Sermon preached at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square,

Philadelphia
September 21 2014, The Reerend !lan "eale, #$hose %ine &s &t !ny'ay()
God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned
the favor a succinct and elegant quotation attributed variously to Mark
wain, George !ernard "haw and #ean$#acques %ousseau and & thought & had
created it'
o make it rather more ()* God created us in God+s image. And we, ,olite
as ever in com,any, returned the favor.
-hen God decided to show mercy to .ineveh, #onah found it all very
dis,leasing and he became angry* angry enough to die. /e had made
God in his own image.
-hen the landowner decides to ,ay the eleventh$hour laborer the same
amount as those who worked throughout the hot day, the laborers 0well, one
es,ecially but more of that anon1* the laborers com,lain, whine and
grumble 0describes some churches all too sadly1 and they become envious.
hey had made the landowner in their own image.
#onah and laborers alike are shocked that God and landowner o,erate by
their unique own standards and not the standards of their created and
de,endent ones.
A ,arishioner and friend of mine in %hode &sland was a very successful and
rather 2erce, combative labor relations attorney. -henever this Gos,el was
read, he would almost cringe 0an uncommon ,osture for him1 and admit
astonishment 0an uncommon attitude1.
My friend+s reaction has doubtless 2nds resonance with !ible scholars, laity
in ,ews and clergy in stalls throughout the centuries.
&reneaus, second century )hurch 3ather and a,ologist, writes that those
who worked longer hours were ,atriarchs and ,ro,hets of the 4 whereas
the eleven hour servant re,resented the disci,les of )hrist. 4thers write of
the workers of the whole day as the #ews whereas the fortunate worker is
the Gentile church* and it could be so but it remains a challenge.
oday+s ,arable ,ortrays and ,resents two ma5or ,rotagonists.
&n the red corner 0no ,olitical signi2cance'1 is the landowner 0,atently
standing in for God, yes61. /e enacts with fairness and equanimity, he
e7udes com,assion and concern, he es,ouses o,enness and honesty and
he e7ecutes generosity with abandon.
&n the blue corner 0and again, ,lease, no ,olitical signi2cance1 is the
grumbling, intrusive, envious busybody. And yes, & believe the charge
against the landowner originated with, was energi8ed by and was ,ushed
long by the one man. .ote that although many come to com,lain, the
landowner s,eaks to only one of them, 3riend, & am doing you no wrong*.
-hat a sad, but familiar, commentary on human nature that many 0even
within the church1 2nd a ,ernicious 5oy in infecting others with their
negativity before ever they make their concerns ,ublic. Good 9ord deliver us
from nattering nabobs of negativism and make us more ,ulsating ,urveyors
of ,ositivism. Anyway*
-e cannot e7,ect of ourselves and de2nitely not of others that we and they
should be ,erfect re:ections of the divine love a;air with abundant
generosity< but we do our best, we admit the times when we fail 0subtly or
grossly1, we always resolve to be generous ,eo,le no matter how many the
rela,ses remembering the healthy and authentic answer to the question
!ut whose line is it anyway6. !ut* it is not for us 0well, very rarely1 to
assess the ranking of others in the =generosity table+. -e know not their
resources 0,hysical, emotional1 and we surely know not their history and
e7,osure to harmful, disabling e7,eriences.
he crucial question & believe in today+s ,arable is this -hy do you
begrudge my generosity6 and like many a question asked by #esus it
remains hanging in the air* waiting for us to be brave, courageous, radical
as we struggle with the question* we answer it best by asking the /oly
",irit to assist our work and we answer it best asking others to accom,any
us as we do this crucial work of the soul.
&n Genesis as Abraham e7,resses his doubt as to Gods generosity, he hears
the question, -ill not the 5udge of all the earth do right6. -hose line is to
be6.
&n #onah, the ,ro,het is asked &s it right for you to be angry6. -hose line
is to be6.
&n 9uke the elder brother observes the lavish and costly welcome bestowed
u,on his wastrel and ,rodigal brother. /e becomes so angry he refuses to
enter the home and denies any relationshi, with father and son. And with
,oignant ,leading the father argues but we had to celebrate and re5oice.
-hose line is it to be6.
And in Matthew >? the unha,,y, embittered, envious and ,outing worker is
asked this ,rofound e7istential question, -hy do you begrudge my
generosity6. -hose line is to be6.
&t is our calling to, live and breathe in the world, the atmos,here of
sym,athetic 5oy, of* com,ersion6
And yet we 2nd ourselves too often in the wretched world of shadenfreude,
deriving ,leasure from the misfortune of others< engaging in the what the
medieval church called the sin of morose delectation'
-hy6 -hy6 -hy6 -hy6 &n this stunning ,arable #esus turns the world
u,side down, ,uts it right$side u, $ re$establishes the @ingdom and the reign
of the @ing. As today+s (salm concludes he 9ord is gracious and full of
com,assion< slow to anger and of great kindness 0(salm ABCDE1. (Poor
theology, soteriology, anthropology and history all drastically afect our appreciation,
appropriation and experience of this thoroughly merciful God).
4ur youngest son, !en 0gentle !en1 was diagnosed at an early age with a
rather severe form of AFFGFysle7ia. Histing .ew,ort+s Iducation
Fe,artment we discussed !en+s &I( 0individuali8ed education ,rogram1.
Furing the meeting we were told that !en would never be able to attend
college. -e adamantly refused to acce,t this image of !en. !en attended
school, achieved his degree with honors. A few days after leaving school he
started working as an & consultant< in all the economic visissitudes of ,ast
years !en has securely ke,t his 5ob. !ut whose line was it to be*
anyway6.
-hom will you ,ermit to de2ne you6 Jourself, others, errant and soulless
communities 0of church, of state or the God who loves you with an endless
com,assion, generosity and mercy6
& ho,e for you this is an easy decision, in a way your line, your life de,ends
u,on it' !*+"