Happy Thanksgiving, Lifespring Family!
We have so much to be grateful for and so many reasons to give thanks. Even though we live with such great privilege, it can sometimes be more difficult to take on a posture of praise.
Regardless of where each of us may find ourselves this day, the God we love and we worship remains steadfast in love and eternally gracious. And the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus taught about, remains consistently confusing and dumbfounding… and the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven remains mind-bogglingly Good News.
Backwards and countercultural for the Israelites living in Ancient Rome… backwards and countercultural for Canadians living in the 21st century.
In Matthew 20:1-16, we hear Jesus telling a parable about an outrageously generous landowner. He shares his privilege by not only seeking out and pursuing people to come and work in his vineyard, he pays each of them equally, despite working different amounts throughout the day.
While lots of scholars and commentators have worked at distinguishing which labourers entered the vineyards at the different times and who they might represent. Regardless of who the different labourers of the vineyard may have been, at the end of it all, we see a generous and kind Master of the House.
And no matter who we are, or what time of the day we find ourselves working in that vineyard, this is Good News for all of us.
The problem with the Good News of God, the Gospel and this illustration/parable about it, is that it is actually very Good News for everyone… but that means that there are lots of people who might not like it.
Although they had been paid in full what had been agreed upon, the workers who laboured through the entire day were upset that other workers who worked less were paid equally. And even still the Master of House/owner of the vineyard responds with grace to the disgruntled workers:
“Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”
Matthew 20:13-16
Rather than being more like a grumbling labourer or like the older brother from the Prodigal Son Parable, resistant to joining into the celebration (which is also a key principle in the Kingdom of Heaven) we get to choose how we will respond to such lavish kindness from the Master of the House.
The Last will be first and the first will be last… how will we respond to this reality of the Kingdom of Heaven!?
How will we respond to the Master of the House?
Will we follow his example or sharing our privilege?
Which version of the older sibling will we choose to live out?
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15:31-32