It is a cold ,blustery winter day and I think of those who suffer when the sun has left for another town.So much rain,so good for the fields and farms but in February a glimpse of the the sun is
cause for joy.When its light slants unto the daffodils, all creation claps at the brilliant yellow.
But, I see good news,so ancient ,so new.Even in February.
There is a parable that is so confounding that I want to turn away from it ,it makes me so uneasy.Why?It is the story of the householder who went out to the town looking for laborers to help in his fields.If I recall the story correctly this was a different sort of day.Like the one when my husband and I hiked for the first time.The temperature rose to 95 degrees,not a breeze and we were sweating just standing still.The men he hired early in the day were promised a certain wage.These hot, hardworking men who had helped all day and the men who came to work much, much later,were paid the same wage.Unfair,we shrilly cry at the top of our lungs.
A deacon once gave a homily about this parable and how glad he was at this generosity of God.His father-in-law had come to the Lord late in life yet he too, not having served the Lord for years, still would be embraced by Eternal Love.I can see that and agree but there is more.
This parable, above all others ,tells me how far from my thoughts are God's.This is a story of copious,overflowing,never ending, all-embracing Love that CAN do nothing else but love because that is who He is.It matters not whether we serve Him,he loves.Our crusty,selfish sins,smelling to high heaven in our view,does not diminish that Love by a dot.He loves.And the reason we don't believe this is because we do not think this way.We have boundaries on our love,conditions.And forgiving depends on many things,your grovelling,my mood.
He says:"I am free to do with my money(love) as I wish ,am I not ?"Mt.20:15.This is the God I worship.
2 comments:
Your additional thoughts on this parable (which also seemed unfair to me up until recently) are so rich and sensitive.
God is perfect--perfect love, perfect forgiveness, etc. Altho we humans share the same emotions, we seldom share the same perfection of emotion.
Our human nature constantly causes us to place limits, hold back, fall short. However, I've come to understand that God's 'equal payment' is referring to salvation and eternal life. Each man was called to the work, each man responded altho at different times, each man received equal reward (salvation).
Several places in the Bible Jesus warns of 'losing rewards' if we who are saved aren't faithful in spreading the Gospel as He has charged us to (great commission). Is he saying that if we don't continue sharing the Gospel with others who are in danger of perishing, we will not experience the full, perfect joy of Heaven?
Any thoughts on this?
Nice photo!
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