Strange Attractors

Sunday Sept 18, 2011. 14th ^h Sunday after Pentecost.. Exodus 16:2-15; Ps 105:1-6, 37-45, Phil 1:21-30; Matt 20:1-16

It’s easy to think that the story of the workers in the vineyard (this week’s Gospel reading)

is a commentary on labour relations

however, commentators on the New Testament

remind us to be careful about assuming a parable is a detailed analysis of the human condition.

The great British Scholar CH Dodd makes this point:

At its simplest a parable is a metaphor or simile  drawn from nature or common life,  arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness,  and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application  to tease it into active thought." 
(C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961, p. 5)

Jesus tantalizes his listeners with these challenging stories that invite us to engage

with what God is like

What do we make of this?

This story challenges us about how we will “live …life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil 1:27)

What is God like?

And how do I put this into practice?

The point of the parable is that God is a generous, loving and forgiving God

and we are called to do likewise.

We are not always like this!

We very easily get sidetracked.

We grumble when we are treated well

because others (who we judge less worthy)

are also treated well.

Paul at the beginning of his letter  to the Ephesians reminds us that God’s character is a generous character

In a wonderful way Paul says of God

“God who is rich in mercy”

The strange and tantalizing thing about this parable is that even though the owner of the vineyard

is outrageously generous

we still find those who demand that they should be treated better.

The sad story of events in the Exodus journey that we are also following (today in chapter 16) is that the God who deals with his people richly

is soon deserted when the going gets tough.

But I also want to ask about events of our own day.

How easily we forget

·       that the God who we believe deals with us generously

·       forgiving our sins on demand

·       hearing our prayers and responding

·       always overlooking our faithlessness

·       and giving his only son that we might be made whole

Also calls us to act likewise.

How easily we forget to be generous

to refugees

to drug addicts

to gay people

to aboriginal people

the list could go on…

Are we like God?

Are we rich in mercy?

This week 

•                Where is God calling me to act more generously?

•                Where am I being invited to repent and change my small minded attitudes?   

•                What do I need to do in practice to better reflect my Christian life and witness?

Will I live differently