God's Priority

Matthew 20:16 - "Thus, those who are first will be last and those who are last will be first."

Jesus wraps up his parable by reiterating his point. This ties all the way back to the story of the rich man who chose his riches over attaining heaven. Jesus tells us that God is more generous that we can imagine. This is a God who makes sure everyone has enough. It is we who hoard and become resentful when people we think should be behind us are suddenly in front of us in the line for "rewards." We came up with a doctrine of everlasting punishment for those who treat us badly and/or don't do Christianity our way.

Jesus' God would not condone such a hell. If we find such a hell abhorrent and God is more generous than us, it stands to reason none exists. According to Moltmann, "The promise of the kingdom of God in which all things attain to right, to life, to peace, to freedom, and to truth, is not exclusive but inclusive. And so, too, its love, its neighbourliness and its sympathy are inclusive, excluding nothing, but embracing in hope everything wherein God will be all in all." (A Theology of Hope, p 224) God wants all Her children with her in the end. It is we who are divisive and judgmental. It is our hatred and disdain for others that breed strife and anger. As such, it is up to us to repent and resist those forces of violence in our world.

That strayed a bit from last and first. To recap what I've written: Being rich is actually a sin because no one in Jesus' time or our own gets rich without oppressing others. It's a stark reality and of course one with which rich people want nothing to do. Like the rich man in the story, they walk away. Slavery, wage theft, wages not enough to live on. Jesus spoke about all these things and they are still with us. Therefore rich people will have a difficult time getting into heaven.

In fact, God's heart is for the oppressed, the slaves, the poor who are kept poor by the actions of the rich. These will be paid the same as everyone else. Everyone will have enough because God's generosity extends to all things, especially the poorest among us.

I know who I want to be with as a follower of Jesus.
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