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Reading the Parables through the Lens of Social Justice

"He sighed and whistled, bending his old head. He said, 'You can't conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the . appalling . strangeness of the mercy of God.'"1

1. Introduction

The longer I study and teach about the parables, the more uneasy I become. Scared may even be a better word for it, if I am being honest. I know this may seem an odd way to begin but bear with me. Two things unsettle me.

First, recognizing that parables are notoriously difficult to interpret and that they are "stories with intent" as one writer calls them, I am afraid that I may be missing the point. As a person of faith who has spent many years studying the Bible, teaching it as a professor, and working at an educational institution with deep roots in the Christian tradition, it is troubling to think that I might actually miss the point of the parables. Looking at their complex history of interpretation it is clear that others have done so. And it is a real possibility that I might too.

Second, and still more unsettling, recognizing that in the parables Jesus calls his listeners to live a radical new kind of life marked by mercy, justice, valuing of community, and forgiveness (the values associated with what Jesus called the "kingdom of God"), I am afraid that I may not be missing the point. The kind of human existence to which Jesus calls his followers is one that sounds appealing-who wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of divine mercy?-but also carries with it significant obligations to others. If we take seriously the message of Jesus in the parables, then we are called to recognize that there are harmful prejudices within us that need to be challenged and there are demanding, new actions that we need to take. These attitudes and actions relate not only to ourselves but to the world around us. Moving toward a life marked by mercy, justice, community, and forgiveness means embracing a commitment to the flourishing of all people. And in a world where only some are flourishing and many are suffering, and where complex societal forces dehumanize and degrade, and where ideologies and beliefs divide, the parables challenge us to think differently and live differently. Mercy, justice, community, and forgiveness-the themes of many of the parables-call us to care for our neighbors, whoever they may be. Their call is a call to restoring those who are broken and making whole those whose dignity has been lost. If I am not missing the point, then the call of Jesus in the parables is an appeal to recognize that it is only in living a life of concern for others' wellbeing that one is able to live fully into one's own humanity, and thus live in the way of "the kingdom." Scary.

Of course, not everyone who reads the parables takes away such a message of other-concern and solidarity with our fellow humans in the here and now. As metaphorical stories there is an almost limitless plurality of interpretations that are possible for the parables and what they convey about the kingdom of God. But the "religious" element of the parables (I mean, they are found in the Bible and on the lips of Jesus who is a religious teacher, right?) has led many readers to find in them a spiritual message rather than an ethical one. In this line of thinking the parables teach primarily about spiritual realities like salvation, getting into heaven, and gaining eternal life. One quick example is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard who receive their wages at the end of the day in Matthew 20:1-16.2 A common "spiritual" interpretation understands this parable as really being a message about salvation, becoming a Christian, and receiving eternal life. Overlooked entirely are the this-worldly dynamics of the complex relationship of the landowner, the laborers, and the societal obligations the characters had toward one another within the harsh realities of the agrarian economy of Jesus's day. By ignoring the concrete details of the parable and spiritualizing the message, many interpreters throughout history have unintentionally "domesticated" the parables-ignoring their ethical implications and making them easier to live with.3 Yet if one takes seriously the explicit teachings of Jesus about social concerns together with his actions on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized, one can see that the parables themselves also deal with these same concerns about the human experience in this world. As Michael Cook explains, "Parables . raise in an acute and striking way the question of how concrete and specific was Jesus' own concern for justice."4 In this way, and importantly for anyone who wishes to understand the historical Jesus and his concerns in their context, "Parables bring us to the very heart of Jesus' ministry."5

While spiritual interpretations of the parables abound, throughout history there have also been those who have taken seriously the ethical challenge of the parables and come to this point of recognition of their social implications. Whether theologians, philosophers, writers, ministers, or activists, they have read the parables, heard the call to live fully into their own humanity, and were moved to devote their energies and activities for others. At my university-a school founded by the Sisters of Mercy and that continues to be animated by their spirit-I have encountered some of these heroic people, some in person, and some through their legacies of writing and action. Teaching the parables in such a context I have made an important discovery: it is not just whether we read the parables or even how we read the parables that impact our understanding of their message. It is also who we read them with that matters. And reading the parables with the reflective and action-oriented Sisters of Mercy led me to some startling moments of fresh insight about the mercy of God as both a spiritual reality and a practical one.

Engaging with the parables in my current setting also challenged me to wrestle with the kind of mercy that the parables invite us to show to ourselves and to others. In this way I have come to see that the message of the parables is both personal and communal, with implications for my own personal faith but also for matters of societal importance and social justice. So this book has grown out of my own context and experiences. I have written it as an invitation to you not only to read the parables, but to read the parables in conversation with some of these individuals who have grappled with the message of Jesus and brought it to life in their generation in their own way. By doing so we will consider together the claims of mercy on us and on our world; claims that seem more urgent with each day that passes.

The context in which this book is being written in the United States in the 2020s calls attention to ways that mercy is needed more now than ever. An important aspect of mercy, as we will see, involves the simple act of seeing the need of human beings around us. In a global pandemic and its aftermath, inequities in our society have been brought into sharp focus. Before vaccines were available all of us could see human dignity being compromised in essential workers, often people of color, who contracted the coronavirus and died from it at rates disproportional to the rest of society. Police brutality, use of excessive force, and killing of black people are continuing to occur at alarming rates. The murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in 2020 seems to have been a tipping point for many white Americans who were forced to come to grips with the reality that racism impacts the lives of black and brown Americans on a daily basis throughout their lives. Americans of all backgrounds have had no choice but to see these realities. Yet each person's response, and our collective response, are still being enacted and written.

Beyond what is happening in the United States, the world itself is facing unprecedented challenges which call for responses of mercy. The growing gap between the poor and the wealthy, the disproportional impact of climate change on the poorest, violence against women and children, and ongoing military conflicts are impacting literally billions of our fellow humans. These global crises call for our attention and call for us to respond. Can we respond with mercy? How? And what would it look like if mercy were animating our responses to what we see around us and experience ourselves? With these questions we can see that we are facing not only religious questions, but ethical ones. What is the right thing to do in our time?

Author and activist Jim Wallis refers to the present moment in US history with its multiple crises of racism, gun violence, white nationalism, intolerance, and political and social discord as a "Bonhoeffer moment"-referring to the German theologian and pastor who served, preached, and wrote during the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany.6 Dietrich Bonhoeffer explored what faith in Jesus meant in response to the rising authoritarianism and evils perpetrated by the Nazis. In an era in which large sectors of Christian churches failed to offer any meaningful critique or resistance to the Nazi agenda, Bonhoeffer was ultimately imprisoned for his resistance efforts and killed in a German prison just weeks before the end of World War II. Wallis suggests that individuals who consider themselves followers of Jesus should ask Bonhoeffer's...