Resentment

Pentecost 17, Proper 20

Fr. Tim Nunez

September 24, 2023

May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

One Saturday morning I woke up around 6 am. I wish I could sleep late, but I can’t usually.  Being in no rush, I was just lying there praying on names as they came to mind.

That’s really a nice thing to do.  It’s quiet, I’m comfortable, I’m rested, and no one else is awake yet.  It’s just me and the Lord, all kind of cozy and snuggly, Meg softly breathing in her sleep rhythm.  And that’s nice too.

So I’m lying there, all nice and peaceful, when Meg says in a fairly loud voice, “You’d better WATCH your attitude!”

I froze, but all I could hear was, again, her breathing in that soft rhythm.  To be perfectly honest, once I realized she wasn’t actually speaking to me, it was all I could do to keep from bursting into laughter.

I’ve told that story a few times since – some of you may have heard it before – but that’s ok because it is a good story.  And there is a good lesson in it, one which ties in with what our Lord is articulating today.

Most often we think about attitude as describing one’s mood or outlook about someone or something, or even life generally. It is also a navigational term that describes how a plane or ship is positioned in three-dimensional space. Movement of the attitude is generally in roll, pitch and yaw. That begs the question: If we’re on a plane, should we be more concerned about our pilot’s attitude or the plane’s attitude?

Clearly both are important and may require adjustment!

Those definitions are related. If someone has a bad attitude about work or a neighbor or school or really anything it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. They will not do their best, things will go poorly or at least not as well as they could have. A very dangerous and destructive cause of a bad attitude is resentment.

It’s often linked to failure to follow the tenth Commandment, to not covet. Consider the fruit that comes along with resentment:  bitterness, anger, envy, jealousy.  A person might become withdrawn, even hateful – all out of a root of resentment.  Our Lord calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves – resentment makes that very hard to do.

Resentment inhibits or distracts our proper love for each other. It can destroy relationships.  It can destroy families. 

It has always been a problem, at least as far back as Cain and Abel. The Lord had regard for Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Cain grew resentful. The Lord told him, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’ (Genesis 4:7)

Worse, resentment can interfere with our love for the Lord. Look at Jonah. The people of Nineveh, the capital of Assyrian Empire, listened to the warnings the Lord sent him to give. They repented and so God did not destroy them, which is great, right? But Jonah is mad at God for being gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love!

Like all sin, resentment, especially toward God, cannot be a part of the Kingdom.

This is precisely what Jesus is getting at in this parable.  The laborers had agreed to the day’s wages.  They received them.  Yet, because others had come later and received the same pay, they grumble. Resentment will say, “AHA! I could have lain around all day!  The landowner rewards laziness!  If only I had known!”  Or it might say, “If their partial day is worth that, my full day is worth much more!”

This parable is shared in response to Peter’s question about the 12 disciples’ role in the Kingdom. Jesus said just before it, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Consider that in light of the Jewish people who had, at that point, been witnessing to the One true God for almost 2,000 years (among all the pagan beliefs around them). It has been difficult. They have failed and been restored many times, suffered slavery and been overrun by many empires and enemies. And now Jesus is inviting everyone, being gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love?

Some of us have been with Jesus our whole lives. Others are inquiring, others fairly new or returning to embrace and explore our faith, and we are each in our own place somewhere along that plane.

But the Lord really only has one generous wage to pay, one amazing gift to give: himself. That’s what he has to give whether you come early or come late. Just come. His promise goes something like, “I have provided for you. When you receive my Son and call him Lord, you will be reconciled with me.”

Does it matter when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior?  Only as it pertains to receiving him sooner than later. This is the grace of God.  It is of eternal, infinite importance.

If we truly grasp the gift he has given us in Christ Jesus, the gift won for us on that cross and bursting forth from that tomb on Easter morning, if we truly grasp the abundance of his love poured out for us in his own blood and our own utter unworthiness how can we be resentful about anything? And everything else in life, important as it is, should be very secondary to that joy.

It is all part of attaining a Godly perspective instead of a human one.  What really matters in life? How do you handle it? This flight is prone to have a lot of turbulence, a lot of roll, pitch and yaw.

You better WATCH your attitude!

AMEN