Jonah, the parable prophet, does not get the revenge he seeks. When Israel’s exile-imposing enemy unexpectedly repents, God forgives them, but Jonah refuses to let go of his anger. He insists on retribution. Unlike Jonah, God has compassion on the innocent who would also be harmed by crushing the suddenly repentant oppressor. In this story divine patience is disturbingly shared compassionately with all, not just with Israel. Jonah is a challenging prophecy for Israel and, if we pay attention, for us.

Jesus’ audience knows about Jonah and the prophecy’s disturbing message. Jesus tells a parable of a landowner who has compassion on workers who are sent into the harvest late, no fault of their own, by sending them home with a full day’s wage. Matthew probably has the Gentiles in mind who did not have the benefit of inheriting a relationship with God from Father Abraham.

We tend to interpret this in terms of folks who come to faith late in life, but the Jewish believers who received Matthew’s Gospel first, had a problem with entrusting their faith to the newcomer Gentiles who did not practice the faith as well as they did. It felt all wrong to accept that Gentiles, unclean by birth and practice (sinful!) could ever be worthy of a seat at the banquet table. How could they, ever be righteous? Seems we have a baked in urge to exclude, to scapegoat. Jesus is inviting us to question that practice–and for the sake of our own freedom.

We know this, and yet “The first will be last and the last will be first,” just doesn’t seem right! The first should be first, they’ve put in all the work–they deserve recognition for their generous accomplishments and hard, faithful work! And they are the ones who get things done!

And yet Jesus tells this shocking parable about the unexpectedness, the often unwanted action of grace–abundant generosity, regardless of accomplishment and diligent, faithful work. Grace is scandalous. Yet the indiscriminate grace of Jesus Christ shared with abandon is strangely freeing if we let it work its way in us.

Here is a tale of an unexpected, unearned gift bringing delight to some and disgust to others.

The Good News today is love from God rather than judgment. For your friends and family who need a break and the enemies you hold with disgust. You are a beloved child of God. They are beloved children of God.

Pure, true mercy is freedom. Anything else is bondage, and a heavy, unbearable burden. May we all be shocked by the grace of God, so that we may be filled with joy.