Scripture Readings: Exodus 16: 2-15 & Matthew 20: 1-16
In Exodus, God provided quail at night, and manna bread in the morning. It was not what they expected. The word “manna” comes from their expression “What is it?” The bread God provided from heaven was not anything they recognised or anticipated, but it was what they needed, and it was God’s gracious gift in their time of need.
The wilderness will not destroy us, because God is there. The wilderness will not see us starve, because God will provide. The place may deprive us of things we need to survive, but God will provide us with what we really need, and He will reform us and reshape us in the wilderness for the new life that lies ahead of us.
Manna is a gift that cannot be stored. Moses reminded them that no one is to keep any of it until morning. When people try to gather more than their share, the extra manna becomes worm ridden and foul. Everyone has plenty of manna, but no one has too much. The manna would sustain them through their wandering years in the desert until they approached the promised land. The manna was a sign of God’s generosity to all. Just like manna, in Matthew, the people who work all day and the people who have little to do receive the same amount. They receive the same plenty, but not too much, and it is all a gift.
In Matthew 20, this parable starts that the landowner gives everyone work. Each of the workers is unemployed and each is given work to do with the promise of pay. They agreed to work for the customary rate of money for a full day’s work and worked but developed a sense of comparison. Envy becomes more important than what they have received, because their energy goes not to the fact that they have had work and are being paid but to the inequity they see. They forgot where they started even though they received all promised wages.
The landowner needed still more workers and gave opportunities to them from the marketplace and went out to look for workers five times. When they began to grumble against the landowner even after they received the promised money, the landowner asked, “Are you envious because I am generous?” (v. 15) Many people are envious of another’s gifts, talents, abilities, possessions, social status, good fortune, and so forth, but envy can cause people to diminish their own gifts and talents. However, God is the giver of every good gift, whether it is ours or someone else’s.
This parable is about the generosity of God. It is not about equity or proper disbursement of wages but about a gracious and undeserved gift. It is not about an economic exchange but, rather, about a bestowing of grace and mercy to all, no matter what time they have put in or how deserving or undeserving we may think them to be.
God’s generosity often surprises us and our own sense of right and wrong. Human measures of worthiness are far from God’s generosity toward people. God’s sense of fairness is not the typical human perspective. He does not compare us to one another but to our fulfillment of our own stewardship. Through the parable Jesus seeks to interrupt the old presuppositions and create the possibility of something new.
Unrealistic expectations often lead to complaining when things do not go our way. Life without recognition of God’s presence and power often leads to comparison and envious attitude. Disobedience and denial against God’s words can easily happen when we have not prayed and sought God’s wisdom for the trials we are facing. As in the blessings of manna, there are not only security and protection in obedience, but also restrictions and regulations we need to follow. Regarding generosity and gift, little steps of faith need to be led for larger steps of faith.
How often are we ungrateful for God’s graciousness and mercy? How often do we deny God’s love and forgiveness in our lives? As long as we hold on to comparison and complaints, we may continue to hurt others and ourselves. May we get over those in our lives and relationships.
God is our provider and consistently just and abundantly gracious, and gratefulness is at the heart of our faith. God invites us to live each day to the fullest, trusting him for our tomorrows. May our lives be filled with gratitude and joy instead of comparing and grumbling and complaining that get us nowhere. The devotion of a true disciple is made possible by God’s power, and Jesus’ disciples exhibit devotion to the Lord.
Today’s texts invite us to turn from holding comparisons and complaints to let go of the stuff of our lives that keeps us from being joy-filled and grateful people. Can we let this week be a time of fasting from complaints as they come into our mind? May we wake up each morning with gratitude and list our blessings and thank God for each one.
Many people are addicted to benefits and want God to honour them and reward them accordingly. They want those who were not as dedicated as them, and those who did evil things to be made to pay for it before they are welcomed into the love of God. But that’s not the way Jesus wants. Everybody who enters the kingdom of God will be welcomed with open arms and be rewarded. All will be treated as being of worth.
If we have a life-time habit of needing to be recognised as more worthy than others, we can get out of it through this message. In this story Jesus told, the workers who put in the full eight-hour shift did not have their pay cut to make them equal with those who only worked an hour. This story is promising us that we are going to be treated much better than we deserve. It is telling us that God is so gracious that we will be received into heaven and welcomed as true believers and disciples. We will receive the reward thanks to Jesus who laid down his life for the world.
Whatever our wilderness; whatever our response to the wilderness, God is here. God knows our needs. God will be with us. God will feed us and watch over us. In God’s generosity and our gratefulness, we won’t be the same. We are all changed in the wilderness, but if we will feed on the gifts of God and respond to the call of God, we will be changed for the better. For God is God, and the wilderness is God’s land.
God calls us to be God’s co-workers and gathers us regardless of dedication or time and gives us His abundant grace and generosity. God views all people regardless of age, gender, social status, or nationality as of equal value. The greatest person in God’s kingdom is the humblest believer. May we follow Jesus’ example by serving and embracing those considered least worthy by worldly standards.
If we join to be reshaped as the one body of Christ, we might be overwhelmed with gratitude and able to praise the abundant grace, the generosity of God, that allows us to stand in the kingdom of heaven. We are invited to transform our pride, envy, and hardness into joy by appreciating and praising God’s generosity.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)
