Church of the Holy City

Letting Your Neighbor Be

Letting Your Neighbor Be
Rev. Dr. David J. Fekete
September 21, 2014

Jonah 3:10-4:11 Matthew 20:1-16 Psalm 145:1-8

Sometimes I fantasize about the way I would run the world if I were king. What that means is all my petty resentments get played out as I correct the wrongs in this world. And when I play king, I’m not thinking about world peace, or ending world hunger, or healing the environment. No. I think about outrageous wealth, or bad drivers, or people I think should act differently. It’s when people vex me that I want to be king and set everything straight–or should I say make things the way I think they should be.
That kind of thinking is what our Bible readings are all about today. We often hear from church pulpits preachings to love your enemies, to love your neighbor, and to do good to those who persecute you. But this Sunday is the first time I’ve ever heard a sermon on letting your neighbor be. The fact that I’m preaching it means that it has occurred to me this Sunday for the first time.
What makes these Bible stories different is that they are about what one person thinks should happen to other people. When we hear the story about Jonah, we most often think about Jonah and the whale. But there is a story that leads to his encounter with the big fish. Jonah was fleeing from God’s call. Jonah is called to preach to the great city of Nineveh. But he boards a boat heading the opposite direction. He does this because he hates the people of Nineveh for their past oppression of Israel. God wants Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh so that they will repent and turn to God. But Jonah is so filled with spite that he wants them to die in their sins. He boards a boat heading for Tarshish. Scholars believe Tarshish to be in southern Spain. It was considered the ends of the earth–as far from God and Nineveh as Jonah could go. But God wants Jonah in Nineveh, so as we all know, a storm breaks out at sea. The crew find out that God sent the storm because Jonah was on the boat. They throw him into the sea and the big fish swallows Jonah and spews him up on dry land. Jonah preaches all through the streets of Nineveh. And the people of Nineveh believe Jonah. The king has everyone, including the animals, fast, put on sack clothes, cover themselves in ashes, and pray to God for mercy. God being a God of mercy, sees the humility of the people of Nineveh and forgives them.
But how does Jonah react to this? We are told that, “It displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry” (4:1). He complains to God. He goes so far as to resent God’s grace and mercy.
“I know that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil” (4:2).
Jonah wants God to be mean. He wants God to destroy the people of Nineveh, whom Jonah hates. Jonah is so mad, he prays for death. His anger drives him to the point of suicidal thinking. And God gently asks Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry?”
So Jonah is mad. He is mad at God for being loving and merciful. And he is mad at the people of Nineveh for their previous treatment of Israel. He tries to flee from God and from his call to preach to the Ninevites.
And we also have that interesting story from the New Testament. In our New Testament reading we have workers who are summoned at different times of day. Some are summoned in the morning, some at the third hour, some at the sixth hour, some at the ninth hour, and some at the eleventh hour. But no matter how long each worked, they are all paid the same: one denarius. The people hired in the morning resent those who were hired last. They say,
These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have born the burden of the day and the scorching heat (Matthew 20:12).
The householder says,
Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius . . . Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? (20:14, 15).
The people hired in the morning are complaining about the other workers. They want more money than them because they worked longer and harder.
But is it their concern what the others earn? You know, when I read this story, I can’t but sympathize with those guys who were hired first. It’s just not right for all to get the same pay.
If I were king, things wouldn’t be that way. You know when I’m driving, there are any number of cars I want to pull over give tickets to because they are driving how I don’t think they should be driving. And you know, I get even madder if the car is a Lexus or a Mercedes. Isn’t this silly?! There are police to give out tickets. And my job in life is only to drive my own car the best I can on the road.
And why shouldn’t someone who can afford it drive a Mercedes or a Lexus? In fact, I have friends who drive Mercedes and they even have a servant in their house. Since they are my friend, I overlook my prejudice against Mercedes drivers. But I don’t for strangers on the road whom I don’t know. I heard of a popular TV comedian who has 60 Porches. He rents an airplane hangar to store them in. When I want to be king, I get to thinking that this is wrong. I remember cruising in my friend’s boat off the shores of Miami. We saw magnificent mansions with yachts moored next to them all along the coastline. I told my friend that this is a sin. he thought that it was envy on my part. I used to say that if I were king, no one could make more than five million a year. I figured that anyone could be happy with five million a year, and any more than that was just wrong. You hear about the football commissioner making what is it $44.2 million a year. And I recall Michael Jordan in the 80′s being worth $75 million. These people wouldn’t be making that much if I were king.
But isn’t this that New testament story about the workers? Is the salary of Roger Goodell of any concern to me? Are Seinfeld’s 60 Porches any concern of mine? Or Michael Jordan’s net worth? These instances exemplify today’s lesson: Letting Your Neighbor Be. What they make is not my concern. And I am not, alas, the king.
I think the real issue is that of contentment. We run into trouble when we think of a reward for doing what we do. And if we have our minds set on getting a reward, our reward will never be enough–materially or spiritually. Swedenborg teaches us to do good for as love of what is good, not for any compensation we get for doing so. It is harmful to do good with the thought of merit or reward. We will never have enough then.
As to those who desire a reward for the work which they perform, it is to be known that they are never contented, but are indignant if they have not a greater reward than others; and if they see others more blessed than themselves, they are sad and find fault with them (AC 6393).
We are taught that doing good for its own sake is truly heavenly. Then a person finds joy and contentment in their good deeds.
The recompense . . . is internal happiness from doing well without recompense, which they receive from the Lord when they perform uses; and they who love to serve without recompense, the more they love it, the more noble are the uses to which they are appointed . . . (AC 6393).
Angels, and angelic people on earth, love what they do because they love doing what is good. This is God-in-us. And from this love flows all peace and contentment. Swedenborg writes,
They live contented with their own, whether it be little or much, because they know that they receive just as much as is profitable for them–little, they for whom little is profitable, and much, they for whom much is profitable; and that they do not themselves know what is profitable for them, but the Lord only, to Whom all things which He provides are for eternity (HH 278).
So when angels and angelic earthlings do their work and their good deeds, it is from a love of service and a love of the good they are doing. Their recompense is the inner enjoyment from doing what is good. This is a never-ending delight. And it doesn’t matter what other people do, or why they do it, or how much money they make for doing it.

PRAYER

Lord, we give you thanks for taking to yourself your great power and for reigning. You hold the entire universe in place. You rule over the affairs of humans. We do not always heed your gentle voice. We do not always follow your ways. But you unceasingly call us back toward you. And you guide us always ever upward. The world is not under our control, but under yours. We give you thanks that you take upon yourself the burden of governance. For we are small and we are weak. Difficult it is for us to manage our own tiny world, let alone the governance of the world. We thank you for enlightening us to govern ourselves and whatever small part of the world around us is given us to manage.

And Lord, we pray for the sick. May they experience the power of your healing love. Fill them with the grace of your healing power. Comfort their family and friends. We pray for the grace of your healing power for all who are ailing in body or soul.