I’m anticipating people in business in our congregation or anyone who has had Econ 101 arguing with our Gospel lesson for the week. If you pay everyone the same, no matter how many hours they work, what will they do the next time you go to hire workers? When a passage stirs up some anger or frustration, it is an invitation to lean in…to ponder what we might be missing. In the case of this week’s Gospel leaning in would reveal that the whole system is broken. Romans have taken over the land of peasants who are now hired to work the land that once provided what they needed to live. The same system pits the workers against each other to just get by. Maybe when we disagree with a passage we are opening up to join Jesus in turning the world upside down. —Pastor Trudy
