Listen

“But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 20:13-16

Think

“Are you resentful because I am generous?” is what the landowner asks the jealous workers at the end of today’s passage. This question can reach right to our hearts. We desperately want God’s generosity, don’t we? We call God gracious, and we thank God for the gift of grace. We are so grateful when we stop and think about all that God has done for us. But what about when we think about what God does for others? Does this make us praise God, too? Or do we fall into resentment?

The truth is that God is a gracious God. It is who God is! God creates something out of nothing and pours out love on us all. God gives us God’s own image to carry with us wherever we go. God is the definition of generosity, and it’s for everyone. There is no need to be resentful. I do not get less love because God also loves you. You do not get less grace because God also gives grace to your neighbor.

Emily Peck-McClain

Pray

Gracious and giving God, lead me not into resentment. Deliver me from jealousy so that I can celebrate the love you give to me and all your magnificent creation. Amen.

Go

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger because you are with me.

Your rod and your staff— they protect me.

You set a table for me right in front of my enemies.

You bathe my head in oil; my cup is so full it spills over!

Yes, goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the Lord’s house as long as I live.

Psalm 23:4-6