Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope

Lectionary: 421

Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.'

I find this story of the vineyard owner and his day workers endlessly fascinating. If it's not a story about capitalism and labor-management relations, it certainly reminds us of the disparities of power in human affairs. Regardless of political structures and economic systems with their philosophical foundations, those inequities will always persist. They fall under the general heading of Original Sin.
In today's story the landowner promises, "I will give you what is just." By the end of the day the workers seriously doubt his word. I don't believe this is a story about a just employer, nor do I think Jesus recommends this fellow as an icon of God the Father.
But it does remind us of God's sovereign authority; and of our inevitable, even necessary, challenge of that authority. Created in God's image, with a divine appetite for power and autonomy, we chafe under the saddle of obedience. Which of us has not secretly agreed with Milton's Satan, "It is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven?"
This landowner is not at all phased by his workers' challenge. He couldn't care less. Although he says to one man, " I am not cheating you." that is only Saint Matthew's literary device to give voice to the owner's private thought. He owes no explanation to the rioters and he gives none. Nor does he have a spokesman who might be privy to his thoughts. There is no middleman who might put a different spin on the appearance of unfairness.
This parable is about God's supreme authority and our limited vision. We can no more comprehend God's justice and mercy than the first day laborers can be satisfied with their pay.
No doubt every ruler who ever appeared -- institutional or charismatic -- promised both justice and mercy to his subjects. They would punish the wicked, regardless of their social standing and wealth. They would show mercy to the deserving, even the least among them. Every government, regardless of its structure or philosophy, gained some legitimacy by its promises of justice and mercy. Invariably the mass of people waited -- and were disappointed. We are not capable of both.
Humans govern with hard justice or soft mercy but cannot manage both.
Only God can do both in the same action. If it sometimes happens in human affairs, it is certainly a moment of Grace, a moment when the Holy Spirit (who is the very Presence of God) guided the process and final decision, however briefly. It is nothing we can sustain.

"...we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." Saint Peter reminds us. We are duty bound as human beings and as Christians to keep trying to build such a system, with the confident hope that, on the last day, God's justice and mercy -- that incomparable blend -- will be revealed.