At first glance, the message of today’s Gospel parable seems so blatantly unfair. The workers who put in a whole day’s work and sweat receive the same wage as those who were there for only one hour? It may make us ask, “Jesus, what’s going on here?”
And then we remember that envy and discontentment say everything about us, and nothing about what God is doing here. So what is the lesson of this parable? First, it’s helpful to pay attention to Jesus’ use of the phrase, “usual daily wage.” This was not a great sum – like the talents that we heard about last week – but just enough to live on for the day.
All of the workers needed that wage in order to supply themselves and their families with food for the day. Whether they were fortunate enough to get work first thing in the morning or later in the day, the amount of money the hired workers had to earn in a day in order to survive and take care of their families did not change. The last group in today’s parable must have thought that God had answered their fervent prayers. Someone had finally given them work before the day was over. They probably expected to receive only pennies for their labor. That would have been better than nothing. What a shock and relief it was to get a day’s wage with which to return to their families!
The point of the parable then, is not about our sense of fairness or justice, but about the behavior of the landowner who, as we all know, represents God and his kingdom. God does not act like most of us. His generosity is abundant. He offers a living wage to all who work for him, even the last minute laborers. God, the creator of the universe, calls us all to share in this important work of building up his kingdom.
When we understand that the landowner is representative of the kingdom of heaven, it starts to make sense. We get a glimpse of the good Lord who offers salvation. It is salvation available to anyone who enters the vineyard, at any time, and is not diminished for one by its distribution to another. The Lord does not offer partial salvation, and it is certainly not salvation that we deserve.
No, he offers the salvation that he knows we need and desire – the salvation he desires for us. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” These words that we just heard from the prophet Isaiah in this morning’s first reading are among the most revelatory and humbling words in all of Sacred Scripture. They reveal to us God’s greatness and our smallness.
God, the almighty, creator of the universe, who holds each of us in the palm of his hand, is so far from us that the prophet Isaiah goes on to say: “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” We are recipients of the Lord’s abundant mercy and generosity. His mercy is so unimaginable that we can hope only to know, love, and serve him all the days of our life. And whenever we wake up to his offer, we are blessed. We have no cause to be envious of the good fortune of another, for ours is equal in measure. Rather, we can praise God for his continuous mercy toward us. After all, serving in his kingdom is not drudgery; it is love and grace – all that we could ever hope for – all the days of our life.
Once we get to this point, we can learn from Paul’s teaching in this Sunday’s second reading from his Letter to the Philippians. As Paul talks about the relative benefits of living and dying, he announces to us his conviction that he is truly a part of Christ. That means he has begun to experience God’s ways, and that it is essential for everyone who seeks to live the vocation of Christianity fully to do the same. The Christian vocation begins with the grace of being invited to learn God’s ways, a grace as undeserved as it is unanticipated. Then, as we will pray in Our Lord’s Prayer in just a few minutes, we become grateful for the daily bread our God provides us and aren’t jealous that others receive it as well.
All together, these readings are not only a call to humility, but an introduction to God’s way of seeing. Isaiah tells us that God’s way will challenge ours — always. Paul then teaches that we can learn God’s ways; we can live in Christ. Our Lord’s parable invites us to admit that our automatic responses are often egocentric. Like the landowner, God promises to take care of our daily needs if we only rely on him. As a rule of thumb, we might sum it all up by saying that when we want to yell, “It’s not fair!” the refrain should be “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
As we gather around our Lord’s Table to hear his Word and receive the great gift of spiritual nourishment – the sacred Body and Blood of Christ – let us rededicate ourselves to learning God’s ways, becoming ever more clearly the Body of Christ, and living these important lessons in our daily lives so that everyone who encounters us may come to give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. Let us build up God’s kingdom here on earth as we prepare to be with our God – the almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and our loving Father – for all eternity.