Have you ever noticed all of the unfinished stories in the Bible? Let me give you a few examples:
The Prodigal Son
The parable of Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), ends without a resolution. The final scene is an intimate conversation between a father and his angry older son. His younger brother has just returned home, and the father is throwing a party to celebrate. But the older brother refuses to go in. “Dad,” he says, “This son of yours” (not my brother) “squandered the inheritance, and you are throwing him a party?”
Listen to the father’s tender response: “Son,” he said to him, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
And that’s it. The story is over. And we’re left wondering, What happened? Did the older brother go in and join the party? Did he celebrate with his father and brother? Or did he storm off? Jesus, why are you leaving us hanging?
The Vineyard Workers
In Matthew chapter 20, Jesus tells a story about a vineyard owner who returns to the market over and over throughout the day to hire workers for his vineyard. The first workers hired are promised a denarius (a normal wage for one day of work), while the rest are promised to be paid, “whatever is right” (Matthew 20:4).
At the end of the parable, the vineyard owner surprisingly lines up his workers in the reverse order of when they were hired, and even more surprisingly pays each group (even those who only worked for a single hour!) the one denarius wage that he promised to the workers he hired first. The outraged first workers complain to the vineyard owner. “This isn’t fair! We worked all day and you are paying these last workers the same as us!?”
Listen to the vineyard owner’s tender response: “Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what’s yours and go. I want to give to the last man the same as I gave to you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what is mine? Are you jealous because I’m generous?”
And that’s it. The story is over. And we’re left wondering, What happened? How did the workers respond? Did they agree with the vineyard owner? Or did they storm off? Why are we left hanging?
Jonah
How about an example from the Old Testament? The book of Jonah ends with Jonah, the reluctant prophet of God, pouting furiously outside the city of Nineveh, the wicked capital city of the Assyrian Empire, which God had spared from judgment after they repented.
To teach Jonah a lesson, God causes a plant to grow and provide him shade, but then causes a worm to attack the plant so that it withers. As the sun beats down on Jonah’s head, Jonah proclaims that he is angry enough to die.
Listen to God’s tender response, in which he compares Jonah’s care for the plant with God’s own care for the Ninevites. “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?”
And that’s it. The story is over. And we’re left wondering, What happened? Did Jonah see the error of his anger, and repent? Did he storm off? Why are we left hanging?
An Invitation to Participate in the Story
The point of the cliffhangers is to invite us into the story. To imagine ourselves as the older brother, the first vineyard workers, and Jonah. How would we respond if we were them? Our response supplies the ending to the story.
The tension at the end of each of these stories is whether or not we are comfortable with the character of God. Are we comfortable with a God who welcomes home an undeserving son who squandered his inheritance? Are we comfortable with a God who thinks it is “right” to generously give the same to all of his workers? Are we comfortable with a God who loves our enemies and is eager to show mercy to them?
Within the context of each story, consider who these stories are inviting to grapple with God’s character: devout religious leaders (Luke 15:1-2), Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 19:25-27), and God’s prophet Jonah. Sometimes it’s those who ought to know God best who struggle the most with his generosity and grace and mercy, particularly when it’s extended to those we feel are unworthy of it.
I encourage you to examine your heart today, put yourself into each of these stories, and supply the ending. Is there someone, or a group of people, that if God showed grace and mercy to them, you might consider storming off? Or will you come in and join the party? And finally, how can you join God in showing grace and mercy to that same person or group of people?
