15th Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew
20:1-16 21 September 2014
Elizabeth M.
Deibert
Did you grow
up thinking life was fair or unfair? Growing
up with siblings who were 8, 10, and 12 years older, I did not have normal sibling
rivalry. But I do remember feeling that
it was most unfair that I always had to go to bed early. I assumed all the fun stuff was happening
after I went to bed, and I was missing out.
Looking
around my small town, I knew life was not fair.
I lived in the big civil war era house.
I can remember well how often I felt guilty that I had so much, while
the maid who came to clean our house could not read or write. She accepted every gift of clothing, toys,
and home goods we ever offered no matter how worn it was. I remember girls on my high school
basketball team who wanted to take a shower in the gym because they had no
shower at home, while I preferred the privacy and comfort of home.
I remember in
5th grade feeling sorry for Sadie (not her real name), who came from
very poor family, that she never had a current event from the news as our
teacher required because I figured her family did not have a television or a
newspaper, and that was not Sadie’s fault, though Sadie bore the brunt of the
teacher’s frustration. I have that same
feeling when I read about refugees in war-torn countries – that life is not fair,
that I am being paid too well.
But on the
other hand, I grumble sometimes. When I
go to presbytery meetings and they list all the salaries of ministers, as they
are part of the public presbytery record, I sometimes am tempted to compare
myself to other ministers. I then start
thinking that I must surely be working harder than the minister at a large
church with lots of support staff. But
then I remember how much I love Peace Church and the joy of developing this
congregation with you, and I rebound from that crazy moment of coveting.
I see people
who have suffered through the death of children and painful divorces or other
family estrangement, and I cannot help but think life has not been fair. It seems that life has been too easy for me,
at least so far. But the trouble with
all this speculation about life being fair or unfair is that it is founded in
comparisons with a marketplace mentality.
God operates differently, Jesus teaches us in the parables. Let’s hear how:
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom
of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire
laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers
for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When
he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;
4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I
will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went
out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And
about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to
them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to
him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the
vineyard.’
8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call
the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to
the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of
them received the usual daily wage 10 Now when the first came,
they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual
daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against
the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and
you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the
scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I
am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take
what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to
you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs
to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So
the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The traditional way of viewing this passage
is to think in terms of salvation in life after death. 11th hour conversions. So it does not matter when you accept the
invitation to be a worker for God, you will get the same reward. We cannot earn God’s love. God will not give us what we deserve but
what we need – life everlasting. This
is great news for those who have ignored God.
It’s never too late.
Another view into this passage is to realize
that Matthew’s audience was mostly Jewish.
So the message to the Jews is that while you were selected for God’s vineyard
generations before the Gentiles, the Gentiles will receive the same reward as
you. They are just as beloved and
appreciated as you, even though you were the chosen first. The last shall be first.
Yet another way to read this parable is to
say that this vision of the kingdom here and now means that God thinks people
should get paid enough to live on, no matter how much labor they have put
in. Some of us saw the PBS special on
the Roosevelts this week. Is that the
fundamental principle underlying FDR’s new deal which provided unemployment and
social security? The point is not
reward for work, but sustenance for life.
The landowner knew that each worker needed enough to feed his or her
family that night – whether they had worked one hour or ten.
But this parable is a lot like the Parable of
the Prodigal Son, which could be re-named the Parable of the Forgiving
Father. This Parable of the Laborers in
the Vineyard is really the Parable of the Generous Landowner. One of the primary lessons of the parable is
how the generosity of the landowner upsets people. Isn’t it interesting how dis-gruntled we get
when we compare ourselves to others, and when we think we have by our hard
work, earned more than other people. When
we are the ones who have worked hard, when we are the ones who did no wrong,
when we are able to rightly claim, “This is not fair.” Because it’s not fair, but gracious.
Remember the anger of the elder brother when
his prodigal brother came home and dad threw a party. The brother resented the brother, and sad,
“Look, I have been a good son. What did
you do for me? The father said, “Son,
everything I have is yours, but I have to rejoice because your brother was lost
and now and found. The father was so
happy to have his son back that he did not care how.
The vineyard owner is so pleased to have
workers, at any hour, he does not want to give them less than they need to
live. The vineyard owner has not been
unfair to those who worked all day. They
were paid fairly. But they resent the
fact that those who started later received more than they deserved.
The bottom line is that each of us has
received and/or will receive more than we deserve. The generous gifts of God in Christ our
Savior are always more than we deserve, and so we are called to be grateful for
what we have and to share it generously, rather than begrudge those who have
more or look down on those who have less.
I kept thinking this week about my little classmate
Sadie. Who worked harder in school – Sadie
or me? Well, I walked into school
knowing how to read, having had three siblings and two parents who read to
me. Sadie probably never had a book in
her house. I came from several
generations of college-educated parents, who had the extra benefit of living
securely in this USA. Sadie’s family was
brought over on a slave ship and was mis-treated for generations. Who worked longer and harder? I’m the one who was rewarded with teacher
and peer approval and A’s for all my hard work. But was Sadie, in her context, actually
working hard than I just to put on her dirty little dress and get there to
endure the hostility she faced? I
stayed in education longer and in the eyes of the world am more successful. Why?
Because I worked harder? No, the
cards were stacked in my favor. But I
know Sadie’s getting a big party with God and I hope I’ll be mature enough to
enjoy it.
Who is working harder in God’s vineyard today? Is it a growing community of faith like Peace
Church in the USA or is it a Chaldean Christian Church in Syria? We likely look more successful and definitely
more comfortable, but they are very likely closer to the kingdom of God, as
they suffer with Christ.
God's grace is given to each one of us -
whether we have served God faithfully our whole lives or we come to know God in
that great transition into the eternal.
God’s grace is given to each of us -- whether we have given
sacrificially of our time and finances or if we have struggled to share what we
have with God and others. Whether we spent a lifetime doing what was right or
if we screwed up every day of our life. God's gifts are for each of us and God
is generous. You see, God does not give based on who we are, but rather because
of who God is. God does not parcel grace out according to what we
deserve. No, the definition of grace is
unmerited favor. When you understand
that, it is easier to become generous, because you see that God will take care
of you. You don’t have to make it
happen. It already is.
It’s interesting that the Old Testament
lesson today is of the Israelites complaining in the wilderness about being
hungry and thirsty and tired. Why,
Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt?
How quickly they forgot the brutality of their slavery and begin to
resent freedom! How quickly we forget
all the blessings we have been given and begin to complain. How could we possibly complain about the
life we have been given – all the creature comforts we have, the freedom of
religion, the freedom of speech, the opportunities that abound! How could any of us with so much begrudge a
little extra going to someone who didn’t work as long as we?
Have you ever noticed that sometimes the
people working the hardest are the most unhappy? Oh, they are pressing on, getting so much
done, but they begin to resent other people, who are not as busy as they are. God is going to love you and bless you, even
when you fail to get everything done. It
is impossible to get it all done. God
wants you working out of pure gratitude and joy, not an onerous sense of obligation. So slow down. Go to God’s vineyard late, if you are tired. You cannot achieve grace by getting there
early. Grace is a gift, freely, freely,
FREELY given.
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