Today let’s let one of those “one-hour workers” tell his story:
I hope you don’t think I’m lazy. I tried all day to get work, but whenever someone came in hiring, other guys got there ahead of me. I’m not as fast as some, but I’m not lazy. It’s hard to stand around all day hoping for a job. I’d rather be working.
Not sure why I was still at the marketplace at 5 o’clock – certainly didn’t expect a job then. But this manager guy came along hiring for the big vineyard. “Why you standing around here doing nothing all day?” he asked us. “No one has hired us,” we said. Hey, it’s not like we were hanging out, guzzling beer. He said they could still use some help, so come on. Hell, I figured, a few bucks is better than none.
Felt a little bad when we saw these guys who’d worked all day, so we threw ourselves into it. Barely broke a sweat, though, before they called quitting time. The manager tells us to line up first – that seemed weird, but we did it. Figured we’d get our hour’s pay, and move on. But that’s not what happened. We each got a full day’s pay. A full day!
I don’t know why this owner wanted to treat us like that – most of them are looking to take as much as they can from you, half the time cheating you out of what they actually owe. But this guy? He treated us as though we’d worked a full day, even coming in at the eleventh hour like that. I don’t know if anyone has ever been that generous to me. It actually made me want to get there earlier tomorrow, so I can work a full day.
In telling the story, Jesus doesn’t give any reason why these last workers were hired so late in the day. He doesn’t suggest there was anything wrong with them. But clearly they stand in for the outsiders, maybe Gentiles or Samaritans; maybe the poor or the lame, or people too busy getting by in life to pay much attention to their religious life. They represent the sort that the religious leaders looked down on. And these, Jesus suggests, will not only receive the same reward as the “righteous" – they will be first in God's kingdom.
Who do you relate to most in the story? The all-day workers? The manager? The one-hour folks? The boss? When have you been rewarded for what felt like insufficient effort on your part? How did it make you feel?
Do you extend that kind of generosity to others? Maybe praise someone who needs the affirmation, regardless of how well the job is done? Help someone accomplish something? Continue to offer your friendship when you are giving more than you receive back? It only works if we ask God to give that grace through us. If it’s us “being nice,” it can become manipulative and we can become resentful. But if we step out of the way, allow God to love through us, we get as filled as the other person.
Let’s pray that today God send someone our way who needs the gift of grace we can offer – of love and affirmation, of acceptance based on their identity as a child of God, not their resume or to-do list.
And if we’re the one in need, let’s pray we meet someone who treats us that way. Let grace abound!
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