Musical Prelude and Service.

Exodus 16:2-15 & Matthew 20:1-16
The parable we hear today is one of those that tends to leave listeners – at least in my circles – a touch on the uncomfortable side. I find it interesting that a great many people, and I include myself in that number, have more than a touch of empathy for the labourers who work all day and get the same compensation as those who work only a part day.
Words like fairness, and why bother working a whole day, tend to ring out about this time.
We do tend to apply the logic of a transactional society to this story. The work of the labourers carries a particular value, and they should be compensated accordingly. Those who worked longest should receive pay commensurate to their effort. And that is not the same as those who worked fewer hours.
Sounds reasonable.
But Jesus is not providing an economics lesson; certainly not one that supports that expectations of the empire in which they live.
Jesus is talking about the kingdom of Heaven. The rules of our world do not apply. God moves beyond rewarding productivity and looks more to the needs and the quality of life of all God’s people.
A lesson I received a few years ago, urges us to uncentre ourselves or who we see ourselves as when we read scripture.
Earlier I noted that I am familiar with people identifying with or empathizing with those who feel hard done by because everyone receives the same pay. Perhaps some of us consider the other landowners who are concerned that all this employer’s labourers received the same money. What just happened to the incentive for all these day-labourers? This threatens our whole economic model.
Now let’s look at the labourers who had to wait to be employed.
Let’s note that all the workers in this story woke up that morning unemployed. They are essentially competing for a limited number of jobs. What does it mean for their families if they do not get work that day. What will it mean for many of these workers that they are able to take home full days pay?
In talking about the kingdom f heaven what is Jesus also implying about the world his listeners live in?
What are we possibly saying about our world that we are concerned about the so-called fairness of an economic system that leaves a great many people living on scraps, because they did not, or could not, produce enough for the people who held, or hold all the resources?
Jesus is saying God’s kingdom does not work that way. God’s grace, God’s generosity, God’s love does not depend on your productivity. It is not measured by when you find your way to God or when God picks you up at your lowest and most desperate.
God’s love is not part of a transaction. It’s not held back in expectation of sacrifice or ritual or behaviour. It’s held out for everyone. And if you are struggling to find it, God comes looking for you and invites you in. And God is not carefully monitoring what you do and for how long to determine what you have earned.
There is no competition. There are no criteria. God’s love just is.
By the same token, we can not hoard God’s gifts, God’s generosity, saving some for a rainy day.
The people of Israel – the descendants of Jacob – are lost in the wilderness, trying to find their way to the so-called promised land. They are hungry and they are frightened. They are starting to question this journey out of slavery.
Naturally there is grumbling. At least we had something to eat in slavery. We weren’t at risk of dying in the desert.
But, once again God hears their cries. God provides, each day, bread from heaven, quails. They receive enough for each day. But they cannot store it. They cannot accumulate this food. Each day what they need is provided.
When we consider God’s grace. When we consider God generosity. When we consider God’s vision of a just world, what do we hear in this story? God does not favour one person over another.
Our perspective of the world is challenged by these stories. Do we see a world of abundance, or a world ruled by scarcity? Are you moved to hold on to what you have, looking out for yourself and those closest to you? Do you look at the world and see a competition with your neighbour for what you need to survive? Or do you see a world that offers all you need, all your neighbour and your community require, if only you all work together to create a world that values everyone and loves everyone?
As I reflect on this notion of abundance versus scarcity, I find a few different questions coming to mind. They are awkward questions. What do I have that I hold back? What do I possess that I carefully ration out to the world?
And I don’t just mean money and resources. Am I sparing with my compassion? Am I careful showing mercy and welcome and concern to those around me? Is it because I unconsciously expect something in return? Or am I afraid, more might be expected of me if I offer my attention? Or is it a concern that I only have so much to offer, and I need to be careful I expend my emotional and mental and physical capital?
In some cases, these are valid dilemmas. We are not God. We are human beings with all our strengths and our flaws and our quirks and our fears. We have our limitations. But we also owe it to ourselves and to the world around us to ask these questions and to be honest with ourselves about how we are motivated and how we see the world.
Jesus challenged his world; he challenged his followers to look at the world around them with a fresh perspective and to ask themselves; is this the world we want to live in? He offered a vision of a new world, a new kingdom under God and described how we are called to be a part of bringing it into reality.
What kind of world do we want to live in? One ruled by a transactional approach to relationships? One where we expect something in return for all we do? One where our actions are measured in terms of what they produce for others? One where what we need to survive is possessed by a few? Or a world of abundance? A world of love and compassion. A world we know and appreciate that there is plenty; plenty of food, plenty of security, plenty of love and justice for all. The world God envisions for all of us.
Thanks be to God.
Amen

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789