Hard Texts: That’s Not Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

September 3, 2006         (Click the date to see the bulletin)

 

1.  “She got a bigger piece of cake than I did!  That’s not fair!”  Who hasn’t heard that complaint before?  Or, at least, one like it.  Children have a very well-developed sense of what is fair and what is not fair.  And I don’t think children ever outgrow it sense of justice!  We adults want to be treated fairly, too!  If we don’t make a lot of money, we need to know why, by golly!  Is it because we lack the education or training?  Or maybe we haven’t worked as long as someone else?  Years ago, I worked as a clerk-typist for the Government.  As such, I had a rating.  GS-3, Level 1.  Everybody knew my rating and how much money went with it.  After a year, I was a GS-3, Level 2.  At the time, I didn’t have a college degree, so I would never have been able to go very high.  Mitch, for example, is a Government employee, and is probably at least a GS-11, and maybe even a 12 or a 13.  And that’s fair, because he has more education than I had at the time.   We want life to be fair.

2.  But this little scenario sets up on its edge everything we expect about fairness.  As we read through it, we notice that all went well at first.  The landowner found a few people willing to work early in the morning, then at various times throughout the day, he went back to the “labor pool” at the city gates and hired more workers.  Jesus does not tell us why.  Could have been that the owner saw a storm building on the far horizon, so he needed to hire more people to get the job finished before it started raining.  It could have been that he was well-organized – he knew he needed some to pick the grapes first.  Then he needed some more to box the grapes, so he went back and hired them.  We just don’t know.  All Matthew reports is that some started to work early, and every two or three hours he went back and invited some more to come work.  They all came, and they all seem to work well together – there is no mention of any squabble.  The landowner didn’t have to tell them to love their neighbor as they love themselves.  Then came quitting time.  Those who had only worked an hour or so received what they had been promised – “I will pay you what is right” the landowner had said, and they apparently had not asked any questions at the time.  “What was right” happened to be the coin that represented the minimum wage for a day laborer who worked the entire day.  Everybody knew that.  We’re not told what they expected, and Jesus doesn’t describe the look on their faces.  The ones who came at five may have had big smiles.  But it soon becomes obvious that those who worked longer were not delighted, because when they, too, are handed the same coin, they protest loudly!  “What!   We worked out in the blazing sun all day long.  We deserve more money!  This is not fair!”

3.  In the business world, what happened in the vineyard would not have been fair.  Companies exist to make a profit.  Therefore, companies intent on making a profit do not need everybody.  They only need the ones who can assist them in their goal of making a profit.  They need people who can do specific tasks, and do them well.  So, in order to get those who are best at those specific tasks, they offer a reward – money, most of all.  And to further excite people about helping them make a profit, companies offer medical insurance and pension and maybe a company car and membership in a health club and parking places with their names on them and anything they want, if they’re good enough.  That’s just to get them started.  So companies in the business world evaluate their employees every year.  Those whose performances measure up to the company’s goals receive a raise or a bonus, maybe both!  But those who don’t measure up receive a warning and may even be fired.  And so it gradually dawns on us that this story is not a short course in business management.

4.  This is a story about God’s world.  You may have heard that there is no real difference – life in God’s world is like life in the business world.  You may have heard that God invites only a select few – those who interpret the Bible a certain way, or those who believe certain things, or those who do certain things, and don’t do certain other things.  But that’s not what this parable tells us.  God needs everyone, so God invites everyone.  No matter who you are, or when the invitation comes, God still invites all of you in the first row, and all of  you in the second row, and third and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth and all of you in the balcony, and all of us up here.  God invites all of us to work in his vineyard.  There is lots of work to do in God’s world, and God gives everyone at least one skill that can be put to good use.

5.  William Barclay says “What God gives us is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace.”^[i]  That is good news, folks, and we need to spread the word!  But we don’t want to do that.  We leave here and shut our mouths, don’t bother to send out the invitation.  It’s as if we’ve all heard, and believe, the story of two geese and a frog.  The geese were about to start southward on their annual migration, when a frog asked to go with them.  The geese expressed their willingness to take him if a means of conveyance could be devised.  Geese, you know, fly, but frogs can only hop.  So the frog produced a long stalk of pond grass, and asked each goose to grab an end with their beaks, while he chomped down on the middle.  In this way the three began their journey.  Some farmers below noticed the strange sight.  One of the men said, “Wow!  I’ve never seen anything like that!  Who thought of that?”  Now, one of the geese could have said “He did,” and maybe it would have happened and everyone would have gotten where they were going.  But the frog was too vain.  He opened his mouth to say, “It was I.”  And when he did, he lost his grip, fell to the earth, unable to get up ever again.  And the moral is “When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut.” ^[ii]  And that is often how we approach this good news.  However, it’s God who has a good thing going, not us.  We need to brag about it.  We need to invite everyone.  That’s what is so hard about this text.  God is depending on us!