September 18, 2005

Extravagant, Amazing Grace

Isaiah 55:6-11
Philippians 1:21-27
Matthew 20:1-16

How do you react when you hear Jesus' parable about the laborers who come in late and get paid the same as those who've been working hard all day? Not positively, I'll bet. Remember the Dr. Seuss story, Green Eggs and Ham? I'll bet we react to the parable in the same way as in the story: "I will not like them here or there. I will not like them anywhere. I will not like them, Sam I am. I will not like green eggs and ham."

And most of us don't like this story about the overly generous vineyard owner. It offends our sense of justice and fair play. It really burns us up when we hear about people getting things they don't deserve. Like the workers who slave all day and who get the same pay as the latecomers, we grumble. It's just not fair! This just shows the impracticality of the Bible in the 21st century, doesn't it? This scenario is not the real world.

But, maybe there's something else to grasp here, a deeper truth that goes beyond issues of fair play, economic justice, or good labor relations. We usually look at this parable as we look at everything - through our human eyes, from our human perspective. But we're challenged by the Bible, not just here, but throughout the scriptures, to look for deeper meanings and greater truths, to try to look at things from God's perspective. Yet God's ways and thoughts are often not our ways of doing or thinking.

It's easy for us to identify with those who worked all day. We've been treated unfairly many times, haven't we? We've been disappointed, we've gotten the shaft from employers, from so-called friends, even from family members. We've had our times of being treated unfairly, so we can identify. And it really galls us when someone else gets something we think we deserve, when they get more than we get, when they do less than we have done, but still reap the same rewards. It may be embarrassing for us to admit, but generosity to others is offensive, unmerited kindness to others is an insult, giving other people more than they deserve is outrageous - as long as it happens to them! (i)

But what if we were to identify with the latecomers? Have you ever gotten something good you haven't expected? Maybe it was a present, a kind word, love from another that you didn't deserve. I'll bet you have, and didn't it feel good? If the company you work for starts handing out bonus checks and your sales aren't quite up to quota, but you get a bonus check anyway, you don't think about giving it back, do you? To fully understand this parable, we need to identify with the latecomers, who work only one hour, and undeservedly receive a full day's wage.

The point of the parable is the absolutely unmerited, extravagant, amazing grace of God. "We cannot earn what God gives us; we cannot deserve it; what God gives us is given out of the goodness of [God's] heart; what God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace." (ii) God's ways are so much higher than ours that we cannot comprehend them, yet when we get a glimpse of God's love, we mistakenly conclude that the only way to get that love for ourselves is to do something to earn it.

Our Protestant work ethic almost demands this posture. We love to say, "God helps those who help themselves." Well, my friends, that is half-baked theology! God helps (and loves), yes, those who help themselves, but also those who cannot help themselves, and even those who refuse to help themselves. We get offended that any old anybody can receive God's grace - even the sluggards, the goof-offs, the cheats, the rip-off artists, even the wicked and unrighteous, even the worst of the worst. God's grace is for all persons, regardless who they are. It exceeds all human possibilities and understandings. God's ways are higher than ours. Do we begrudge God's generosity? Do we begrudge God's grace? Yes, I'm afraid sometimes we do.

If we can identify with the latecomers, then we might ask, "How can we experience this extravagant, amazing grace?" The prophet urges us to "seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Perhaps we could paraphrase this: "Be open to God's presence, because God is near." We may get up at 6:00 AM, or 9:00, or noon, but God is up before us, and is seeking us out even before we've thought about seeking God ourselves. God goes out into the marketplace of our lives, and calls us to come and labor in the vineyard of God's realm. Be open to God's presence; be open to God's call.

God's grace is extravagant, amazing, and incomprehensible. God goes out into the world to seek out the lost and the lonely, the rejects of humanity, the broken and battered, the embittered and estranged. God is like a junkman or garbage collector who claims as prized possessions those who others would reject and relegate to the garbage heap. God cares deeply about those who are the lowest, most despised, and least deserving. God insists on being a junkman or garbage collector and loves each of us, even you and me, especially when we're at our lowest or at the bottom of the heap. (iii)

How can we experience God's promised grace? Be open to God ... and expect the unexpected. It's okay look for spectacular miracles, but don't overlook the small miracles around you every day. Some people as they search for God and expect the unexpected are like the comedian, Woody Allen, who commented, "I would believe, if only God would give me a clear sign - like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank." (iv) This is not the kind of faith I would recommend, but expecting the unexpected means having an attitude of hopefulness even when everything seems hopeless, of being open to God's amazing grace in every situation of life. God's grace is for all - a free gift with no strings attached - but it's how we respond to that gift that determines the quality of our lives. We may know intellectually that God's grace is ours, but unless we live that grace in our lives, we miss the essence of the gift.

Early in the last century when immigrants from Europe came to these shores in droves seeking a better life, an immigrant family boarded a big steamship for America. They took a large sack of peanuts with them, and at mealtimes the family sat in their cabin and ate the peanuts. Of course, they soon grew tired of peanuts, so one day the father asked one of the ship's officers how much it would cost him and his family to eat one of the meals they could smell cooking each day. The officer smiled and of course said, "The price of the meals was included in the fare you paid when you got on board." (v) Unless we understand what it means to live God's grace in our lives, we may miss the essence of that gift.

What does God require of us? There are many answers to this question, for God calls each of us in different ways. One answer to the question was supplied by the prophet, Micah, centuries before Jesus. He said, "... what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." These words are easy to say, but if we're to respond to God's grace by living that grace, we've got to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. A tramp knocks on the back door of a mid-western home, and when a woman comes to the door, the tramp asks, "Does God live here?" Without answering him she slams the door in his face, and storms into the living room to tell her husband about the strange visitor and his disturbing question. "Well, what did he say when you told him we're active members of the church?" "I didn't mention that; that's not what he asked," she replies. "Well, surely you told him that you teach Sunday School, and that I have served for years on the Board of Deacons?" "No, dear, I didn't. That's not what he asked. He wanted to know if God lives here." Suddenly it dawns on them that this idea of God living in their home (or even in their lives) is a question they don't know how to answer, though they are going through all the motions of doing what God's people are supposed to be doing. (vi) Living God's grace is more than going through the motions. It's walking the walk as well as talking the talk. Does God live in your house? in your life? Does God live here?

This last question should remind us that our faith is not to be lived in isolation, but rather, in community with one another. We, as the gathered community of the people of God, the body of Christ, are also to respond to God's grace in tangible ways. In the classic movie, High Noon, the killers are returning to kill the Marshall, played by Gary Cooper, and the townsfolk are frightened. Even his deputies desert him. In desperation he walks in on a church service, and interrupts it with this plea: "I need help, and I came to church because there are people here. Will you help me?" People are there, alright, people who claim to know right from wrong, people who profess courage, faith, and trust in God. But rather than rushing to his aid, these church folks begin debating among themselves the merits and risks of helping, their various responsibilities and social conditions, who should volunteer first, and so on. Their talking continues, and the Marshall turns and walks out of the church to face his enemies alone.

The Apostle Paul says to the Philippians, "... live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ ..." And so may we, individually and together as the church, live our lives as faithful disciples, seeking to live as Jesus taught. May we be open to God's call, and expect the unexpected. May we not refuse when God wants to meet us, engage us, or lead us in new directions. And may we take a new look at the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, recognizing that in light of the long story of the Christian faith and the millions who have followed in the service of Christ over the centuries, we need to rejoice in God's grace - for we are those who are the latecomers, and we will surely find ourselves surprised and blessed by the generosity of God's extravagant, amazing grace. So may it be. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

i Rick Brand, Lectionary Homiletics, Vol. XVI, Number 5, 9/18/05.
ii William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible, 2001 Updated Edition, Matthew, Vol. 2, p. 263.
iii The Clergy Journal, 5-6/81, p.7.
iv Pulpit Resource, 9/20/81.
v Pulpit Resource, 9/17/78.
vi Ibid.