Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 119:97-152; Genesis 7:1-10; Matthew 20:1-16; Romans 2:17-24
Seven years ago, I participated in a Lenten study on the parables. In that study series, the pastor made a fascinating point about parables. He said: “The tricky thing about parables is that Jesus regularly sets us up by giving us details that have nothing to do with the parable’s outcome.” He said the details are tricky because they often push you to expect a particular outcome that is contrary to the underlying spiritual point Jesus is trying to make. Today’s parable from Matthew is a great example of this. In the parable, Jesus goes to great lengths to set us up by giving us the name of the players (an estate manager of a vineyard and several workers), the agreed upon wage (a dollar a day), and the times the group of workers began working (early in the morning, 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM & 5:00 PM). Those details draw us in and make us assume that we can predict what’s going to happen. Those who work longer will make more money than those who started later, right? Wrong! For while details such as the time a worker began working is important by human standards, those same details are unimportant by God’s standards. That’s a tough lesson to remember – whether you are reading Jesus’ parables or living your life. Many times, for instance, using our human perspective we’ll bemoan the good fortunes of a troublemaker – all the while forgetting God’s perspective (“… God gives God’s best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty” – Matthew 5:45 from The Message). Maybe there’s an area of your life where the details have pulled you off track and separated you from God. Maybe a circumstance, for instance, where you are crying out, “Why did this (and you can fill in the blank here with your own crisis) happening to me after I had been good and done X, Y and Z?” Those details might then fan the flames of anger or resentment toward God. If that’s where you are today, use the guiding wisdom found in the parables to remind us that the details WE think are so important from a human perspective aren’t the most defining details from another perspective: God’s. Til next time…
Seven years ago, I participated in a Lenten study on the parables. In that study series, the pastor made a fascinating point about parables. He said: “The tricky thing about parables is that Jesus regularly sets us up by giving us details that have nothing to do with the parable’s outcome.” He said the details are tricky because they often push you to expect a particular outcome that is contrary to the underlying spiritual point Jesus is trying to make. Today’s parable from Matthew is a great example of this. In the parable, Jesus goes to great lengths to set us up by giving us the name of the players (an estate manager of a vineyard and several workers), the agreed upon wage (a dollar a day), and the times the group of workers began working (early in the morning, 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 3:00 PM & 5:00 PM). Those details draw us in and make us assume that we can predict what’s going to happen. Those who work longer will make more money than those who started later, right? Wrong! For while details such as the time a worker began working is important by human standards, those same details are unimportant by God’s standards. That’s a tough lesson to remember – whether you are reading Jesus’ parables or living your life. Many times, for instance, using our human perspective we’ll bemoan the good fortunes of a troublemaker – all the while forgetting God’s perspective (“… God gives God’s best – the sun to warm and the rain to nourish – to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty” – Matthew 5:45 from The Message). Maybe there’s an area of your life where the details have pulled you off track and separated you from God. Maybe a circumstance, for instance, where you are crying out, “Why did this (and you can fill in the blank here with your own crisis) happening to me after I had been good and done X, Y and Z?” Those details might then fan the flames of anger or resentment toward God. If that’s where you are today, use the guiding wisdom found in the parables to remind us that the details WE think are so important from a human perspective aren’t the most defining details from another perspective: God’s. Til next time…
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