In the pair of Lenten readings we hear today, we find the themes of ownership, stewardship (care), and the sometimes unfortunate ways that we as humans deal with these issues. In Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a, we hear part of the great story of Joseph, who is looked upon with envy and loathing by his brothers because he appeared to be the favored child of their father Israel (Jacob). The end result is that the brothers plot to kill Joseph, but at the request of one of the brothers, instead sell him to some traveling merchants.
In the gospel parable, Mt 21:33-43, 45-46, Jesus tells the story of the vineyard owner who leased the land to tenants, entrusting to them the care and tending of the vineyard. It seems that the tenants are not happy with just being tenants and, when servants of the landowner are sent out to check on things, the tenants beat and kill them one by one. Finally, when the landowner’s own son goes out, the tenants’ violence is fueled even more from the envy of the possibility of gaining the son’s inheritance, so they kill the son.
In both stories, we see the characters desiring and grasping at something of which they are being deprived – they want to own something that can only be received as a gift. But here is what strikes me….the gift that they want to own is CARE – taking care of one another. They may not realize it, but it is the deep desire and need for care that is calling out to them. Could this mean that the only ownership that has reality is the belonging that we have to God and each other? If we belong to each other, that bond seems to demand that we care for one another. As Judah tells his bloodthirsty brothers about Joseph, “After all, he is our brother, our own flesh!”
What can we really gain by killing each other? I don’t mean just physically killing each other; although, that is as rampant now as it has ever been in the past. We constantly strike at each other in so many ways, and the more subtle, the more violent, many times. We mis-take someone for some thing. We mis-take owning for receiving… grasping for gift…envy for belonging. We feel we are entitled to something we think someone else has. What inheritance do we gain by violence in all of its forms?
The rest of the Joseph story (later in Genesis), of course, is that the rejected Joseph actually ends up saving his brothers in Egypt from famine. And we know that Jesus the Christ becomes the rejected ‘cornerstone’ that becomes the salvation for all creation! Joseph’s brothers’ recognition of him in Egypt when they realize that their own brother that they sought to kill is now embracing them in compassion can be correlated with the Pharisees realizing that Jesus is somehow implicating them in the parable of the landowner. However, I would like to suggest that the implication is really invitation more than condemnation, even though they don’t see that.
It is humiliating to admit and accept sometimes that I (we) belong to others. I am however convinced that it is the only authentic way to truly experience life. The recognition that we do belong to each other and with each other can seem painfully difficult, but the joy that arises from embracing this outweighs any suffering. When I deny connection and care, I always seek out that which cannot satisfy and others get hurt in the process, whether I see it or not.
The Franciscan mystic, Richard Rohr, in his book, Eager to Love, claims that the entire universe is about connection and relationship, and evil and sin emerge when we attempt to stand outside of that circle of connection.[i] The word attempt is important, because I don’t believe that we really can disconnect, but in the process of trying we can certainly do a lot of damage. Connection, care, and solidarity are the true gifts of transformation that can only be embraced with the open arms of relationship.
[i] Richard Rohr, EAGER TO LOVE (Franciscan Media: 2014), p. 169.
(originally published March 6, 2015)
Peace,
Thomas