Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 

Tuesday I met with some city staff and police to talk about the issues that are happening on our church grounds, and I was offered a choice.  The police are willing to help trespass everyone or no one. 

Quite frankly, that’s not fair.

According to repeated research, about 70% of our unhoused neighbors are doing their very best to get off the streets.  Most of our unhoused neighbors are working or on disability and will be back into housing within 6 months time.  Only 30% of our unhoused neighbors are what some people call, resistant to services.  People whose addiction disorder or other mental illness has completely taken over their minds, or whose criminal history has left them permanantly outside of civilized society. 

So because we are dealing with problems caused by 2-5 people who are a part of the 30% of people who are hard to help, the police told me that the requirement for trespassing these 2-5 people is trespassing everyone.  

I have to be willing to trespass the person who is sheltering under our porch on their first night of being unhoused, and the person who is too mentally ill to recieve help, but is otherwise harmless, in order to stop the problem people who are making threats and doing harm.

It’s not fair.

But life isn’t fair.

So I made the decision.

So often in this world unfairness comes in the form of the innocent bearing the consequences of bad actor’s behaviors, doesn’t it.

Its like being in gradeschool and the teacher keeps the whole class in from recess because 2 students were talking during the lesson.

We’re used to unfairness resulting in increased suffering.

We’re not used to unfairness that results in increased benefit.

In today’s scripture reading Jesus shares another parable – so not a true story – a teaching story.

A teaching story about the unfairness of God’s Grace.

We just read the story, and honestly, there’s no complicated linguistic or cultural issues in this story for me to exegete, so instead I’m going to reframe this story, using a picture of my son Aelric.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a manager in a tech company who needs a team to complete a very important project by the end of the day.  So the manager goes into the cubicles first thing in the morning and finds my son, Aelric, who is a firmware engineer 2, ready to work and Aelric gets to work right away debugging the code.  

The manager doesn’t really understand computer engineering, so he just keeps adding people to the team as they come in.  The manager brings in someone from the cafeteria to keep the team fed and hydrated for as long as the project takes.  The manager, accidentally brings in a couple software folks because this manager  doesn’t even know the difference between software and firmware!  The manager just keeps grabbing random people throughout the day, all day long, even up to the last hour of the day and adding to the team anybody the manager thinks might be helpful!  Even people from hardware, marketing, sales and custodial!  

At the end of the day, right on the dot of 7pm the project is finished and the manager rewards the team with a $10,000 bonus for every single member of the team, even the custodian who was added in the very last hour to manage the mess so the rest of the team could keep working.

Now when the first few engineers who did the majority of the work and had been working non-stop all day saw that everyone on the team, even the people who joined the team in the very last hour, got the same $10,000 bonus that they did, they were a little upset and went to the manager to complain.

Look, we’ve been here all day and we did the lion’s share of the work.

It’s not that we don’t appreciate the help, especially from the kitchen and custodial, but why should people who barely worked on this project get the same bonus as those of us who really made the project work?

Then the Manager responded,

 ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree to do this work before you even knew there was a bonus? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last person the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to spend the personel budget for a rush job as I see fit? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Which makes you more upset?

And you don’t have to raise your hands.

Just listen to your gut reaction –

Which makes you more upset?

Innocent unhoused people being tresspassed along with guilty ones?

Or

A custodian and a couple of folks from sales getting a $10,000 bonus for work they didn’t really do?

Our whole culture has taught us to:

 accept injustice towards those who didn’t earn the consequences

 and 

to resent generosity towards those who didn’t earn the rewards

This isn’t something that we decide to do or we think about.  

It’s what we have been taught to accept since we were children.

Only one person getting the reward, but everybody gets the punishment

Is not any more fair than 

everyone getting the reward and only the guilty being punished.

And yet, we have been enculturated – socially conditioned, and taught, that it is acceptable to share punishment, but not to share success.

So here’s Jesus

 questioning that viewpoint.

Here’s Jesus using a story to say, in the Kingdom of God, everyone shares in God’s abundance.

This is a teaching that shows up in many places in the Bible from the year of Jubilee in Leviticus to the book of James, and yet, it is so opposite of the way the world has always worked that it feels unfair.

Evangelicals struggle with the question:

What? Do you mean the person who confesses Christ on their deathbed will go to heaven, no matter what horrible things they have done?

Mainline Denominational church members struggle with the question:

What?  Do you mean the person who just joined the church gets the same care and consideration from the Pastor as I do when my family has contributed to this church for 4 generations?

White Christian Nationalists struggle with the question:

What?  Do you mean that some immigrant burger flipper should get paid the same living wage that I get paid at the factory?

Even though we all know that God is abundantly generous, we all struggle in one way or another with the radical unfairness of God’s Grace.

Friends, don’t be too hard on yourselves.

Even the original Christians who met Jesus in the flesh struggled with the radicalness of God’s Grace.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul, and we do think it was the authentic Apostle Paul, reprimands the believers for how they practiced communion

21 For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper (that is your own potluck dish), and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing?  (1Cor 11:21-22a)

The first Christians weren’t better than us and we aren’t better than them.  We’re all just people living in an unfair world.

So as we come to the table of Grace, let us be reminded that God’s Grace is not fair.

Thanks be to God!

God’s Grace is abundantly unfair!

In the Kingdom of God, those who haven’t put in the work.

Those who just got here.

Those who have nothing to offer.

And those who have given everything they have.

Everyone 

shares in the benefits of the Body of Christ.

Everyone matters.

Everyone is worthy of daily bread.

The Kingdom of God is totally unfair in the best way.

23 For (Paul) received from the Lord what I also (share with) you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.