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Gospel: Matthew 20: 1-16
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
he saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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As a child, I absolutely hated brussels sprouts, especially the bland, boiled ones often served during school lunch. They tasted so awful, I knew they must be healthy. Still, I avoided them.
Today’s Gospel can leave a similar taste in our mouths. We know what Jesus is saying is “good news,” but God’s generosity is so profound, that it seems unfair.
It is unfair.
Imagine those workers who spent all day laboring in the sun, sweating and sunburned, their muscles aching, wondering, “How can we who worked all day be paid the same wage as the one who only showed up for an hour? … And he gets paid first!”
Spiritually, we might wonder, “How can someone who has dedicated their entire life to Gospel work receive the same reward as someone who converts on their deathbed?”
It seems unfair.
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Perhaps there are a few lessons Jesus is trying to teach us.
None of these workers held steady jobs, which is why they were hired from the marketplace. Each morning, men who had nowhere to work – but families to feed – would stand and wait, hoping to be chosen for a day’s worth of work.
Had their host not chosen them – regardless of the time of day – they would’ve returned home hungry and disheartened.
Similarly, we’ve all come to know God at different stages in life. Had the Lord never planted seeds of faith in our hearts, then we’d find ourselves without a future at the end of our lives. The focus is not on when we came to faith, but that we’ve been chosen.
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Secondly, there’s an inherent dignity to labor. Human beings derive pleasure from hard work and results. Those who labored all day in their host’s vineyard should’ve felt more accomplished than those who only had the chance to work for an hour.
Similarly, we who’ve had the opportunity to share the Gospel our entire lives should feel good about the work we’ve done, as opposed to those who may have spent their lives worrying about less important things.
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Is this Gospel passage unfair? Absolutely.
But not because we’re all paid the same wage. It’s unfair because of what that “wage” is – grace for our journey, friendship with God, and the fullness of life to come.
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Image credits: (1) Kelly Needham (2) Food.com (3) Ursuline Sisters of Louisville