The workers who got hired at the end of the day, just an hour before quitting time, got paid the same amount of money as those who had been working all day. They all got paid a full days’ wage.
Does that sound fair to you?
It didn’t sound fair to the other workers, the ones who had been working all day; they grumbled when they realized they were all getting paid the same.
And probably, it didn’t sound fair to the folks listening to Jesus tell this story. I bet they grumbled as well.
And yet, Jesus says that this is what the kingdom of Heaven is like.
I’ve had to sit with this story for a while. I’ve had to let it marinate in my mind. I’ve had to grow into it. I’ve been growing into this story for years, and I’m still growing into it.
Because the kingdom of heaven isn’t quite what I thought it would be. The kingdom of heaven isn’t anything like what I had been taught.
I had been taught that there were rules, and that those who followed the rules, did what is right, would be rewarded accordingly; and those who didn’t follow the rules, or who did what was wrong, would be punished accordingly.
Like on the TV show The Good Place: everyone gets points added or subtracted, based on the number of good things or bad things they did in life. Get enough points, and you go to heaven; but if you don’t get enough points, then down to hell you go.
That made sense to me as a child. It makes sense to me as an adult! It sounds fair.
But God doesn’t work that way. And, in some ways, God doesn’t seem fair.
What if this parable was changed, so that, instead of workers in a field, it was about passengers on an airplane…
The kingdom of heaven is like a pilot who flew a plane full of passengers to a vacation destination. Some of the passengers paid for first class seats, some paid for business class, and some paid economy; but when they walked on board, they were all given first class seats. When those who had paid for first class seats saw this, they grumbled, because those who paid less got the same first-class treatment they got. But the pilot said, “Friends, I am doing you no wrong; are you not still getting what you expected? So, if I choose to show kindness and generosity to others, what is it to you?”
Or, how about this:
The kingdom of heaven is like a teacher who told their students that anyone who had perfect attendance for the month would get to attend a free pizza party. But when the end of the month arrived, and the teacher handed out the invitations to the pizza party, even those who had missed one, or two, or more days of school, got invited.
When the students who had attended every day saw this, they grumbled, because even those who had missed days were invited. But the teacher said, “I am doing you no wrong. I promised you a pizza party, and you are getting a pizza party. If I choose to invite others, what’s that to you?”
The more I think about all this, the more I realize that, sometimes, grace and generosity are hard to accept, when they are shown to others. People sometimes have a problem with God showing grace and kindness and generosity to others.
The prophet Jonah was called by God to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. But Jonah firmly believed that the Ninevites were not worthy of even the opportunity to repent. So Jonah hopped on board a ship and sailed as far away as he could in the opposite direction, away from Nineveh.
Well, God found Jonah, of course. A giant fish swallowed Jonah, swam back to land, and spit Jonah up on the shore.
So Jonah reluctantly went and preached to the Ninevites, still believing that they were incapable of repentance and unworthy of any grace from God. Yet the people of Nineveh did repent, and God did forgive them and extend grace to them.
And Jonah thought this was incredibly unfair. Jonah became angry. He grumbled, I’m sure, and prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is this not what I said would happen? I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.... And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Now, none of God’s grace was taken away from Jonah. God had done no wrong to Jonah. And yet, the fact that God decided to be generous and forgiving and extend grace to others was too much for Jonah. It made Jonah angry—so angry, that he wished to die!
It sounds crazy; and who hasn’t laughed at Jonah for getting so worked up over everything? When I read Jonah’s story, I think, “come on, Jonah; of course God is forgiving and full of love and grace!” And I think of Jonah as a petty, narrow-minded sort of person.
But when I hear the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, I’m more inclined to agree that the distribution of wages isn’t exactly fair, that God’s justice is indeed a bit skewed… Because it doesn’t match with what I think is fair, or with how things work in the real world.
And the more I think about the story of Jonah and how it relates to what Jesus says about the kingdom of God, and how the workers who worked all day grumbled about the workers who worked only part of the day receiving the full days’ wage, the more I realize that, even for many of us today, the extravagance of God’s grace doesn’t always sit well with us.
And that’s why Christians have developed ideas and theologies and doctrines about hell that go way beyond anything scripture talks about.
We still want grace withheld from those we think are unworthy or undeserving! We’re so afraid of extending grace and kindness and generosity without some sort of limit or requirement.
And this is the type of thinking that influences how many in this country think about things like healthcare and welfare and other benefits. It is common for politicians and constituents to believe that not everyone is deserving of health care, not everyone is deserving of social services, not everyone is deserving of food, especially if they aren’t working.
It doesn’t matter why they aren’t working. Our country is one which believes that people must work in order to receive food or health care or other benefits or services.
And if the parable of the laborers in the vineyard happened in real life, nearly all of us would be among those who grumble.
During the pandemic, federal funds provided free lunches for students in school. When that program ended, a number of states decided to continue them.
But in other states, the programs have ended, and now many students have school lunch debt.
To some, it doesn’t seem fair that lunch is provided for free. I imagine that those who are against providing free lunches to students are the biggest grumblers in today’s Bible story. No one should receive, unless they are willing to work, or pay, or earn what they receive in some way.
Do you see how God’s grace is a hard thing for some people? Can you think of ways in which God’s grace is a hard thing for you to accept?
Some of us have a hard time accepting God’s grace for ourselves.
As a pastor, I’ve heard people confess to me that they don’t think they’re good enough. They’re not good enough to receive communion. They’re not good enough to accept a call to be an elder, or a deacon. They’re not good enough to even come to church. They tell me: “Lightning would strike the church if I showed up!”
No, God isn’t going to strike you with lightning. And God isn’t going to send you to hell. And God isn’t going to punish you in some way, or keep you out of heaven.
Because, as today’s scripture shows, God is a God of grace; a God of extravagant grace.
Isn’t that the point of these “kingdom of heaven” parables?
Here’s another one that you may be more familiar with:
Once upon a time, there were two brothers. The older brother was loyal to his family and a hard worker. But the younger brother didn’t like to work; in fact, the younger brother demanded his father give him his share of the inheritance, and he took it and he went off and wasted it on reckless living.
When all the money was gone, the younger brother realized how foolish he had been, and decided to go back home. He didn’t feel that he deserved to be accepted back into his father’s household as a son, but perhaps his father would allow him to be a servant, and at least then he would have some food and shelter.
Well, when he returned, his father threw his arms around his son, welcomed him as his son, and threw a huge party for him.
To the older brother, this did not seem fair. His younger brother didn’t deserve such grace. The older brother complained to their father, but the father said something that sounds very similar to what the landowner said to the grumbling laborers; he said: “Look, everything I have is yours; this does not affect my love for you in any way.
“But I have to celebrate, because this brother of yours was lost, but now is found.”
The older brother thought there should be a limit to his father’s love and generosity. Maybe he thought his father’s abundant wealth would run out, if he kept bestowing it on the brother who would waste it.
But God’s grace never runs out. God’s love never stops flowing. Someone else receiving God’s love does not mean there is less love for you.
Richard Rohr writes that “Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us.” God is always willing, and eager, even, to let love and grace outrank rules and requirements.
And if that leads you to grumble, listen to what the wealthy landowner says: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
This parable is a challenge to me—and, I think, to all of us—to grumble less, and love more. It’s a challenge to be more accepting of the extravagant grace God bestows on others, and the extravagant grace God bestows on us.
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