Listen

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’ When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’

“But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 20:8-16

Think

“That’s not fair!”

When someone who only worked an hour is paid the same as we were – and we worked all day – that is clearly unfair!

Not only did those later workers get to sleep in instead of starting work at the crack of dawn, but they were also absent when we stood in the hot sun, harvesting grapes and getting sunburnt. Are their feet and backs as achy as ours are now, after all the work? No! And they’re getting the same pay as we are? Unfair!

In this passage, instead of scolding the early workers for their complaints, the landlord affectionately reminds them they’re being paid fairly, just as they had agreed.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like this story. In the kingdom of heaven, it is OK to complain! God hates injustice, too. In the kingdom of heaven, we are loved and called “Friend.” In this kingdom, everyone is treated with something even better than fairness: the grace of generosity.

Jane Claspy Nesmith

Question to Ponder:

When have you received generosity in place of fairness?

Pray

God of justice, I know when someone is being unfair to me. Hear my complaints when I cry out against that injustice.

Help me be aware when other people around me are being treated unfairly, and give me the strength to cry out on their behalf.

Give me the grace to extend your generosity wherever I can.

Amen.

Go

Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship, and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:

Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers; give glory, you sons of Jacob; adore him, you daughters of Israel.

God has never let you down.

from Psalm 22:22-24 (The Message)