Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 24, 2017 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Isa 55:6-9; Phil 1:20c-24, 27a; Matt 20:1-16a]"'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." [Matthew]
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Oh, how many parents have heard THAT complaint before? But, then again, how many of all of us haven't made that complaint to God? Why did you give so-and-so such talent or beauty or intelligence or "whatever?" The gospel parable today goes straight at that question. The owner of the vineyard hands out the jobs and hands out the pay. The earliest hired workers, like ever vigilant siblings, protest the amount paid to those hired later. God's response is simple. "Why are you upset? You got what you asked for. Why can't I be generous? Are you envious of me, or the others, or both?"
God's generosity is not tied to our human expectations. It can be humbling to do a self-examination about our "expectations" of God. Certain things we can count on like God's love and mercy if we are open to them. But our other expectations are usually based on our human desires or arise because we compare ourselves to others and decide that the others are better and it's God's fault! This can run from very minor to rather major things. Why did this good person suffer and that bad one not suffer? Why did so-and-so get that job and I didn't?
In the parable, God's generosity is the centerpiece. No one was "owed" a job. The laborers hired last may have been at the end of their rope because no one had hired them. Their families might have gone hungry. We don't know that. We just see that WE worked longer than THEY did, and "deserved" more, even though we agreed to what we "bargained for." Hmmmm....maybe we need to look at our notions of "fairness" and ask if we are being fair to God instead of accusing God of being unfair to us. AMEN
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