The Parable of the Vineyard
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY
The Gospel lesson appointed for today which Fr. Michael just proclaimed for us drives a lot of 21st Century Christians crazy. Particularly Christians in affluent countries have established social norms like labor laws, minimum wage laws, the right for workers to engage in collective bargaining with employers, &c. I remember taking a class in seminary called “Organizing for Public Ministry.” It was a class that I hated, by the way! I’ll explain why.
First, let me read Matthew 20:1-16 again, using more modern English so we can better understand what Jesus is saying in this parable:
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.
In that class in seminary, a group of community organizers gave a lecture about the importance of people in the Church standing up for social justice. One of the presenters cited this parable as an example of how unfair the world is and that this is the kind of oppression and exploitation of workers’ rights by management and corporations that Christians must fight. The nodding of heads and the smattering of applause with which many of my classmates responded to that pronouncement came to a halt when I raised my hand. “With all due respect,” I said, “I think you are missing the point. While social justice is intrinsic to the Gospel of Christ, this parable is not about the exploitation of workers and day laborers; it’s about the gift of God’s grace.” Now, my seminary is in Berkeley – and my perspective as a traditional, High Church Anglo-Catholic was often viewed as rather…shall we say…not with the times, perhaps? While we as disciples of Christ are commanded to labor in the Kingdom of God, God’s vineyard, our vision of social justice doesn’t always line up with God’s holy justice. Nor do we always fully grasp and comprehend the immeasurable gift that is the Grace of God.
At first glance, this parable might make us want to exclaim, “Wait. What? That’s not fair!!! The workers who labored all day in the hot sun were paid the same amount of money as the ones who worked for only an hour?!? That’s outrageous! What are you saying, Jesus?!?” This is a difficult parable. It addresses our envy and greed when we sometimes feel that we deserve more than the other guy. Not a topic that most people want to hear about. This parable also seems to turn the world’s commonly accepted idea of fairness upside down. Also not a popular idea!
The manager of the vineyard goes out at 6:00 am and hires the laborers he requires to do the work that needs to be completed that day. Jesus tells us that after the workers have been hard at work for about three hours, and everything seems to be running smoothly, the estate manager goes out into the town square again. Note that Jesus does not say or even imply that the manager goes out because he didn’t hire enough workers. Perhaps he has some business to take care of or some errands to run. That’s plausible. When he’s out and about later that morning, he sees more day laborers standing around, looking for work. The manager shows his generosity by offering work to this second group. He goes out again at noon and three o’clock and hires more. Finally, at around five o’clock, he ventures out again and sees a final group of laborers. He asks them, “Why are y’all standing around here?” It’s the end of the day, and we can easily discern the sadness and dejectedness in their reply: “Because nobody hired us today.”
The manager didn’t need them for the harvest, especially since there was only an hour of daylight left. But he was compassionate, he showed great empathy. These men were unemployed, and their families were hungry. At six o’clock, the vintner instructs his foreman to pay everyone their day’s wages, but in reverse order from when they clocked in. Everyone received the same pay for their efforts.
The workers who were hired first were upset. Matthew’s text says that they grumbled at the apparent unfairness of the employer. They appeal to him using common sense, fair play, logic, and reason. They had to admit that they made an agreement about what they would be paid at the end of the day, but if the group that worked for only one hour received the same wages, then shouldn’t they at least get a bonus? They felt that they had a legitimate complaint – a workers’ rights complaint – based on the worldly definition of fairness. Like that community organizer in Berkeley, the laborers who had worked all day didn’t get it. This parable is not about unfair labor management but is rather a powerful teaching about the radical nature of the Kingdom of God and the breadth and depth of God’s grace and mercy.
Our labors are insufficient to attain grace – we cannot earn it. The nature of God’s grace is that it is freely given. Participation in the Kingdom of God does not come about by works, but rather is a gift the comes from the unmerited and immeasurable vastness of God’s loving grace. And all will receive that gift of grace, regardless of when they come to accept Jesus Christ. A cradle Christian will not receive a greater reward or higher status than the person who comes to faith late in their life. That’s not how God manages His economy.
Grace is defined as “unmerited favor, an unearned gift or blessing was given, regardless of our worthiness.” It is God’s unconditional love, in Christ, that we don’t deserve. In the Prayer of Humble Access in our liturgical tradition, we profess that “We do not presume to come to this Thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table. But Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.”
It is through Christ’s precious Blood, which He shed, dying for us, that we receive the gift of God’s grace. Not only are we given what we don’t deserve and what we haven’t earned, we don’t get what we do deserve. Thank God! God has no reason to be accepting and forgiving of us other than that He loves us. And more than that: as St. John the Apostle wrote, God IS love. We have no reason to expect, much less demand that grace – like the disgruntled laborers who worked the entire day. If we were to receive what we deserved, what was fair, I shudder to think what our lives would be like, excluded from the Vineyard.
If the Kingdom of God worked the way the world works, most of us would be excluded, left out, marginalized, ignored, forgotten, humiliated, and condemned. The world is a cruel place. Human nature is intrinsically sinful and wicked. If you need a reminder of that, log on to Facebook today and read some of the comments posted there. Life is not fair. The world is not fair. And thanks be to God that His grace is not fair, either. That’s right: God’s grace is not fair. It is on a different plane entirely. It is like winning the lottery.
God’s gift of grace, freely given in and through Christ, is a blessing that renders us His children. As we pray, “We are very members incorporate of the mystical body of Thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and are also heirs, through hope, of Thy everlasting Kingdom.”
As we prepare to receive the Blessed Sacrament of this Holy Communion, let us remember, paraphrasing the Rolling Stones,
You can’t always get what you want.
You can’t always get what you want.
But by Christ, and in Christ, you get what you need.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
