September 21 , 2008 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Proper 20 Commentary by Bruce G. Epperly

See also: [2005] [2002]

Exodus 16:2-15 (16-21)
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16

Scarcity and abundance are at the heart of today’s scripture readings. God is graceful to us, constantly guiding, sustaining, and energizing us, often when we feel least aware of it. Awakened to divine generosity, we become channels of grace and comfort to others. Once again, as I reflect on the lectionary selections, I suggest that pastors who truly want to tell the story of God’s providential care for the Hebraic, or Israelite, people consider adding verses 16-21 to the lectionary reading from Exodus 16.

The Exodus narrative, which is also the centerpiece of the Psalm 105 hymn of thanksgiving and remembrance, celebrates God’s providential care for the Hebraic people. As the journey through the wilderness, the people lose heart. They lament the hardships of the journey as they remember how good life was in Egypt! “We were oppressed, but at least we had something to eat,” they complain. “Let’s go back to Egypt, the security of limits and oppression is preferable to the insecure world of divine promise and possibility.” In their minds, the familiar limitations trump the risky world of creativity, freedom, and possibility in which they now find themselves.

Following the adventurous God leads to novel and surprising encounters in which we constantly face unfamiliar situations. At first glance, there are no guarantees and always the possibility of failure when we follow the less traveled pathways of God’s holy adventure. But, perhaps, there is a guarantee, God is with us to guide and sustain us amid every challenge we face, today, tomorrow, and throughout our lives.

Exodus 16 portrays God as both responsive and creative. God once again hears the Israelites’ cries and responds with manna and quail. As today’s preacher reflects on Exodus passage, he or she is called to ponder the dynamics of scarcity and abundance in her or his life and the congregation. Were the quail and manna there all the time, but overlooked as a result of the Israelite’s scarcity thinking?  Or, does God bring forth new possibilities in response to their complaints?  In either case, God is portrayed as actively concerned for the Israelites’ well-being. God’s response is not preprogrammed from eternity, without the Isrealites’ input, but is part of a dynamic call and response. At times, God calls and the people respond; at other times, the people call and God responds. What possibilities for abundant life and creative transformation are we missing, individually and corporately, as a result of our focus on scarcity?

The issue of scarcity and abundance is significant in the religious journey. Process theology believes that God constantly seeks abundant life – God is constantly giving us novel possibilities, appropriate to our life-situation and the energy to realize those possibilities for ourselves and those around us. We are never alone, never without options, and never without the ability to share in God’s creative transformation of our lives and the world.

A curious twist occurs in the Exodus passage. The Israelites are told to collect only what they need. If they collect more than they need, the food will rot by morning. This is sagely advice for both the Israelites and us! God wants us to flourish and have what we need not only to live, but to live well, and to live better, as Alfred North Whitehead asserts, but God also guides us to life styles of sharing and moderation. We will all have enough, if all of us choose to share and to use only what need we need, not always what we want.

With the advent of $4.00 a gallon gasoline, it is easy for North Americans to focus on scarcity and lament, like the Israelites, the disparity between today and the “good old days” of $3.00 a gallon gas! The perceptive pastor may remind her or his congregation that there are creative ways to respond to the current gas crisis that not only nurture a “greener” environment, but also may contribute to the leisure necessary for spiritual growth and positive relationships. In the spirit of Whitehead, rising gas prices and the economic slowdown call us to originate novelty to match the novelty of the environment. How can a congregation creatively respond to economic instability?   How can we collect enough “manna and quail” to provide for our personal and congregational needs and also respond with generosity to the needs of the world, next door and across the planet?
How might a simpler, greener, and more relational life-style contribute to our overall health and happiness?

Abundance and scarcity are a matter of spiritual perception. When we perceive God’s abundance in our lives, our hearts open, stress diminishes, and we reach out in acts of kindness and generosity. When we experience the world in terms of abundance, there is always enough, whether in terms of time and resources, to go around and there are always divine possibilities for growth and transformation. With our modest loaves and fishes, we can – like the boy who shared his lunch – feed and comfort a multitude.

The Philippians passage calls us to live worthy of the gospel. A worthy life, Paul suggests, involves our willingness to suffer – or to sacrifice – for the greater good of the community, our brothers and sisters, and the planet. Paul chooses to continue ministering in the world, despite his suffering in prison. While Paul may not have experienced physical torture, no doubt Paul’s inability to travel and be with his friends was a source of great emotional and spiritual pain. Still, Paul invites his readers to be willing to “suffer for the gospel.” In his time, this might have involved facing persecution with grace, fidelity, and integrity. Similar to Paul’s counsel to the Philippians, Viktor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning, describes his quest to worthy of his suffering in context of his concentration camp experiences during the Holocaust.  

Suffering calls us to be persons of character, whose experience of pain and disability does not prevent us from reaching out to others in Christ-like ways. This is true for congregations as well as persons. Even when the congregation is struggling to meet its budget, God calls the church to generosity. In the spirit of Bernard Loomer’s vision of stature, we are challenged in difficult times to embrace life’s challenges as well as God’s call to creative transformation and care for others.

But, living worthy of the gospel is not an easy task. This is a burden we can only take on for ourselves and not demand of others. As I write today’s lectionary, I have just gotten off the phone with an eighty year-old relative who is dealing with the medical challenges of his wife. My memory is filled with scenes from the Midwest floods in the United States, and the aftermath the Chinese earthquake. Faith under fire – and in the midst of catastrophe – is hard won, just as largeness of spirit in times of conflict takes all the equanimity and grace we can muster. But, we are not alone – the one who works through cosmic evolution works through our own emerging stature. The adventurous God will continue to provide insights and possibilities even when we fail to measure up to our highest intentions or succumb to self-interest in times of stress.

The Gospel reading speaks to the ever-evolving scope of Jesus’ ministry, beginning with his own people and reaching out to the Gentile world. Revelation and salvation are governed by the principles of abundance and not scarcity. In God’s providence, all have a spiritual home. God embraces the insider and outsider as well. Once again, persons receive what they need in terms of grace (and wages), and that is enough! While the landowner’s generosity may lead to class action suits today, the landowners “unfairness” is intended to portray God’s global and personal love. Like their Israelite forebears, certain of the laborers complain, despite the fact they have received the agreed upon raise. They see the world in terms of scarcity and competition rather than in terms of interdependent wholeness, in which the well-being of others is intimately connected with our own well-being.

God is working in our lives and in the lives of our opponents. God loves the world without exceptions, and not just our nation or the human race, and God’s love is manifest in intimate care for the least of these and the stranger as well as the well-fed neighbor.

Grace will always be unfair to those who see the world through the eyes of scarcity. God’s vision for our lives is always concrete, and rooted in the particular situation in which we find ourselves, but God’s vision always leads us beyond the present moment to new possibilities. Grace is abundant, and there is always more than enough to go around.

Today’s passages invite the congregation to recognize the challenges of our current economic and military malaise within the broader context of God’s call and response in our lives. Despite the overall insecurity we face personally and globally, these scriptures remind us of God’s constant care and God’s call for us to embrace a generous interdependence, rather than parsimonious isolation. When are most tempted to turn inward in defensiveness and fear, God calls us to envisage possibilities of gracious generosity.

Bruce Epperly is professor of practical theology and director of continuing education at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is author of fifteen books, including a response to The Purpose Driven Life, the forthcoming Holy Adventure: Forty-One Days of Audacious Living (Upper Room Press).

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