Scripture

Matthew 20:1-16

For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.” So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You go into the vineyard too.”

And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.” And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 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 worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” So the last will be first, and the first last.

Reflection

Growing up with a sibling teaches one about fairness. In our house, soda was a rare treat. I remember my brother leaning over the counter, pouring from the 32-ounce glass bottle of Coca-Cola, eye-level with our two glasses, making sure each of us received an equal amount while I monitored carefully. Fairness necessitated comparison.

I would not want to trade places with the HR director for the vineyard in this parable. The workers bypass that department, however, and go straight to the master with whom they had struck their bargain: a day’s wages for a day’s work. What seemed like a good deal that morning begins to fade by quitting time when they see what the latecomers got. The sun-up-to-sun-down crew gets what’s coming to them, but somehow, it isn’t enough. The master was having none of it, as a literal translation of his retort shows: “Is your eye evil because I am good?” Grace has the ability to offend or amaze, depending on how our eyes are trained.

We live in world dominated by stories of scarcity: infinite needs competing for finite resources. It can be hard to feel the kingdom’s undercurrents of abundance, but they pop up everywhere if you know where to look. Nature helps.

When I lived in North Carolina it seemed everyone on our little road had a summer garden. Everyone planted zucchini, which grew especially well in that soil—so well, in fact, that it was not unusual to wake up in the morning and find a 10-pound bag of zucchini had been stealthily deposited on your porch overnight (sometimes regifted). There’s only so much bread and pickles one family can manage, after all! Nature just didn’t know when to quit. It reminded me of that passage in Amos where the prophet anticipates God’s abundant restoration: “the plowman shall overtake the reaper” (Amos 9:13). God just doesn’t know how to quit.

I wonder about the circumstances of those still waiting for work at the eleventh hour. What drove these overlooked workers to persist? I imagine the shudder of relief at finally being useful, having enough to feed their loved ones because of a generous master. The economics of the kingdom require that we not be stingy with the gifts of God, which never belonged to us in the first place. We just have to allow ourselves to be amazed, one zucchini at a time.

Prayer

Eternal and gracious God, you call forth all into abundant life with you.

Grant us eyes to see your work in this your world.

Make room in us for your grace.

Transform our hearts and minds that we might make room for others.

Save us from the fear of want. Teach us to share so that all will have enough.

Thank you for making us in such a way that when we pour ourselves out for your kingdom, we find that there is always more than we started with.

In the name of Jesus Christ we pray,

Amen.