25th Sunday Year A - Homily 4

Homily 4 - 2020

Last Sunday we had Jesus’ graphic, challenging parable on forgiveness. We have a similar theme today — Jesus’ parable of the generous landowner. The story is masterfully constructed in such a way that its message puts us first on the defensive. This week I suggest that we allow ourselves to become personally saturated with the scandal of God’s consistent, over-the-top generosity and goodness.

Do we feel comfortable with a God who forgives indiscriminately and who is outrageously generous and good to all?

On my part, for much of my life I had the sense of God as one who rewards merit and punishes bad behaviour. I approached God as one like a bank-manager or meticulous accountant whose assessment of me was dependent on my goodness or badness. God was merciful, perhaps, for a while, but eventually and inexorably inflexible. In the end I would get what I deserved.

Last week’s and this week’s parables undermine all that. God’s attitude to people does not ultimately depend on what we deserve, but is drawn simply from what God is like. And Jesus makes abundantly clear that God loves; God forgives; God is extravagantly generous.

I needed to grow up and mature to come to terms with this God, Jesus’ God. When I behave now, I try to do so, not to win over God and to feel safe, but because, like God, with God, I want to love people and to treat them respectfully for their sakes.

How people behave matters, certainly. Life this side of the grave has become the veritable hell we are only too familiar with when we humans do not recognise each other’s equal and innate dignity and respect each other. That is why Jesus earnestly urged us to pray, “Your will be done on earth”. I often wonder what our world would be like if we allowed God’s love to transform us into the likeness of God in which we were created. How different would our economic, social, political and judicial systems be from what we default into currently!

And eternal life with God? We know no more about that than what Jesus has told us. We need to learn to trust Jesus and to give him every opportunity to convince us.