Vineyard Whines

Did you ever agree to a price for something and then discover later that you could have gotten a better deal?

It happens to me a lot in my business.  I negotiate a price for my work and either the job takes a lot longer than I expected, or I learn that the client had expected to pay much more for it.

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. - Matthew 20:9-10

In today's reading, Jesus tells another parable.  This time, his focus is on expectations.

If we negotiate one price for our work and see that someone who did less is paid what we expect to get, should we assume we will get more than what we agreed to?

When it is stated that way, the answer is obvious.  No.

How many times have you heard that someone has been hired in your company who has less experience and is paid more than you?

It happens all the time.  It is what motivates us to move on, or to be smarter the next time.

But Jesus isn't talking about negotiations here.  Those who come to the Father late in life are just as welcome and loved as those who come early.

All get the same treatment.

We might think that isn't fair, but it is not about fairness at all.  He is talking about generosity.  And forgiveness.

Now there are those who will say, "If I can come to the job at 4pm and get paid for a full day's work, why wouldn't I do that?"

If you are still around at four, that might be a valid strategy, but it may not be a smart one.

What the parable points out is a difference in perspective and attitude.  Some of us want to get as much as we can for as little as possible, while others want to live a full and rich life.

In either case, the end is the same, so why bother working hard to get there?

Jesus ends with an odd statement.  The last will be first and the first will be last.  What does that mean for those of us who come to the table early?

Are we to be given less?

I don't think so.  I think the point is that the opportunity to be saved, to turn around and set ourselves straight exists right up to the very last breath we take, and maybe even beyond that.  This is what Jesus came for, to save us.

So, it is his highest priority to save those who are lost and those who come last, if they come at all.

In the parable, the owner of the vineyard kept going out and finding more workers standing idle.  Those are the ones he offered work to.

There is a message there for those of us who see ourselves as first.  We should be looking for others too and welcome them when they come to share the work with us, knowing we will all rejoice in the reward together.

Ah, but that is hard to do, to accept that someone who has done less will get the same.  This is why we will be last.  We can only be among the first to be paid if we demonstrate our acceptance of the terms of employment and tank God for what we have.

Here is a way to look at this that may help make sense of it.

Be the vineyard owner and see if you can be as generous.

More to come...