From One Kernal Comes Bread for the World photo by Eric Fritch, Chinook Farms, St. John's Snohomish, WA
Stewards' Stirrings 
15th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 20 - Year A
in the Diocese of Olympia
This is a resource here in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia to help point to some stewardship themes in the weekly lectionary to make it easier to preach, teach, study, pray and speak about stewardship throughout the year.  

 

 

Refrain for Proper 20 Year A
The last will be first,* 
and the first will be last.

Click 15th Sunday after Pentecost Year A for a link to this Sunday's readings which include: Exodus 16:2-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 or Jonah 3:10-4:11 and Psalm 145:1-8; Philippians 1:21-30; and Matthew 20:1-16. 

Entitlement robs us of gratitude.  An ungrateful heart is blinded to blessings and breeds discontent and a sense of entitlement.  Entitlement, rooted in self-centeredness, causes parsimony. Likewise, it is difficult to share of yourself or your resources when you are discontented.   Entitlement, ingratitude, self-centeredness, discontentment, and parsimony all create a barrier to our relationship with God, other people and the whole of Creation and thereby, create a barrier to being a good steward.  Our readings this week each address the ideas of entitlement and ingratitude from one or more perspectives.

 

The 1st reading option from Exodus has the Israelites in the wilderness and beginning to complain about their hunger, while having been liberated recently from slavery in Egypt.  The hunger pangs of the flesh cauterize their heart's memory of the oppression they suffered in Egypt.  While hunger is a real issue in our world the context of the Israelites' complaints are ingratitude. And so, God rains down manna from heaven to feed his people, but God also issues instructions to them to test their hearts.  They are to gather only what they need for that day except on the day before the Sabbath when they gather for two days, trusting in God and not feeling entitled.  (Think forward to, "Give us this day, our daily bread.") This will help them to remember and reconnect in their hearts with the One who is the source from whom all their blessings flow.  The ease of the morning collection of the provision and the Sabbath day of rest also contrast the oppression they experienced in their former lives in Egypt where they toiled all day long, seven days a week. 

 

The other option for our 1st reading is from Jonah in the wake of God's decision to spare the people of Nineveh in response to their turning from their wickedness.  Jonah is angered by God's mercy upon Nineveh because he doesn't feel Nineveh's Assyrian inhabitants deserve it, after all they are not Israelites.  Jonah's attitude toward them reflects a sense of entitlement that hordes God's blessing for Israel only.  In his hardness of heart and corporate self-centeredness Jonah would rather die than see God's mercy shared with Nineveh.  How is it that Jonah's own prophetic success with the people of Nineveh convincing them to repent of their ways still leaves Jonah in discontent?  As God provided the bush for Jonah's shade, the worm to destroy the bush and a wind to blow hotly on him, God gives Jonah a lesson about divine mercy and the source of all beings.  Jonah and we hear that God loves all people, not just those chosen to be God's messengers in the world.  There is a clear message here to reflect God's mercy and compassion in the world to all people, breaking down the barriers of entitlement.

 

Paul's letter to the Philippians takes a different tack on the subjects of entitlement and ingratitude than the antagonists in our 1st reading options.  Paul champions a selfless and grateful heart, even in the midst of suffering, for the sake of the "gospel of Christ" for the benefit of the world.  Paul encourages the Philippians to continue to share themselves with others even in the midst of suffering, as he does with them.  There is no entitlement here, only joyous gratitude willing to share the joy with others.

 

In our Gospel lesson Jesus presents a parable of the vastness of God's kingdom to us this week in the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.  Here we find the laborers who joined the workforce early in the day frustrated by the wages that the late-comers receive at the payout.  The notion of what is "deserved" by oneself compared to others or vice-a-versa has overtones of entitlement.  Jesus has the Landowner ask the complainant, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?" Two issues come to mind here for me.  One is the fact that we all belong to God as created by God.  And two, as created by God we also have been created in God's image.  In the Imago Dei, then, wouldn't it reason that we, too, should be generous with all that we are and all that we have for the benefit of all whom belong to God?  Entitlement is not a characteristic exemplified by God in Christ, nor is self-centeredness, ingratitude, parsimony, ingratitude, or discontentment.  These are counter to the image of God.  But practicing good holistic stewardship, sharing freely of our selves and of our resources and caring for Creation, reflects the image of God to the world.

 

How then, shall we labor and live?   

 


Peace be with you,  

Lance 


The Rev. Canon Lance Ousley 
Canon for Stewardship and Development
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
1551 10th Ave E.
Seattle, WA  98102
 
 
 
For more Stewardship resources go to TENS.org
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