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Jesus vision of GOD SERMON PREACHED ON PENTECOST 18, HOMECOMING: 9/18/5 [Matthew 20:1-16] Unfair! That’s how Jesus’ parable struck me. I’d been working hard for 8 hours in scorching heat. Not fair to pay the same wage to people who worked only an hour. Call the Labor Relations Board! Then it dawned on me: maybe I was the one who had only worked an hour. That realization was followed immediately by the G-word: GUILT. I wallowed in that for awhile before I understood that the real G-word in Jesus’ vision of God was GENEROSITY! Suddenly that idea popped out all over the place in Jesus’ attitude and teaching, embedded in one parable after another. The prodigal son story should really be called "the parable of the generous father." Look how that father dealt with his ne’er-do-well son and with the older brother who protested because he had worked all those years in the heat of the day, protested the generosity his father showed toward his kid brother who had really screwed up - hadn’t worked one hour! The father was generous to the older son, too, taking time to explain, express appreciation. The same theme became visible in last week’s parable as Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a King settling up accounts. One slave owed the equivalent of $3 billion dollars, couldn’t pay, so the king ordered him and his family to be sold into slavery. The slave fell to his knees, pleading, ‘Have patience with me; I’ll pay you everything." Out of pity for him the king released the slave and forgave him the debt. But going out, that same slave came across a fellow slave who owned him $50 bucks, seized him by the throat, demanded payment. His fellow slave pleaded with the same words, but he refused, throwing him into prison. When the king heard about it he was furious, his sense of generosity offended. Check it out: one of Jesus’ core beliefs was God’s generosity. You see it in forgiveness: 70 x 7 times, forgiving obligations, accepting people as they are without having to prove anything, salvation as a gift from God, not something you could ever earn. So how did we get handed a version of an angry God, judgmental, punishing — and all the resulting fear and residual guilt? Not from Jesus! Wonderful stories are emerging as people respond to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina: children selling their toys to help, corporations, individuals, and churches responding full out with no thought except need! Imagine the impact of generosity on those who give it! On this day I invite you to come home to a new understanding of God. In your computer brain, delete GUILT and replace it with GENEROSITY above what is owed, what is due — beyond obligation! Go live that way, not just money and things. Leave church today with a generous spirit. I am convinced that is from God, and it unlocks everything: your relationships, self-image — even your driving! A generous spirit lets you be open, not defensive; joyful not anxious; hopeful in the face of the future, reflecting the generous spirit of God. All we have to do is recycle!!
Copyright: Ernest W. Cockrell 9.18.05
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