Loving God, there are times when we think we know better than you, only to be reminded that your ways are higher than our ways. In the midst of the distractions of this world, keep our attention focused on you through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Imagine standing there on Judgment Day, grumbling and complaining over the people that God is letting in! “Oh - not that person, Lord! He never did much of anything!” “Not her, Lord! She didn’t believe the right things!” “Lord, I always did so much for you and you’re letting him in? No way!” “Lord, do you know what she did? Why are you letting her in?” A far-fetched scene, or easy to imagine?

Perhaps it’s not so far-fetched, especially when Jonah exhibits the same attitude, as do the people to whom Jesus addresses the parable that we heard in today’s gospel. In Jonah’s case, he was just waiting to see God destroy the wicked people of Nineveh. He was the one who had obeyed God and been God’s prophet (although apparently he had forgotten that little incident with the big fish). What business did God have saving all of these people who had been so wicked?! It was going to discredit Jonah as one who speaks God’s judgment! And so Jonah complains and pouts and asks to die. God’s mercy is a fine thing, but not when it’s directed at these people!

Similarly, the labourers in the vineyard who had worked all day long grumble and complain about how much those other workers are getting paid. It doesn’t seem to matter that they get paid exactly as much as they were promised for the day’s work. In that respect, the landowner is absolutely fair: He keeps his word to every single worker. No - to these workers what matters is that people who did far less work than they did are getting paid exactly the same wage as they are. Their problem comes when they start comparing themselves with the other workers.

Now, of course this is only one part of the parable as a whole. The challenge with any of the parables that Jesus tells is first of all to grasp their meaning, and then to ask what message is in there for us. This parable, just like many of the others, is told in order to describe what the kingdom of God is like. As well, the point that is emphasized in the parable is usually to be found in the part of the story that would have been most shocking to the hearers. In this case, the emphasis has to be on how the landowner chooses to pay the workers.

As has already been mentioned, the landowner is absolutely fair insofar as he keeps his word to each of the workers. Those who were hired first agree to “the usual daily wage” (Mt. 20:2). This is a denarius - the minimum wage for a labourer, and just enough to feed a family for one day. Those who are hired later don’t agree to any specific wage. The landowner simply says that he will pay them “whatever is right” (Mt. 20:4).

Although there are a number of commentaries that choose to emphasize the generosity of the landowner, he really isn’t particularly generous. He’s paying minimum wage, after all. However, the landowner is merciful. He has pity on those who have not worked enough hours in order to feed their families. And so he gives them the minimum that would be needed in order to do so.

What is interesting here is how the story unfolds. The landowner could have paid the workers in such a way that they wouldn’t have known what the others were getting paid. He could have paid the people first who had worked all day, and then sent them away. However, instead, it is told in such a way that there is bound to be grumbling in the story. This is what gives us a clue as to what Jesus was emphasizing and to whom. It is entirely likely that there were Pharisees around, continuing to grumble over how much time and energy Jesus was giving to sinners. Yet, from God’s perspective, these are not people who are to be written off, ignored and condemned. Rather, they are precious human beings, created by God and in need of redemption and salvation.

In the parable, the people who grumble are the ones who feel as though they have earned their wages. You can bet that there probably wasn’t a lot of grumbling from those who had worked less hours. For them, what they received was quite obviously a gift, and not something that they had earned.

For us, then, the question becomes how it is that we experience God’s salvation. Do we feel as if we’ve done lots of good things in order to earn God’s favour? Or do we experience God’s salvation as pure gift – something that we could never, ever earn? If we know that it is a gift, then we can see it as a gift for others, as well, and not begrudge God’s salvation being given to sinners. However, if we get to feeling like we have earned our place in heaven, then we’ll be standing there with all the other grumblers – envious because of God’s goodness to others.

The danger that is brought to light both by this parable and by the preceding chapter in Matthew is that of being blinded by a sense of our own goodness. The previous chapter of Matthew includes the rich young man who wants to know what good deed he needs to do to inherit eternal life (Mt. 19:16). His problem in being able to follow Jesus is two-fold. First of all, he has kept all the commandments and thus feels that he is deserving of God’s salvation. Secondly, he assumes that his wealth is a divine blessing for his faithfulness. He wants one good deed he can do to earn his way in, not an entire life change that would leave him only Jesus! It is a sense of his own goodness that prevents him from following Jesus and finding eternal life.

God forbid that we would ever be cut off from Jesus in a similar way! In order to follow Jesus, we need to recognize our own need, our own sinfulness, and our own inability to save ourselves. We need to recognize the gift that God has given us in Jesus and the gracious manner in which God has dealt with our sins. We also need to recognize how we are all equal at the foot of the cross, and how, when it comes to salvation, none of us have the right to consider ourselves better or more deserving than others.

Yet, isn’t it easy to slip into thinking that some of us are “more equal” than others? Are long time members considered more equal than newcomers? Are adults considered more equal than children or youth? Are those who give the most in their offering considered more equal than those who have a lesser amount to give? Are those who know their Bibles the best considered more equal than those who don’t? Are those who work the hardest in the church considered more equal than those who do not or maybe cannot? Don’t we always manage to compare ourselves to others?

Yet, when the time of judgment comes, God is not going to ask us how we stacked up against everybody else. Rather, we will be judged according to Jesus’ righteousness. If we have clothed ourselves with Christ and have looked to him for our salvation, God will see only the righteous life that Jesus lived when he looks at us.

In the mean time, our job is to work in the vineyard to the best of our ability, and to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us in order that we might grow up into Christ. We do so, knowing that in the end we will not be given what we deserve, but so much more - because we have put our faith in Jesus. We do all stand on equal ground at the foot of the cross - all of us equally in need of salvation. Let us then look to the crucified one for our example, striving, not to be better than our neighbour, but to become more and more Christ-like by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lectionary 25 (A)     Matthew 20:1-16
September 21, 2008     Jonah 3:10-4:11
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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