September 22, 2002
"The Reign of God
is like."
"The reign of God is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers
for his vineyard."
(Matthew 20:1-16)
The other night, during our bible study in confirmation class at the
parish hall in Cimarron, where we are reading the Gospel of Mark, I asked
the students, "What is the reign of God?" Without missing a beat, one
of them said, "The kingdom of God is life.
I thought that was a great answer. For me, the reign of God is the fullness
of life, the fullness of love, the fullness of peace, the fullness of
compassion, the fullness of nonviolence, and it's available not some
day in some far off time, but today, here and now, if we dare welcome
it in our hearts and midst.
Over the last twenty years, the Jesuits have been asking me and my friends, "What
is your image of the reign of God? What is your image of God? How do you imagine
God? These are great questions to reflect on.
Some people imagine God as God the father. Some people imagine God as
a compassionate mother. Some people imagine God as Hagia Sophia, Holy
Wisdom. Some people imagine the Great Spirit. Some people, like myself,
imagine Jesus, welcoming us into his reign of nonviolence and peace.
But if we asked most people what they're image of God was, they might say, "I
don't like God. I don't believe in God. If anything, God is an old white man
with a long white beard who's really mad and angry and can't wait to condemn
us all and throw us into hell." Doesn't sound good.
The Gospel says that God is not like that at all, that God is completely
different from what the world would have us believe, that God is not
violent or judgmental or passive, but actively loving and nonviolent
and merciful and peacemaking and just, that God is engaged here and now
in the sufferings and struggles of the poorest people.
Jesus is constantly trying to help us imagine what the living God is really
like, and what God's reign is like. Today, he tells us this parable about a
landowner who hires laborers to work in his vineyard at different times throughout
the day, each one for a full day's wage. At the end of the day, they all go
to get paid, and the ones who worked since early in the morning presume they
will get paid more than the ones who only worked an hour or so before sunset.
Instead, the landowner pays them all the same full amount. He takes
pity on the poor ones who wanted to work but couldn't find anyone to
hire them. Some of them get mad and start to grumble and murmur, which
is very bad in the Bible. So the landowner says, "I have not cheated
you. There is no injustice here. I paid you what we agreed. So why are
you mad at me, why are you grumbling? Are you envious because I am generous?"
We need to reflect on why we get mad at God and grumble over the way God does
things, over God's generosity, and instead move from grumbling to gratitude,
and learn to be grateful for every gift from God, beginning with the gift of
life itself, the gift of peace, the gift of nonviolence.
Everything is going to be different in the reign of God, according to
Jesus. The economics of God's reign are going to be completely different
that ours. God is not stingy, greedy, or miserly like us. God does not
hold back. God is completely generous. God pours out life and love upon
us; there's plenty for everyone, more than enough. God gives everyone
what they need, especially the poor and marginalized. God wants to welcome
everyone into God's reign of peace and love, because God loves every
human being on the planet.
Jesus is trying to teach us about God and God's reign, to break down the world's
false image of God, to tell us the truth about God.
As I read the Gospel, I conclude that we do not have to be afraid of
God, because contrary to what the world and the Pentagon will say, God
is not a god of wrath and vengeance, but the God of mercy and forgiveness;
not a god of retaliation but the God of reconciliation; not a god of
hatred and anger, but the God of love and compassion; not a god of war
and violence, but the God of peace and nonviolence; not a god of injustice
and oppression, but the God of justice and liberation; not a god of death,
but the living God of life.
The Gospel says, if we can begin to imagine the love, compassion and
generosity of God; then we will begin to worship the God of love, compassion
and generosity; and we too will become people of love, compassion and
generosity; and we will find ourselves living in the fullness of life,
God's reign of nonviolent love, compassion and generosity, not some far
off day, but today, here and now, and for the rest of our lives. Close this window.
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