“Z” IS FOR “ZUCCHINI”

READ MATTHEW 19: 27-30

     Zucchinis are weird looking vegetables, growing out from the bottom of the plant stem, topped by a golden star-like flower. They remind me of the long, stretchy balloons that clowns blow up and twist together at carnivals to create hats or replicas of wiener dogs! Zucchini plants command the vegetable patch with large, brilliant emerald-green leaves, ruffled and lush, that shade the underlying vegetables. If you have never seen them growing, I hope my description helps you envision them.

     “Z” is for “zucchini.” Traditional phonetics may teach “Z” stands for “zebra.” But I needed a picture for my blog post, and I have zucchini plants growing in my garden, not zebras. The letter “Z” is the last letter of the English alphabet but has comparatively few words beginning with it. That does not diminish its value, though. Without it, we would not have the words “fuzzy,” “dizzy,” and “bamboozle.” The letter “Z” is equal to all the other letters because it helps make our language colorful and complete. Concerning the letters of the alphabet, the last is just as important as the first.

      That was the issue when the Disciples asked Jesus what their eternal reward would be for their great sacrifice of leaving their farms and families to preach the Kingdom. Curiously, He answered them with a riddle. “But many who are first will be last and the last, first.” (Matthew 19:30) He further explained with the parable of the workers in the field.

     The story described a landowner who hired workers to work in his field. Some were hired early in the morning, while others were hired late in the day. At the end of the shift, all the workers received the same pay no matter how long they worked. “Unfair!” The first workers objected. The landowner answered them with this reasoning. “‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way, but I wish to give to this man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last shall be first and the first last.” (Matthew 20:13-16)

     Perhaps Jesus left the Disciples scratching their heads, still wondering what He meant. We now have the fullness of scripture to understand His teaching. Just like “the last shall be first,” His message lifted the hope of the masses that they would not be discounted by God because of their downtrodden conditions. All servants of God are equally valued by Him with no one having greater status. The Sermon on the Mount also clashed with the norms of culture. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:3) He gave people hope that the unfair economic system favoring the Roman ruling class would someday be abolished. The Kingdom of God had a different standard where humility, gentleness and mercy are currency. He assured them that there is a blessedness in following God for those who will wait for His Kingdom. God Himself will be the sole landowner of the world and He will institute justice and equity.

     When that happens, all people will be uplifted and esteemed by God, not based on works, wealth, or class. To answer the Disciples’ question, Christian sacrifice will be then be honored as acts of love and obedience to God for all to see and appreciate.

     Using our alphabet analogy, someday there will be no big “I’s” and little “U’s.” God will rule justly. The weak will not be oppressed, and the powerful will not have preferential treatment. Human rights will finally be upheld.

     To answer the “not fair” objection in the parable, there is nothing fair about God’s generosity to us through grace. Grace is the system of justice that Jesus afforded a world that was estranged from God by sin. At Christ’s expense, the debt of sin was paid, its death sentence carried out to God’s perfect satisfaction.

     There will be nothing fair about the Apostle Paul, a zealous religious murderer who by his own admission was the worst of sinners, standing at the final judgment alongside a lifelong Sunday school teacher who accepted God’s forgiveness as a teen at a youth retreat. This is not “apples to apples” fair, but they will both be there because of God’s grace.

     Therefore, if the last are first or the first are last, it doesn’t matter because God’s grace blankets all who believe in Him and receive Him. Christ is the greatest reward and ultimate prize to obtain. Those whose hearts are penetrated by the parables will make the connection. Heaven will be completely and colorfully populated by grateful forgiven people, A to Z, from every tongue, tribe, and nation. And none of them gazing into the loving eyes of Jesus will be thinking about big “I’s” and little “U’s.”