Sunday, 18 September 2011
Proper 20
The Rev’d Dr. Clark W. Trafton
St. John’s in the Village
New York City

My husband Lewis and I have been together now for nineteen years. During that time we have learned a lot about each other.

One of the things Lewis has learned about me is that I get hostile when I’m hungry. Normally, I’m pretty even tempered, but when I’ve gone too long without food, I can be really grouchy. I’ve even embarrassed him sometimes when we’re with other people and I snap at him. If I can be aware of my mood, I can consciously change my behavior, but unfortunately, sometimes I am not that self-aware and get pretty ugly.

I thought about this rather unattractive character trait of mine as I was reading today’s first lesson from Exodus. The Israelites have just been delivered into freedom from slavery. God has visited ten plagues on Egypt in order to persuade Pharaoh to let them go. A miracle has brought them on dray land through the Red Sea, drowning the Egyptian army behind them. They are on their way to a promised land. So what do we hear from them? “If only we were back in Egypt where we had plenty to eat!” “We’re hungry! Why did you bring us here?” Sounds familiar to me!! The Lord heard their complaining and sent them food. Each day they would gather up food which would form on the ground around them, the manna. And on this day he would send them meat. A flock of quails covered the ground around the camp. So they were fed. But my guess is that if we could listen in on some of the conversations in the tents, we might have heard someone saying quietly, “Quails! When you pluck them and clean them there’s hardly a mouthful of meat left. Why couldn’t he have sent chickens or turkeys?” God’s people are complainers.

In today’s gospel we hear more about complainers. Jesus tells the parable of the owner of a vineyard who hires some workers. He hires some at six in the morning, some at nine, some at noon, some at three an some at five. When It comes time to pay them, they all get the same amount of money, no matter how long they have worked. They each got what he had agreed with the first bunch to pay for a full day’s work. The six a.m. people complain. “It’s not fair. We worked a full day, through the heat of the day; we should get more than those who only worked an hour.” But the landowner says, “I paid you what we agreed on. Can’t I be generous with my own money if I want to be?”

These two readings tell us several things about God’s generosity. First we see that it has no limit. God gave whatever it took to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. There was no end to it. There is a wonderful litany which makes up a part of the Jewish Passover seder. It recounts one by one the mighty acts of God in freeing his people, followed by the response, “It would be enough.”· Had God slain their first born but not given us there substance – it would be enough.
· Had God given us their substance but not torn the Sea apart for us — it would be enough.
· Had God torn the Sea apart for us but not brought us through it dry — it would be enough.
· Had God brought us through it dry but not sunk our oppressors in the midst of it — it would be enough.
· Etc. through all the events of the Exodus.

But these acts did not seem enough for God. There is no length to which God would not go to free his people. His generosity knows no limits. Are they hungry? God fees them. Are they thirsty? God has Moses strike the rock and water gushes forth. Nothing is too good. His generosity is unbounded. God gives whatever it take to free us.

We also see that God’s generosity does not depend upon the gratitude or the character of the recipients. They were constantly complaining. “Oh, why are we out in this place. Better to be a slave.” Or the workers in the vineyard complaining about the owner’s generosity. “Why do they get as much as we? We worked through the hot part of the day and they didn’t. It isn’t fair!” How fortunate for us that God’s generosity is poured out even on unpleasant people. He send his rain on the just and the unjust. This makes me feel somewhat better after one of my I’m hungry so I’m hostile displays. God doesn’t love us because we’re so nice.

And we see that God’s generosity doesn’t have to be earned. In fact, it CAN’T be earned. It just is. The Israelites did nothing to earn their way out of slavery. It was a gift. Those workers in the vineyard who did a full day’s work got no more or less for a day’s work than those who did an hour’s work. We can’t earn God’s gifts. We can’t. We don’t need to. It’s all just poured out on us.

What is it then that God gives so generously? In his analysis of a part of the Hebrew scriptures, Harold Bloom suggests that God’s desire and gift for his people is always “more life.” He brought Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land so that they might have more life. He paid the one hour workers a full day’s wages so they might have more life.

About a year ago, I had the privilege of visiting Jerusalem and going to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is an experience I will never forget. Within the church, at one side, is the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, the rocky hill on which the cross was lifted. There is life was extinguished; he shared the fate of each one of us, Death. No life.

In the main part of the church, in the center of a rotunda, stands the tomb. There God gave the ultimate gift of more life. Unending life in God. The stone was rolled away from the cave on Easter morning, and Jesus rose triumphant over death. That gift of more life, of eternal life, is shared with all God’s people. We receive it in baptism. It is renewed in the Eucharist.

Our generous God gives life. Amen.