Morning Prayer: Shannon Cook Choral Amen Hymn of Grace *Spirit, Come, Dispel our Sadness* Witness of Scripture: Matthew 20: 1-16 Anthem *Amazing Grace* David Ashley White. Chancel Choir and Angela Walker, oboe Sermon *Gracious or Fair* David Spain
Recorded on October 8, 2023
Thank you for being in worship today! Between Fall Break and yesterday’s results in the Cotton Bowl which have left us either depressed from defeat or exhausted from elation, this Sunday is almost always the lowest attended Sunday of the year. Fortunately, no matter how we feel, this morning’s parable from Matthew is guaranteed to make us feel…worse! The parable of the laborers in the vineyard as it is known is almost as disorienting as Jesus’ parables of the Prodigal and the Samaritan, which Luke’s gospel tells.These three parables are in the pantheon of parables that disrupt life’s assumptions about the status quo. But, that is the nature of the parables Jesus tells—they are surprising not confirming, reorienting not conventional.
Since Jesus tells us that parables are about the kingdom of heaven and the ways of God, it is fair for us to ask how God’s reign is being told in this parable.John T. Carroll reminds us that this parable has been rigorously and variously interpreted. Is this a parable about the generosity of a landowner; or is the parable about the exploitation of vulnerable workers by a union-busting owner who deliberately sets laborers against one another with an unfair wage structure; or, does the parable emphasize the obligation of the well-heeled to provide work and resources for those whose survival is uncertain; or is the parable a defense of Jesus’ acceptance of religious outsiders who have responded to his preaching and healing; or is it about the full inclusion of gentiles who have come lately to Israel’s salvation story? Beyond these and many other interpretations over the years, we recognize that the title itself is an interpretive move. We remember Jesus did not entitle his parables—those were added later. He did not say, ‘gather around friends to hear the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.’ To be sure the parable speaks of the laborers, but what if it is entitled “the parable of a gracious God,” or “the parable of wondrous bounty,” or simply “tales from the vineyard.” Names matter, titles insinuate perspective. This parable is about more than simply the laborers. Jesus says the parable is about the kingdom of heaven.
Where the gospel writers place a story in their telling matters as well. Every author shapes the gospel they tell with the stories they emphasize and the way they order these stories. This parable follows two stories about greatness—one involving children, who had very little status, yet Jesus said, “to such as these belongs the kingdom of heaven.” The other story involved a rich young man who had amassed great wealth and had been faithful in keeping the commandments, which were seen as signs of God’s blessing; yet Jesus spoke to him of sharing his wealth with the poor, changing his investment strategy toward treasure in heaven, and following him, counsel that left this accomplished upstart grieving and the disciples confused—two stories concluding with a statement that sets life on its head, “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” This same phrase is repeated at the conclusion of today’s parable.
Where a story is placed in the gospel telling is important, but it may be equally important to pay attention to where we place ourselves in the parable because we have learned that parables reveal first then inform later. If we place ourselves among the laborers, which group are we? Having grown up on a steady diet of the Protestant work ethic of valuable productivity, some might see themselves as the industrious, hard-working all-day laborers. That is fine, but the parable allows for more than one perspective. Maybe some see themselves as the owner of the vineyard, someone with power to shape peoples’ lives and with options about how to use that power-- who benefits and who doesn’t? Maybe we see ourselves with Jesus in this parable trying to teach something of unusual value; or perhaps we are with the disciples trying to figure out how to live the practicalities of this ‘kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,’ especially in a world where at the end of the day Rome never lets us forget that Caesar is really the dominant one and not Christ. So, where we place ourselves in the parable matters.
The parable Jesus tells would be familiar to first century Galileans if not first world Christians. Perhaps it is this time of year…harvest season and day laborers gather at the town market hoping to be hired and paid the going wage so they can provide for themselves and any family depending on their work. They are at the mercy of another for their life. And yet, Jesus is shaping this scene with subtle changes because he wants people to know about the kingdom of heaven and God’s ways in the world which is not as well known unfortunately as the kingdoms of this world and Caesar’s rule from the palace. To be sure, these day laborers know about their dependence on others for their survival; and yet at another level who of us is not in some way dependent on others for our lives. The deepest truth that is easy to forget is that our lives come out of the grace and generosity of God who wants us to be, and many others who help us to be. No one owes us this life—it comes as grace, and if that is our starting point, then perhaps we hear this parable differently.
Jesus introduces another subtlety in the story—it is the owner who comes to seek the laborers. The owner does not send someone else, but seeks workers personally. This is no distant and indifferent owner; this is no one who puts out a ‘help-wanted’ sign and hopes people will show up. This is a seeking, searching, calling owner—like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep, like a woman sweeping her house all night for a lost coin, like a parent on tips toes waiting for a child to return, like a host who throws a party and isn’t happy until every person in every alley and every by-way is seated at the banquet. This owner seeks everybody, according to the parable.
We note a couple of other subtleties. It is not lost to us that those who are hired first do not
complain about their good fortune. No where does the parable suggest that these workers are better or more fit…they are simply the first hired. When good fortune breaks someone’s way, rare is the fortunate one who asks for a new hand. As the story continues, the owner returns to the market again and again to hire more for the vineyard, up to one hour before the end of the harvest day. We notice when the owner asks about the 11th hour workers hired, there is no suggestion there is something wrong with them.They simply have not been hired, and we marvel that they remained through the day, holding on to the hope that they can bring home a little sustenance so their children will not go to bed hungry.
Had Jesus ended the parable right there, perhaps most would be contented. It’s a nice parable as everybody gets something.However, we know Jesus well enough to know he does not leave well-enough alone. At the end of the day, it is time to pay the wages which had been promised at scale for the first hired workers and only promised for what is right to those hired later. This owner could have saved a lot of bellyaching by paying in the order in which the people were hired. The first hired workers would have received their daily wage as promised and been on their way. Instead, the owner pays the last hired first, giving them an entire day’s wage. Is this owner naïve or foolish, thinking everyone would rejoice at everyone’s good fortune? Does the owner think the workers are past that scale which believes value is determined solely by a comparative ranking? Does this owner think everyone will show up at the break of dawn for work the next day rather than consider the possibility of rolling the dice and showing up at 4:45 instead? What is the scale of value here? The kingdom of heaven is like this? Who wants to be part of a realm like that? It matters where we see ourselves in the parable.
As Jesus continues to reshape the familiar scene into a surprising parable, we note that the owner of the vineyard listens to the ones who complain. The biblical story tells that story repeatedly—Jonah complained bitterly about God’s grace even to the Ninevites; God listened to the bellyaching Israelites in the wilderness; Jesus wanted to know about the squabbles the disciples had with each other. To be sure God does more than listen; Jesus listens and teaches, but being put off by God’s grace does not disqualify one from God’s grace. God does not rescue people from their discontent, but God will keep offering ways to get through that discontent.
It is always a good idea to hear exactly what the complaint is. Those laborers who were hired first—and maybe they have a legitimate beef—the first hired did not say, “hey Owner you are cheap,” nor “Hey, we want more.”Instead, what they said is, “You have made them equal to us…” There is a presumption behind that kind of statement. The presumption may be fairness, with fairness defined almost always through the filter of personal advantage. Or perhaps, ensconced in the standards of status quo whether that is economics, familial, social, or religious, sometimes presumption becomes entitlement.The parable seeks to move people from presumption to grace, from fairness to mercy. Let us be clear, this parable is not fair; it is grace and no matter where we see ourselves in the vineyard, every single one of us is born by the grace of God and everyone is kept all through the day in the mercy of God.But we admit, as Graham Greene once said, “the mercy of God is a strange thing.”
Master teacher that Jesus is, he leaves the hearers of this parable with two of the best questions he ever asked. The vineyard owner, having heard the complaints, calls them friends and asks—“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” Jesus pushes people to ask questions about life…what is best, what is meaningful, what is redeeming? What is life to be, to what do people aspire? No one said these questions are easy, but they are important.So, even if it is Fall Break and no matter the outcome of yesterday’s game, Jesus gives us this parable not as a guarantee that we would feel worse, but as an opportunity that we might even feel better. Perhaps it all depends on where we are in the parable—gracious or fair?