Love and Justice
Guest Preacher The Rev. Canon Gwynn Lynch
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[00:00:00] If you've been in church the last couple of weeks and heard these last sections from Matthew's gospel, you might be thinking to yourself, you know what, Jesus just really does not understand the way the world works. Jesus just doesn't get it. Because first, he tells us that we are not allowed to like gossip about one another in parking lot meetings, and you know, that's really fun and we love to do it, right?
No, we're supposed to go to people directly. And then last week, if you remember, we're supposed to forgive people 77 times, 77 times when they have wronged us. And now this week, people who've only worked an hour are getting paid the same amount as someone who's worked maybe 10 hours. And it's unfair. And God should know that it is unfair.
And what is God, what is Jesus even [00:01:00] talking about?
But life is unfair. Life is very unfair. We all know it. Children know it. And we really, really, really want things to be fair. You know, cutting that pie so that each person gets just the right amount. Constantly comparing ourselves to others. Constantly comparing what do I have, what have I gotten to what someone else has gotten.
And we want fairness and justice. And God's version of fairness and justice seems to be really different from what we're used to. So before we even get to what happens to the workers at the end of the day, The world in this parable, and it is a parable, it's not supposed to be a true story, the world in this parable is [00:02:00] such that there's too little work and too many workers.
And so a whole lot of people are unemployed. They're day laborers and each and every day they have to get up. and go and find themselves a job so that they can make a living. And there's clearly not enough work to be done.
And yet, and yet, this particular landowner keeps showing up. Well, go on into the vineyard. Go on in. Do some work. And so at the end of the day, the workers can all tally up their hours served and see who deserves more pay and are confounded when this man cannot see that. The ones who have worked hard all day and undoubtedly have, it sounds like from a very [00:03:00] early hour in the morning in the scorching heat, that they deserve more.
And again, comparing. What do I have? What do you have? Have you worked as hard as I have? Have I worked harder than you? Is it fair? And it seems to me that this comparison at the end of the day actually just leads to misery. It leads to misery. The people who started work at the beginning of the day got their fair, they got their fair pay.
And yet they're unhappy. The Israelites, God bless them, have been led out of Egypt out of slavery and they're complaining about the food.
They're comparing their life now to a life in slavery and like, well, you know, it wasn't that bad. These comparisons lead [00:04:00] to misery. And so I think that's the question of the day. Do we really want to be miserable. And sometimes the answer seems to be yes, yes we do want to be miserable because we want things to be fair.
We want things to be fair and we want justice and fairness so much that we are willing to give up love and contentment. We ask ourselves do I want love or do I want justice? Do I want contentment or do I want comparison? Typically, it's justice and comparison because there are rules to living in civilized society and you're expected to follow them and when you don't, there are supposed to be consequences.
Think of Lady Justice. She stands there with scales in one hand [00:05:00] and a blindfold.
God wants love and justice. And God is not blindfolded. God is not blindfolded. And God is not holding a scale. Instead of getting love or justice, we get love and justice. And we are offered contentment, not comparison. God The landlord could see the laborers. He could see each and every one of them. And knew they had a story.
A reason they were out there late. Or couldn't get a job. Maybe bad luck. Maybe their child was sick. Maybe they were hungover. But they had a story. And God knows that story. And I [00:06:00] think we can trust that God will give us both love. and Justice and what the laborers forget. What we forget is how deeply they have been touched by God's mercy, and in the midst of this grace, they can't find contentment.
So how can we learn to find contentment in an unfair world, in a confusing and dangerous world? How do we stop comparing ourselves with others? And instead, give thanks for what we have. I quoted Aristotle last week. There's a quote from Aristotle about excellence being a habit. And therefore, excellence needs to be something that you practice.
Forgiveness, if it's to be a habit, needs to be something that you practice. Contentment, if it's to be, um, a habit. [00:07:00] needs to be practiced. We need to practice contentment, perhaps through something as simple as a gratitude journal or a few moments of Thanksgiving in the morning when you are alive and ready to get up and get going.
I think in our modern world, we could also um benefit from stepping away from those engines of comparison: television, Instagram Facebook, things that are constantly pulling us, and marketing, for heaven's sakes, marketing. Compare, compare, compare. You're never good enough. Someone else has it better. Step away. And I'm not suggesting forever, but take a little respite. And be open to others' stories. Be open to hearing [00:08:00] what's gone on in someone else's life that has brought them to where they are.
And be open to the idea of sharing your story. Your failures, your successes. Always listening to the reality of the life of the person in front of you.
And it seems to me that the thing we must really practice is we must really practice living in the kingdom of heaven instead of the world here on earth. The kingdom of heaven will be like this. The kingdom of heaven will be like this. We are being invited to practice, practice, contentment, forgiveness, open heartedness.
We are blessed by God's generosity and mercy. God's love and God's justice. [00:09:00] God is not blindfolded. God knows the whole story. Yours, mine, ours, and theirs. If we allow it, God brings us contentment. God brings to the world both love and justice. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
