Messages, Meditations, and Musings on the Life of Faith by Rev. Dr. Scott E. Olson, Interim Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, Preston, MN

Sunday, August 10, 2014

"Fruitful Living: Growing in Generosity" - Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Summer Series)

Fruitful Living: Growing in Generosity
Pentecost 9 (Summer Series)
August 10, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
Matthew 20.1-16

I think that most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, find this story that Jesus tells his disciples very troubling. It’s troubling because we live in a country with an overarching story that tells us that we can be whatever we want to be. This story grounded in the so-called “Protestant work ethic” that says if you work hard you will be rewarded and blessed. Of course, it is not hard to find people who work very hard in our country yet stay very poor. Even if we admit that Jesus is telling us a parable designed to stretch us and our understanding, we add a “yes, but….” Yes, we say, God’s ways are different, but they would never cut it in the “real world.” I wonder.

This parable started making some sense to me over 30 years ago long before I became a pastor. When moved the suburban Washington, DC area Cindy and I rented a condo, but were now buying our first house. We scraped together some friends and co-workers to help and gratefully, many responded. Interestingly, like the workers in the vineyard, not everyone could be there at the same time. Some were there the whole time and others near the end. When we finished with the unloading, I fetched chicken from Roy Rogers (like a Hardees) and we all ate a wonderful mean together. As we were eating, it occurred to me this was just like the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

Now, it never would have occurred to me to give people chicken in proportion to how much or how long they worked. Those who came later would get just as much as those who worked the whole time. As I think about how I learned what I did about generosity, I guessing it was probably because of my parents. My parents had the kind of home where my friends and siblings’ friends always felt welcome. They were free to raid the fridge or cupboards just as we were. When people ate meals with us, my father would go overboard to make sure they had enough, almost the point of being annoying and sometimes obnoxious. My dad was also the kind who would help someone who needed it, even taking vacation to help them paint their houses. I don’t know if they gave money to the church or how much. They might have; I just don’t remember. I’d have to learn about that kind of giving elsewhere.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the fruit of the Spirit during this summer sermon series, it’s the importance of practice. That’s especially true with generosity; growing in generosity involves both attitude and action. We can only guess why Jesus tells this story and why the early church preserved it. Some think he told it in response to the grumbling of the religious leaders because Jesus spent time with those people deemed undesirable, such prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners. Others think the early church preserved it because those first followers, the Jewish Christians, grumbled about Gentile Christian newcomers. Regardless, the parable stresses that God is gracious and generous to all and that we who worship such a God are to imitate such generosity, not begrudge it.

At the heart of the parable is that we worship a God who desires us to be in relationship with God and others, and that this God will never give up on us. God will keep coming and inviting us to be in relationship with him, no matter the lateness of the day. We experience God’s relentless coming each worship service in the bread and wine of Holy Communion as God gives himself freely to all. This God wants us to grow in generosity not because God needs our money, but because God wants us. This week, to encourage you to grow in generosity, I want you to do two things. First, think about who you learned generosity from and how, and share that story with someone else. Second, look for a way to be generous in a way you haven’t done before and share that, too. Maybe it is leaving a larger tip when you go out to eat. Maybe it is saying “yes” by volunteering to give of yourself, whether here or in the community. Either way, as you live in the Spirit may you also be led by the Spirit in fruitful living, growing in generosity. Amen.

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