Maybe it's not just about God's grace...thoughts on Matthew 20:1-16

This Sunday's Gospel reading is Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Here are some thoughts and notes and further reflections...enjoy!

Here's the parable...

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Now for my thoughts, notes and reflections...

The setting...a time of high unemployment and a harvest of grapes that must be taken in or they will be lost.

Consider the pools of workers...which are most industrious...least industrious...6 -9-12pm-3-5

Denarius...normal day’s pay...v.4ff... “whatever is right”... would be understood to be less than a denarius

v.11-12...they have a right of complaint, but lack of formal address shows disrespect

v.13...gracious response ‘friend’...Matthew uses this word 3x in his gospel...each time the person addressed is in the wrong. Makes you think!

v.15...these 2 questions basis of parable...but I like the Greek behind the 2nd question...“Is your eye evil because I am good?”...we see things differently. Most certainly.

Two themes…
1.) a sense of grace… “because I am generous?”…the pay itself is not really all that generous…more the totally undeserving nature of the last people hired (they did no work) and the first people hired (they grumbled and were greedy)…so any pay is the result of grace/freely given love/generous nature not because of what anyone has done
2.) a sense of urgency… early, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th …the master goes out repeatedly to recruit workers into his vineyard. He never has enough…there is always more to do and the need for more people…“go and work”…the command is always the same…even in the 11th hour.

Do the same themes dominate our thinking as church and as individuals…urgency and grace??

Graciousness/acceptance in welcoming others into the kingdom of God and in accepting the grace, forgiveness and love of God for ourselves.

Urgency in proclaiming the saving knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus and doing the work of the kingdom.

But there is the temptation to over spiritualize this parable. Maybe this is also about the the Kingdom of Heaven that is found and lived in the hard realities of life on earth. Maybe it is about contentment...about 9 & 10 Commandment...about rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep...about decrying injustice done to others...about celebrating with those who outshine us...about denying ourselves (which includes our hopes and dreams and wishes and desires and plans)and being happy for those who find success, wealth, and public recognition in their earthly life.

A lot to think about...as always.