepted by the majority of the members of council and we did worship with some of the other churches in one of their buildings on Easter and began a relationship which was to grow over the years.
A few days after Easter, the older member who was so vehemently opposed came to me and said, “I know that I was against it but I have to admit that it was most wonderful experience to worship together. I’m glad we did it and I’m glad I went. I’m sorry that I spoke so badly of newcomers. I will apologize to them. We do need them and their new ideas and their new energy”.
It turned out OK in the end but it doesn’t always turn out that way. It is so hard to give up the feeling that we have a special standing in the church the longer we are members and that we can demand more attention more respect and more control over how we reach out to the world in love than those who have just arrived. We love to lord it over people in our righteousness. That may be our way of thinking but that’s not God’s way. God is a God of extravagant love.
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This is so different from the secular culture in which we are raised: From birth we have breathed in a cultural environment whose message is clear: “Your acceptance, your value, your meaning, and your identity are measured strictly by your performance, by your productivity, by your accumulation of wealth, by your success in meeting all our expectations, by knowing how to wield power. So if you want affirmation and acceptance from society, you need to prove, and keep on proving, that you have earned it.”
However as we face parables like in today’ Gospel reading, we see quite a different view of acceptance and value in the world. God s voice is the voice of compassion and forgiveness, an embracing, cleansing voice, assuring us that when we have aimed high and fallen short we are still loved. God understands that when we give in to temptation it is a temporary lapse and does not reflect our true character. God loves us not necessarily for what we do in the world but for who we are – a person created in the image of God. We are part of a people where God gives to some 100% of God’s love to those rewarding those for good and faithful service, and to others only 2% of God’s love to others who seemed to have failed. God’s love for everyone is 100%. Do you have the same extravagant generosity toward others?
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God does love us and not only stand around to wait for us but actively seeks us out, even runs toward us, and in God’s embrace is the chance to change.
Ruel Howe in The Creative Years (NY Seabury Press 1978) tells the story of a Chinese artist who undertook to paint The Parable of the Prodigal Son. His first attempt showed the father standing, waiting at the gate for his son who was seen approaching in the distance. When the artists showed his picture to a Christian friend his friend exclaimed, “Oh, no, you don’t have it right. The father shouldn’t be standing, waiting. He should be running to meet his son.”
“But no Chinese father could do that!” said the artist.
“That is just the point,” replied his friend. “No human father would, but this is the astonishing story of a father that tells us about God’s amazing mercy He love’s us like that!”
“I see,” replied the artist.
The next picture he painted showed the father running to meet his son, and, in his hurry, he had put on shoes that didn’t match.
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There may be questions where the parable interlocks with us: Do we rejoice that others come late and still receive all the extravagant goodness of God? Or when we see the amazing generosity of God’s economy do we demand a bonus? Do we insist that God s gifts of life and grace be by our measurement, that some should not receive the Spirit of the Lord in maybe strange and absurd ways? Perhaps the parable will speak to you of your feelings toward penitent prodigals who haven t found it your way, you who have borne the heat and burden of faithful service. However, God loves in extravagant generosity no matter how early it is or how late it is and can overcome our resistance and arouse in us the desire to act toward others with the same generous love. Then who can say, “That’s unfair!”?
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