Pentecost 17 – Ted Hackett
Today’s Gospel…usually called “The Laborers in the Vineyard”
…is one of Jesus’ best-known parables,
… But also one of his most baffling… It is a story Jesus told… And it seems…frankly….unfair….
The story goes that it’s harvest time…and this guy who owns a vineyard needs day-workers to pick grapes… He goes to the market early in the morning and hires some guys. They agree on a denarius…a fair wage for that time…and off they go to pick grapes.
It was hot…there were a lot of grapes and the work went more slowly than usual… So the owner went out again…at noon and again at 3:00 and found men at the market and hired them. He told them he’d pay them what they were worth… At five o’clock….there were still grapes on the vines…so the owner went out to the market again and found some guys hanging around and told them to go pick grapes. He’d pay them whatever was fair.
Twilight closed in, the grapes were in a wagon and the guys lined up for their pay… The ones who came at five…got a denarius… And so did others… But when the ones who started work at dawn….and worked in the Palestinian heat all day came up… They …quite naturally… expected more… After all…it was only fair! They had worked for 12 hours In the sweltering sun… And the lazy louts who only put in a couple of hours got as much as they did!
Wouldn’t it be fairer to give the late-comers less than a denarius and maybe the all-day guys a little bonus? After all…fair is fair… Furthermore…business being business… Come the next harvest time…this land-owner is not likely to find field hands till late afternoon! This is not only really unfair…it’s stupid business-practice! And if Jesus’ parables are supposed to be about God… They are not supposed to reward unfair stuff, are they?
Grim old John Calvin took note of this problem… And his answer was that this story was about the power and majesty of God. God predestined everyone for heaven or hell.. And that proved God’s power. God didn’t have to be fair…
But we are not 17th century Presbyterians… We do not have an easy answer for this apparent contradiction in God’s behavior… But there it is…in this and other parables Jesus told… Think for instance of the Prodigal Son… The kid who squandered his father’s fortune apparently is rewarded by getting a share of his hard-working brother’s inheritance… The crooked tax-collector gets rewarded and the really righteous Pharisee is left to work out his own salvation… The parable of the lost sheep….in which the shepherd leaves his flock untended and goes to find the lost one….which means the rest of the sheep…being stupid, sheep…will all wander off! Then in another place, Jesus tells the story of a steward who was embezzling his boss’s money. The boss finds out and fires him. The embezzler then goes and makes illegal deals with those who owe money…and pockets the money. Jesus…compliments this con-man for being shrewd!
How do we make sense out of this?… Jesus telling stories about stupidity…about unfair behavior…about dishonesty…. being wonderful! How do we make sense of Jesus approving of unfair behavior?
How do we make sense of Jesus seeming to condone…even praise…selfish, self-destructive behavior? If we taught our kids that kind of stuff… People would think of we were simply bad parents! I mean… Jesus seems to be saying that the way to salvation… Is through either stupidity or… dishonesty!
What kind of Christian teaching is that? It may turn out not to be what it seems… Though it also may wind up seeming really, really strange! First of all, I will let you in on a secret in plain sight… When we are interpreting the New Testament words of Jesus, we should always take account of the context in which Jesus is talking… And that context is first-century Palestine Occupied by the Romans … The Jews were conquered and… humiliated. They were looking for a Messiah
A figure sent from God to liberate them… A messiah to establish the Kingdom of God… To make good on God’s promises to Israel.
There were different ideas of how this Kingdom would come… By violent uprising against the Romans…Led by a Messiah… Or by God sending armies of Angels…led by a messiah… Or by Jewish prayers being mysteriously answered and the Romans just going home. But the question that was in the back of every Jewish mind was: “How will it be with the Kingdom of God when it comes?”… “What will the Kingdom be like?” And that is the question we should always hear whenever Jesus speaks: “How will it be with the Kingdom of God?” And that is the question that hangs around in the background every time we read the Bible…
The Kingdom is where an unforgivable traitor is forgiven…no questions asked. The Kingdom is where no sinner can be lost… The kingdom is where rebellious sinners are welcomed home, forgiven and restored to the family, no questions asked! The Kingdom is where lazy sinners find they are loved…and rewarded…no questions asked! That…THAT…says Jesus… Is what the Kingdom of God is like.
It is no wonder the Jewish establishment was offended! It is no wonder good Jews who worked hard to keep the Law were outraged! In fact…I find it disconcerting and upsetting. It contradicts the whole way I see the world! But…the more I think about it…the more I kind of like it… In fact…the more I think about it… The more I let it sink in… The more I kind of grin… The more I find…I love it… The lost sheep in me…is not lost… The lazy, corner-cutter in me…is declared O.K. The rebellious kid in me who doesn’t give a darn about family or anyone else… Is welcomed home and restored to full communion in the family! When I let myself…I know… Those sinners in Jesus’ stories…are really us… And Jesus is telling us… We are loved. We are restored… And we are free … Free even to know we are loved… Sinners that we all are! God predestined everyone for heaven or hell.