September 24, 2023
St. Andrew Church
Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Psalm 145:1-8
1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Second Lesson: Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 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.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Day laborers await work in the Home Depot parking lot most days. These hard-working individuals are available to hire by the hour, the job or the day. My contractor told me their going rate is $30/hour and so a full day would cost just shy of $250. Flexible, available, and often knowledgeable, these laborers provide a much-needed part of our work force. In Jesus’ day the marketplace gathered day laborers in much the same way. Their daily wage would be a denarius, barely enough to sustain a family at subsistence level. Jesus tells this parable following a discussion about what must be done to inherit eternal life, that ends with Jesus telling the rich man to give away all his possessions. Then that famous adage “It is easier for camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (16:24). Listen now for God’s word. The UAW strike is entering its second week, with more plants scheduled to strike, and workers being furloughed because of lack of parts. The union wants its fair share of the record billion-dollar profits since they made concessions in the downturn. The Big Three Auto makers want to protect their bottom line. People are noting the income disparity between CEO and the workers. In 1965 it was 15-1, in 1989 44-1, meaning for every dollar a worker made the CEO made $44. In 2000 that ratio peaked at 3 93 to 1, and recently it was 23 6 to 1. Wage disparity is hard to take when so many are just getting by while others have an obscene amount of money. (Camel anyone?) Another a key issue is the two-tiered pay scale. Two workers on the line, one might make $30/hour while the new hire makes $15 doing the exact same job. The inverse of our parable. The workers simply want their fair share and a living wage. Americans are supportive of unions. 71 % support unions according to a Gallup poll. I argue that the increase is due to the perceived injustice in our labor market. The sticking point in the parable is when the initial workers see, perceive, the injustice. If the manager had simply paid the first workers first, they would be none the wiser and content with their agreed upon wages. But once they see the income disparity, they grumble and complain. It is human nature to compare, and we want the world to be fair, even though it rarely is. But did you notice the parable is an example of the last being first and the first being last, just like the parable states. The last hired get paid first and the first hired gets paid last. If the landowner paid the last for what they worked they would not have enough, their family would go hungry. Remember he could have hired all of the workers straight away but chose not to. Instead, he hired them because they were idle and he had work. Yet the first workers still felt cheated. At the University of Atlanta, in Australia, monkeys also want to see justice done. Researchers have been testing capuchin monkeys. They gave them the task of picking up a small granite stone and bringing it to the researcher within one minute. If they were successful, they were rewarded with the wage of a slice of cucumber. The scheme worked well. It was a happy lab situation as long as each monkey received the same wage. This turned sour when the researchers varied the pattern. They tried giving one monkey a grape for its reward. Indignation broke out. First the others withheld their labor, and later they even took to throwing away the cucumber and the granite stone. Changing the wage, the fruit, seems to have offended their sense of justice. That’s almost human isn’t it? We are happy with our lot until we see someone in a similar situation who is better off. Then we cry foul!” (Brett Blair, Sermons.com). The first workers objected when others were made equal to them; were paid the same wage. They believe they have what they have by justice, but the others have what they have by grace, or handouts. Perceptions are tricky- what feels true for one, may seem absurd to another. Perceived injustice is everywhere right now. Social media, information silos, partisan politics all seem to thrive on perceived injustice. The right fears immigrants and minorities will take what is theirs, hence the wall and voter suppression. The left perceives the threat to democracy will end life as we know it. Both are responses to VUCA the acronym for the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous nature of the times we live in.
Injustice is usually about equal work for less pay, think of women’s rights. But equal pay for unequal work? This is kingdom justice. The first workers got their fair wage, exactly what they agreed to receive. Yet the first workers coveted what the last workers received. They thought they deserved more, because they worked more. But if justice is about what we deserve in God’s kingdom we would all be in trouble.
Who here lives without sinning?
Who never has a mean or judgmental thought?
Who here never bends the rules, speeds, or tells little white lies?
We do not deserve grace, mercy and forgiveness because of our actions, our works. We receive those gifts and blessings because of the love God has for Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us. If God’s kingdom was fair, we would be plum out of luck.
The story is told of pastor who preached on this text. A church member came to her after the service and said, “You know, preacher, there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to abide, and other parts that aren’t. The story you preached today is one that I find totally offensive! It’s just not fair to pay everyone the same wage when some have worked hard and some have hardly worked. Jesus was just wrong about that. I think you should have preached on something less offensive.” The following Sunday, she preached about the prodigal son (Johnny Dean, Exasperating Grace, sermons.com). We love it when we are welcomed and received when we mess up, but heaven forbid God’s abundant grace be extended to others! That’s unfair, unjust!
Grace and generosity, abundance and welcome these are the virtues of God’s kingdom and of God’s character! The point is that God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness are God’s to give away as God sees fit (Working Preacher, Karl Jacobson). “God’s generosity will not succumb to human jealousy” (Working Preacher, Emerson Powery). Isn’t that what is really happening here? The first workers are jealous that the last workers were paid the same amount.
The landowner represents God who says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” This last verse is the translation of a Greek idiom which literally translates as “Is your eye evil because I am good?” I love that. Jealousy is certainly an evil eye and one that denies who God is and what God does. We will never deserve God’s grace, but fortunately our God is bigger, kinder and more loving than we deserve.
With all this talk about money, remember that rich man and camel through the eye of the needle saying? The disciples were distressed upon hearing that and asked, “Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (19:26). We are saved, forgiven, shown mercy and loved, not because of what we do or have done, but because the God we worship and love, makes it possible. It doesn’t matter if we work all day or for one hour, God’s grace is abundantly sufficient to restore, free and forgive! God’s love returns to the marketplace again and again to give more people a path to be in communion with God. The last will be first and the first will be last. Let’s not be jealous or envious of that. Rather let’s be grateful that we are richly blessed with a loving and forgiving God who offers us so much more than we deserve!
