Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - Wednesday in the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
[Ezekiel 34:1-11 and Matthew 20:1-16]"My friend, I am not cheating you. did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?" Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.
In our society, the landowner in this parable would be faced with a lawsuit! Or at least he'd find himself the subject of a complaint to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission! But Jesus' parable is not about fair labor standards (as important as those are). This parable is about the mystery of God's call which comes to each of us but is not expressed exactly the same way to each of us. Our American expectations about seniority and wages were not part of the Middle Eastern culture in which Jesus preached. Note that only with the first workers does the landowner agree to the "usual daily wage." The others receive "what is just" or nothing at all is said! By starting with the last people hired, the owner provides a lesson to those who agreed to "the usual daily wage." The first lesson is about the generosity of the owner. It is his money and he is free to do with it as he wishes. He keeps his bargain with the "first-hired" but reserves his discretion in regard to everyone else. Second, he is generous in offering labor to the unhired. He was not required to do that. Third, he challenges the envy of the "first-hired," which, in the Middle East is not just a desire to be paid an equal amount but a desire to have the money that was being given to others so that they did not receive it at all! Perhaps the most telling thing of all is our American "gut" reaction to this parable. Do we automatically have a "twinge" because of our tendency to interpret things economically and materially? Is God supposed to act according to our cultural and economic presuppositions and expectations? Do we think salvation is like a line outside a stadium for a game or concert where the first shall be first and the last shall be last? Hmmmmmm......maybe we'd better think again. AMEN
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