Pay the man

Gospel	Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. “The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.” He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

This is a difficult reading. Particularly difficult when we feel that we are the workers who have toiled through most of the day; by faith, by ministry, by vocation, by offering up lives that have asked too much of us.  

It is a strange truth that the parts of the Gospel that deal with this type of reckless and unreasonable generosity seem to bother us the most. Certainly form the basis for a heated debate and much shaking of heads; wondering at the injustice of it all. 

God is not just?  If this is what I think then maybe I should ask myself if I have earned even an hour's pay. For this parable is not just about generosity but hospitality. 

The landowner does not need the extra workers; with so many crowded into the market place with the dawning of the sun he will have chosen those who were fittest for the task. The work is proceeding so well the landowner can take a wander through the market place later in the morning. Maybe he had never imagined that some would be left behind and, after all, it wouldn't hurt to have the vines trimmed and tied just that bit earlier. 

Maybe later, it was a sense of curiosity. What happens to those who are not hired? A day without pay, a day without food, without repaying a debt or offering a sacrifice. And then later, the realisation that this may not be the first day these men have  waited. Worn thin, heads shrunken into shoulders blistered by the afternoon sun. Without the protection of the cloak they have pawned to the moneylender. A day of discovery for the landowner. 

At the end of the day, the landowner pays the latecomers first; acknowledging their apprehension with no contract to rely on. The complainers shriek of bitterness that forgets the security in which they started the day. 

Hospitality is not an option. The Old Testament warned the Jews to provide for the poor, the traveler and even the enemy. The landowner offers more that food and shelter. His employment offers a day of dignity for those who have waited so long. These men are workers; they can buy their own food and shelter now.  

I recognise many modern day parallels. People on the outskirts of society and community. The worker on a zero hour contract 'efficiently' employed only when necessary. The minimum wage earner struggling to live. The person faced with the downhearted walk to the foodbank. Those being questioned on the extent of their disability and ability to work. People looking at swollen rivers or desert dust where their own land used to be.

Jesus speaks about the haves and the have-nots. To treat others as we wish to be treated; to love our neighbour as ourselves; to look at people and not down on them.  To offer hospitality; to recognise grace; to be kingdom workers. 


wordinthehand2014