Robert A. Hill: Divine welcome

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Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ Matthew 20:15

“The whole lesson today, and in fact much of the Gospel for everyday, can be stated as St. Matthew, at the end of this parable which he alone records [Matthew 20:1-16]…God is generous. Liberally so. Or so this parable teaches. Agathos is the word: generous, giving, good, loving. God is generous, even past the point of our grudging, reluctant belief…

The main point is that Matthew has a passion: invitation. He invites you to share the divine generosity…Matthew, in this parable as in virtually all, celebrates the generosity of the divine welcome, made in the teeth of economic justice: But aren’t they all, all the parables real about the same announcement?

God is like a man who goes out and sows bushels of seed. God is like a fisherman who casts out a net, wide and open, and catches the kingdom of heaven. God is like a patient king who forgives. God is like a pearl giving, treasure finding hunter. God is like a boss who appreciates talents. God is like a shepherd hunting for a lost sheep. Generous, generous, generous…is the gospel of divine welcome.”

Robert A. Hill in “What Are Our Patterns of Welcome?” in Parish Preaching (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2016).

Having returned safely home from a trip overseas with my son, nothing beats the warm welcome of my wife. It turned my thinking to divine welcome which exceeds all earthly comprehension. It’s generous, generous, generous. That’s what we get to be to others, as God desires that we share the divine generosity, the matchless grace and love we undeservingly received.

I actually head back out tonight to Milwaukee and then on to Dallas for two speaking engagements. Having received so many blessings from the Lord on my recent trip to Asia as well as a warm welcome at home, I am thankful to bless others. What about you? How will you share the divine welcome and spread the good news through your living, giving, serving, and loving in the coming days?

Some may forgive great faults. Others may share kind words. A few may listen well. Some may receive richly from God so they can sow into others. These are examples of sharing the divine generosity. The bottom line for Matthew (and for us) is not to begrudge God’s generosity by measuring it out according to the world’s standards to those we deem deserving, but to lavish it on everyone richly as God does!