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| Sassafras leaves with their three different shapes: the triple, glove, and single. |
‘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.”
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.”
The key to this parable, I believe, is in Jesus’ words, “He said to one of them in reply…” The landowner does not owe the laborers even an explanation for his way of paying the workers. If he explains to “one of them,” that is only a narrative device to allow us, the readers, to hear an explanation.
Our relationship with God is not founded on quid pro quo. If it were we would be lost from the get-go because he has created us from nothing. How could anyone repay that debt? We might “make ourselves useful” to him but utility is a poor excuse for being. Who could be satisfied with owing such a debt from the day of birth?
Rather, God has created us out of simple, pure generosity. All that he asks of us is gratitude and love. How do we give such gratitude? It won’t be by evening the score, but by being happy, grateful, generous to others, courageous in speaking the truth, and so forth. Does an infant repay his parents in kind? Of course not, but if the baby is content with the basics – sufficient food and a dry diaper -- the reasonable parent feels fully repaid. Should the baby laugh and coo and do a few cute, babyish things the parent’s heart will overflow with joy.
How do we give God love? Once again, by accepting the love God has given to us, especially in Jesus Christ. In Jesus we find a God who is willing to meet us on our own level, on our own terms. He does not lord it over us. He does not bully or demand or threaten. Rather, he has come to serve and not to be served. So we can approach him with complete confidence.
Today’s parable makes its point bluntly. God is the sovereign giver. We can neither tell God what he owes us nor work so as to earn God’s reward. Anyone who challenges that insults God’s generosity. We hear his sense of outrage in the landowner’s final words,” …am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?”
Receiving God’s mercy willingly and gratefully we finally become capable of responding generously and freely to others. In that way, insufficient as it might be, we begin to hold up our end of the relationship.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.