OT: XXV-A: Is 55:6-9   Phil 1:20-24.27   Mt 20:1-16

The parable about the workers sent out at different times to work in the vineyard has always caused big problems for readers of the Gospel. Is it right for the owner of the vineyard to pay the same wage to those who have worked for only an hour and those who have worked the whole day? Does this not violate the principle of just recompense? Today, workers' unions would rise up together to denounce any owner of a company who did this.

Justice and Fairness mean a day’s wage for a day’s work. That principle does not seem to be upheld in this parable. We find the owner going out at dawn to get workers, and he makes an agreement with each one of them for a wage of one denarius. The vineyard owner went out five times during the day to hire workers.  It was normal for workers to gather at a crossroads or a marketplace waiting to be hired. Apart from the first group, the labourers were not promised a fixed payment but simply a just wage. When the foreman starts payment of the wages, we are kept in suspense because the labourers are paid in the opposite order in which they were employed. The master’s generosity, which is a pleasant surprise to the latecomers, becomes a cruel disappointment to the early birds when they also receive the same wage. They expected that they would be paid more because they worked more. Technically, this was not unjust because it was what all agreed to. Personally and practically, however, this would have seemed unjust.  Either those who were hired first should have been given more, or those hired later should have received less.

The key of the parable, then is the statement that the last will be first and the first will be last.  In the kingdom of heaven, justice and fairness do not follow worldly values. In the kingdom of heaven, everything is done by grace and not by merit.  The righteousness we have developed in the world will not bind God in the kingdom of heaven. God does not call everybody at the same time. Truly, the righteousness of the Lord is not the righteousness of man. The Lord God gives to those that He pleases, in the amount that He chooses. He is free to do what he wants with what belongs to him, namely His grace. The Lord God is just and fair in all His dealings, and no one will ever go unrewarded for his works that are accredited to him.

The owner of the vineyard knows that the workers of the last hour have the same needs as the others who were hired at the beginning of the day; they, too, have children to feed. By giving everyone the same wage, the owner of the vineyard shows that he is not only taking account of the merit of the workers but also their needs. Our capitalistic societies base recompense on merit (often more nominal than real) and on seniority in work, and not on the person's needs. When the young worker or professional has the most need for his family and for a house, his pay is the lowest, but when he is at the end of his career when he has less need (especially in certain social categories), he has arrived at the stars.

The root of the early workers’ indignation came not from an exploitive wage scale but from seeing the good fortune of others whom they felt were not deserving of the same. The landowner had not been unjust; he had every right to do what he wanted with his money. The real problem is that the grumblers harbour envy. The master’s generosity is an expression of gracious freedom, not callous arbitrariness, while workers’ complaints are an expression of their lovelessness, not of their unfair treatment.

The only wage that is given to everyone is the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus has brought to the earth; it is the possibility of entering into the messianic salvation to be a part of it. The parable begins by saying that "the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn ...

 

A full wage is offered to each of us, whether one has served Him for a whole lifetime or has turned to Him only at the eleventh hour. The story shows us how God looks at us, sees our needs, and meets those needs.  The question in God’s mind is not, “How much do these people deserve?”  but, “How can I help them?  How can I save them before they perish?”  It is all about grace and blessings.

 

This parable teaches us to be generous rather than go for strict justice. We can be generous in the way we give someone encouragement and a kind word when that person is feeling down, even though that person might not be one of our best buddies. We can be generous in the way we give our time to help someone going through a rough patch. When someone says something that offends us, we can be generous in our reaction, sympathize and understand rather than give back the hostility or injury just as it was given to us. When we have fallen out with someone or believe we have been unfairly treated, we can be generous in our willingness to reach out, make amends and restore friendships. When someone really annoys us and gets under our skin, we can be generous with our patience and kindness, dealing with that person in a way that reflects the generous nature of God. When we see people who lack the bare necessities needed for a happy and healthy life, we need to be generous with what we have been given by our generous God. May the Lord give us the grace to be generous as He is generous, giving not as others deserve but as they need.