What do you expect

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary throw a curve in our expectations of how the Divine interacts with people. The psalmist praises the rich blessings of God which include life, joy in the Presence of God and trust in Providence. This is a good fit to our sense of God. The text from the Book of Judges sheds light on the selection of Abimelech as king of Israel. Jotham, the only one of 70  half brothers of the new king to escape slaughter by Abimelech questions the wisdom of the choice of King. We seem to choose leaders, at times, even in the modern world, who turn on their people. The search for one who has been blessed by God as leader may be the strategy suggested by these texts. The Gospel of Matthew relates the parable of the workers in the vineyard who receive the same wage from the land lord even though they have worked for different amounts of time in the vineyard. The image of disciples of Jesus as "workers in the vineyard of the Lord" is frequently used. We can develop an attitude that we deserve something to recognize our long work for our family or "the Church". The Parable offers an opportunity to reset our false sense of entitlement and to recognize and wrestle with the jealousy which pops up when we perceive "advantage" to others that we have missed. Generosity and joy over the good fortune of others is a difficult attitude to develop. We can easily hear the arguments of people over the injustice of work without pay the Spirit calls us to be open to the graciousness of God to others and to our growth in the practice of the ways of God.