Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA, 21 Sept. 2014, Proper 20
Year A RCL: Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16
How
can we balance our lives between earthly things & heavenly
things?
Paul
reminds us in today's lesson from Philippians that “to live in the
flesh means fruitful labor for us” & that we are “to live
(our) life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. (We are to
stand) firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for
the faith of the gospel...”
In
our Gospel parable, Jesus asks if we are jealous because God is
generous. Jesus tells us the love with which we do God's work counts
more than the amount of work we do.1
The “payment”
we receive is God's grace, a free gift we cannot earn.2
We may see a gift of God's grace & respond with curiosity &
wonder like the people in Exodus when they see the manna: they ask
“What is it?”
What
is that grace of balance we ask God for in our Collect? We ask not be
anxious about earthly things that are passing away so that we can
love & hold fast heavenly things that endure. What is that
balance?
Think
of a tight-rope walker high above the ground, holding a long pole,
that shifts a bit to help maintain balance. We stay focused on our
goal, on what's important. We have to adjust our movements, our
responses as breezes blow around us. We keep looking forward. We
don't look down on anyone.
How
do we develop this skill? Like most skills, we work at it: do it,
reflect on how we did, adjust & work on it more. We practice &
hone our abilities. We do this in our work as the Body of Christ. It
is essential work to keep ourselves embraced in this holy fellowship,
centered in God's love.
God's
love feeds us like manna in the wilderness. God's love feeds us at
this Holy Table with bread & wine that God invites us to share as
Beloved Sisters & Brothers in Christ.
Today's
scriptures tell us what it is like when we get off balance in our
relationship with God & each other: We complain. While we may
focus our complaint on an individual, we are really complaining
against God like the people in Exodus. We complain against God who
gives us life & relationships to share in this life.
In
Exodus people complain that they were better off with their old life:
Why did you have to go & change things, Moses? In Matthew the
workers complain that they should be paid more than the latecomers:
Why did you not
change what you promised to pay us so we'd get more?
Exodus
speaks of real human need: hunger in the wilderness. God satisfies
that need & gives the people the opportunity to adjust their
attitudes, to trust & obey God. Testing gives us the opportunity
to grow & see for ourselves how we have grown or can grow in
God's grace & love.
Using
natural phenomena, God sends quail & bread from heaven. Bread &
quails still fall from heaven in the Sinai.3
The difference is, for the people in Exodus, they come in the
quantities needed & at times of year in addition to the usual
months they are there4.
As
the Jewish Study Bible notes: great
numbers of quail migrate between Africa & Europe. Exhausted, some
drop to the ground where people easily collect them.5
As
for the bread, the people say “What is it?” They say in Hebrew
“manna”,6
which means “What is it?” They have not seen this flaky stuff
that is “still called 'manna ' in Arabic” & which Bedouins
use for sweetener.7
It comes from insects that ingest tree sap & excrete it on
branches, where it crystallizes into solids that fall to the ground.8
So
the Creator of all that is uses the natural processes in Creation to
provide people what they need. Is it any less of a miracle &
blessing from God when what we need comes from a natural phenomena?
Is
it any less of a miracle when what we need to sustain our lives or
our livelihood comes in the form of an unexpected gift, a generous
donor?
Is
the kidney a man in Washington needed any less of a miracle because a
young South Carolina medical student had gotten on a general donor
list, was the perfect match, & said to this stranger: “Take my
extra
kidney. I want you to have it. It's yours.” She does this knowing
she will suffer physical adjustments.9
Will
you miss seeing the miracle if an employer hires you late in the day
& pays you more than you expect? Will you complain if you've
worked all day & receive what you agreed to with the employer &
then see latecomers receive the same?
Remember
the Wolf of Resentment & the Wolf of Peace from last week10:
The first wolf represents fear, resentment,
anger,
envy,
sorrow, regret,
greed,
arrogance,
self-pity,
guilt, inferiority,
jealousy
& lies. This is the wolf of those disgruntled workers, who are
arrogant & self-pitying. They see their worth as greater than
late-comers. They are jealous of & envy that extra money &
are indulging in self-pity about not having more than they were
promised. They are angry. They regret not bargaining for more.
They
do not know what
Peter Marshall tells us:
“If you hug to yourself any resentment against anybody else, you
destroy the bridge by which God would come to you.”11
The
other wolf, the Wolf of Peace, maintains that bridge. This is the
wolf of joy, peace,
love, hope, sharing,
serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence,
friendship, empathy,
generosity,
compassion
& truth. The Wolf of Peace stays centered in God's love through
the practice of serenity,
through compassion,
a sense of “if I were in their shoes, I'd be grateful for that
extra pay”. This benevolence
of spirit makes generosity possible. The Wolf of Peace knows he or
she will suffer no lack because God gives abundantly to others. This
wolf celebrates your good fortune, your blessings.
How
can you stay centered in God's love like the Wolf of Peace so that
you can
see the miracle of generosity that a human would offer a full day's
wage to latecomers? Notice: The latecomers trust the landowner to pay
them something. They go to work without knowing what they will
receive. Do you have that strong trust?
How
do you develop it? What
is strong trust?
Is
strong trust like manna, something we see & ask: What is it?
Bibliography
Barclay, William. The
Gospel of Matthew: Vol. 2 .
Revised Ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1975.
Book of Common Prayer. New
York: The Church Hymnal Corp., and The Seabury Press. 1979.
Harper’s Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1988.
Holy Bible. New Revised
Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1989.
Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society
TANAKH Translation. New York: Oxford
University Press. 2004.Lectionary Page. http://www.lectionarypage.net/. Accessed: 4 Aug. 2014.
The New American Bible for Catholics. South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
Voyle, Robert J. Restoring Hope: Appreciative Strategies to Resolve Grief and Resentment. Hillsboro, OR: The Appreciative Way. 2010.
Voyle, Robert J. “The Art of Resolving Resentment”. Forgiveness Forum: Teach Your Congrgation How to Forgive. www.appreciativeway.com. 2014.
2
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
Note: I have known this
young Christian since she was born. She was baptized & brought
up in the Episcopal Church.
10
Note: from Voyle,
Robert J. “The Art of Resolving Resentment”. Forgiveness
Forum: Teach Your Congrgation How to Forgive.
www.appreciativeway.com.
2014.
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