MORE THAN FAIR
Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16
September 21, 2008 ~ Rev. Janet Robertson Duggins
When I read the first chapter of Philippians, it’s always the same phrase that catches my attention: “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
I always think how lofty and great an aspiration that is.
Then, I think of how hard that could be.
And then I get to thinking about everything that it might mean to live a life worthy of the gospel ….
Being loving, forgiving, thankful, trusting, hopeful.
Honesty and integrity; Giving and service. Discipline and wisdom.
Strength to do the right things (and to let go of the wrong things).
Compassion for others and a desire for justice in the world.
Being respectful of others;
Dedicated and loving in every relationship.
Commitment to the church. Prayerfulness.
Openness to God’s direction and willingness to be transformed by God’s Spirit.
Did I say HARD? maybe “impossible” is more like it!
But this week when I read those words, I heard them a little differently, because I was reading them alongside this parable from Matthew 20.
A lot of people find this one of Jesus’ most strange and difficult parables.
We find ourselves in sympathy with the workers who worked all day, only to find that they receive exactly the same pay as the workers who only started at 5 p.m. We don’t have any trouble understanding their bewilderment and outrage. It’s probably exactly how we’d feel in the same circumstances.
This story may be even harder for us to accept, in our culture of today, than it was for Jesus’ disciples – and it definitely challenged their expectations. We’ve been brought up to value hard work and to believe that it should and will be rewarded. We admire the so-called “self-made” millionaire. We believe in “equal pay for equal work” and we are accustomed to laws and rules about fair labor practices.
So what happens in Jesus’ story strikes us as just so wrong!
But isn’t that because when we hear the story we instinctively put ourselves in the place of the “early bird” workers – the ones who put in a full day’s hard work?
It all looks completely different from the perspective of the “last hired” though, doesn’t it? Then it looks like the first lucky break, like a piece of unexpected good news, like a gift.
We don’t know why those late afternoon hires didn’t get hired in the morning: Maybe they didn’t have the right skill set or training or experience. Maybe they didn’t have any “connections.” Maybe some of them are too old or too young, or disabled. Maybe they speak with an accent, or maybe something about their appearance doesn’t impress potential employers.
Or perhaps they weren’t there at the job center in the morning – maybe the mule was lame (or the car wouldn’t start). Maybe a kid was sick.
Or maybe their motivation has been sapped by too many rejections, too many experiences of failure.
At any rate, they are on the outside, unhired and unwanted – kind of like the kids who are picked last when choosing up teams in gym class. I remember how that felt – maybe you do, too – and it didn’t feel good.
But the world of this parable is not like the world of gym class, or a tough job market or even the workplace where concern for the bottom line rules. This is about the way things work in God’s kingdom, where abundant grace is what it’s all about.
In the world of the parable, in Jesus’ world, love and grace don’t depend on worthiness or hard work or seniority or productivity.
God wants everybody in the vineyard, included, valued, able to use their gifts, provided for.
God wants the outsiders, the excluded, the unhired, the left behind, the forgotten, the unskilled. In fact such folks are closest to God’s heart.
And that is where we are supposed to put ourselves in the story.
We are the latecomers, the not-very-promising prospects, the unskilled and unknowledgeable, the previously unwanted,
who are nevertheless – amazingly –
wanted
welcomed
loved
blessed.
That’s a gift. That’s grace. That’s the gospel.
That’s the gospel our manner of life is supposed to be worthy of.
So what I’m thinking now is that maybe I was mistaken in thinking that a “life worthy of the gospel” is best defined by a long list of “characteristics of the perfect person.”
Maybe we are most “worthy” of the gospel at those moments when we know our unworthiness, when we recognize and welcome the gift, the unexpected good news, the grace.
Living a life worthy of that gospel has to mean that the grace of Jesus’ message becomes our way of life, too. It means we want to pass on to others the welcome and blessing we have known. If we are going to identify any specifics about what it means in our own lives to live in a manner worthy of the gospel – and I’m not saying it’s not worthwhile to do so – specifics help us to be real and concrete and now about our faith – but if we are going to try and describe such a life, let’s put this at the top of the list: a life worthy of the gospel is a gracious, grace-filled, compassionate, open-hearted life.
Resource: “Living By the Word” by Craig Kocher, in The Christian Century,
September 9, 2008