Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: Isa 55:6-9; Ps 145:2-3.8-9.17-18; Phil 1:20c-24.27a; Matt 20:1-16a

When we hear or read something from scripture written in the voice of God saying something like what heard in today’s first reading- your ways are not my ways- your ways are not my ways¹- we often think what is being referred to is some inaccessible part of God, some aspect of God about which we know nothing. At least in our reading from Isaiah, this is not the case.

In this oracle from deutero-Isaiah, captive Israel, to whom it is initially addressed, is urged to “turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous and forgiving.”² Only after this exhortation is the difference between God’s ways and human ways mentioned. In short, God is not like us because God is merciful, generous, and forgiving.

In no way do we, like the apostle Paul, express that for us “life is Christ” than by being merciful, generous, and forgiving.³ To live in and through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, you must die to self. This is the central paradox of being a Christian, which was elaborated clearly by Jesus in our Gospel reading a few weeks ago: “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”⁴

When you read or hear the words “The kingdom of God is like…” in any of the Gospels, pay close attention. What follows is an analogy, what we might call “a real-world” example of God’s kingdom. At least from the perspective of contemporary society in the United States, the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus is something of a bizarro world.

In reality, the natural human response to the parable we just heard is, “That’s not fair!” You’re right to respond that way. Fairness and justice, while related, are not synonymous. But there is an even greater difference between fairness and mercy.

Mercy, as the Latin word for it- misericordia- indicates, is a matter of the heart. Translated literally misericordia means having a heart for the poor.⁵ It is precisely this that we see in the landowner in Jesus’s parable, making him analogous to God.

I imagine that picking day laborers was a bit like how we used to choose sports teams during recess at school. So, the fittest, strongest, those whom the one choosing judged to be most able-bodied, were chosen first. The fifth group, who made themselves available to work but were not hired by anyone all day, were likely those judged not fit to work.

Since the Nazi slaughter of Europeans Jews, the phrase “not fit to work” carries an eerie echo, one that undermines human dignity. In Jesus’s time and place, there was no social safety net. No work meant no pay. No pay meant no food for the worker and his/her family. This often reduced men to begging and women to prostitution.

Summarizing an analysis of the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas by theologian Yves Congar, Cardinal Walter Kasper notes:

God is not like a judge or a public servant, who justly applies the law established by a higher authority. God is the sovereign Lord, who is not subject to the law of another, but rather is the Lord who imparts his gifts in a sovereign way…[God] does not proceed in an arbitrary fashion; rather, he acts according to his own loving kindness. Therefore, mercy is not opposed to justice. Mercy does not suspend justice; rather, mercy transcends justice; mercy is the fulfillment of justice⁶

To those for whom “life is Christ,” the Kingdom of God is not a dream deferred. God’s kingdom is not only present in our midst but is made present wherever and whenever God’s high and exalted ways are followed; wherever mercy is found. This is why in the Beatitudes, which constitute the core of Jesus’s teaching, he asserts: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”⁷

I think today’s Gospel is well-summarized in the words from the refrain of a song by the late Rich Mullins:

Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach
Beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save
Those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace⁸

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1 Isaiah 55:8.^↩
2 Isaiah 55:7.^↩
3 Philippians 1:21.^↩
4 Matthew 16:25.^↩
5 Walter Kasper, Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life, 21.^↩
6 Ibid., 23.^↩
7 Matthew 5:7.^↩
8 Rich Mullins, "Let Mercy Lead."^↩