Bible Tuesday for Pentecost 16, 2017

Jonah 3:10-4:11

3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. 4:1 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, "O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3 And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." 4 And the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. 6 The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?" And he said, "Yes, angry enough to die." 10 Then the Lord said, "You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?"

Nineveh was a city from which had come several armies that marched on Israel. When God called Jonah to prophesy to Nineveh, he was asking a Jew to prophesy a warning of doom to a Gentile enemy. Obviously Jonah was reluctant, to put it mildly. He did not want God to show mercy where Jonah felt retribution was appropriate.

God tries to help Jonah see things from his vantage point through the little shrub. It is an odd attempt since Jonah did not create or love the shrub, whereas God both created and loved the Ninevites.

“and also many animals” – A careful reading of the book of Jonah finds that the Ninevites not only donned sack cloth and ashes themselves, but they also put them on their animals. God not only has pity on the Ninevite people, but also the animals.

Psalm 145:1-8

1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Such lovely words of adoration of God. The key verse in the psalm that applies to this week’s lessons is the last: “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

This selected pericope are about God’s fairness/righteousness and our perceptions of it. To be gracious and merciful means to give out what is not earned but rather what is needed for life. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures is frequently described with the qualities of graciousness, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Jesus is the very embodiment of those qualities. We love God when those qualities apply to us and our loved ones. We resent God when Jesus is gracious and merciful to those whom we want punished!

Philippians 1:21-30

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. 27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, 28 and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. 29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Philippi was named after one of Herod the Great’s sons, Philip. It was a place of “commercialized Judaism”, if you will. Philip had completely sold out to the Roman Empire and was Jewish in name only. Philippi was the seat of government of Philip’s area of rule, so the practice of Judaism was considered mockery by the faithful. In this setting, Paul and his companions evangelized and a new Christian community was born. The congregation in Philippi was described by Paul as faithful, generous, and humble.

In this section of Paul’s letter to this congregation, Paul is conflicted. He wants to die (perhaps rather like Jonah, wanting suffering and conflict to end), and he wants to continue to live and serve Christ through evangelizing and serving, particularly faithful communities like this congregation.

Matthew 20:1-16

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, "Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, "Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, "Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, "These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

The above lesson is immediately preceded by the following:

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the Kingdom of Heaven, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold[c] and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

This is a sister teaching to the parable at the beginning of chapter 20, above. In both the teaching and the parable, Jesus is speaking of God’s justice and our perception of it.

The typical laborer’s day started at 6am and ended at 6pm, and earned him a wage just enough for food, clothing, and rent for the day. If a laborer was single or had a very small family, or lived with other laborers, the money could be stretched, but for the average married man with children, this money would meet the family’s needs for the day, and no more. It was common for laborers to gather in the marketplace by 6am so as to be hired for the day. Those who were hired at 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm, may have arrived late for any number of reasons from hangovers to sick loved ones. The parable does not judge them for their tardiness. In fact, the parable does not judge them at all, which is what sticks in the craws of the 6am laborers. Everyone, no matter how many hours he puts in at this man’s field, gets the same wage.

In some ways, this does reflect exactly life here on earth. Perhaps we were hoping, certainly we were expecting, that life in heaven, in God’s Kingdom of Heaven, would be very different. I am confident that it will be! Not only will God’s will always be done there, we will always be doing God’s will there, which will mean that we will rejoice when everyone gets what they need. Not just us…but everyone!