God Changes

Sermon for 2005 September 18, St Mary Magdalen, Sheet

Bible readings: Jonah 3:10-4:end, Matthew 20:1-15

When I sat down to think about what to say this morning I was in rather an appropriate place, considering the story of Jonah. Not quite in the shadow of a castor bean plant, but in the shadow of the ancient lighthouse of Genoa. Looking out to one side to the enormous container port and the airport, and mountains beyond. A few hundred years ago this had been a huge beach with dozens of rich villas full of art. They’re still there but hidden away amongst the bustle of the port. And behind me is the harbour and the old city, and I can just imagine Joppa could have been like that, where Jonah went to look for a boat to escape from the Lord. The harbour has been restored in a very modern way by the architect Renzo Piano. Then there is an African quarter full of life and food, and quiet squares full of the most civilized cafés. It is a wonderful city.

What makes Genoa so wonderful? Is it the unchanging charm of the old town? It came to me that it is not that at all, but change itself. Not the contrast between old and new, but more the way they live together, the way that what is new changes what is old.

Well what on earth does this have to do with Jonah or the parable of the workers in the vineyard? Well I think the message of these readings is that what is so wonderful about God is that he does not stand still. He changes his mind. Our God is a God of change. Now this may be hard for us to take. Perhaps we can get used to the idea that Christians are called to repent, to turn around, to change our ways, to be renewed daily? But God? Surely he is as we sing in the old hymn Abide with Me: Change and decay in all around I see. O thou who changest not, abide with me. Perhaps you feel that the image of the unchanging God has served us well. But any view that we take of God is almost bound to be incomplete. There is certainly an essential sense in which God does not change – the Bible does say this, but I think it’s all too easy to just stay with a view of a confused and wayward world and a solid and unmoving God.

This was certainly not how it seemed to Jonah. He had had by all accounts a miraculous experience. Saved from drowning by a great fish, spewed back onto dry land. And now he had a mission. Oh yes. He was so confident of this message God had given him. He really enjoyed proclaiming it – he must have stopped at every house because we’re told that it took him a whole day to get a third of the way across the city! And the people take heed and change their ways. And when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. God may not change his nature but he can change his mind. Does that fit with our idea of an unchanging God?

The people change their ways and God changes his mind. The only person who doesn’t change is Jonah – which is a bit silly considering what he’s been through. He is so sure of how he though God should behave, that he is going to destroy the city, but God takes the wind out of his sails (so to speak). And Jonah gets angry with God, and God seems to provoke his anger even more with the episode of the castor bean plant. Why does he do that? To show that his love for the people of the city is more important than being bound by rules, even if they’re the rules that we or Jonah think God ought to stick to.

Jesus told a parable about the workers in the vineyard who all get paid the same. Now I’m often quick to say that the Christian faith should be political, but in this case I don’t think the reading is a political message about the treatment of workers. In fact I’m sure this parable has been used on both sides of the old left-right divide. On one side it shows that the boss can do what he likes with his money, and he can certainly stick two fingers up to pay differentials. On the other side it shows each worker being paid according to his need. I think that we should keep out of that debate and go onto more dangerous ground. Because once again we are being shown through this parable that God’s loving care and concern for his people matters more than any rules that anyone thinks he should follow.

It’s just not fair is it? God does not play cricket (despite the fact that it’s just become the national sport of the whole universe). It’s not fair. A couple of weeks ago at Greenbelt I heard a wonderful song by a lady called Kendall Payne, singing about Aslan, the lion figure of Christ in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books: "He’s not fair, no he’s not fair when he fixes what’s beyond repair/And graces everything that don’t deserve." God is perfect and just and loving but you can’t expect him to obey any rules – in fact that’s why you can’t expect him to obey any rules.

What does this thought mean to us, this message? It is mind-blowing and life-changing. That’s my life and your life I’m talking about.