morning glory august 2005

September 18, 2005

Mt 20:1-16a
Jesus told his disciples this parable:“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for hivineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock,the landowner 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,the landowner 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 last will be first and the first will be last. It is not for me to compare or envy what God has given to another. If the reward that I have received is fair, it is foolish to be concerned about how it compares to another person's reward. It is wrong to assume that I should be given more than anyone else. If I have been treated fairly, there is no reason to go further than that.

The vineyard owner, God, showed mercy and compassion to those workers who had not been hired early in the day. The workers who had been in the vineyard from early in the day were working for the agreed daily wage. They were given what they originally agreed to. They became demanding not because of the amount they agreed to and were given but because they thought they deserved more that the workers who started later. A part of understanding the foolishness and greed of the early workers is seeing the compassion and mercy of God. God loves us all. I pray today to be accepting of the mercy and compassion of God and to be able to show it to others in some form today.