Seventeenth Sunday of Pentecost, Proper 20: Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16
You cannot entirely blame the people of Israel for complaining: they are in the desert, and while the Egyptians have been destroyed, they have no obvious food to eat. They have left the fleshpots of Egypt and are afraid. The Lord hears their complaints, and acts. He tells Moses and Aaron that the Israelites will have meat in the evening and bread in the morning. Sure enough, that evening quails come over their camp, providing meat for dinner; the next morning, a “fine flaky substance” is on the ground, providing bread. There is enough.
The Lord acted here with generosity. Today’s psalm retells the significant parts of the story:
They asked, and quails appeared, and he satisfied them with bread from heaven.
He opened the rock, and water flowed, so the river ran in the dry places. . .
So he led forth his people with gladness, his chosen with shouts of joy.
In today’s parable, the landowner acts with generosity. Some workers were hired early in the morning, but additional workers are hired throughout the day. Yet they are all paid the same wage, the daily wage promised the first workers. Modern readers might agree with those hired first that this was not fair: they had worked more, and deserved more. They don’t understand such abundant generosity.
In our lives, we like to keep score: because I did this, I deserve that. This person did this bad thing, so does not deserve the same things I do. Just as the Lord provides for the complaining Israelis, so the Lord provides for all. The Lord is not keeping score as we do: those who worked only an hour still worked, and are welcome. Cradle Christians are no more virtuous than converts, old time members of congregations than newcomers.
The Lord’s generosity ensures that all are cared for. It is a different way of being in the world, hard for us to accept. But we are all at times grateful for a generosity that does not keep score. That is the Kingdom of God.