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Light on the Lessons

Jonah 3:10 – 4:11; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20, Lectionary 25); Cycle A; September 20, 2020

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary

I Getting Started

Discuss experiences with “Through the Week,” especially the meditation exercise. Offer prayers, especially for insight into God’s Word. Read the lessons. Then turn to the questions in “Getting Started.”

1. Responses will vary. The general feeling expressed most likely is a sense of disappointment; in severe cases, even betrayal.

2. Responses will vary.

3. Responses should include some version of the idea that we give and serve in gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ. We don’t serve others to benefit ourselves, nor to make ourselves look good in God’s eyes.

II Check the Texts

1. Jonah 3:10 – 4:11

A. Jonah went to Gentile Nineveh to preach repentance because in 40 days the great city will be overthrown by God. The people of Nineveh indeed repented. Jeremiah 18:8 says God will change his mind if Judah changes its ways. For the last question, you might need to recall for the group that under Ezra and Nehemiah, those rebuilding Jerusalem abandoned Second Isaiah’s vision of Zion as a light to all nations in favor of a strict exclusivism based on rigorous enforcement of the Torah. Ezra 9:1– 10:5 gives insight. The population of Judah was mixed, Jew and Gentile alike. Ezra abolished mixed marriages. Thus, one can read Jonah as a protest of this exclusivism, and a return to the more universal vision of Second Isaiah. After all, in Jonah, the Gentiles repent while, earlier under Jeremiah, the people of Judah did not!

B. If the setting is Judah after the return from Exile and if Jonah wants to make a case for a wider reach for the faith, then the depths of Jonah’s despair grew from his hatred of the Gentiles. After all, they destroyed Judah and condemned the people to years of Exile in a foreign land. Remember: Nineveh fell in 612 BC, some 25 years before Jerusalem was destroyed; the author of Jonah (in this reading) is writing about 500 BC. Thus, his character Jonah reflects his contemporaries’ feelings but in an earlier time. Needless to say, Jonah is a work of imagination.

C. Jonah probably was not offended by God’s change of mind as much as over the issue on which God changed his mind: the destruction of Nineveh. We feel the same way if people we despise seem to get off lightly. For instance, some people feel cheated if a murderer gets off with less than life rather than being executed. God demonstrated his grace toward Nineveh and more than a few of use find times when God’s grace offends us sense of “justice.”

D. Luke and Matthew testify, with Jonah, to God’s surprising grace, his willingness to give and to heal. Grace is the connection between this lesson and the Gospel.

E. It reads like a parable; it could also be called a fable. It is a story told to make a point.

F. Elijah in 1 Kings 19 also seeks refuge under a tree. He too wants to dies. Both he and Jonah sense they failed somehow in their mission. To both of them, God comes with healing and strength.

2. Philippians 1:21-30

A. Paul is in prison. The reference to the imperial guard or praetorian suggests Rome, but the terms were sometimes applied to military in other major cities.

B. Reading verse 22 suggests that for Paul “living for Christ” equaled pursuing his apostolic mission by which he served Christ and Christ’s faithful. Doing that mission, he was “in Christ.” To die meant being with Christ directly, a gain, of course, but less than one might imagine.

C. He wants to remain in the flesh because he can serve the Philippians and other communities in Christ. For Paul, most assuredly, mission = life itself.

D. To share abundantly in your boasting (great joy) suggests a family-like closeness with this congregation.

E. Paul urges his supporters at Philippi to keep steadfast in the face of opposition, to maintain unity, and to keep one mind, ask the group to read 1:15-18. Some at Philippi disliked Paul and Paul criticizes them, but he rejoices that however it happens, the Gospel goes forth (verse 18). It is likely that he urges the same attitude on his friends at Philippi: rejoice in the Gospel, don’t split the church into factions.

F. Sometimes, to keep unity, one must stop trying to prove one is right, to find positive things in the other party, and to “swallow one’s pride.” This is not easy, and doing so entails a bit of suffering and struggle.

3. Matthew 20:1-16

A. Either as God or kingdom of heaven, the point is the same, but a landowner parallels a person, God, better that an abstract concept, kingdom of heaven. Matthew is using euphemisms to avoid misuse of God’s holy name.

B. The landowner hired in the marketplace, where day laborers gathered to work for whatever they were offered. He did, however, offer them the standard wage, which was very low, certainly, but probably more than these occasional laborers expected.

C. An ancient capitalist was not bound by labor laws and the idea of fair wages was not on the ancient horizon. D. Christians prize love, not power, peace, not oppression. Our values in many ways turn the world’s values upside down. In this story, the landowner turn upside down the accepted value that, however much they are paid, those who work longer ought to get more than those who work less.

E. Exploring various readings of this parable is fascinating. Option 1 does not have much support among scholars who see the parable as a theological rather than economic statement. Options 2 or 3 are best. In 2, the Gentile believers are the last hired; the Jewish believers, the all-day workers. Under 3, the 12 apostles would be the all-day workers, and subsequent evangelists and preachers and missionaries, the last hired. Following option 3, this parable expands nicely on 19:30. Either 2 or 3, both of which proclaim God’s grace, fit into the theme of Jonah.

F. Judgments will vary, but for some scholars the phrase seems better in 19:30, leading into the parable, than as a conclusion to the parable.

G. Whatever brief phrases participants compose, they should in some way relate to God’s grace.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. How have you experienced God’s activity in your life this week?

2. Many people today struggle with these issues. There is no simple answer, but a couple of thoughts are important: We cannot limit God’ grace or think we know how God should behave; we are called to forgive and to seek understanding (as Paul urged his friends at Philippi); and we uphold God’s standards of justice.

3. Jonah’s world view simply removed some people from the realm of God’s love. That danger infects us, too, especially when we demonize a leader or a people.

4. If folks are honest, nearly all of us can tell of such a time. Talk also about how they overcame that feeling of resentment.

5. Responses will vary. Recognizing some good will on both sides is a good start.

6. We often expect God to deliver for us. Many who lost loved ones in tragedies have turned from God, disappointed that he let this happen to them. But do we have the right to make such expectations? (God can do what he pleases, like the landowner, but we trust that God’s is love even when we don’t see it clearly.)

7. Responses will vary.

IV Into the Week

Encourage participants to try #2.

Copyright © 2020, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All right reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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