The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

West Point, Mississippi

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 20](A)

Jonah 3.10-4.11                Psalm 145.1-8              Philippians 1.21-30          Matthew 20.1-16

 

Jonah 3.10-4.11

 

1)      Jonah is quite old (ca. 6th century B.C., perhaps as early as 8th C.), and refers to a story older still.  Jonah is thus the telling of a legend that gives insight into the development of the role of prophecy, and also speaks to the mastery of God.

 

2)      The only oracle that Jonah delivers (at 3.4) is a brief and blunt announcement of imminent destruction to the Ninevites.  The lesson this week comes from the end of the book.  Jonah has delivered his oracle, and is vexed by the fact that the Ninevites have responded and repented.

 

3)      The lesson begins with the last verse of ch. 3.  The people have repented, and Jonah in fact announces that this was why he tried to flee from God!  He was afraid that the people would repent.

a)      God asks Jonah a series of questions.  (Questions are used throughout the book.)

i)        God understands that Jonah has not wanted to see God’s mercy extended to the hateful Ninevites, and attempt to convert him to understand that mercy is God’s to give.

b)      Jonah states that he “knew that [God is] a gracious God and merciful” (4.2).

i)        The language which follows is in a cultic pattern that parallels Exod. 34.6-7; Num. 14.18; Neh. 9.17; and Pss. 86.15; 103.8; and 145.8.

(1)   God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, ready to relent from punishing.

(a)    Jonah knew this, and that was why he wanted to flee!  How often do we get angry that God has shown mercy to an evildoer?

 

4)      Jonah asks that God may take his life.  he wants to disassociate himself entirely from a God who would be merciful to people whom Jonah hates.

a)      Note an ironic parallel to 1 Kgs. 19.4:  Elijah asks for death because his preaching has not converted the people; Jonah because his preaching has.

i)        In each case the prophet cannot understand divine justice and mercy, and is so frustrated by his lack of understanding that he requests death.

 

5)      God seizes on Jonah’s frustration about the bush to drive home the lesson:  “[S]hould I not be concerned about Nineveh ...?”

a)      A better translation is “May I not have pity ...?”

b)      Jonah has been concerned about the bush (he has had pity about the bush), and God uses this concern to drive home His point that He has pity on the Ninevites.

i)        God’s freedom of action is absolute, and His exercise of mercy is universal (“... and also many animals?”)(Again a translation issue:  “... and also much cattle?”)

 

 

Psalm 145.1-8

 

1)      In the Hebrew psalm 145 is an acrostic, with parallels to Ps. 111 as an acrostic.

a)      The Hebrew word kōl (“all” or “every”) is repeated using the first letters of each verse.

i)        This pattern exemplifies the thoroughness of praise for God’s well-ordered creation.

b)      Ps. 145 is an interlude in the psalter, an interlude before the final five hymns which are each framed by the liturgical phrase “Hallelujah!” (“Praise the Lord!”)

c)      All five of these psalms echo features and fulfill promises stated in Ps. 145.

 

2)      V. 8 quotes from Exod. 34.6.  We praise God both for His greatness and for His mercy.

 

Philippians 1.21-30

 

1)      Having informed the community of his present circumstances, Paul now turns to reflect on what lies ahead.

 

2)      Through baptism Paul has died to his former self.  “To me, living is Christ ...” (1.21).

a)      This life transcends the barrier of physical death.

i)        Death is not “gain” as in Greek philosophy (as a liberation from the body), but in the sense of a more complete union with Christ, who has already passed through death to resurrection.

ii)       Remaining alive in fact provides further opportunity for preaching the Gospel and reaping its fruit.

 

3)      Having spoken of his situation, Paul now exhorts the community (starting at v. 27).

a)      When Paul speaks of living “life in a manner worthy of the gospel” (v. 27), he uses the verb politeuesthai, which means “to discharge one’s duty as a citizen”.

i)        In other words, living in a manner worthy of the gospel is a communal experience in which we live as members of the same Body of Christ.

(1)   Paul’s hammers home this mutuality, that believers may stand firm “in one spirit,” and strive “side by side with one mind for the faith”.

 

Matthew 20.1-16

 

1)      Jesus illustrates God’s generosity in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.

a)      The vineyard is itself a repeated symbol for Israel (e.g. at Isa. 5; Jer. 2.10; and Mtt. 21.23-44).

i)        The grumbling workers echo the frequent complaints of Israel against God (e.g. Exod. 16.7-12; Num. 14.27; Deut. 1.27).

 

2)      The parable is also a midrash (a rabbinic teaching) on what Jesus has just said at 19.30, that the “first will be last, and the last first”.

a)      This is thus a continuation on the teaching given to the rich young man, that he is not to be allied to his possessions.

 

3)      When the landowner tells the laborers who grumble, “Take what belongs to you ...” (v. 14), he speaks a classic biblical definition of justice.

a)      Justice is done, but there is also a reversal of fortune in the unexpected generosity given to the last.

i)        God expresses His love for the most needy, and those of us who receive justice are not to be “envious because [God is] generous” (v. 15).

b)      The final verse reverses the order found at 19.30.  Here the “last will be first”.  This represents a “chiasm” with ch. 19.

i)        A chiasm is a literary structure used in rabbinic teaching, and common in the psalms.