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Reflection on this Sunday's scripture readings
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Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm 144
Philippians 1:20-24,27
Matthew 20:1-16
This week we focus on the immensity of God's love for us. The prophet Isaiah comforts the people of Israel in exile in Babylon feeling bewildered by what has happened to them. Before the exile Isaiah preached that the people would be punished because they had turned their backs on God. Now he gives them the consolation that God is forgiving and does not treat his creatures as we would expect, by punishing them. That is why Isaiah tells his readers to seek the Lord, actively search him out and call on him.
The message of the Gospel is also concerned with God's generosity. In this parable normal human reckoning is reversed and so the workers who came to work last in the vineyard are paid first and receive the same amount as those who had been working all day in the heat. The owner of the vineyard is accused of being unjust but in fact is giving a just wage to those who came first. He is, however, also being more than generous to those who came last. This is what God's kingdom is like - an overabundance of generosity to those who are needy.
It is difficult for us living in a self-interested society to imagine God's generosity. This week let us seek God out and imagine how we would feel if we were only hired at the last minute by the owner of the vineyard. As we contemplate in amazement God's goodness let us pray Psalm 144 in praise of God.