Jonah 3:10–4:11; Matt 20:1-16
Both stories, in their way, are about compassion. Both stories, about generosity.
In the parable we see a different ordering of things, an order not of just deserts, but rather of consideration of what each person needs: what they need to feed a family, what they need to maintain their freedom and dignity, what they need to sustain life as it was created to be by God. -The vineyard owner is being generous, abundantly so. It is a glimpse, if not more than a glimpse, of what life looks like in God’s economy, in God’s ordering of things, where the world is turned upside down, where the last become first, the poor become rich, the prisoner is set free, the lame walk, the outcasts are invited to the banquet, the King of Kings is a baby in a manger, the ultimate demonstration of power is found in a crucified Christ, where generosity, forgiveness, grace and love flow abundantly, without restriction, without discrimination, without impediment, and, especially, we would want to say, to those whom we may think don’t deserve it: the last, the lost and the least.
This is new life. This is new creation. This is God breaking in, and breaking apart, the order of things in which we put ourselves and our needs at the centre. This is love.
