Where's the Love?

The third Sunday of Advent, the candle of love is brought to life on the Advent wreath. And I have to ask, where's the love?

A difficult conversation at the church around hospitality and church growth and the role of those who are members of the church. While all the details are not important, it is important to locate yourself in the topic. In this conversation, the statement arose, that this person was tired of hearing about growing the church. That they were tired of hearing about new people coming into the church, they had been there longer than most people and it seemed the new people mattered more than this person did. It reminded me of the Parable of Workers in the Vineyard...

Matthew 20
A Story About Workers 1-2 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3-5"Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went.
5-6"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'
7"They said, 'Because no one hired us.'
"He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8"When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'
9-12"Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'
13-15"He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'
16"Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

We who are in the church today, are the workers who were hired earlier in the day. Some of us were hired at dawn, some of us at 9:00 and some of us at 3:00. But when we came to work in this vineyard, we agreed on the wage - salvation, eternal life, relationship with the God of all creation, so regardless of how long we have been at work, we are all receiving the same wage. So when a worker comes in that was hired at 5:00 - we need to rejoice - because that means there is STILL WORK TO BE DONE. The vineyard owner hasn't decided to call it a day yet. And the Kingdom of God has little to do with hierarchy and power and seniority - but everything to do with grace, peace, and love.

Yes, every worker is important, but one no more than the other - and if you want to push it - scripture says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. I believe this is crucial to the church moving forward. Can we welcome new workers in the field and not be jealous of their wage or their status? Can we let go of the rules of the past and see that those rules perhaps had little to do with God and more to do with human comforts? Bottom line, does God really sit in heaven and judge their appearance or their attitude or their upbringing before inviting someone to work? Where's the love in that? Do we need to respect each other - absolutely - and it must be a mutual respect, and our goal is to tend the vineyard - the kingdom- that God asks us to build - not to turn people off from even stepping foot into it.

I pray as I write, that in my heart is the truth in Christian love, and it is my prayer that these words can bring comfort to those who mourn the loss of "the way things used to be." and hope for the way things could be.