Parables

Parables are meant both to open our eyes to fundamental reality about the Kingdom of God and about our relationship with God and creation, and to call forth a response from us.

Entry into the Kingdom of God is not a question of merit. We don’t earn our way in, contrary to what many of us have been taught. Our justification and sanctification have nothing to do with our social status or personal merit. Nothing we do can make God value us more.

Even if that mentality of earned grace hasn’t been part of our own experience, we can still fall into the belief that our salvation depends mainly on what we do, not on what God does. So, if we can’t earn our way into God’s Kingdom, how do we enter? How do we become part of God’s Kingdom on earth? What is the response that the biblical parables call forth from us?

It’s by answering God’s invitation to work in his vineyard, trusting that God will meet our needs and produce growth, even if we don’t realize what our needs are. With great mercy, God reaches out to us in love, and everything we have is gift. We are called to open our hearts to that reality and to let God’s love transform us into agents of God’s love for the world.