WELCA News
by: Susan Olson
I see them every time I leave the parking lot at Aurora Village in
Edmonds. There are usually about a dozen of them standing around
in front of the home improvement store. They are men waiting in
case someone needs to hire help on a construction site or a
“do-it-yourself” project. They watch vehicles pass and perhaps
they hope, “will this one give me work?” I wonder about them.
Who are they? What are their lives like? Do they have families?
They certainly are different from the ones that sit at exits from
the interstate highway with signs asking for handouts. I admire
these men. They don’t want a handout; they want work.
They remind me of the story in the Bible from Matthew 20. Jesus
tells this story: A landowner went out to hire laborers for his
vineyard. He went to the marketplace and hired those who were
standing idle. He went five times—each time finding more
unemployed workers and putting them to work. When the landowner
asked why the men were standing there idle, they replied,
“because no one hired us.” The employer agreed to pay each
worker “what is right.”
At the September WELCA meeting, we spent our Bible study session
looking at “blessings.” The word bless is a verb, as in 1. To
set apart or consecrate to holy purposes; 2. To make happy,
successful, or prosperous. Blessed, the word used in all nine of
the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12 means 1. Hallowed; sacred;
consecrated; holy; 2. Bringing comfort or joy. 3. Enjoying
great happiness; joyful; blissful. Jesus lists those who are to
receive these blessings—an unusual list to be sure. They are
“the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart,
the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’
sake, and YOU, when people revile you and persecute you.
Matthew’s gospel starts the list of “blesseds” with “poor in
spirit.” Luke talks about “you who are poor.” What kind of
poverty are we talking about: material or spiritual? Being poor
in any sense doesn’t sound like much fun. But Jesus’ promise of
the kingdom of heaven to these “poor” ones is a terrific
turnaround in expectation. What a concept! Jesus introduces the
parable of the landowner and the workers with the words, “the
kingdom of heaven is like . . .” and He goes on to tell how the
last ones—the least ones—receive the full reward, the same reward
as those first hired, first called. I pray for the men in the
Home Depot lot—that soon they will be hired and receive from the
master, “pay that is right.”
All women are invited to join us at WELCA on Tuesday, October 9,
at 9:45 a.m. for coffee, with Bible study at 10:00. The lesson,
based on Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven,” is entitled “Poor in Spirit, Rich in
Blessing.” Bring a sack lunch; dessert will be provided.