Loving God, things often seem unfair to us, and sometimes we bring those complaints to you.  Help us to see that instead of treating us fairly, you treat us with generosity and grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

           A bit of a survey to begin with today:  How many of you hear today’s parable, and your immediate response is, “It’s not fair!”?...  Are you right there, grumbling and complaining with the people who worked twelve hours instead of one?... And how many of you hear this parable and are immediately filled with gratitude?...  This might be the case if you identify with one of the workers who got paid a full day’s wage even though they only worked a few hours.  The point of all this is that your reaction to this parable really depends on who you identify with the most.  For, it is a very different story depending on who is telling it.

         If one of the people hired first thing in the morning is telling the story, it might go something like this:  You are not going to believe what happened to me today.  This guy hired me for the day to work in his vineyard.  Every few hours throughout the day, he brought in some more workers.  In fact, 5 o’clock at night, he was still bringing in more workers.  I guess he wanted the work done as soon as possible.

         At any rate, at the end of the day it’s time for all of us to get paid.  The manager comes out and starts by giving the people who worked only one hour a full day’s pay.  And then the ones who only worked three hours, and then the ones who only worked six hours – all along the line – a full day’s pay. When he finally got to me, I was sure I would get paid more than them.  After all, I was one of the few people who actually worked for twelve hours. But nope – that was asking too much. I got the same as all the rest. What a farce!  Next time maybe I’ll just hang around the marketplace all day, too!  It’s absolutely not fair!

         However, it’s a bit of a different story if it is told by one of the people who only got hired later in the day:  You are not going to believe what happened to me today!  As I have done on so many other days, I went to the marketplace in the hopes of finding some work.  Hour after hour, I hung around, but nobody would hire me.  As the hours wore on, I was getting more and more anxious, wondering how on earth I was going to feed my family that day.  In fact, I was almost ready to give up and go home when somebody came along and finally hired me to work in his vineyard.

         I didn’t think I would get paid very much seeing as I didn’t work very long.  However, much to my surprise I was given a full day’s pay!  I was so amazed that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  I was grateful beyond belief that my family could finally have something to eat.  Some of the other workers, though, were pretty angry when they received a full day’s pay for a full day’s work.  They thought the whole thing was pretty unfair, but I guess it all depends on how you look at it.  I, for one, was very thankful.

         The final perspective in the story would be the landowner, who seems to have these really strange business practices.  In fact, can you imagine actually putting people ahead of profit?  When he goes to the marketplace time after time during the day, he does not see a bunch of lazy people just sitting around.  Instead, he sees people who have been unable to find work and who will be unable to feed their families.  And so, he keeps on hiring people throughout the day – obviously owning a vineyard that has enough work in it for all of them.

         Then, when the end of the day comes, he pays all of them what is “right,” as opposed to what they have earned.  He wants each one of them to have enough to feed their family, and so he gives a full day’s wage to every single one of them.  Certainly some of them complain, but that doesn’t change his mind one bit. It is his vineyard, and he gave everybody enough to live on, and he can choose to be generous if he wants to!

         So… what do you think? Should those who work the hardest get paid the most?...  And is that how it actually works in our world?... [No – otherwise the billionaires would be all worn out!]. Instead, in our world there are many who do not get paid a living wage, and often those who work the hardest get paid the least.

         Of course, the parable also invites us to think about how God operates.  Does God give each one of us what we deserve or earn, or does God give us far more than we deserve?... God treats us with generosity and grace – the same generosity and grace that God applies to others.  Thus, do we really have a basis for complaining that others have done less than we have and yet are being given the same salvation that we are?

         Many people seem to live with the assumption that things should be fair.  However, God seems to choose equity over fairness.  For, at the foot of the cross, all of us are on the same level. None of us are more saved than anybody else.  We all stand in need of Jesus, who has done the really difficult work in order to offer us salvation and eternal life.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 2 (NL 1)                                    Matthew 20:1-16

March 17, 2019

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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