The 18th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 20A), Sept. 18, 2005
BCP: Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145 or 145:1-8; Phil. 1:21-27; Matt. 20:1-16
RCL: Exod. 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; or Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145:1-8; Phil. 1:21-30; Matt. 20:1-16
Whatever else might be said about Jonah, he certainly had the courage of his convictions. He stowed away in a ship, stewed in the belly of a fish, and suffered heat stroke — all because he resisted the doings of the Lord. Another group in today’s readings, the early laborers in the vineyard, also had strong convictions. They, too, grumbled vociferously against the Lord of the harvest.
Both Jonah and these workers got their backs up over the same issue —objections to missions. Such a combination of principals and principles deserves our close attention.
Jonah’s objections arose because of the Ninevites, the people to whom God wanted to send him. They were a barbaric people with hideous practices. They worshiped Ashur, a god of war, and didn’t care about the God of Israel. They had their own religion, and never asked for missionaries anyway. Besides, didn’t Israel itself need attention? It was sorely conflicted and needed to be planting new synagogues. Jonah resented God’s grace for a faraway group and preferred to leave them to hell.
The early laborers had a similar grievance. They had been in the vineyard from the start, had taken their children with them, left parents and grandparents, and faced disease and persecution. Then came along the new converts. They took over positions of leadership, advanced their slant on theology, and even messed with the direction of the church that planted them. What missionary group in their right mind would invest in new areas, only to see them taken and given to newcomers? Those were the objections, and they have a familiar ring in today’s world.
The response to Jonah is embedded in his own objections. Had he not received grace, and was he not as reprobate as the Ninevites? If God loved Jonah, was there a reason that he should not also love the Ninevites?
For the early laborers, they lacked appreciation for what Paul would call “fruitful labor” (Phil. 1:22). For Paul, success was exactly what they griped about — to see the new converts grasp “the splendor of God’s majesty and his marvelous works” (Psalm 145:5), take over leadership, and, yes, even teach those who first brought them the gospel. That is the goal and the reward of missionary labor.
If we value God’s grace to us, how can we object to God’s using us to bring that to others?
Look It Up
Nahum and Zephaniah both have prophecies about Nineveh. A good map will locate it in today’s Iraq.
Think About It
Where do you see evidence of the objections of Jonah’s objections and the early laborers?
Next Sunday
The 19th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21A), Sept. 25, 2005
BCP: Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-32; Psalm 25:1-14 or 25:3-9; Phil. 2:1-13; Matt. 21:28-32
RCL: Exod. 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; or Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25:1-8; Phil. 2:1-13; Matt. 21:23-32
