Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9; psalm 144; Philippians 1:20-24; Matthew 20:1-16
Grace and peace to you dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. We have very beautiful readings today, with profound lessons for us.
There is no need to summarise the parable of the Gospel, we have all read it.
As I reflect on the parable, so many messages are building up in my mind.
This passage reminds us of some great life’s lessons. Let me just itemise 5 and preach on one more.
I. We can become unnecessarily jealous and ungrateful to God when we begin to compare our lives to others.
If the labourers who were hired first didn’t compare their pay to those hired last, then they would have been grateful for their pay and gone home quietly.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul says avoid anything that would be unworthy of the Gospel. One of the things unworthy of the Gospel is having bitter jealousy and envy against someone whom we think God has blessed more than us or more than we think they deserve.
II. It reminds us that even though there are degrees of happiness/glory in heaven, heaven is the common reward of faithful children of God. It doesn’t matter whether someone has been a Christian since childhood or someone became a Christian a day before death. Those who have been Christians since God-knows-when should never look down upon those who are new to God’s family, as if they are inferior or unfortunate.
III. This parable teaches us something about the system of Grace. God gives us more than we can ever earn or deserve. As we are grateful to God, let us also be gracious in our dealing with others.
IV. This fourth lesson is very personal and important to me. This parable teaches me not to be too quick to give up. Imagine those employed at the eleventh hour – If there was something we can really learn from them, it is the fact that they were hopeful to the end, they waited, they didn’t give up too quickly. They encourage us not to give in to despair. The reason why some people do not have a testimony to tell of how God came through for them is because they gave up too soon, they gave up before the time of divine visitation.
V. The landowner didn’t bother to explain to the “protestants.” The only answer he gave to them was that he acted according to how he wished. Dear friends, God owes no one any explanation. If He chooses to reveal to us why A is not B, all thanks to Him and if He doesn’t, well He is God, He does what He wills, He is absolutely free.
Finally and this is what I am preaching today.
GOD’S METHOD AND WAYS ARE DIFFERENT FROM OURS
This is what the First Reading says and this is the chief message today. The earliest labourers were disappointed, not because they didn’t receive what they were promised but because they had some expectations. They expected the landowner to act in a particular way but he didn’t.
Dear friends, the revelation in today’s First Reading is deep. God’s ways and methods are higher than ours. He is God, we are not. The implication of this is that we cannot use our human reasoning to predict God’s methods and ways. He is God, He is absolutely free yet He is UNFAIR to no one. We can NEVER fully comprehend His wisdom, ways, methods and plans. Let us learn this and keep it in mind.
God is not a laboratory specimen to be accurately predictable, understood and controlled. He is not to be mastered. We are to surrender to Him, however, whatever and whenever He wants to do what He wants to do.
Does this mean we cannot understand God at all and so we are hopeless? No, this is not what Scripture teaches us. The Bible says that through His Spirit we can know (understand) what He “chooses” to reveal to us. This is not for us to be able to predict His workings but to love, worship and trust Him as God (1 Corinthians 2:10-16).
Spirit of the living God, help us to understand better that God is a mystery, an unfathomable mystery of grace and love. Help us to accept from Him whatever He chooses to give or reveal to us and to be grateful for what He is doing in the lives of others, Amen.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on September 24, 2023.