A CHILD stands in front of their mother with an unhappy look upon their face. ‘But mummy’ they cry, ‘I want some pudding!’ The mother explains that they must eat their dinner first. However, the child remains unconvinced, and as they become aware that they are not going to get their own way, they say the immortal words: ‘It’s not fair!’ At one level, many of us would prefer sponge and custard to Brussels sprouts. It’s just more fun to eat. As we give thanks to God for the harvest, we are mindful that we live in a world where people go hungry. At a deep level we are all concerned by matters of fairness. Our God gives us a vision of justice, where in the words of the Magnificat: ‘He puts down the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble and meek’.

Our readings this morning all have something of a paradoxical quality to them. Both the Scriptures, and the Christian concept of God, are rooted in paradox. The ability to hold two contradictory views should be impossible and yet it is not. There is a good reason for this: God is a mystery, knowable, yet hidden; understandable, yet beyond our grasp. It can sometimes be a struggle to understand these paradoxes. Whilst this struggle is part of the process of coming to know God, we also have accept the fact that our mental efforts can never be enough. We simply have to experience the mystery.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims the Divine message to bring Israel back to God: 

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts (Isa 55:6-7)

The message is clear and simple. There is a right way to live and a wrong way. The prophet’s task is to proclaim God’s message, to call people back:

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isa 55:7)

God longs to treat humanity with compassion, and to forgive our human failings. He is a God of love and mercy, both in the Old Testament and in the New. In Scripture there is a consistent message of how God creates everything, sees that it is good, and loves what He has made. Our Heavenly Father is generous and loving because that is who He is. God cannot be otherwise. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord (Isa 55:8)

If God were to think and act in a human way then all we could expect would be punishment for having sinned and fallen short of what is expected of us. However, God shows divine justice and mercy, and so we can put our hope in His love to heal and restore us. To an extent that we, as humans, cannot even imagine:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:9)

We are able to experience the mystery of divine love through the Church and her Sacraments, which are effective signs of grace that manifest God’s generous love in the world. These are just a part of the mystery of God’s love for us which we can never fully comprehend, this side of Heaven. 

In our second reading this morning, St Paul is writing to the first Christian community that he founded in Europe. He is under house arrest in Rome, facing trial and execution. It is a joyful letter, arguably his most joyful letter, despite being written as Paul faces martyrdom. As a society we have become more afraid of death and dying, and the subject of our own end is something many of us would prefer not to think about. For Paul, however,

to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil 1:21)

The Apostle states that if he lives, he will live in Christ, and he will proclaim the truth of the Gospel with his words and with his deeds. Paul believes that if he dies it is gain, because his death will bear witness to Christ, having shared in His suffering and death. Paul has hope in the resurrection to eternal life in Christ.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues His teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven with the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. Our Lord explains that God’s Kingdom is a place where human values are turned on their head: 

So the last will be first, and the first last. (Mt 20:16)

This is why the first labourers to be paid are those who have only worked for one hour. By the time the labourers who have toiled the full twelve hours come to be paid they expect to be given more, even though they agreed on the standard wage for their day’s labour. The parable is fundamentally about salvation. Salvation is a gift from God and not a reward for work done by humanity. We cannot earn it, we have to receive it from a loving and generous God. Likewise there are no grades of salvation, just as there are no classes of Christian. We are all one. Jesus’ Jewish audience believed that they were God’s chosen people, and this could lead to the perception of Gentiles and converts as being something lesser. However, such a view is opposed to the values of the Kingdom of God where all are equal. 

This equality is a radical statement by Jesus. It is a clear declaration that God’s grace is abundant and inexhaustible, and is freely offered to all who accept it. There is no such thing as a higher rank of Christian. God treats us all in the same way and loves each and every one of us. Though I serve God and His people as a priest, I was not chosen for this role by being a better Christian in the first place. Clergy are not superior Christians. All the baptized are equal in the sight of God. This morning’s gospel reminds us of the important truth that salvation is the free gift of God, which we receive in our Baptism and which is strengthened through the Sacraments of the Church. We cannot earn our way to Heaven!

We often forget the fact that Heaven is full of people who have sinned. However, they are loved by God and love God, and trust in His mercy and forgiveness. The more we experience and understand the overwhelming love and generosity of God, the more marvellous it becomes. To repeat the prophet Isaiah, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. 

As Christians we need to respond to God’s generous love. If we are to be truly thankful then our gratitude should affect who we are and how we live our daily lives. As we give thanks to God for another harvest safely gathered in, we share what we have, so that our harvest offerings will feed the hungry, and bring joy to those in need. By doing so, we put our faith into practice and make the Kingdom of God more visible. United with all creation, we sing the praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.