Notice the landowner’s final statement; “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
It is the landowner’s option to be generous, as it is God’s option to be generous with us. If God was fair, if God really gave each one of us what we deserve, would any of us survive? I doubt it. God is generous with us. God has given us the free gift of God’s grace, God’s unmerited favor, even though we don’t deserve it. In light of such generosity, we are moved to be generous with those we encounter in our day to day lives.
Fr. John Claypool, Rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama, once told an old rabbinic parable about a farmer that had two sons;
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As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what they had corporately produced. Across the years the elder brother never married, stayed an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and had eight wonderful children. Some years later when they were having a wonderful harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night, "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he is already asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.”It is God’s nature to be just. But it is also God’s nature to be merciful. Thanks be to God!
At the very time he was thinking down that line, the younger brother was thinking to himself, "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother hasn't been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest for his old age than I do, but I know him. He's much too fair. He'll never renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn." And so one night when the moon was full, as you may have already anticipated, those two brothers came face to face, each on a mission of generosity. The old rabbi said that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? God weeping for joy because two of his children had gotten the point. Two of his children had come to realize that generosity is the deepest characteristic of the holy and because we are made in God's image, our being generous is the secret to our joy as well.
Life is not fair, thank God! It's not fair because it's rooted in grace.
How does this apply to the church? Sometimes, I think we folks who have been part of the church for along time forget what this church thing is supposed to be all about.
We have been given a charge by God. This charge is usually referred to as “The Great Commission.” It can be found in the 28th chapter of Matthew;
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Or, as Archbishop William Temple once summarized it, “The Church is the only institution that exists to serve those who are not yet members.”
Our commission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our commission is to proclaim the message of the Gospel beyond the walls of this building.
In light of that, who is the most important person here this morning? It’s not the priest, or the wardens. It’s not the faithful volunteers, or the one who’s been a member the longest. The most important person here this morning is the stranger in our midst, the person who shows up among us seeking a community that will help them along with their spiritual journey.
We here at Holy Spirit have a special responsibility regarding the Great Commission. As the Toms River area begins to fill up, more and more people are moving farther south. This areas is growing fast. There are currently building permits for over 2,500 living units being considered in this area. It is projected that as many as 12,000 new residents will move to our area by 2008. Many of these folks will be seeking spiritual food. We must be ready to offer them a community of faith that will meet our new neighbor’s spiritual needs. If we are to be faithful to the great Commission given to us by Christ, we must begin to prepare our household of God to be an inviting place for those who will be seeking a new spiritual home.
Our new members will be given as much love and attention as those of us who have been part of this community from the beginning. That’s not fair, is it? But it is generous. Since God has showered his generosity on us, we must follow God’s example, and, with generous hearts, embrace the stranger in our midst.
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