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September 21, 2008

Doug Clay

Proper 20A - RCL

To read the lessons for the day click here:

http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp20_RCL.html

Attitude

Jonah 3:10-4:11, Psalm 145, 1-8, Philippians 1:21-30, Matthew 20:1-16

Grant to us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard, After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’ clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the fires came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friends, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Last Sunday we heard the Old Testament story of the Israelite people’s miraculous escape from Egypt with the Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit. Lynell spoke to us of how it must have felt to be part of that band of nomads (protected by the angel and separated from their enemies by powerful towers of fire and cloud) and how it might feel to have such a wonderful story to tell. I started thinking about what it must have been like to be a part of that army pursuing the escaping slaves. What was the attitude of the Egyptian people in those days? They must surely have been aware of and lived thorough all the plagues that had just occurred – they had seen the locusts, frogs, snakes, the river running bloody red and all the deaths. Now as they were chasing the Israelites they had more graphic proof of God’s power. I can visualize the pillar of cloud like a giant tornado or hurricane that moved between the two groups of people – and I find it hard to imagine the Egyptian army deliberately moving toward such a sight. Then at night the pillar became lighted. I don’t know if any of you have been through a hurricane, but I can tell you that the clouds of a hurricane give off an eerie glow in the night, not something to be followed. Finally, the ground that was dry and firm for the Israelites as they hurried along became soggy and trapped the pursuing chariots. What more proof was needed of God’s power and support of the escape lead by Moses? What would the story have been like if the Egyptians had stopped their pursuit and recognized God’s protection and love in that show of strength? I thing that, even today, we focus too much of the fear of God. Entire denominations through the ages have been founded on self-centered avoidance of the fate of those Egyptians. People have lived their entire lives in fear that they would become victims of God’s wrath and power.

Our reading today though tells us that this does not have to be. We have part of the story of Jonah – possibly the most reluctant prophet of God recorded. Being a prophet was not an easy job. Usually the messages they were to deliver were unpopular and those to whom they were to be delivered unwilling to listen. Jonah had such a message to take to Ninevah, the capital city of Assyria. “God was going to destroy the entire for their evil ways.” Jonah instead of traveling east to deliver the message hired a boat to go due west toward what in now Spain. On the way to his escape God sent a violent storm that threatened to destroy the ship. Eventually Jonah had to admit to the sailors that he was to blame for the storm for trying to escape from God. He told the sailors that to survive, they needed to throw him overboard. The sailors didn’t want to harm Jonah so first they tried unsuccessfully to row to shore. With no other options, the sailors prayed to Jonah’s God for forgiveness then gave him the heave-ho over the side. Jonah, now in the middle of the ocean without a life preserver began to drown. Finally, he desperately cried out to God. A giant fish (often described as a whale) appeared and swallowed our pitiful prophet. Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days, while it swam back to the east where Jonah’s flight began. The sea creature then vomited Jonah onto dry land where God repeated his command for Jonah to go to Ninevah. Wisely Jonah listened and wasted little time in declaring that the city was scheduled for destruction in forty days. Instead of killing Jonah, as expected, for bringing this warning, the people repented. The story goes that not just some of the residents changed their ways, but everyone did including the king. The Assyrians went so far as to dress all of their animals in sack cloth to show their extreme contrition. God was impressed. Jonah was not. In fact Jonah was livid – he had gone through a lot to get this message delivered. Jonah had not run away because of fear Assyrians would kill him, he was afraid of what actually happened, that they would repent—Jonah had wanted to see the city destroyed. In anger he said to God, “I knew you were a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness and repenting of evil.” Everywhere else these words appear in the Bible they are used to praise God. Jonah used them to accuse God. Then he sat on top of a hill with the best view so he could observe the fireworks when the city was destroyed. While Jonah was waiting though, the weather grew extremely hot and he had to find refuge under the shade of a plant that God had made grow the night before. The next morning a worm ate the plant, and Jonah again became extremely hot, both in temperature and temper. No longer wanting to live Jonah begged God to kill him. The lesson for Jonah is that he cared more about seeing people get what’s coming to them than seeing them turn from their wrong ways and receive forgiveness. Even the pagan sailors, who tried to save Jonah’s life, showed more compassion toward a foreigner than he was willing to show toward others. God, however, is not like Jonah. He wants to show mercy. The Assyrians, as bad at they were, are still human and worth rescuing. Even the animals were important to God. If Jonah could care about a plant that he neither created nor planted, God can care about all His creation by extending mercy rather than judgment.

To Jonah, it didn’t seem fair; the Egyptians didn’t repent why should the Assyrians have done so. Our gospel story gives us another example of the same attitude. The workers who toiled in the field for the entire day for their fair wages didn’t think it was fair that the ones who came later should receive a full share as they received. The landowner asked “are you envious because I am generous?” The answer is obviously a self-centered “yes”.

We can see these attitudes around us today; we see rage and sometimes feel anger. When we are in traffic, we honk our horns and blow at people to get out of our way, because we feel we are the most important person on the highway. This self centeredness is the root of rudeness we see in the grocery store as people push in line ahead of others because they have something urgent to do. It is seen in envy at our work places when one worker feels someone else is getting more or getting by with doing less. Self- centeredness can be destructive to our marriages and family relationships. Spouses may make little effort to be giving and gentle to one another because “I am the most important person in the world. My happiness is what counts. Nothing else matters.”

Of course, there are problems with a self-centered life. A self-centered life is out of focus. Most of you have seen the wonderful images from the Hubble Space Telescope. From the farthest reaches of space, we are able to see God’s most breathtaking creations. Do you remember that in the beginning the Space Telescope was not the wonderful machine that it is today? After lots of excitement, the telescope was launched and -- the first images were blurry. There was a flaw in the mirror. It was a terrible disappointment. That problem was later corrected, but at the time it was a huge embarrassment.

The self-centered life is just like the early years of the Hubble Space Telescope. Everything is out of focus so you can’t see truth and reality – you just see a blurry image of it. The self-centered life prevents us from understanding the needs of others.

The self-centered life is ultimately a losing proposition. The story is told of an ambitious farmer, unhappy about the yield of his crops, who heard of a highly recommended new seed corn. He bought some and produced a crop that was so abundant his astonished neighbors asked him to sell them a portion of the new seed. But the farmer refused. In his self-centeredness, nothing else mattered. He was afraid that if he shared he would lose a profitable competitive advantage. So he refused to share. The second year the new seed did not produce as good a crop, and when the third-year crop was still worse it finally dawned upon the farmer that his prize corn was being pollinated by the inferior grade of plant from his neighbors’ fields. Had he shared the seed, his own corn would have been protected.

What does God want of us? What should our attitude be in a world that seems often not to be fair? How can we live our lives so we are not living in fear to avoid God’s wrath. How can we live our lives so that we are not stubbornly jealous of other peoples favor? How can we live our lives so our self-centeredness does not distort our view of what is important? How can we live our lives to experience the joy that that I believe we are born to enjoy?

The Lord’s Prayer contains the phrase that calls us to a life that is not self-centered, but God centered. “Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.” How is that to be lived? One of my favorite Bible passages from the prophet Micah answers the question this way, “What does the Lord require of you? Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

The most important thing we can do is to look past our own needs toward the needs of others. And I believe that one of the most important actions that we can make as a church family is by looking outside our walls by supporting our outreach ministry.

I was extremely moved by Phyllis Hanniver’s article in the September “Epistle” as it showed clearly how close to us the needs of others are:

Restaurants in the U.S. routinely throw large quantities of leftover food in dumpsters, and yet, right here in Sacramento, there are children, working adults, senior citizens and disabled persons on fixed incomes who, just as routinely, can’t afford to get enough food to eat. 37 million Americans live at or below the poverty line. About 7 million of those people are classified as the “working poor.” A prominent big-box retail chain pays its workers such low wages, that many employees rely on supplemental aids such as food stamps.

If you are not convinced that hunger is a problem in Sacramento, listen to this article from River City Community Services website:

People who are hungry have an image problem. If someone is asked to imagine a hungry person in Sacramento, they often think of someone panhandling at a street corner, or a homeless person. These images form an incomplete and ultimately inaccurate picture.

Myth: Poverty and hunger is an inner-city problem

Reality: The U.S. poor living in suburbs now outnumber those living in cities.

Myth: Those who are hungry are mostly elderly.

Reality: Those who have received food aid at River City Community Services have been as young as two days and as old as 97 years. The median age of those seeking food assistance is 44 years.

Myth: Those who are hungry are mostly adults.

Reality: Four out of ten meals provided by River City Community Services goes to feed a child. One in six children in the U.S. is living in poverty.

Myth: The hungry are usually unemployed.

Reality: Only a small percentage of those who seek food assistance have no income at all and one out of three has some form of employment related income. Many are working poor families whose incomes haven’t kept up with rising expenses. If something happens, they may not have enough money left to buy adequate food.

Myth: People who are hungry are spending too much money on the wrong kind of food.

Reality: People who seek food assistance spend less per person per month than the government’s cheapest nutritional meal guideline.

Myth: People don’t need food assistance. They have food stamps.

Reality: Food stamps last an average of 2.5 weeks. If people have an unexpected expense, such as a car breakdown, they may not have qualified for food stamps and face an immediate need for food assistance. Extensive documentation is required to receive food stamps, and there is often a delay while applying and waiting for approval.

What should be our attitude? Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” How can we live in this way? One simple but important way is to support St. Paul’s outreach program this month by bringing food items which will be donated to River City Community services to help feed the hungry right here in our community.

The list of foods is easy to remember- Foods items RCCS almost always needs include: canned tuna, peanut butter, pork and beans, hearty soups, canned tomatoes, canned fruit, macaroni and cheese packages, and baby formula and baby food.

As Phyllis completed her article, “Whenever we help anyone in need, we are helping our own spiritual family.” Let’s fill up our big wicker basket and boxes with spiritual and physical abundance!

Amen