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A spendthrift lover

God’s care for humanity prioritises human need though God refuses to count the cost of his generosity. (Matthew 20.1-16; Jonah 3.10-4.11)

When I lived in East Jerusalem in the 1970s, just across the road from the place where I stayed, was the place where ‘day labourers’ would gather early each morning in the hope of being hired for several hours work. It was a tough experience they had to go through on an almost daily basis. Inevitably the fitter and the more able got chosen first: how difficult and dispiriting it must have been for those who were not initially selected to be standing there for several hours – wondering if anyone would want them – and wondering too whether they would be able to earn enough money to feed their family that day!

It was a striking and almost exact replica of the situation that was referred to in Jesus’ parable about 2000 years earlier. I am not sure if the practice still continues in Jerusalem; however, I am sure that similar practices still happen in many other parts of the Middle East, and other countries of our world.

The parable – and our reflection on it – is a sharp reminder that the Bible can never be read in a ‘context neutral’ situation. How we read it is inevitably affected by whether we are the ‘haves’ or ‘have nots’ of society, whether on the macro (world) scale, or in more domestic context. The parable suggests that the most important thing for the ‘landowner’ (aka God) is to respond with generosity to human need. Considerations of legality – or even justice – sit secondarily to that.

I suspect that must have implications for so many issues in our world today, and how, as British-based Christians – realistically most of us part of the world’s ‘haves’ – respond to them. Migration… climate related issues… the world’s monetary and trading systems… democratic or authoritarian political systems… all are somehow interconnected and (in my view) require the ‘have’ countries of the world (which includes the United Kingdom) to engage proactively with the other ‘have’ countries of the world in order to take realistic account of the needs of those who constitute the ‘have nots’.

I do not think that either capitalism or communism can claim the Christian ‘high ground’. Taken as a whole the Bible asks sharp questions of both political philosophies. The overriding picture that the Bible offers us is however of a God who privileges human need above human greed – even at cost to himself.

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

There is a wonderful modern hymn by the US hymn writer Tom Troeger which is well worth reflecting on in the context of this week’s readings. If you can include it within the service so much the better. When I use it I normally suggest it is sung to the tune ‘Kingsfold’ though other melodies can also be chosen. You can access the words to it here: A Spendthrift Lover Is the Lord (#177 Common Praise 1998 - Lent) - YouTube  I will let you look at and reflect on some of the vivid and stunning images it offers.

The thematic link between this week’s Gospel and Old Testament reading (from the Book of Jonah) is strong. In both cases God identifies himself by doing the unexpected – allowing his love and care for human beings to ‘trump’ the strict tenets of justice and retribution. Which is of course the ultimate essence of the whole Christian story.

To turn for a moment to Jonah. In my view those who have suggests that the Book of Jonah was written as a deliberate parody of certain kinds of prophetic literature may well have a point. It is very carefully constructed in ways that are not obvious at first sight. For example both Jonah’s speech in 4.2-3, complaining to God about God’s forgiveness of Nineveh, and God’s final response to Jonah in 4.10-11 justifying his care for them, contain exactly 39 words. The coincidence is unlikely to be accidental.

What I also find intriguing is that Jonah is one of only two Old Testament books to end with a question – the question asked by God to Jonah pleading for Jonah’s understanding of God’s generosity. The only other Old Testament book to end with a question is that of Nahum. The Book of Nahum entirely consists of jubilation over the demise of Nineveh (long-term feared enemy of Israel and Judah), and concludes with the words, ‘For who has ever escaped your endless cruelty?’ (Nahum 3.19) As an Old Testament scholar I would be prepared to argue that the writer of Jonah has deliberately offered this question by God to Jonah to ‘challenge’ the attitude to the people of Nineveh expressed in the Book of Nahum.

The Gospels refer at a couple of points to Jesus’ use of the image of the ‘Sign of Jonah’. This is often seen as alluding to the way that Jesus like Jonah was in the depths (of death) ‘for three days’ (Jonah 1.17) after his crucifixion. But I wonder if rather than simply making that comparison, we are also intended to perceive another connection between Jesus’ death and the Book of Jonah: namely that the crucifixion is the ‘ultimate’ statement of God’s generous and profligate love for humanity in their need, and the ‘cost’ that God is willing to pay for such love. There’s a wonderful picture by the Indian Christian artist Jyoti Sahi which links Jesus, cross, resurrection and the mouth of Jonah’s fish.

I began this section with a reference to a modern hymn. Perhaps it is appropriate to end by reminding readers of FW Faber’s classic, ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’ with its heart found in the treasured third verse:

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

Questions for discussion

• Explore the hymn/song, ‘A spendthrift lover is our God’. What images catch your attention? Do you find any especially challenging?

• Reflect on the parable of the day labourers in the ‘macro-context’ of our world today. Where does it especially challenge those of us in the UK today? What are its implications for the ordering of our society?

Dr Clare Amos is currently honorary director of lay discipleship in the Church of England Diocese in Europe. Until her retirement she worked in the areas of interfaith relations and theological education at the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Communion Office.

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Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

We don’t have to look far to find examples of where life seems plain unfair; whether it be someone being bullied at school, to flooding in Libya and earthquakes in Morocco, to the recent allegations concerning Russell Brand.

Why do bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people?

It’s a question which has been with us down the ages, and a question which is tackled head on through scripture; through many of the Psalms, the book of Job, and here in today’s story concerning the workers in the vineyard (among countless other examples). There is no easy answer, especially when we know we only see dimly.

Yet Scripture promises that one day we shall know fully (1 Cor 13:12); and it might only be at that point, when we see the new heavens and the new earth (Rev 21), that we fully understand God’s justice. In the meantime, we are left to grapple with the injustices around us, sowing seeds of God’s grace in and among the contexts in which we live and serve.

Jonathan Buckley is Youth Coordinator for Sheffield Methodist Circuit

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