Thoughts and Ramblings on the Readings for Septuagesima

The readings for this Septuagesima Sunday:

Exodus 17:1–7

1 Corinthians 9:24—10:5

Matthew 20:1–16

Psalm 18.

As we enter this season of preparation before Lent, the Church calls us to reflect on a truth that is at the very heart of our faith: salvation is not earned, but given. God’s kingdom does not operate by human merit, nor does He distribute His gifts as wages for labor. No, everything we have—our life, our daily bread, our very salvation—flows from His sheer grace.

We see this truth in today’s readings. In Exodus 17, the Israelites, wandering through the wilderness, are thirsty and afraid. Instead of trusting in the God who delivered them from Pharaoh’s hand, they grumble and demand proof of His presence: “Is the Lord among us or not?” (v. 7). And what does God do? He does not strike them down for their unbelief. Instead, He commands Moses to strike the rock, and from it flows water—life, freely given, despite their complaints.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10, tells us what this means: “That rock was Christ” (v. 4). Just as water flowed from the rock in the wilderness, so too does our salvation flow from Christ, the true Rock who was struck for our sins on the cross. The Israelites did nothing to earn that water; they were grumbling, doubting, and faithless. Yet God provided. And so it is with us.

But here’s the warning: Paul tells us that though Israel drank from the rock, many still fell because of their unbelief. It is not enough to be near God’s gifts—we must receive them in faith. This is why Paul uses the image of a race. In 1 Corinthians 9, he reminds us that the Christian life is one of discipline. Not because we earn heaven by our running, but because faith is not passive. We press on, we run the race—not to earn the prize, but because Christ has already won it for us.

And then we come to Matthew 20, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Here, Jesus shatters any lingering idea that salvation is something we deserve. The workers who toiled all day expect more than those who came at the last hour. But the master gives to each the same wage. Why? Because the reward of God’s kingdom is not about fairness as the world sees it. It is about grace. No one receives less than promised, but many are scandalized that others receive the same.

Dear brothers and sisters, how often do we secretly think like those all-day laborers? Do we believe that our years in the Church, our service, our sacrifices, somehow put us in a better standing before God than the one who repents at the last moment? Do we begrudge the grace of God when it is poured out on others just as freely as it has been poured out on us?

This is why Psalm 18 is our fitting response: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” (v. 2). He is not only the Rock that was struck to give us life—He is the One who upholds us, who guards us, who saves us from our enemies, including our greatest enemy, sin.

So what shall we say, dear friends? Let us drink deeply from the Rock who was struck for us. Let us run the race not to earn God’s favor, but in thanksgiving that His favor is already ours. And let us rejoice in the vineyard, knowing that whether we came early or late, whether we have labored much or little, we receive the same reward: eternal life in Christ Jesus, given not as wages but as a gift, all by grace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.