Proper 20 A
Matthew 20:1-16
9/19/99
The Rev. Valerie A. Hart
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
It’s
not Fair!
It’s
Just Not Fair!
How
many times have those of us who are parents heard that complaint?
It’s
not fair, she got a bigger piece than I did!
It’s
not fair, it’s my turn to sit in the front seat!
It’s
not fair, you let him get away with everything!
It’s
just not fair!
I
work hard at my job, but that
young guy just got promoted!
It’s
just not fair!
I’ve
been volunteering with the PTA for years, but they elected someone else as
president!
It’s
just not fair!
My
brother has a bigger house
My
sister has smarter children
My
cousin made a mint in the stock market
My
uncle retired early
My
nephew is already making more money than I am
My
colleague went to Spain for vacation, while I just went to Reno
My
neighbor’s dog comes when he calls while mine runs away
She
has such wonderful curly hair while I’m stuck with the straight stuff
She
has such beautiful straight hair and I just can’t do a thing with the frizzy
mess
It’s
just not fair!!!
None
of us can claim to be immune from the disease of comparing ourselves with
others. And, you’ll notice, we always seem to come out on the short side of the
comparison (after all, if we compared ourselves with others and found we had
more, we wouldn’t be being humble now would we?)
So
we compare, and we feel pain, and we complain. We start it as soon as we can
talk, and it continues until we either die or become enlightened. And people
have been doing this throughout time, or at least back to when Jesus was alive,
for clearly the story in today’s Gospel comes from observing behavior.
But
making these kinds of comparisons is a disease - a dis ease - for it takes us
away from ourselves, away from our relationship with God, and pulls us into a
state of feeling that there is not enough. Instead of being thankful and joyful
for what we have, we are unhappy and complaining about what we do not have.
So
it is with the workers who started out in the early morning. They worked hard
and got paid a fair wage - but, others who worked less got the same wage. And
that’s not fair. We can all imagine how those first workers felt. We have all
found ourselves complaining about what others got rather than appreciating what
we have. Most of us easily identify with the early workers.
But
today, let’s look at the story from the point of view of the workers hired on
late in the day. Who were these people? Well, first of all, all the workers,
whether hired early or late were day laborers, the not quite working poor. They
were the ones who stand around the Wendy’s on Monument Blvd. in Concord, or out
by the shed in the fields of Brentwood, waiting for someone to come by and hire
them. They have no regular job. They have no guarantee of work, not benefits,
no pension. These are the ones who get paid in cash at the end of the day with
no questions asked. So the group is standing around early in the morning,
waiting to see what work there is today.
Early
in the day, the landowner comes by and chooses workers. He naturally chooses
the young and healthy ones. Those he can be assured are hard workers and
healthy enough to last through the heat of the day. Later at noon he comes by,
and the best have already been hired, so he settles for those who may not have
experience or can’t speak English, or are a little old or a little too young.
By
three o’clock, most who haven’t been chosen have headed home, but a few souls,
desperately in need of work, still hang out in hopes of some small job. These
are not your prime workers, but the ones left over. From these the landowner takes
all those who might be able to accomplish something in the few hours of light
left.
When
five o’clock comes, who is left standing there? The feeble, the injured, the
ones who have no one to go home to, nothing better to do in life that stand
around waiting for a job that never comes. All that’s left at five o’clock are
the rejects. Imagine how they felt, when it was so late in the day that all
hope of work had vanished, imagine how they felt when the landowner pulled up
in a pickup and offered them a job? How do they feel as they jump in the back?
They must assume that they will be paid hardly anything, yet they go in hopes
of just pennies. They are willing to work, no matter what the job. They are
just thankful to be chosen.
Max
Lucado imagines the conversation of one of these workers on returning home.
“I’d never seen this guy before. He just stopped, rolled down his window, and asked
us if we wanted to work. It was already near quitting time, but he said he had
some work that wouldn’t wait. I swear, Martha, I only worked one hour and he
paid me for the full day.”
“No,
I don’t know his name.”
“Of
course, I’m gonna find out. Too good to be true, that guy.”
From
the perspective of the last ones hired, it is too good to be true. Why did he
pick those last ones? Clearly not because they were particularly strong, or
able, or intelligent or experienced. They were the dregs, what was left over.
Yet they were chosen.
Who
are we in this story. Like I said, most of us identify with the ones chosen
early in the day, but should we?
We
have been chosen by God, not because of anything about us, not because we are
particularly good, or brave, or honest , or strong, or noble. We have not been chosen
because we have worked so hard. We are the ones who were standing around, and
out of nowhere, due to no special gifts of ours, we were chosen by Christ. We
are the ones standing around all day, with nothing to show for our time. Yet he
picked us, you and I, just as God picked Jonah, who clearly was not gifted with
either courage or compassion. Christ has tapped us on the shoulder and chosen
us, late in the day.
Why
did he pick us? Certainly not for our gifts, after all they came from God in
the first place. Certainly not because we have been perfect, for none of us
have been. Certainly not because we earned it, no one earns love. We were
picked because he wanted to. Because he wanted us. He has grabbed us and
brought us home. He has tapped us on the shoulder and said “I love you.” No
matter how long we waited or how much time we wasted, we are His and he has a
place for us. And no matter when we say yes, whether the first time we feel his
call, or not until the last minute, late in the day, we are all offered the same
great gift of love and everlasting life.
Those
who were chosen last knew to be grateful. Let us always remember to be grateful
for the incredible gifts we receive from God, and most of all for the freely
given, unconditional love of Christ.
Remember
- the last will be first and the first will be last. Let us pray to always be
as thankful as one who has been chosen last and therefore knows, really knows, the
infinite generosity of God.
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