“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. So they went. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing? Because no one has hired us, they answered. He said to them, You also go and work in my vineyard.
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman. Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first. The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them, I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
Gospel of MatthewIn the early nineties, I was asked to chair a committee which was set up to begin a recognition and awards program for the office employees. The purpose was to increase motivation and moral in the office by recognizing employee achievements.
The first thing the committee decided upon was to give awards based on years of service. From that point on, anyone achieving ten years of service would receive a pin, and anyone achieving twenty years service would receive a pen with their name engraved on it.
What surprised the committee were the complaints that begin to come in from those who had previously achieved their ten and twenty years of service. They wanted the awards as well. Their complaints were so vocal that the committee changed their plans and gave these token awards to all staff who had previously achieved their service requirements.
In the workplace, there is nothing that irks employees more than to see a staff member receive a benefit that has not been given to them as well. It generates a sense of injustice and a feeling of unfairness.
So we can see why the above Gospel reading is a challenge to us. Why should someone who worked for only one hour get paid the same wage as the one who worked all day; and to add insult to injury, to get paid first? This opens up other questions as well. Why does one person live to the ripe old age of one hundred, while another dies in the prime of their life? Why are some people good looking, smart, rich, etc. while others struggle financial, are unpopular, and never seem to get ahead? These are questions we all struggle with. And the reason we struggle so much with them is because they challenge our human perception of reality and fairness.
What Jesus is telling us in this Gospel parable is that God does not measure things by our human standards and perceptions.
The great scripture writers of the past (and this applies not only to Christianity but all of the world religions) have emphasized that we must not get too caught up in the standards ingrained in human consciousness as to what is important and what is not. The human ego will always focus on "self" and looking after "oneself" first. God's focus is on the "other". God's focus and concern is on us.
The "First Principal and Foundation of Faith" found in the St. Ignatius Exercises speaks of God's focus.
"We are created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our soul. The other things on the face of the earth are created to help us in attaining this end, for which we were created. Therefore, we are to make use of things in as far as they help us in the attainment of this end, and rid ourselves of them in as far as they prove a hindrance.
Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, long life to short life. The same holds for all other things. Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created."
God's plan for creation has little to do with what we are able to attain for ourselves, but everything to do with how we use ourselves and our gifts to build His Kingdom among us. We all possess a strong human urge that works against this, yet dying to "self" will always be the means by which we give witness to God's presence and love. This gives answer to the very curious phrase at the conclusion of the parable: "Therefore, the last will be first, and the first will be last."
No comments:
Post a Comment