“Our Capacity to Complain”

17th Sunday after Pentecost - Sept 24, 23

Pastor Deb - BRCC

A man came home from work one day to find his home in complete chaos. His three children were playing outside in a mud puddle, still in their pajamas; his wife’s car door was left wide open as was the front door of the house; and there was no sign of the family dog, just evidence of garbage the dog had scattered all over the yard.

Alarmed, the man ran into the house. A lamp had been knocked over; mud was all over the floor; the TV was blaring on the cartoon channel; the living room was a maze of toys; and cereal and milk was spilled all over the kitchen counter. Really alarmed now, the man feared that something had happened to his wife! He raced up the stairs calling her name, tripping over towels and dirty laundry. As he flew by the bathroom. He could hear the water dripping from the faucet, and piles of toilet paper were heaped on the floor.

Panicked, he rushed into the master bedroom where he finally found his wife, curled up in bed and reading a novel! She looked up at him and smiled, and asked him, “How was your day?” Bewildered and by now quite angry, he asked, “WHAT HAPPENED HERE TODAY?” She smiled sweetly and answered quite matter of factly, “You know how you come home every evening, dear, and ask ME what in the world did I do today? Well…TODAY, I DIDN’T DO IT!”

I guess she made her point, but UFFDA, her capacity to complain about what she perceives as an injustice is a little passive aggressive to say the least! Our texts today are just as revealing of our human capacity to complain when we think we aren’t being fairly treated. Jonah,whose WHALE of a story, at first resisted God’s call to go to Ninevah as God’s prophet and address the city’s sin. In running from God, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and led on a journey of repentance before he agreed to do what God had sent him to do. Now we come to that part of the story where Jonah has warned the people of God’s call to turn around and repent or calamity will be brought down upon them…and to his chagrin, they do repent, and God changes God’s mind! One would think Jonah would be happy that his warnings had saved the day, but instead, Jonah is angry that God has let them off the hook! He is so angry..he wants to die. And then we get this funny interaction with a bush that brings both comfort and discomfort as God tries to reason with Jonah. Don’t I have the right to be merciful to Ninevah, asks God? Isn’t goodness and grace MY prerogative? Why is it that God’s mercy to those we don’t feel are worthy of it is so offensive to our sense of justice?

As we now come to the parables about the Kingdom of God in Matthew’s gospel, we will notice that they get a bit uncomfortable. For Jesus has a way of exposing and confronting our human capacity to complain and challenge our assumption that we have a right to expect God to do what WE assume is right. We want to punish injustice…perhaps MORE than we want to rectify it. It’s a very human thing to seek justice, for we are created with a conscience that reminds us of our brokenness AND our deep desire to put things right again. But the truth is, God’s character is greater, more just and much more gracious than ours. And that too, is hard to fully understand or comprehend. The psalmist captures it well: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (ps. 145:8)

What does God’s goodness look like? We could point to the sky…or the lakes and green valleys, the nourishing rain and sunshine and say…that is God’s goodness! Or we hold a newborn baby in our arms, or celebrate a successful operation that saved a life, and we can say…That is God’s goodness. And it would be true. God is SO GOOD! Yet, in the parable for today, it looks like God’s goodness is an absurd generosity in which everyone is given an equal wage even if they don’t deserve it. From our human reasoning, the generosity of the vineyard master is simply NOT FAIR! Shouldn’t everyone be expected to pull their own weight? Shouldn’t we have to earn God’s goodness and be denied it when we are lazy, selfish, or unworthy?

By why? asks God. Why are you envious because I am good? Why are you comfortable with inequity, yet when you encounter generosity, you complain? In Jesus’ day it was the widows, orphans, slaves, lepers and mentally ill demonics that were deemed unworthy. Today we might list refugees of Venezuela pouring over our borders; the homeless making encampment in our parks, the addicted who seek relief with featenal, or the angry that shoot guns in protest of their helpless rage. Is God’s goodness for them as well?

How DO we define goodness in our world today? That question is being challenged every single day. Who defines the goodness of one person over another? Today, it seems to be largely on the basis of gender identity; sexuality; race; lifestyle or political bent. How do we define which nation has enough goodness to manage weapons of mass destruction? Who should manage the world’s food, natural resources and life-giving water? Acts of goodness and mercy are BIG decisions we as humans grapple with every day.

Jesus’ words challenge us to rethink justice through God’s eyes and heart. Is justice a matter of fairness so that those who work the hardest; are the smartest; have the most advantages and opportunities get the rewards? Or is justice something more? Something ONLY God can achieve? Something that can’t be earned, but is freely bestowed on us just because God loves us enough to meet us in whatever setting we are in and give us what it is we need?

The vineyard of Jesus’ parable is different from what the workers expect. Jesus says this vineyard and vineyard owner is literally LIKE the Kingdom of God. In this vineyard, measurement isn’t based on who did what, or how many hours of toil were given, but upon the generous, loving, mind-blowing character of a gracious God who can be NOTHING less than all loving and all giving. It may not feel fair…BUT…it sure feels GOOD!

Let me share another story…this time about a couple from northern Minnesota that were traveling through the warmer South to escape winter’s chill for a few weeks. They stopped for breakfast at a small country restaurant and the wife ordered coffee, eggs, toast and ham. When their plates were placed in front of them, she noticed a pile of yellow-gray lumpy stuff piled next to their eggs. Confused, she called the waitress over and inquired what this “Stuff” was. “Why maam,” the waitress said, “them’s grits!” “Grits!” the woman complained, I didn’t order grits!” “Don’t have to,” said the waitress with a smile. “You don’t order grits, maam, they just come!”

We can say the same thing about God’s goodness and mercy that’s slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…we can’t order it…control it, manage it, or hoard it...We may even not understand it…or LIKE it sometimes, BUT, .IT JUST COMES! It comes from a love that knows no bounds. And who are we to complain?

A young man did something stupid one night. He thought he could handle hanging with a crowd of rowdy, intoxicated friends; he was raised with clear boundaries and conversations about what was right…what was wrong…what was safe, and what was foolish. Yet…it was graduation night after all. These were his best buddies and they were celebrating their new found freedom from school, rules, expectations. The future lay before them, how could it hurt to cut loose and let her rip for a night? And so he got into a car overflowing with intoxicated teenagers and they sped off without seatbelts or common sense. He doesn’t remember what happened after that, except that it was loud and painful. He awoke to harsh lights; needles and tubes being shoved into his body, and the anxious crying of people he loved. What had he done? And why couldn’t he feel his legs?

From that moment on, this young man had to lean into God’s goodness and grace in ways beyond imagining. He was paralyzed for life, and yet, God showed him how to live fully and gratefully by using him to bring hope, laughter and courage to others around him. He was asked one day if his life was filled with regret for making that one foolish mistake as a teenager. “No,” he said. “What happened, happened. But God poured His goodness into my life and has given me a purpose and a joy in living my life and sharing my life in ways I would never have known. To God be the glory.”

A love that gives ALL…even His SON, who is willing to be rejected; abused; even murdered so that the eternal goodness of God’s love can NEVER be stopped. Goodness can only be explained through the words of John 3:16: For God so LOVED the world, that he gave his Son, that through him, the world is NOT condemned, but saved. Now that’s NOTHING to complain about! Amen.