Table Reservations

Gospel: Matthew 9: 9-13

Jesus comes upon the booth of a tax collector, whereupon Jesus invites the man to follow him.  This invitation might be shocking enough were it not followed by Jesus entering the man's home, dining with his fellow tax collectors and their array of prostitutes.  The scene is just too much for the Pharisees to handle, and so they complain loudly about Jesus eating with sinners and inviting them to follow him in his religious ministry.  

The reader is mindful of the fact that not so long ago Jesus dined in the house of a Pharisee where a prostitute had been, and the Pharisee had violated Jewish hospitality law by not providing the proper washings for guests.  The Pharisee is perfectly fine with finding a place for himself and other Pharisees at table with Jesus, but he cannot accept the presence of another group of sinners he finds objectionable eating with the Lord at table.

We like this story because we think it inclusive, but only for ourselves and those like us.  When pressed to consider other people at table with the Lord whom we find objectionable, we raise our voice in protest.  Even those claiming to be inclusive either exclude others from the table of the Lord or excuse themselves from that table because they cannot be with those they find objectionable.  Today's feast and Gospel portion present us with an opportunity for examination and deep change in our attitudes and practices.

The Daily Wage

Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16

"You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just."

There are two ideas of what is just in the world.  The first is given by the laborers in the story who have worked all day.  They argue that they should be paid more because they worked more.  This understanding is the standard one at work in our world.  It is the one argued by the chaplains to capitalism that dominate most churches, who would argue that this story and many like it that Jesus tells about justice are only to be taken in a spiritual sense and not in an economic or ethical sense.  

The second view of justice is the one offered by Jesus and the landowner in the story.  It is to provide for the daily needs of people so that they might have their daily bread to live.  It recognizes that the economic systems of our world are unjust and favor the rich.  The day laborer system common in this story and many parts of the world creates many vulnerable people on the margins.  Wage theft is common in this system.  This story and lesson Jesus offers is not merely a spiritual one.  It is also ethical and economic.  

The justice of God is one that promotes a living wage and meets the needs of people in all aspects of their life - economic and spiritual.  It is a teaching found throughout the early teachings of Christianity, in the medieval teachers like Aquinas, and in the constant and consistent teachings of papal documents since the late 1800s.  May we today follow in this tradition and be like the landowner of the story, who is among his workers, knowing, understanding, and meeting their needs.   

Openness to God

Gospel: Luke 8: 4-15

To hear the word of God is not a mere physical activity of the senses.  To hear in the spiritual sense is to be open to God in one's life.  For the Christian, to be open to God is to be open to the teaching and example of Jesus who invites us to a life of mercy and loving service to others.  This invitation from God comes from our encounters with others in the world, people in need and on the margins who are in desperate need of love and mercy - need for healing, liberation, and nourishment.

We will be tempted to hardness of heart that is not open to love and mercy.  We will be tempted by the life of pleasures and self-interest that ignores the needs of others in the world.  These are the rocky ground and thorny briars of power, influence, and wealth that close off our openness to the voice of God, to the mercy and love that were the life of Jesus on earth.  Jesus invited us to this way of life for us to live in our own time and place.

We believe that God is love, that mercy is God's greatest attribute.  Very often this belief is centered on ourselves, that this love and mercy is for us - and it certainly is.  But that is only half the equation.  The other half is the fact that God invites us to extend this same love and mercy to others.  It is our response to this invitation to which we must be open, and it is our response to this invitation that alone is the basis of our judgment before God.