“Our Work versus God’s Grace”

(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. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, 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 5 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 5:00 came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 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 a denarius? 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.”

The death of Gloria Steinem has hit many of us hard. She dedicated her life and career to justice, especially for women, but really for all people. We have lost a pioneer and a hero. In my reading of her biographical material I didn’t see a specific reference to equal pay for equal work, but I think that was intrinsic to her mission. So, that’s one of the many reasons that today’s text just bugs the heck out of me. I decided that when I read this lesson this time around I would let myself feel all the feelings that come with it. Usually I immediately go to the place of trying to figure out how to preach such a text and don’t let myself land on my own anger about the injustice, the unfairness, the patronizing of those who did work the entire day, but yet are told to never mind, it’s the boss’ prerogative.So, I’m guessing you may be having some of those feelings too. Putting ourselves in the shoes of those workers lets us fully understand how and why they reacted to the landowner. In my life I sometimes find myself measuring how much work I’m doing compared to my dear husband or other family members. I get the same feelings as our workers in today’s story. We may say, “It’s not fair. I’m being victimized and taken advantage of.” When we keep this story in the context of work and pay and how it should be equal and non-discriminatory, we end up–most of us– feeling as though we are on the short end of the stick.…But when I remembered what it’s like to be the youngest child in my family of origin, the pieces begin to fall into place—somewhat. I think my brothers noticed that I was treated differently, that I managed to get out of the work that the children in the family were expected to do, how less was expected of me because I was often sick and the youngest, how the family was in better shape financially by the time I was in my teens. My favorite line is, “I’m the baby. Gotta love me.”

During my first go round as pastor of this church, I found myself as an adopted daughter in various families. One of those was the Brown family. Ruth and Clarence were the parents. Chris Brown, who some of you know, was their oldest daughter, and she still teases me. She says, “Oh, you want to be one of the daughters, but you never show up for the work and you never put in the money for the parties.” So, many years ago for Clarence and Ruth’s 50^th anniversary party at the Library, I took my apron so that I gave the appearance of being ready to do some work, which I never did, by the way.…Joking aside, being in a family, being part of the Jesus House, is not a place where your length of membership or your church service is considered. God’s grace extends to all in the same measure. There is no correlation between our work and God’s grace. There is no such thing as first and last in the Jesus House. We don’t get extra credit for being around the longest or for doing the most work. There is story after story that makes this case. The widow’s mite where the poor woman sitting outside the temple gave all she had to the collection as compared to the others who gave much more, but they contributed out of their plenty. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Over and over in the Gospels this is driven home. We say it, but do we really get it? Probably not. I’m not sure that today’s lesson does it for me because I do get hung up on the paycheck thing. I certainly do. Having spent some days this past week in Niagara on the Lake and seeing vineyard after vineyard and winery after winery, I was struck by this take on the story that I grabbed from the Christian Century:“A vineyard owner, working against the weather, drives to the day-labor lot early in the morning to hire pickers for his vines. Time is short; the workload is immense; the workers are not working fast enough. The owner returns to the lot four more times to hire laborers—at 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. Even as these grateful-to-work, late-in-the-day laborers pile into the back of the pickup truck, the vineyard owner mocks them, accuses them of “standing idly by.”Are these laborers lazy or idle? Are they lolling in the midday sun for no good reason? The vineyard owner seems to think so, and no one in this parable challenges his assumption.…We know differently: We know that if they were lazy they would have gone home hours ago. Instead, these laborers, still available and wanting to work, must be the otherwise unemployable. They are too young or too old, disabled or disfigured. They would work if they could, but no one will hire them. They aren’t lazy. They are less than ideal, laborers of last resort.Another unspoken bias emerges at the end of the day, when payment is distributed.

Oddly enough, the vineyard owner doesn’t compensate the workers as one would expect—the usual daily wage divided by the number of hours worked. Rather, each worker receives a whole day’s wage. It seems everyone is surprised at the wad of cash they are handed. Those who worked only part of the day—the undesirable workers—don’t protest, but they must wonder if there has been an accounting error. Those who were hired first—the strong and able-bodied—are enraged. They too are biased against the late-in-the-day hires.…This parable is a classic example of Jesus upending expectations and exposing attitudes: of the landowner, the workers, the readers—us! The realm of heaven is like that—the last first, the first last, everyone surprised.”Now, there is no making sense of this parable with our logical minds. One of the things I see is that we all need to mind our own business. We need to not be comparing ourselves to others nor measuring ourselves when it comes to God’s realm.I am always finding myself trying to sort out how things play out in this life. I’m looking for reasons that bad things happen to good people or why good things happen to bad people. I want everything to be logical and fair. …A few days ago I learned of the tragic death of my 49 year old nephew. I think this is what I’m talking about here. When this sort of thing happens, I am always looking for a reason. For example, maybe he was a smoker (I don’t know if he was), he rode fake bucking broncos just for fun when he was a very young man (like in Urban Cowboy), or he had a mental illness that had him lying around deep in depression (my assumption), or he was mourning his dad’s death (my brother) just a few months ago.The truth is that Andy died of a pulmonary embolism, leaving his wife and two sons, his mom and two brothers and their families. It is a tragedy, and there is no logical explanation for it. It just is.The same is happening for me in today’s lesson. I am having trouble coming up with a quick explanation, maybe even a believable morality lesson, but I respect you too much to do those things. …My only thought is that Jesus is, once again, upending our need for a quick and simple explanation for what seems unfair, unbelievable or unrealistic. …This is where I’m landing today. …The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Trust God. Trust Jesus. Mind our own business. Keep our eyes and minds trained upon Jesus. Keep making sandwiches and mats and planning fundraisers for those in need. Keep volunteering at the Food Bank, fixing leaky toilets, assessing our properties, being responsible with our church’s money; keep loving on the little kids, keep loving each other in spite of our faults; do the work even when it seems others are not. Accept the joy when it seems we get what we don’t deserve. Accept what we get when others seem to get more with no good reason. Be grateful for God’s grace. Amen.