One of the best known of the parables many try to tie down God. I believe in you , but I need some sort of sign. Numerous times Jesus says there will not be a sign, yet we continually ask for it. Jesus continually tells us that God/He is in charge. Human beings really don’t like this concept. We all think we should be in the lead, yet none of us are very good leaders.
Our culture is so fixated on accomplishment and wealth accumulation we almost forget about God’s plan and believe that the Landowner just wanted to get the work done at any cost…Well He did pay a huge cost for the work… but how many remember what the job actually was?
Nothing about work
The parable has absolutely nothing to do with work, if anything the parable says it matters little about how much work is done. You have been here for the entire time here is your pay. You are here for 30 seconds here is your pay. And the most irritating thing is the pay is exactly the same. In our silly human ways this does not seem fair… One goes their entire day and gets paid the same as someone who joined up just at the end of the day.
But yet when the landowner explains himself as fulfilling the agreement and if he chooses to be generous, what business is it of ours. We have no choice to agree with them but we, especially in America, are stuck.. we now have listened to both sides of an “issue”. We are not too sure what we should do here. The workers seem to have a claim that is unsubstantiated and the landowner has done what he had said. Our own liberal sensibilities sit in the pits of our stomachs and feel something is wrong… Those guys that worked all day should get paid more.. but they agreed to what they were going to be paid…. It is not like they were doing anything else… they were looking for work to get paid a fair day’s pay… And they did.
Why are we so uneasy?
No matter which political worldview Capitalistic, Socialistic, Communistic, monarchist, Religious background, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim Taoist, Red, Blue, Green, etc. We never feel settled with this parable. And that is simply because we are, based on our preferences and experiences, putting ourselves into the story and focusing on the wrong thing. Nothing in the story has to do with money. It has nothing to do with work or with getting paid. Jesus is not setting up a social construct for us to follow here on earth. He is not saying this is how to pay workers, He certainly is not saying this is how to get a job by standing on the street corner all day doing nothing.
Jesus prefaces this with a single extremely important phrase…” The Kingdom of Heaven is like”. The whole parable is putting into Human words what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. It is a simile. He does not say ‘The kingdom of Heaven is’ no no no this one word is so absolutely critical to the story. The word Like. And no not how many likes does our posting of a little kitten have. The shirt I am wearing is like Cotton…. It is not cotton but it is like it.
The Lord of the Rings is like the Chronicles of Narnia.. Yes there are similarities but certainly not the same. And because there are numerous volumes in all, they are like the Summa Theologia by Aquinas. Jesus is making this simile to open our minds and break out of our everyday routines and Just like Winnie the Pooh “think, think, think” ( Add picture of Winnie the Pooh)
Our experiences color the story
I have been listening to homilies and sermons all of my life.. some good some bad, But the one fairly constant message that I have heard is that Jesus is God and God loves me. Yes, of course he loves everyone, but as part of everyone, He loves me. And if He loves me, he wants what is best for me… Thomas Aquinas defines love as “Willing the good for another”. God wills each of our good. That is why I didn’t get that Lamborghini on my 5th birthday… That is why I didn’t get a house of my own at 12… God had a bigger plan… and trust me I am a lot bigger now than when I was 12!!!! <laugh>
God because He loves us wants us to be with him… And He will go anywhere, and use any means to get us there. HE came down to Earth and allowed this to happen to him so that any and all walls have been broken down and we can join Him.
That sin thing again
We are very broken beings. God gives us various gifts and charisms throughout our lives which will assist us in helping God in His plan. He has shown the lengths He will go to bring about God’s will. And continue to do it within the concept of true love. While we try to work within God’s plan, we are broken and we will do things not in accord with His plan. That is called sin. We are all guilty of it…
I think we complain that we have done good for our entire life and recoil at the thought that.. that hedonist down the street can at the last second before his death have a change of heart and repent of his past and turn to God. We should be celebrating, just as the first person signed up to work in the parable should be thrilled that the person late in the afternoon was hired and “paid”.
Oh the prejudices
But just as we complain about some absurd prejudice against someone who is late to the game… Jesus shows us the same way the people who began work in the day complained that they got the same pay as the ones who began work late in the afternoon.
Why would God allow that hedonist into the Kingdom of Heaven? The person was given a gift. Hopefully the same gift that we all will receive. We have to at some point admit that I am not in control of everything everywhere… And we must ask one question of ourselves when we look at this parable playing out all around us during our lives…
Whose Kingdom is it?
I hope you all have a marvelous and blessed week
Be Good, Play nice, Think God !
Here are the readings for the 25th Week in Ordinary times https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092020.cfm