God’s Offensive Generosity September 21, 2008 Pentecost 19 Lectionary 25

(First, read the texts for this sermon: Matthew 20:1-16; Jonah 3:10-4:11)

Many of us can’t read the Bible!

Many of us, even those who have been life-long, church-going people, say something like: “I try to read the Bible, but I don’t understand what’s going on. I can’t get into it. So I give up.”

Of course, that’s not true for all of us. Some of us are into the Scriptures every day! We use a daily lectionary, such as the one in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, or we use daily devotional booklets such as those available in the narthex, which are always keyed to a passage. Last week, at the first Affirmation of Baptism session of the fall, I passed out study Bibles which include several suggested schedules of reading through the Bible. I understand at least some of the youth are trying them out, which warms my heart!

But what if you are intimidated or overwhelmed because there is so much that’s in the Bible, and you don’t know how to get into it? One reason why the community of believers is essential to the faith journey is because we need others to support and guide us on that journey. So, for instance, in our congregation, beginning in October, Diane Bean will be offering a Sunday morning course for adults called, “Getting Comfortable With The Bible.” She will assume that you have no knowledge of what’s in the Bible! And I’ll be leading a Monday night study sometime after that, using a very helpful book entitled, Opening The Book of Faith. Watch for details!

Why is daily Bible reading a foundational practice of the faith? It’s because, over months and years, God the Holy Spirit forms us in faith by the witnesses to God that we find in the Bible. When you read short passages of Scripture each day and spend a few minutes with them, you begin to find that the Spirit is speaking to you today, through these ancient words. Over the months and years, you and I are formed, through this practice of the faith, into people who are thankful for the blessing of each day, and strengthened by the ancient witness of others who have struggled as we do, and who were conscious of God’s presence in the every day.

And the Spirit forms us to be disciples through the time we spend with those short passages of Scripture. We come to know who God is; that God is love. We come to be formed by that love. We grow to respond – to love others! Your discipleship is simply the day-to-day specifics of how you love others, and invite others into the love which is God,.

For those of you who are overwhelmed by all the stuff that’s in the Bible, here’s one starting point. Know that the Bible is a library of stories about God. Reading and praying the Bible is entering into a book of stories. So, here’s how to start: Read the Bible as you do when you’re open to the truth and meaning of a story. That’s not scary, is it?

Stories are the most memorable way to communicate truth! That’s why Jesus tells such great stories, like the one we read this morning, from Matthew. You remember the scene: a landowner needs workers for his vineyard. He goes out “early in the morning” to hire workers, and he tells them that he will pay them “the usual daily wage,” a denarius. Then the boss man goes out at “about nine o’clock” and hires more workers. He goes out again, at “about noon,” and again, at “about three o’clock”; and he even hires more workers at “about five o’clock!” As it is getting dark, the owner pays the workers, beginning with those guys hired at 5:00 PM, the guys who only worked an hour, and what does he pay them? The usual daily wage! Well, those who had worked much longer saw that, and what did they think they would be paid? A lot more, right!? What are they paid? The same amount.

“It’s unfair!” they complain to the owner. But the owner (who, of course, stands for God) replies, “are you envious because I am generous?”

Well, of course they are! Isn’t this a great story? It’s a story about God’s generosity. And what is the truth communicated? God’s generosity is offensive! It is entirely grace-filled. We do not earn it.

The story of Jonah, from the Hebrew Scriptures, is another of my favorites. In this story, God is God, and Jonah, of course, is you and me. Some of you may know the story. (The whole book of Jonah is only 48 verses long!) God tells Jonah that God is going to destroy a city named Nineveh, full of wicked people, and that Jonah is going to announce that news to the people!

How does Jonah respond to this command of the almighty and all-powerful God? He runs away! Here’s what we read: But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

“Away from the presence of the Lord?” Where exactly is that? Do you know what happens next, in this comic story? A great storm blows up at sea – and the sailors discover the reason why the ship is about to break up and they are all about to die. It’s because this weasel, Jonah, is trying to run away from God (who can’t be run away from). So they throw Jonah overboard to calm the storm! Do you know what happens next? But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

According to the story, Jonah spends those three days and nights speaking a psalm. (Well, it could be a psalm! It’s as good as any of the psalms in the book called Psalms!) And when the time is right (three days!) God has the fish vomit Jonah out upon the beach. And then we read: The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you."

What does Jonah do? This time, he does what God tells him to do! (It’s good to see that Jonah is capable of learning!) We read this: So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Are you hearing these symbolic numbers that are also present in any number of other stories from the Bible: “three days,” and “forty days”? This is great stuff!)

What happens? Here’s what we read: And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth (which is what people wore back then, when they felt really, really sorry).

“And the people of Nineveh believed God.” And, this: 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.

Here’s the next twist: But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. Why? Because Jonah has gone through all that he’s gone through – he’s spent all his money on a ticket for the ship, and he’s been thrown overboard, and he’s been swallowed by a fish and he’s been vomited onto the shore and he’s finally done what God wants him to do – and now he’s not even going to get to see any fireworks? He’s not even going to get to see the city destroyed?

God’s generosity is offensive to Jonah!

And what makes Jonah especially angry is that he knew it! He knew it all the time! That’s why he hadn’t wanted to go to the city with the warning in the first place: because he knew it was just going to be wasted effort. He knew God was going to forgive them in the end! We read: 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. And now, in all-out self-pity mode, Jonah says: O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." And the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

In other words, God asks Jonah (who, remember, is you and me): “Is it right for you to be offended by my generosity of mercy and grace?” God asks, “Who’s in charge here? You or me?”

Well, Jonah can’t see beyond his resentment and anger. He sits down to watch, in case God decides to fry the city after all.

And the end of the story is full of comedy! 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. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 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."

But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?" And [Jonah] said, "Yes, angry enough to die." 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. 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?"

It’s a powerful question that God directs towards Jonah, who is peeved because he feels that he’s been used; who is whining because he hasn’t gotten his way; who is offended by God’s generosity.

Is it true that God is like this, and that Jonah is just like you and me?

What a great story, huh?

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia