Are any of you familiar with the phrase, “That’s just not fair!?” Can you think of a time when this feeling began to bubble up inside of you? We all have these moments. Moments of jealousy, moments of envy, moments of being hurt for receiving less than we think we deserve.
I can recall quite vividly one of the first times I had this feeling creep up inside of me. It was Christmas morning, sometime around when I was 8 or 10. My brother Josh and I had just finished opening presents and my parents were clearing away the discarded wrapping paper. I must have had a look on my face incongruent with the event that had just taken place. My mom asked me what was wrong. I looked over at my brother and in the bluntness of a boy I blurted out, “He got more than me.” The value of the gifts, the meaning behind them, and the joy of the morning were no match for the age-old feeling, “it’s just not fair.” I felt wronged for not having an equal number of presents. I had been a good boy. Did I not deserve the same?
As I grew older I learned that the value of gifts was not in their number, but in their meaning. I learned that my parents worked very hard to make things fair for me and my brother. It’s a struggle, and as much as we try, the feeling of “it’s not fair” never disappears completely.
This feeling of “it’s not fair” has been around a long time. We only need to step into the vineyard of today’s parable to see it action. As the sun sets and the payment for the day’s work is handed out by the manager, the grumblings of “it’s not fair” begin to crescendo over the reception of equal payment for working far longer hours. The men who had been busting their chops since daybreak are upset at their payment of a denarius, the usually daily wage, a wage they had agreed upon, because their brothers who had been working for just over an hour had received the same small silver coin. It’s just not fair.
The eyes of those had been working all day must have lit up at the sight of that silver coin being pressed into the hands of the ones who had only been there an hour. The expectation of receiving more for their hard work began to grow inside, long forgotten was the payment they had agreed upon hours earlier. They worked longer hours, they wanted more pay, the expectations had changed. What’s wrong with that desire?
The human answer is nothing. Wouldn’t we all feel the same way? Wouldn’t we feel disparity at being paid at an equal rate to someone who worked less hours. When I worked at Starbucks, we had a tip jar by the cash register and everyone’s tips went into the same bucket. Each of us got an equal share of the tips based on the hours we worked (normally a $1.50 a person). That means that I got the same tip rate for working my tail off that Joe did for doing half the work. I was upset the first time I got my share of the tips, I felt it was pennies on the dollar to the effort I had put into serving the customer and keeping them happy. It just wasn’t fair.
But is it ever really fair? Not really. We live in the tension that life is really never fair. We try to make it equal, we struggle to keep things even, but we cannot. The feelings of envy, jealousy and greed continue to haunt our footsteps. We have become creatures of entitlement, always wanting something bigger and better.
Or maybe we just want enough. Maybe we just want to keep food on the table, give our kids a fighting chance, go to bed at night without wondering what upsets tomorrow will bring. But the money always seems to run out, the bills stack up higher, the job search never goes anywhere, and we are left wondering why. The deep hurt of “it’s not fair” is very real to us every day.
It’s these feelings of “it’s just not fair” that Jesus speaks to in our Gospel today. The landowner chooses to give everyone a fair daily wage, regardless of the hours they worked. He chooses to give all of the laborers enough. It’s a radical, wild generosity that the landowner displays. Everyone gets to go home and put food on the table, everyone gets to have a fighting chance to make ends meet for one more day. The landowner knows that a denarius isn’t all that much, any one could let you in on that fact. But the landowner also knows that the denarius is enough, enough to give life. That small silver coin is enough for in the life of the kingdom. That dear friends, is grace.
Grace is God’s wild generosity. Grace is meeting the needs of all people, especially the least of these, making sure everyone has enough, making sure everyone has a place at the table. Grace is meeting people where they are and leaning into their need in a way that shows them the love of God.
Surprisingly, money is not the issue here. It’s the expectations of those who worked the longest that are called into question by the man handing out the checks. Friend, I have given out of my generosity, isn’t that enough? I chose to give to this last the same as I give to you. I chose to be generous, but not in the way you think I should be. Grace is not about how much you have, it’s about everyone having enough. I chose to give everyone enough so that they may have life. God chooses to give everyone enough so that all peoples may have life. That’s the heart of grace. That’s what God’ wild generosity is all about. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not parish, but may have eternal life.” Jesus went to the cross for all people, not just for those who worked the hardest.
Today’s parable speaks to the truth that grace just isn’t fair. It isn’t fair by our world’s standards that those who worked longer got the same pay as those who had only been there an hour. But God says to us through Jesus Christ that even the least will have enough in my kingdom. God says through the resurrection that Jesus Christ is enough, that faith is enough, that the wild generosity of God is enough for all people. Even you and me.
So if we have enough in Jesus Christ, if Jesus Christ is enough for all of us, then we are done with our calculating. Sure we can chose to grumble like the disgruntled worker, but we can also chose to be inspired by the love of God that gives freely to all. We can choose to live in response to God’s wild generosity by living with wild generosity ourselves. We can take seriously the practice of tithing for the benefit of the community. We can take some time to get to know our neighbors, to lean into their need and lend a hand with the yard or household chores. It’s how we respond to God’s grace that makes all the difference in the world.
Over the years I have learned that the value of gifts comes not in the quantity, but in their meaning and how they are used. I have come to realize that it’s not about how much the tips are, but how they get spent. So it is with the kingdom of heaven and the grace of God. It’s not about how much, but that everyone has enough. Jesus Christ, God’s wild generosity, is enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment