Is 55.6-9;
Phil 1.20-24;
Mt 20.1-16
The gospel reading proposed for our meditation this Sunday seems at first sight to be dealing with a labour problem. It is as if it is setting up a model for management and labour relationships. Such is not, however, the case. The parable is more about the generosity of God than about working conditions. The story is more about the supreme goodness of God than about wage settlements.
Someone has attempted to put the parable in a modern setting. He invites you to imagine there are four houses on your street. You own the house on the corner, and it
is valued at N400,000. The house next to you is valued at N300,000. The third house is valued at N200,000 and the last house at N100,000. Imagine that one of your children comes to say to you, "daddy, would you sell our house if someone offered you N500,000 for it? You reply, "I'd jump for joy and sell it on the spot".
An hour later the phone rings and you answer it. You can hardly believe your ears. You are being offered N500,000 for your house. You jump for joy and sell it on the spot. The next day you learn that the other owners on your street sold their houses to the same buyer, also. Then comes the thunderbolt. They each got N500,000. You are so angry that you call the buyer and tell him off. He responds, "Did I cheat you? Or are you jealous because I was generous? The parable story is something like that.
To appreciate the original parable as Jesus told it, we must keep in mind that the latecomers who went into the vineyard were not lazybones, lazying away their time. They were not vagabonds who have been roaming about drinking with their friends but desperate day labourers who needed a job. The fact that they were still waiting at 5.00p.m. shows how badly they needed work. We have to note also that in the time of Jesus, if a man didn't find work one day, his family often didn't eat the next day. A man who found work early in the morning rejoiced all day, and so did his family.
The workers in the parable grumbled not because they did not get what was their due or what was agreed upon but because their fellow workers, those who came late, also got the same amount. At a Bible sharing session recently, I wanted to feel the pulse of a brother about the parable. He confessed that the story depicted recklessness, favouritism and arbitrary action on the part of Jesus? He confessed that this is not the way of doing things. If the landowner had money to give away he could have given a just share to all of them, begining with the first who had worked the whole day. Why did he not consider that some had only arrived at 5.00 p.m? There is no common sense and justice in treating workers like this.
Of course this shocks our strong sense of justice. Like the workers who laboured all day we protest: "it is not fair. The demands of justice is that the latecomers should be given an appropriate fraction of a denarius while those who had worked harder in the heat are given their full pay. That is the human verdict.
But why do we not stop to ask if the land owner had a motive behind such kindness? Is it not possible that the owner sees that if he pays the last group for only their one hour of work, they will not have enough to take home to feed their families? So it could be out of pity for their poverty that he decides to give them a full day's wage? Is this after all not the way of Jesus when He wants to teach us how God does things? He always does them in a big way as if he cannot count or measure? Look at the Cana wedding: He makes more than enough wine - more than 100 gallons of it. Look at the miracle of the loaves: He multiplies too much bread for the crowd - twelve baskets of food were left over. His forgiveness is way too much - he uses infinity expressions like 70 x 7 times. The numbers he uses in his talent or debt stories are either too small or too big.
Why had Jesus to tell this story? Through this parable Jesus was giving a powerful lecture to the Pharisees and through them to all of us who grumble. The Pharisees and the priests were quite critical of the behaviour of Jesus towards the publicans and sinners. Jesus was moving around with them and even had close followers from among them. They were not happy to note that after listening to the preaching of Jesus they repented, entered God's Kingdom late and were getting the same rewards as they. Like someone who criticized Jesus for forgiving the good thief on the cross the Pharisees wondered how they could now share the same rewards with the sinners. They even asked the disciples of Jesus, "why does your teacher eat with such a people?"
I wonder if you are able to see our human nature at work in this gospel story. The earlier groups receive what they had negotiated with the landowner and they were happy just as the owner of the house who received a N500,000 that was way beyond his dreams. I am very sure that if they had not learned what the employer paid the latecomers, they would have gone home joyful and thankful. As it were, they went home angry and jealous.
In reacting angrily they emphasized their trouble; but they failed to mention the advantages of their situation. Whereas those of them who were employed early in the morning were assured that they would be earning the support of their families for that day, they forgot the anxiety of the latecomers who risked the possibility of returning home that day empty handed. Although the early workers are envious of the latecomers now that it has come to the matter of payment, there was no envy when they were unemployed.
We too often resent the good fortunes of others and we become jealous, feel cheated and begin to complain. Why can't people rejoice in the good fortunes of others instead of becoming intensely jealous? I have mine; why do I not rejoice that someone else also has his? If we are not careful, we can live our entire life feeling sorry for ourselves, since we will always find many who earn and possess more than we do. We can also feel richly blessed with our priceless possessions - life itself, freedom, love, good health etc - if we realize that these are worth much more than a few extra Naira. We can be as miserable or contented as we want to be.
When we look into our lives as Christians, we find that at times we too have an attitude similar to that of the grumbling servants of the parable or of the Pharisees towards certain categories of people. Those who are quite regular in attending church services or who are involved in various pious activities sometimes think of others as not worthy to receive as many favours from God as they themselves. Those who have been in the Church earlier or for a long time think that the Church should practically be their own and that they should dictate its policy. They resent the intrusion of new blood or the rise of a new generation with different plans and different ways forgetting that in the Christian church seniority does not necessarily mean honour. What about the tendency of looking down on people who lived a bad life or who we think have not been good enough. Do some of us not become distressed when we see such former sinners attain positions of eminence in our civil or religious communities?
When we observe the less talented people advance in their careers we become upset. Some are quite critical of even the meager help the church gives to the poor. "If they are poor, illiterate or jobless, we often say, it is because of their own carelessness or laziness. It is a waste to spend money on them". This is how some people express their dissatisfaction about certain type of church work for the poor. This is the way many of us programme God to act in our own image.
The answer was that God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. For Him whether a person is a Jew or a Gentile, a saint or a sinner, he or she is his son or daughter. Therefore he gives the tax-collectors and prostitutes an equal share with the righteous in his kingdom provided they give up their sinful ways. For God the time one enters the kingdom, late or soon, in the first flush of youth, in the strength of midday, or when the shadows are lengthening, he is equally dear to God.
But we should always remember that God does not see the way we see. His ways and thoughts are different from our ways and thoughts and we should allow him to be God who is a giver of gifts in the absence of credentials and worthiness. Isaiah, in the first reading this Sunday challenged his audience to believe in a God of surprises. He scolded this community for operating on purely human scales. He insisted that God's ways and thoughts were not to be determined by Israel's ways and thoughts. We make a big mistake when we judge our brothers and sisters by our world's standards. We should stop comparing ourselves to other people and accept ourselves as we are. We should follow Paul's advice to the Galatians when he said; Each one of you should judge his own conduct. If it is good, then he can be proud of what he himself has done, without having to compare it with what someone else has done (Gal 6.4).
Ultimately we shall see that the important thing in this life is not what other people think of us, or how hard we work in God's vineyard. The important thing is what god thinks of us, and the love that motivates our work.
There is a story about a famous preacher. He knew he was an excellent speaker, and he used his sermons to build his reputation. At the end of his life, when he lay dying, it was clear that something was bothering him. His religious superior noted this and said, "Father Matthew, be at peace. When you stand before Jesus to be judged, just remind him of all those beautiful sermons you preached". Fr Matthew replied, "if Jesus doesn't mention them, I certainly won't remind him of them.
In our world today there are surprisingly some good and generous people who go out to those who are standing idle all day and send them into vineyards where they are rewarded beyond their expectations. I think here of you who have seen the discouragement and frustration of those who are idle and have offered them the opportunity to do something rewarding with their lives. I think here about those of you who are helping many unemployed brothers and sisters to find paid employment or to find ways that are rewarding to use their time and talents. I think of you dedicated parents and teachers who continue to stand by and encourage students who seem to be getting no where in school. Indeed there are a few of us who are not indebted to self-sacrificing parents and teachers who gave of their best to send us out into the vineyard of life.
`Why have you been standing here idle all day?'`Because no one has hired us'
The words remind me of the ever increasing problem of unemployment in our society. They remind me of the frustration, the sense of rejection and the constant struggle of many brothers and sisters to maker ends meet. I remember the students who have given up trying to learn and are idling their way through school. I think of the many who are addicted to alcohol or drugs and are wasting their money and their lives. There are those who have given up the practice of their faith and are drifting aimlessly through life. There are also the chronically ill and elderly people who are totally dependent on others, have long hours in their hands each day and feel they are now useless. With such enormous problems at our hands today, unemployment, poverty, famine, war we can easily see that only extravagant generosity and love like that of the landowner will provide solution to these problems.
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