25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? ​That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.
~Jonah 4:1-2
 
And when [the workers] received [their day’s wage], they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”
~Matthew 20:11-12
 
There’s a whole lot of grumbling going on. And why not? Life in these stories is not fair. The prophet Jonah understands all too well from the very beginning that God is merciful, that God forgives. And he’s not happy about it! It is the very reason the prophet does not want to go to Ninevah in the first place and heads off in the opposite direction. And once he is “deposited” on the shore by a giant fish, his worst fears are realized when all of Ninevah responds to his tepid, mumbled warnings with a change of heart. Even the animals repent and turn from their ways.
 
Likewise the early risers who put in a full day’s work are (understandably?) offended when the last shift receives equal compensation for unequal work. This is not justice. It is mercy. God, it seems, is not running a meritocracy. Forgiveness, not punishment, is the organizing principle. This all sounds great until we begin to compare in a zero-sum context of scarcity, when we imagine God’s generosity as a limited resource.
 
What if it isn’t? What if God’s goodness to others never comes at our expense, but is indeed a blessing for all? Are you in for this kind of an economy, this kind of a kindom?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Exodus 16:2-15 † Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 † Jonah 3:10-4:11† Psalm 145:1-8 † Philippians 1:21-30 † Matthew 20:1-16
 
About the Art: Swanson, John August. Jonah, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/56549 [retrieved September 9, 2026]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.

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