At The End Of The Day | August 19, 2015

 August 19, 2015

I’m sure you’ve seen men standing outside places like Home Depot waiting for someone to offer them work. This is very Mediterranean and would have been something Jesus’ audience would have witnessed everyday. Finding work is a struggle and has always been a struggle, and our dependence on money and living comfortable lives adds an extra element of stress. When I ask kids what they want to be when they grow up, the majority of them say “I want to be rich so I don’t have to worry.” Finding God’s plan for our lives might also be a struggle and our deep desire to be loved and to belong might also add an element of selfishness into the mix. Let’s look at today’s parable.

Parables take an ordinary everyday situation, add an element of shock, and leave the audience in doubt as to the real meaning or to quote my pastor growing up, Fr. Kulleck, “Parables are stories that make you think.”

The first thing we need to note is that the Landowner went out to find the workers who were standing idle in the marketplace. This made me think that we must be still in order for Jesus to be able to come to us. When we wait on the Lord, He will come to us with the same invitation that the Landowner gave, “Go into my vineyard.” We have the opportunity to say yes or no to that invitation. If we are waiting for it, chances are we will say yes to it.

The next thing to look at is that Jesus says, “And I will give you what is just.” Every other time I have read this gospel I could have sworn that he originally said I will pay you a day’s wage, but he clearly says here, “What is just.” As we approach the Year of Mercy, we really need to wrap our hearts around God’s way of justice and not our own. We categorize people into various levels based on income, work ethic, neighborhood, education, physical ability, marital status, age, religion, etc. and we think it “fair” that people within these categories get what they “deserve.” God doesn’t even know how to categorize and sees us all as beloved and worthy of unconditional grace. The only way we can adopt this kind of thinking is to stay close to the source, “to go into my vineyard”, and get back on the vine.

The Landowner goes back out at noon, three o’clock, and five o’clock and offers the same invitation to “go into my vineyard and I will give you what is just.” Obviously, the Landowner had more work that needed to be done and in order to complete the work; he needed to keep adding people to the payroll. The Jews wanted to be God’s first and only chosen ones. There’s the element of shock, the kingdom of God is for all including the Gentiles. We are all called at different times in our lives to come into the vineyard and each time we say yes to the invite, we say yes to the promise of eternal life. There are no degrees of eternity, it is the same to all whether you say yes in your twenties or yes on your deathbed, and while that might make our human brains a little frustrated and inclined to throw a temper tantrum, it has to be this way or else heaven would not be free or limitless or eternal. The Israelites were definitely God’s first chosen people, but because of His endless love, He keeps adding chosen ones to the payroll and that my friends, is you and me.

The next thing the Landowner does really shakes things up. It’s time to pay the workers and he pays the ones he hired last first and the ones he hired first last. He pays them all the same amount and of course, the ones who worked all day have something to say about it. I know that I would have felt the same if I was in their shoes and it’s safe to assume that you might too. According to our standards this is totally unfair! Yep, that’s Jesus’ point; our standards are not God’s standards.

Jesus is reiterating that God’s mercy is endless and His goodness is beyond our human standards (thank God). It is not for us to compare God’s generosity and to turn it into something that can be obtained if we work harder, follow more rules, or check more boxes off of our how to get to heaven list. God’s love, mercy, kindness, and goodness are meant for everyone and all we have to do is accept it. When the Landowner asked the workers, “Why are standing here idle all day?” their response was, “Because no one else has hired us.” Sometimes we wait for life to happen to us don’t we? Sometimes we look for love in all the wrong places, don’t we? Sometimes we try to fill the hole in our heart with things other than God, don’t we? Jesus comes to us in our waiting. Perhaps the times of day in this story are the times of day when we need to stop and pray or stop and wait for the invitation to go into the vineyard. He will keep asking and we have the freedom to say yes or no. The point is not to wait until the last minute but to say yes whenever you are called.

At the end of the story the workers hired first are envious of those that were hired last. I know that envy is something that I struggle with on a daily basis and we know that it is indeed one of the seven deadly sins. This parable can help us rid ourselves of envy if we can apply it to our own lives. Let’s celebrate everyone called to the vineyard no matter what time that is because at the end of the day (and I’m pretty sure this Bible passage is the source of that colloquialism), the truth still remains that we are ALL invited and God’s generosity cannot be categorized, so enjoy the benefits and be thankful that you were even “hired” at all.

Gospel MT 20:1-16

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off. 
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”