In God's eyes, equality is not always justice

This is an abridged version of a sermon preached on 22nd September 2014 at Central Methodist Church on Matthew 20: 1 – 16 – the parable of the Labourers in the vineyard

You may be familiar with the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. But in case you were away that day, here’s a summary. The Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt. They have been released from their slavery and are now being led to the Promised Land – Israel – by Moses. The Bible tells us that they spent 40 years wandering around the wilderness before arriving at the Promised Land which suggests they needed a new Sat Nav or at the very least a better map! Given their endless meanderings, it’s very understandable that

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Exodis 16: 2 - 3

Thankfully the Lord heard their grumbling and

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.

We may find this fanciful. But this story is a valuable insight into the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, which in itself is a valuable insight in to what God’s Kingdom is like.

Out in the wilderness, God is creating a new people. His new people will be different from the people who had been enslaved in Egypt and who had witnessed what it was like to live in Egypt. God’s people in Egypt had been used to the ways of domination and submission, rich and poor, powerful and powerless. In the wilderness God is showing and creating a new way. God is showing them that his way is different. And he wants his people to live by this new way in the Promised Land.

The manna they all receive is nothing fancy or luxurious. Manna provided basic sustenance. Manna was good old “daily bread”. But all had it and all had enough of it. With manna everyone had plenty but no one had too much.

17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. Exodus 16: 17 - 18

The manna, this gift from God, cannot be hoarded. In fact when the people try to do what people always try to do – gather more than they need either to hoard for later or, who knows to sell on to someone - they found it had gone bad and was full of maggots.

God was showing his people that in his world, everyone has plenty but not too much. The leaders and the servants receive the same. The people who work all day and the people who have nothing to do, receive the same amount. The able and the disabled receive the same. The old and the young receive the same. The black and the white receive the same. The Scots and the English receive the same.

In God’s kingdom all receive plenty, but not too much. In God’s world there is equality and justice. And what God provides is a gift.

The story of the manna in the wilderness is the embodiment of what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer:

“Give us this day our daily bread”

Just as God was creating a new people in the wilderness, Jesus in his parable is showing that Jesus’ people are new people too, and Jesus’ kingdom has values that aren’t the values of the world but are the values of God.

Jesus relates the parable to the disciples as they struggle to understand the meaning of God’s Kingdom. As they struggle to relate how God’s reign will work within the framework of the world. In other words the disciples try to understand how God’s reign will apply in a world that sees rich and poor, superior and inferior.

The parable of the workers in the Vineyard builds on the passage in Matthew 19 where a man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus reminds the young man he needs to keep the commandments but that also

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21

And

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:22

Later in the same passage the disciples’ reaction is recorded. They are clearly shocked by what Jesus has said and no doubt feel uncomfortable that any wealth they might accumulate will be a stumbling block. The disciples were mostly poor people. Like many poor people then and now no doubt they felt that a way out of their situation was to become rich. But Jesus challenges that assumption.

So coming back to the parable of the Labourers in the vineyard. Jesus is challenging the old assumptions about wealth and power and privilege in order to create the possibility of something new. Jesus is even challenging what we might think of fairness. And through this strange story, Jesus gives a glimpse of what the new order of God will be like and reminds us what the old order, the values of the world, are like.

In the parable Jesus presents us with a vision of the newness of God’s Kingdom. As Warren Carter in his book “Matthew and the margins” puts it, Jesus offers a vision of the “alternative household of God’s empire”. In God’s household, as in the wilderness, everyone receives the necessary daily bread as much as they need. And that I think is key point - each person receives what they need. This isn’t always going to be the same as everyone else. Some may have more some may have less but it is according to their needs.

A very helpful book to help interpret the Gospels is one by Kenneth E. Bailey called “Jesus through Middle Eastern eyes”. In the book Mr Bailey gives us information about the culture in the Middle East at the time of Jesus and, in some instances now, and this is a big held in understanding some of the stories.

For example, for this parable, Bailey explains how this practice of workers gathering in the market place was common at the time of Jesus and happens today too. An employer comes wanting a certain number of people for the day and he picks how many he needs. Often those left might not be the fittest, they might be too old or too young. It is not a fair system. And the wages no doubt aren’t fair either. The basic rule of economics – supply and demand – dictates that if there are more workers than work, their wages will be lower.

The point Jesus is making then is that in God’s Kingdom, justice demands that each are treated and valued according to their needs and who they are. This may seem unfair and unequal to us, but God’s justice demands this is how it should be. In the parable, those who are left over in the market place are likely to be the ones who are sick, disabled or elderly for example. Their needs are greater than those who are healthy.

I think these pictures serve to illustrate what Jesus is saying.

The difference between Equality and Justice. In other words, what we may consider to be fair is not necessarily the values of the Kingdom. We may think fairness says that the workers in the Kingdom are paid an hourly rate for how long they work. But Jesus says those values don’t apply in the Kingdom. There justice applies.

The parable serves as a reminder that the values of this world – winner and loser, superior and inferior, insider and outsider, honoured and shamed – these values do not apply to the kingdom of God. Moreover, the parable reminds us that in the Kingdom of God the “Me” culture doesn’t exist. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray to “Our father” and to say “Give us this day our daily bread”

This parable is a real challenge to the world we live in and it’s a challenge to each of us, because it goes contrary to everything the world holds to be true and good – power, wealth and status. But God’s Kingdom built on his grace goes contrary to the world.

Knowing your ABC

I recently attended a prayer breakfast organised by Churches together in Swindon at which the Archbishop of Canterbury was the guest speaker. (The Archbishop was on a visit to the Diocese of Bristol for the weekend and this was part of his very full schedule.)

Firstly, what impressed me was Mr Welby’s ability to relate to people. There were over 50 clergy from all denominations present and he managed to talk to everyone beforehand I think. He certainly came and chatted to a Methodist colleague and me – about Street Pastors and the African Praise shirt I was wearing! ABC had gone out the night before with a Street Pastors patrol in Kingswood Bristol and had enjoyed the experience.

Our collective act of worship started with a reading from 1 Corinthians 3 and the Chair of Swindon Churches Together – Methodist Superintendent Rev Mark Barrett – referred to John Wesley’s sermon “The Catholic Spirit”. A sermon in which Wesley spoke of recognising that Christians have differences over worship, over how Baptism is conducted, over how communion is celebrated etc etc. But the key is if we all love God if we all believe that Jesus is our saviour then we are one. “Give me your hand my friend”

ABC Welby then spoke. And the thrust of his talk was how over the last few years we have seen the idols people have relied on and worshipped for so long – money and wealth – collapsing due to the banking crisis of 2007 / 2008. Many people have realised that what they worshipped for so long has collapsed and they have been hurt. However, there are still those who put their faith in this idol. He mentioned how in a conversation with a city banker he was told “We have changed Archbishop. We have greatly reduced our salaries. There are few now earning salaries of more than £4m a year”!!!

Churches have responded to the crisis in this country through the growth of Foodbanks. And what impressed him was the way Foodbanks for example have grown without the need for great committees or formal agreements between denominations. Christians in one place have recognised the need and got on and done the work of the Kingdom.

He used an image I found powerful. He reminded us how in the Book of Exodus the Israelites had fled Egypt having seen the gods and idols of Egypt destroyed. But as the Israelites fled they were pursued by Pharaoh’s armies. The Israelites reached the Red Sea. They were trapped. Moses raised his arm and the sea parted and the Israelites crossed over in safety.

The point ABC made was that this was an act of faith. There was no great discussion about the rights and wrongs of going forward in faith. These believers just went forward. We too in this age need to have that courage and faith. To show the true way to live.

When I was growing up, my grandmother had a friend called Hilda Adams. Mrs Adams was quite a character and I always liked when she came to visit. One on occasion she gave me a print of Kipling’s poem “If”. She said to me (I was maybe 7 at the time) “You won’t understand this poem now. But one day you will realise its importance.”

She was right. And yesterday having (briefly) met ABC Welby and heard him speak, Hilda Adams came back to mind as did “If” especially these words:

“If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,”

They sum ABC Welby neatly.

God bless you ABC Welby. Thank you for your leadership and for your inspirati

Heart v Head Yes v No

It was an interesting two weeks to be in Scotland on holiday and it’s got even more interesting since we’ve come home.
During our time in Scotland (on Islay and in Oban) we had several conversations about the #IndyRef. The first one was with two couples who we met in a coffee shop on Islay. They were retired and probably in their 60s. They had heard us chatting and realised of course that we were from “Down South” and I was wearing a University of Gloucestershire hoody. They struck up a conversation with us and soon made clear they were firmly in the “No” camp. They just could not understand why Scotland would leave the union. They spoke eloquently and passionately.

A few days later we visited the beautiful fishing village of Portnahaven. The village church was open and they were offering tea and cake (sold to help the window fund.) We called in and two lovely ladies severed us. We got chatting and I made some quip about only having English money. And one of the ladies then turned serious and, almost in tears, said she was hoping and praying for a “No” vote. As we left (having established that I was a Methodist minister) she said to me “You will pray for us won’t you?”

The next day we called into the island’s Gaelic centre. (Anne wanted to make some enquiries about a possible Scottish link in her family tree.) Two of the ladies at reception chatted to us and as they looked into Anne’s query, the BBC’s Gavin Esler passed by. (He had come in to record an interview with “Yes” and “No” representatives from the island.) I then asked one of the ladies (probably in her 70s) what her voting intentions were. Her face lit up and she said “I’ll be voting ‘Yes’. The time has come!” We talked some more and she made it clear that her decisions were based as much on emotion as anything else.

On our final day we were in the café of the Kilchoman Distillery. As we drove in to the complex there was a prominent “Better together” banner. The aforementioned Gavin Esler was wandering around and he’d come to interview the owner of the distillery. The owner came into the café and one of the waitresses asked him how the interview went. “I expect you said you’d be voting ‘No’ as usual” she joked.

We then became party to a really interesting debate. Two of the waitresses were adamantly “Yes” but one was wavering. The owner asked her had she decided. “I think I’ll vote ‘Yes’ I may as well give it a go”

The owner got very animated. “It’s not just a case of ‘giving it a go’! Once Scotland goes that’s it. No way back.”

“Oh well if goes wrong I’ll just go to England” she said in all seriousness.

A few days later we were in Oban. As we drove along the Esplanade the lampposts were festooned with “Yes” posters. The next morning these had been joined by “No” posters. On the third morning the “No” posters had been torn down.

Most people we were introduced to at church on Sunday morning were “No” but this seemed to be against the feeling in the town.
Back home it strikes me that this huge decision for Scotland and the rest of the UK is Heart versus Head. The heart the passion is near the surface for most people. But the “Yes” people seemed to be more passionate with a lot of resentment at “that lot in Westminster”

I can understand the “heart” a bit. Being Welsh there is always part of me that feels angry toward “the establishment”.

Similarly many of the resentments the pro Yes Scots have I share e.g. privatisation of the NHS, not wanting Trident nuclear weapons, cuts to public services. And these things clearly drive the Scots who are pro-independence. And yet the head part of me kicks in and realises the consequences.

We lose the checks and balances Scotland brings .

Come the 19th September we’ll know.