On the Back Porch
Reading, pondering and studying God’s Word is sometimes best done “on the back porch.” Each week we will try to offer something for you and your “back porch time.”
25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
This is one of those gospel parables that sometimes does not sit right with us. I think we share in one or all three of the basic complaints by the first set of workers, the ones who worked all day. (1) They assumed they’d be paid more for more work. (2) The others were made equal to us and we worked harder than the others. (3) This was all a burden in the first place. It isn’t fair.
Robert Smith summarizes our reaction to the parable: “It is simply a fact that people regularly understand and appreciate God’s strange calculus of grace as applied to themselves but fear and resent seeing it applied to others.” In a similar way, the parable of the unforgiving servant (last week’s gospel) suggested a great appreciation for God forgiving all of my sins; but a desire that God (and I) should punish all those who had sinned against me.
There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Image Credit: Laborers in the Vineyard, icon | Public Domain
Grace
When God reveals who he is to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, one of the words he uses to describe himself is gracious, or in Hebrew, khanun. “Yahweh, Yahweh, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal-love and faithfulness.” This verse is the most quoted and reused verse in the Hebrew Bible.
What does it mean to say that the God of the Bible is gracious? In this video, we’ll look at the Hebrew words for grace and understand it to be a rich concept that has profound implications for how we see God. When we look to the biblical meaning of grace and understand God as gracious, we see a God who loves to give generous gifts to undeserving people. The Golden Calf Incident is perhaps the best example of God showing undeserved favor in Exodus 34, the context from which the first description of God’s character is recorded in the Hebrew Bible.
The people break the first two terms of the covenant—no other gods and no idols—right after making them. God tells Moses that he is done with these people, that they are going to keep doing this. He is going to leave them and let them go toward the promised land without his presence.
Moses first shatters the tablets of the covenant (and makes the people drink the powdery ash!), and then he ascends to Yahweh for five rounds of intercession and conversation.
At one point Moses says, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, do not bring us up from this place [Mount Sinai], for how then can I know that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Isn’t it by your going with us, so that I and your people are marked as distinct from all other people on the face of the land?” (Exodus 33:15-16).
God responds, “I will do this thing that you have asked, because you have found favor in my eyes” (Exodus 33:17).
So God ends up recommitting to the people and renewing the covenant they just broke, and he appears to Moses saying that he is “compassionate and khanun…” (Exodus 34:6). He is the giver of generous favor to people, even when they deserve the opposite.
This character trait of God from Exodus 32-34 becomes foundational for all of God’s future interactions with Israel.
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
This well-known parable is located within a section of Matthew’s gospel when Jesus is being questioned about the source of his authority. While the scribes and Pharisees have already reached a conclusion (Jesus is in league with Satan), they are seeking to have Jesus make a public statement about the source of his teaching and miraculous powers. Jesus’ response to the challenge to his authority indicates two possibilities: authority can come from heaven or from humans.
One biblical scholar offered, “First, there is human authority. No matter how sophisticatedly it is packaged, human authority is a matter of raw power. If you have enough people behind you or guns with you, you have it, and what you say goes, period. Divine authority, on the other hand, has to do with truth, the truth of God, the truth about who God made us to be. In the short run, human authority can appear to overwhelm divine authority – even to crucify it – but, ultimately, God’s truth prevails.”
There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Parable of the Two Sons, Andrei Monorov, 2012 | CC BY SA 4.0
Fairness
In the first reading for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) we hear from the Prophet Ezekiel: “You say, ‘The LORD’s way is not fair!’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?“
When we assert that something is “unfair,” in Biblical terms we are saying it is “unjust.” We want to restore fairness, restore justice. It is a need in our world today and a controversial topic. But what is justice, exactly, and who gets to define it? In this video, we’ll explore the biblical theme of Justice and discover how it’s deeply rooted in the story-line of the Bible that leads to Jesus.
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
This well-known parable is located within a section of Matthew’s gospel when Jesus is being questioned about the source of his authority. It is during the events of Holy Week and the confrontation with the religious leaders is reaching its climax. In the parable of the “The Evil Tenants” there is a progression of people sent by the Landowner to collect the produce. The servants are sent, beaten by the tenants, and turned away. The Landowner sends his Son thinking surely they will respect him. The evil tenants kill the son thinking they will be able to take possession of the land.
Like all parables, it is to speak to the heart of the hearer. The Pharisees and Priests heard a tale of economic revolt. What did you hear? Just a story from long ago told to people of one time? Even today, the Kingdom of God calls for laborers for the harvest. What is your role in all this?
There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Maarten Van Valckenborch, c. 1585, Kunsthistorisches Museum | Public Domain PD-US
Covenants
The vineyard appears in Scripture many times. What does it represent? In the Prophet Isaiah it represents Israel and the promised land. But even that is but a representation of a deeper thing: the Covenant with God. What is a covenant? It is not the same as a “contract.” Where a contract exchanges goods and services for some consideration, a covenant is an exchange of persons. Each gives themselves to the other, whole and complete, without reservation. Such is the nature and goal of marriage. Such is the more fundamental covenant of God with people. In the Bible, humans continually fail as God’s covenant partners, until Jesus came to fulfill what we could not, restoring us to relationship with God.
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
This well-known parable is the third of three parables within a single section of Matthew’s gospel. All the parables raise the question of rightful authority to interpret and proclaim God’s word. All three call for obedience, a change of heart, and bearing fruit in one’s life. But the parable of the Great Wedding Feast extends the teaching to indicate a time for obedience and choosing is approaching. The inheritance of Israel may be squandered, the Gentiles invited in – but they too must answer the call to obedience and faithfulness – and dress themselves in the robes of righteousness.
Like all parables, it is to speak to the heart of the hearer. Are you dressed and ready for the invitation?
There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
Parable of the Great Banquet by Brunswick Monogrammist (circa 1525) National Museum, Warsaw | Public Domain
Covenants
The vineyard appears in Scripture many times. What does it represent? In the Prophet Isaiah it represents Israel and the promised land. But even that is but a representation of a deeper thing: the Covenant with God. What is a covenant? It is not the same as a “contract.” Where a contract exchanges goods and services for some consideration, a covenant is an exchange of persons. Each gives themselves to the other, whole and complete, without reservation. Such is the nature and goal of marriage. Such is the more fundamental covenant of God with people. In the Bible, humans continually fail as God’s covenant partners, until Jesus came to fulfill what we could not, restoring us to relationship with God.
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
What We Celebrate
Over the three previous Sunday gospels we have heard parables of sons, servants and invited guests doing (or not doing) what the father, master, or king asks of them. They were all parables of the Kingdom of God. In today’s gospel we have a controversy story between Jesus and religious leaders about paying taxes to the secular kingdom of Rome. It is a story about image, trust, loyalties, and about being a faithful religious person in a secular world. In other words, a story for our times.
There is a lot more to this gospel. Sit with it for a moment on the back porch.
Full Text of the Sunday Readings
Detailed Commentary on the Gospel
The Tribute Money, Peter Paul Rubens (1610–1615), Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Public Domain PD-US
The Kingdom of God
In the first reading for this Sunday we have an interesting intersection between the secular and the sacred – God calling the Persian King, Cyrus, as his “anointed.” In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, God is using Cyrus to return the people of Israel from captivity in Babylon back to Jerusalem. It is God’s message to the people that the true King still reigns, is in control, and fulfills his promises that they would be returned. This is another act in the play of God’s kingdom coming to fruition as the world awaits the true King. And this is Good News.