"Workers in the Vineyard" - Matthew 20:1-16

Notes from a sermon on September 18, 2011

Of all of Jesus' parables, my favorite is the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), the story of a boy who took his inheritance before his father died, ran off to waste it in a distant country, then returned to grovel at his father's feet and beg to be received back (meanwhile, the dutiful older brother was there to remind the father that he had been faithful to his duties all along).  What was the father to do?  Shockingly, he welcomed home the son who had been so prodigal with his inheritance with a display of love and gratitude and generosity that went beyond the bounds even of prodigality into (dare we join Elder Brother in saying it?) unfairness!

The parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is not the Parable of the Prodigal Son, however.  It is a parable about a bunch of people who showed up to work in somebody's vineyard at different times during the day without the benefit of a union to look out for them.  At the end of the day, the vineyard owner, totally ignoring the concept of seniority, did not pay anyone fairly according to the work they had done, but paid everyone the same amount just for showing up, it seems!  Where's the shop steward when you need him?

So these are two different parables - but with the same theme.  It's as if Jesus told the Luke parable for those who would be tuned into the Hallmark Channel, and Matthew's for those who would be turned into the Wall Street Journal Report.  But the theme is the same:

God is not fair, as we count fairness.  Our definition of fairness is this:  an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  Whether that applies to retaliation or to payment for work done, that only seems fair.  Work an hour, get paid for an hour.  Work for ten, get paid for ten.  Go off and waste all your family's money, don't expect us to welcome you back home with open arms.  "Fairness" is a business word, a transaction word, a word that means "both parties got something in this deal."

But God is not fair, as we count fairness, and that's what these stories show.  He doesn't give us what is fair - He gives us beyond what is fair!  The latecomers to the vineyard receive well above the agreement reached with the firstcomers - that's not fair, that's prodigally generous!  The prodigal son isn't given the opportunity to grovel in front of the Father - he's lifted up immediately and celebrated as the Returned One - that's not fair, that's generously prodigal! 

And that's how God deals with every one of us, for Jesus' sake.  For the sake of the One who gave everything for us - His glory, His divinity, His life - He delights now to deal with us generously, prodigally, giving us way more than we can ever ask or imagine, beyond what we can think we deserve, not because we earned it, but because He loves us.

He's just not fair - and thank You for that, Father!