In-between

Matthew 20:1-16
“Equality:  The first and the last … God’s people in the world of our God”
18 September 2011
Clearview UC

“Unfair, really not fair!” Most likely, something like this would be the most spontaneous response to this story by you and many other people.

Poor blighthers, there they are, waiting at the market square early in the morning for someone to give them a proper job, get one and go for. We know what they were paid, but as a day labourer, most likely it was not too much.

And given the outcome of this story, our trade unions today would be right on board and in arms: Don’t undermine our agreed income!

But wait — while we are told how much they were paid, something seems to be strange in this story. Of course, we would not expect a straight report describing the social situation of the workforce in Israel at the times of Jesus. Our story is a parable. It will explain, or rather, it will paint in a picture, something completely different. By definition, parables are stories to be interpreted.

Fairytales, novels, or other stories told amongst each other, are often created around a kernel of truth. Something has happened that triggered us to tell this story: An amazing event, or for instance something doing us good; a major accident, like the 9/11 events of which you where thinking last week Sunday, as Andrew Robertson told me. Or it may have just been an encounter with some interesting people on the bus, whom you remember. The bible is full of such stories, and so are the bookshelves of libraries and bookstores: Telling stories around a grain of truth is popular even in our age of computers, mobile telephones, and the Internet.

As I said, parables are more like mystery stories. It’s hard to make sense of them. You have to think about them, seriously.

Well then, let’s have a closer look at this story:

First,
the parable has been placed in a frame — the opening question being how the kingdom of heaven would be like, and as the conclusion that “The First will be the Last!”. This line, in the same time, is the theme of a series of stories preceding our parable, all of which you would know well: The question of the apostles asking for their reward — and Jesus’ answer that they would earn eternal life; the rich man, to whom Jesus suggests to sell all his belongings and follow him, coloured by the story of the camel coming through the eye of a needle easier than a wealthy man into God’s kingdom; children being invited by Jesus, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like the little ones.”

Our story is followed by Jesus’ third announcement of his suffering and the duty of the First to serve the Last … And finally the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the prelude of the suffering of the servant of God.

Second —
the setting of the story: The wealthy owner of a vineyard; men at the market square looking for work; the land owner hires some of them at different times of the day. Our winemaker appears to be quite observant, and critical in the same time, about the life of his town. And he comes across quite stubborn, as he does not obey to the rules — of equality.

His workers, and most likely the people around them, demand their share in payment, and most of us would think, rightly so.

Yet, there is the surprising twist in the story. The winemaker rebukes them — “I have made an agreement, and I stick to it!” We might want to add: “… as you have done through your work in my vineyard.”

But there are two strange arguments:

• The vineyard owner is being quoted with that it was his own business what to do with his money;
• and Jesus, on the other hand, concludes his parable with the words that “The First will be the Last!”

If push comes to shove, I would think these two summaries are quite insulting. I have full sympathy with those workers feeling cheated; with the listeners — including myself — shaking their heads in disbelieve; and those who feel quite puzzled by the riddle of this parable.

As we are not given any details of the social and economic context of the events described in this parable, we may look at some of its details. The obvious issue is — money. The workers were promised “what is right”, as the German reformer Martin Luther has translated the Greek source text. As today, in the times of Jesus unemployment was well known to the people of Israel — for whatever reasons. Historians conclude[1] that one Denarius would have roughly equalled a minimum income for a day, with 200 Denarius per year according to rabbinic sources.   Three or four Denarius would have bought you a lamb, or 100 Denarius an oxen.

Our winemaker hires workers throughout the day, the last group just before evening. He argues with the latter for hanging around the market square without doing anything useful. But their reply is revealing — “no one gave us any paid work. What could we do?” Being put to test — and promised the wage that was “right” — they indeed head off to the vineyard to fulfil their side of the deal.

Calculated by the hour, of course, their income would have been 12 times as much as those who commenced work in the morning. Subsequently, those who had started early felt devalued — and in our market economy, money driven as it is, rightly so.

Ours wants to be a competitive society — and in particular Australia offers a fair go and equal opportunities for everyone. But if we look at it more closely — is it really true? Or is it not rather the religion of money, the capitalist society, that want us to convert into money value even the last minute of our life and the last limb of our body?

The German constitution, my country, knows the regulation that “Eigentum verpflichtet” — or: “with ownership comes social responsibility”.[2] As in most Western societies, the ownership of property in Germany as well has gained almost divine status — and the rich don’t care much for the poor.

Our winemaker sets an example — one that even puzzles his workers and questions their solidarity amongst each other. He did “what is right” — and paid his workers a wage that would sustain them at least for the day. It sounds like socialism, and yes, perhaps the idea of equality in the standard of living has found its early roots in such stories.

Here in Australia, as in many other countries around the world, the churches have been moved by such bible stories. They have put into place agencies like UnitingCareWesley to assist the poor in our country, or in the context of global poverty through units that advocate the rights of refugees, fair trade, health and HIV, or environmental issues.

With this parable, Jesus rocks the boat! Certainly most of us have woken up when it sank into our heads and hearts what was happening in this story.

Yet, there is a final twist. Jesus himself interprets the story as wanting to say that “those who are first now, will be last in the future.” This is anything else but equal rights … In fact, it seems to encourage laziness. Wait for the end, wait until the last minute, for the day of judgement. It’s time enough not to worry, and more importantly, not to bother.

It’s a weird thought, though, and, as many other pieces of this parable, doesn’t make much sense in the first place. On the other hand, it echoes a topic that is accompanying this story of Jesus in other parts of this section: The children, for instance, who will own the kingdom, as Jesus told the people around him earlier. Before the rich and the powerful will reach the kingdom of God, a camel would have to get through the eye of a needle. Even the prostitutes and the tax collectors would be ahead of all the holy men of the time.

When reading my draft, and knowing your congregation so well, Andrew Robertson sent me an interesting comment, which I would like to quote:

I wonder if this statement is really not about us as people, but more about the completeness of what Jesus does on the cross. He does it all for those who have worked hard to know the father, and he does the same sacrifice for those who do not know him at all.
You see I think God wants the very best, and life in its fullness, for each of us regardless of how much we know Him or do for Him. This means we do not have to change the world on our own.
Our small investment into the ministry of God is wonderful and God is there for us — not just in a little bit, but in God’s fullness. “The First and the Last” is a wonderful image of the Grace of God and will offer hope for all of us — especially those that feel they are too old to work full days, too crippled to work full days, too sick to work full days …

As a Christian, I would like to strive for bringing into reality in my life and in my church the words of Jesus to his disciples in the following section of our chapter. He said,

“You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people
and their officials have absolute authority over people

But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you.
Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant.
Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave.

It’s the same way with the Son of Man.
He didn’t come so that others could serve him.
He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

(Mat 20:25-28 ERV)

Amen.

Footnotes

[1] <http://www.bibel-kommentar.de/Die%20Arbeiter%20im%20Weinberg.html>; http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Arbeiter_im_weinberg.jpg&filetimestamp=20100714184010

[2] GG §14: (1) Das Eigentum und das Erbrecht werden gewährleistet. Inhalt und Schranken werden durch die Gesetze bestimmt. (2) Eigentum verpflichtet. Sein Gebrauch soll zugleich dem Wohle der Allgemeinheit dienen. (3) Eine Enteignung ist nur zum Wohle der Allgemeinheit zulässig. Sie darf nur durch Gesetz oder auf Grund eines Gesetzes erfolgen, das Art und Ausmaß der Entschädigung regelt. Die Entschädigung ist unter gerechter Abwägung der Interessen der Allgemeinheit und der Beteiligten zu bestimmen. Wegen der Höhe der Entschädigung steht im Streitfalle der Rechtsweg vor den ordentlichen Gerichten offen. <http://dejure.org/gesetze/GG/14.html>, <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eigentum_%28Deutschland%29>