24th Sunday Year B

25th Sunday Year B – God’s way is not our way

Where do we start with this week’s readings? Avoid anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ. So says Paul in our second reading. How easy it is to read this but then when we come to consider how we put that into practice in our everyday lives, where do we start?

How do we go about considering the message from the gospel today, that a worker who is only employed for an hour should be paid the same as one who has worked the whole day long? How does this fit in with our senses of balance and fairness and appropriateness? Surely this is daft. It is unworkable. It is unfair and maybe even unjust. But is it? Is it really?

We are stuck trying to apply our rules, our regulations and our measures of fairness against those offered by Christ in his parable. He was not talking about fairness or mankind’s rules or regulations on pay or labour. No, He was talking about the generosity of God.

He was talking about the ability of the Father to lavish riches and rewards as He sees fit on all those who come to Him no matter the time of the day or the situation in which they find themselves.

The generosity of God that is offered unconditionally by Him on everyone who comes to Him with an open and contrite heart; who attempts to seek Him and His favour through their contact with each other and the demonstration of their love of and for Him in all of their actions.

It is this generosity that we need to emulate: and there is the rub. There is the problem for us because we don’t operate to these same rules. We don’t give something for nothing. We want a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay and anything else can be pro rata’d.

Our ways are not God’s ways. Our measures are not God’s measures. Our conditions are not God’s conditions. God does not lay down all of these specifications ahead of any dealings with Him. He does not state a whole list of pre-requisites that must be in place before He offers His rewards.

We have to be more God-like in our dealing with each other. This is not easy. There are people we don’t like or who we feel don’t like us. There are those with whom we have had differences and there are more and more people for whom we could give a reason as to why we will not treat with them.

But really, really is this us avoiding, “… anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ.

Does Christ urge us to do unto others before they do unto us? Does he demand payment up front and not a penny less? Does he require that all books and debts are settled in full before any conversation or movement can take place?

Not at all. Not in any way, in any shape or size is this true. In fact, it is almost the complete opposite.

God demands and expects us to follow the example of His Son. He wants us to be first in inviting people in; in opening our doors, our hearts and our minds to those less fortunate than we are.

He wants us to look for ways that we can give to others a true and full essence of His love for us by our prayers and by our actions: what we do physically and actively to engage and improve the lives of others.

Paul says that we should, “Avoid anything in your everyday lives that would be unworthy of the gospel of Christ”. But this is not simply a lesson in avoidance. No – it is about finding the opposite of those things that are unworthy – the things that are worthy of the gospel; the things that are an echo and a mirror of Christ.

Where we find hate we should show love. Where we find neglect, we should offer care. Where we find greed, we should offer charity. Where we find an absence of compassion, we should offer our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is hard in these times to think outwardly when everything and everyone around us is saying, stay in, stay focused on yourself, don’t mix, don’t speak, don’t invite or welcome others in: in fact, don’t do or live any of the messages of the gospel This is wrong. Yes, be safe at all times and care for yourself and for others too and always remember those on the edges of society who are too easily forgotten particularly in times of crisis.

We need to be creative in how, where and when we can offer our help and support. We need to be generous to others just as our heavenly Father is generous to us. We need to live the gospel in every day and in every way that we can. Amen