As the people of Israel exiled in Babylon at last begin to make their way home, they try to make sense of all they have experienced in their own terms. But the prophet Isaiah has a message for them: God is not nearly as limited as humankind makes God out to be, and God’s mercy is for all, including the scoundrel and the wicked. The people cannot, therefore, project their own ways of thinking onto God: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, the Lord tells them, nor are your ways my ways. And yet the Lord is near to all who call upon him, Psalm 145 reminds us. Although they may not understand God, God wants to care for God’s people, to be part of their lives, and there is no end to the power of his love: Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. God is always greater than we think, more than we anticipate, greater than we know, and we must do our best to recognize this, to be aware of the limits of our own understanding even as we praise God’s goodness.
In Matthew’s Gospel, having just reassured the disciples that everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or more for the sake of his name will inherit eternal life, Jesus reinforces this promise with the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Although some of the workers work all day in the vineyard and others work only one hour or two, each receives the usual daily wage. God provides for everyone, even those who arrive late, including in matters of faith. God’s mercy is great enough even for those who come to faith late, for God’s justice is not our justice and it does not fit into our limited imaginations. In this parable, the last are treated as well as the first; all may enter the kingdom of heaven. Mercy is given even when not earned, and fullness of grace is to live life in Christ.
Paul knew this as he wrote to the Philippians from prison: Christ will be magnified by my body, whether by death or by life. So long as Paul is in Christ, then Christ will be revealed in him, and the more Paul can reveal Christ, the more others will see and understand God’s love and mercy. Like Paul, like the disciples, we must all remain true to this experience, striving to manifest Christ in our own lives. Whether or not we fully grasp the depth of God’s love and mercy, we are meant to remain open, calling upon the Lord, that we might receive and then reveal that mercy as best we can. In this, we conduct ourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, as we reveal his love to our broken world.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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