Latecomers

Have you ever arrived late for an event and expected the same treatment as if you arrived on time?

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 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.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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.’ 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? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” - Matthew 20:1-16

The topic of fairness always comes up when we talk about today's Gospel reading of the parable of the landowner and the workers.

Is it fair to pay the same day's wage to someone who worked one hour as one who worked eight or ten?

You would expect the one who worked many more hours would be paid a lot more, and that's the rub here.  The landowner chose to pay the latecomers the same as the early arrivals, jiust as he would have fed them the same meals if they had arrived late for a dinner party.

But by knowing what the latecomers got paid, jealousy arose in the others.

They expected more, because they worked more.

Are we to believe God isn't fair?

Maybe.

And we might just be thankful for that.

I am reminded of the criminal who was crucified along with Jesus, the one who took pity on Jesus.

Jesus told him he would be with him in paradise.

You can't be more of a latecomer than that.  And yet he gets the full reward.

Life is not work.  Life is harder, with more challenges and more opportunities to fail.  Nothing in life is guaranteed, unless you choose to follow Christ.

Then, everything is set for an eternoty.  All we need to do is accept it and try hard to stay the course.

But if we fail and stumble, we can get back on the path and continue as if nothing had gone wrong.

That may not sound fair to those who never stumble, but for most of us latecomers, it is salvation.

More to come...