*HOMILY, 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A*
Isaiah 55:6-9, Phil 1:20c.24.27a, Matt 20:1-16.
Divine favour is the product of God’s mercy and love. It is not the result of our works. God is not a fellow business man. Though a covenant keeping God, he does not sign contract with us. He blesses us according to his own merciful designs
Moreover, the Lord blesses us not according to how long we have become Christians, but on how much he loves all his children. He blesses those who are open to his grace.
At each of our gathering, God’s blessings is not shared based on the time we arrived the church. It is simply given to those who make themselves available from the depth of their hearts.
More so, our conversion stories differ. Some encountered God earlier in life, some met him late, yet all are in need of salvation. There are many people out their who are not Christians because no one has preached to them or because they have not gotten enough conviction to be one.
However, Jesus parable of the householder who paid his workers the same wages despite the variance in the time they resumed work is a simple way of saying that we are all in need of God’s mercy. Those that were employed late, said that no one has hired them.
The question is, what effort do we make to bring people into the kingdom of God? Instead of creating boundaries between us and others, let us work towards getting more hands on deck to populate the kingdom. The harvest is rich but the labourers are few. We need more labourers. The kingdom will take all of us.
Furthermore, whatever we enjoy today is not because we are better than others, but because of a special privilege from God. We must not take God’s grace for granted. We must play vital role in bringing others to God. We must not be jealous of God’s bounties in others.
Finally, the Lord loves those who put their trust in him. All we need is a simple yes to him and the readiness to follow his ways. No matter the volume of dirty footnotes we may have, turning around to be useful in God’s service settles it all. The choice is better late than never.
May the Lord bless us with his good gifts. Having encountered him, may we never depart from his ways through Christ our Lord. Amen.
