Unfair Labor Practices

Unfair Labor Practices

Matthew 20:1-16

            This is one of those stories that cause us to shake our heads in disbelief.  How could Jesus tell a story like this?  What could he be thinking?  Doesn’t he understand that those who work the longest and hardest should earn the most money?  This story is totally out of line with the American Way.  In this country we believe hard work pays off.  The news media love stories about this man or that woman who has started at the bottom and worked his/her way to the top.  The most recent hero is Kwasi Enin, a 17-year-old senior from Long Island, NY who has accomplished what no one else in history has been able to do.  He has been accepted to all eight Ivy League colleges. 

            Enin does not come from an elite background. His parents are nurses, immigrants from Ghana. While possessed of above-average intelligence, he is not the smartest kid in the world.  His achievement is due to a combination of his inherited ability and—here it comes—hard work.  His family values education and pushed him to do well in school.  He obviously pushed himself also.  Here is a real-life story of someone who has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.  We love reading stuff like this.

            Then along comes Jesus and messes everything up.  He tells a story about a man looking for help in his vineyard.  Early in the morning he goes to where day laborers wait for someone to offer them work, and hires those who are there, promising them a fair day’s wage.  He returns about 9:00 AM and hires another group.  He does the same around noon.  Finally, he returns late in the afternoon and hires those who are still standing around.  We like this part of the story.  We understand this process.  It fits with what we know about laborers and owners.  It’s what happens next that throws us.

            The work day is over.  It’s getting dark.  At quitting time the owner lines up the workers to pay them.  Those hired last are first in line.  When they get what was promised the first men, those, who have labored all day in the hot sun and borne the brunt of the work, expect to get paid much more.  After all, didn’t they put in a full day?  If these late arrivals get paid well, shouldn’t the long-termers get compensated even more generously?

            But that’s not how this master operates.  Everyone gets the same reward.  Naturally, the early-morning hires complain, and by our standards they have a case.  By this time many of us would be taking a strike vote.  One thing for sure: they’ll never work for this guy again.

            Jesus has the master say, “It’s my money.  I can do what I want with it.  If I want to reward these men well, it’s my right.  Why are you complaining?  You received what you were promised.”

            And so it goes in the kingdom of God.  Every person in God’s realm receives the same reward.  There are no separate levels of heaven for those who have achieved longevity of service during their lives on earth.  There is no hierarchy in the afterlife.  We’re all equal, from the ones who signed on early to those who just managed to slide in at the end.  This is democracy at its best, and it riles a lot of people.  A pastor friend once told me that the sermons that had gotten him in the most trouble with his congregations over the years were the ones about grace.  It seems we want grace for ourselves and those we like (and those who are like us), but we don’t want to extend grace to “those other kinds of people.”

            Philip Yancey says, “In the realm of grace, the word ‘deserved’ does not apply.”  There is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace.  Like the day laborers in Jesus’ story, we get what we get because of God’s generous goodness, and not because of our hard work.