God’s
Grace:
a total departure from conventional wisdom |
| "For the kingdom of heaven
is like a landowner who went out early in the morning
to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with
the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into
his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock, he
saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said
to them, "You also go into the vineyard, and I will
pay you whatever is right.' So they went. When he went
out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the
same. 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?' They said to him, "Because
no one has hired us.' He said to them, "You also
go into the vineyard.' 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.' When those hired about five o'clock
came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now
when the first came, they thought they would receive more;
but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And
when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner,
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.' 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? Take what
belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the
same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose
with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I
am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first
will be last." |
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| Matthew 20:1-16 |
| The people who the vineyard owner hired lived life day to
day. They stood in the town square hoping to be hired every
single morning. Jesus tells his disciples a parable pitting
day laborer against day laborer. He rebukes one group of day
laborer’s grumblings because another group got 11 hours
worth of free wages. Is that fair? Day laborers don’t
exactly have the luxury of being long-term thinkers and dreamers.
They are too busy hoping for a day job that will allow them
to feed themselves and their families that night. Of course
the first workers hired hoped the manager would pay them more
after they saw that those who had only worked an hour received
the full day’s wage. The first group worked the longest
in the hot sun and would probably need to eat more food that
night so they could gain enough strength to work the next day.
We sympathize with their reaction. They saw others receiving
grace and mercy, yet what they got was simply just. No more.
We shake our heads and are tempted to call Jesus out as insensitive
to the realities of the world. |
| First last, last first. This is no way for an owner to run
a profitable business. This owner is extravagant, not fair.
From now on all the day laborers might decide to hold out on
being hired by this owner till the end of the day. A precedent
has been set! “These last ones worked only one hour, and
you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of
the day and the scorching heat” (v. 12). Conventional
wisdom tells them and us that order has been broken. Our sense
of equity for all is shaken. |
| What kind of owner leaves the vineyard six times in one day
anyways? Surely this is flagrant behavior. People loaf around
and take long breaks while the owner gallivants off on those
trips to town. It is our own voice we hear in one of the first
labor’s complaint. Some workers have received unmerited
wages! |
| This parable makes no sense when viewed under the lens of
our conventional sensibilities. When viewed from a literal perspective
we see cold facts. Some received what was just—a day’s
wage for a day’s worth of work. Others received grace—and
were given what they had not earned. But, perhaps we are too
speedy to say that God is simply just to the early crew. Parables
after all are not meant to be taken literally. They point to
truth about God and usually turn our worldviews upside down. |
| Is it true that the first received only what was just? |
| The beginning and end of this parable provide clues for a
different reading. Jesus just explained to his disciples, who
are last by worldly standards, that they will be first with
him at the renewal of all things. But even among the last, who
will be first, God’s grace is still a scandal that Jesus
relays. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out…” (v. 1a) |
| Imagine now the beauty of a large vineyard with a bumper crop
on a hot harvest day. The sun is shining warmly upon the vines
and the people working. Grape vines are magnificently weighed
down by the bounty upon them because there has been the perfect
amount of warmth and rain during the year. With great satisfaction
the owner surveys the scene and realizes she’ll need extra
help to get the harvest in. What a problem to have! Everyone
in the household depending on the harvest for their livelihood
can breathe a sign of relief. But others, those with no land
have no such safety net. They survive day by day, getting no
more than temporary relief. The owner knows this and is compelled
to keep going back getting more and more laborers until all
in the square have been hired. It is possible the landowner
came in grace to every day laborer in the first place! |
| Who are the laborers in this reading? They are those who need
grace, mercy, and justice on a continual basis. We all are day
labors. I don’t know that it matters which hired group
we might want to associate ourselves with. The first, somewhere
in the middle, or the last. Every group was brought in by a
gracious owner who knows their needs and promised to pay what
is fair and right. Every group stood in need out there on that
square each day. Like the first group we often stand in need
of hearing these words, “FRIEND, I am doing you no wrong…take
what belongs to you and go; I choose…” (vs. 13-14).
We often feel wronged instead of blessed. It kills us when others
get what we think we need. But the kingdom of heaven is like
a landowner who went out and hired all day long. God does this
out of perpetual grace and generosity. |
| God is gracious because God is loving community within God’s
self. God is no system manager or cost analyst when it comes
to grace. God’s mercy is given over and over to us and
we do not deserve it whether we are the first to be hired or
the last. |
| The Manager seems to come from the same perspective! The Landowner
graciously went out and brought more and more in while the Manager
made the executive decision to pay them all the same wage after
being told to begin with the last. That Manager was intuitively
in sync with will of the Owner. |
| All who are brought into the kingdom of heaven are brought
in through grace. No merit system or work ethic will secure
our entrance. So in the here and now, what might the knowledge
of grace mean to the first ones hired, the ones who know their
place is secure for this day? Let’s say the first ones
hired have been disciples of Jesus their whole lives, working
for God’s glory. When others are brought into the vineyard
through the same grace and seem to receive more for less work,
can the first batch celebrate God’s generosity instead
of grumbling? I believe they can when intentional about it. |
| St. Michael’s Episcopal Church down the street held
a pig roast for the whole community. It wasn’t a fundraiser
or a mission event. It was simply a joyful feast open to all.
Why did they do this? Their Priest told me it was because they
know God loves them and they want to share their joy with others.
Their pig roast is a testimony to celebration of God’s
amazing work in Jesus Christ. They want to be hospitable to
strangers! |
| Celebration in light of what God has done is the antithesis
of grumbling over what we feel we are lacking. I believe there
are more ways than we can imagine for this congregation to paint
our communal life red with joy, expressing to others what we’ve
been given. Good News! Our individual and corporate call is
to emulate the Landowner’s generosity. May we let the
good news we know speak through our lives and welcome all the
grace God bestows on others. |
| Amen |
| Beth E. Godfrey - September 18, 2005 |
| Central Presbyterian Church, Geneseo, New
York |
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