Posted on 09/23/2017 8:48:50 PM PDT by Salvation
Pastor’s Column
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 24, 2017
“Thus the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Matthew 20:16
I was employed in the airline industry for over a decade before entering the seminary, and like many industries, job seniority--your hire date--is very important! After I had been interviewed and had taken a very difficult math exam, I waited anxiously to hear if the company would hire me. Later, they did call, and offered me one of three start dates that were spaced two weeks apart (we were sent in three groups to Dallas for six weeks of computer language training). I chose the second of the three start dates, not realizing that everyone in that first group got first choice in shift selections for the next ten years! Almost everything there was affected because I chose the later date.
When the Benedictine Monks at Mount Angel queue up for Mass, they do so according to what the Monks call “statio,” which is short for “station.” The day of your first vows after novitiate will determine your seniority, your place in line, sometimes at table and many other ramifications--until death! It doesn’t matter how old you are or how important you were at the time of vows--just the date you began your new life as a Monk.
Priests are often called to the bed of the dying, some of whom have been away from the sacraments all their lives, who make a good confession and immediately join the ranks of the saved (sometimes after living lives that were hardly edifying). I have done a number of deathbed baptisms, for example. Should we be jealous because these people are saved at the last minute, while others of us have been working in God’s vineyard all our lives?
Jesus makes it very clear that our ranking in heaven will be very different than it is here. At first glance, it seems the height of injustice for God to pay a man who sat at the canteen all day waiting to get hired, a man who worked only an hour, the same as one who slaved all day in 100 degree weather! But the point is simply this: none of us deserves eternal life; none of us can “earn” it. The “pay” we receive at the end of life is so out of proportion to anything we can ever do for God that it isn’t even worth comparing the two.
Fortunately for us, God calls us at every stage of life: childhood, young adulthood, the prime of life, our senior years, even on our deathbed. In fact, he calls us every day! God is so generous and loves us so much, he can’t wait to forgive us. What then is the reward for those who have worked for Christ all their lives? They will have more to share with him in heaven forever. Every moment is important for our eternity and our spiritual wealth in the next life. The “pay” for following Christ is eternal life, but our “rank” in heaven is determined by our relationship with him and others over the course of our lives.
Readings
Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18
Philippians 1:20-24, 27
Matthew 20:1-16
The house of Israel is the vine of God who planted and watered it, preparing the Israelites to bear fruits of righteousness (see Isaiah 5:7; 27:2-5). Israel failed to yield good fruits and the Lord allowed His vineyard, Israels kingdom, to be overrun by conquerors (see Psalm 80:9-20). But God promised that one day He would replant His vineyard and its shoots would blossom to the ends of the earth (see Amos 9:15; Hosea 14:5-10).
This is the biblical backdrop to Jesus parable of salvation history in todays Gospel. The landowner is God. The vineyard is the kingdom. The workers hired at dawn are the Israelites, to whom He first offered His covenant. Those hired later in the day are the Gentiles, the non-Israelites, who, until the coming of Christ, were strangers to the covenants of promise (see Ephesians 2:11-13). In the Lords great generosity, the same wages, the same blessings promised to the first-called, the Israelites, will be paid to those called last, the rest of the nations.
This provokes grumbling in todays parable. Doesnt the complaint of those first laborers sound like that of the older brother in Jesus prodigal son parable (see Luke 15:29-30)? Gods ways, however, are far from our ways, as we hear in todays First Reading. And todays readings should caution us against the temptation to resent Gods lavish mercy.
Like the Gentiles, many will be allowed to enter the kingdom late after having spent most of their days idling in sin.
But even these can call upon Him and find Him near, as we sing in todays Pslam. We should rejoice that God has compassion on all whom He has created. This should console us, too, especially if we have loved ones who remain far from the vineyard.
Our task is to continue laboring in His vineyard. As Paul says in todays Epistle, let us conduct ourselves worthily, struggling to bring all men and women to the praise of His name.
Matthew 20:1-16a
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 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.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the author of life and the giver of all that is good. You are the Prince of Peace and my mainstay. You are my healer and the cure itself. I need you, and I need to give you. I love you and commit myself to you entirely, knowing you could never let me down or deceive me. Thank you for giving me your very self.
Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to work in your vineyard alongside you.
1. The Call to Work in the Vineyard: The landowner needs workers for his vineyard. Going out to the marketplace, where there are all kinds of people, he invites all the workers he can find. We are all invited to be apostles in the Lords vineyard. Some might think they dont have enough talent, others that they are just too young to be able to do anything for Christ, and still others that the task is just too much for them. But Christ doesnt ask for excuses; he asks for workers, generosity and good will. He will take care of the rest. He doesnt call the prepared; he prepares the called. He is the one who produces the fruits, not us. What a joy and privilege to be called by the Lord to be a worker in his vineyard, especially when we fulfill our task out of love.
2. Turning the Tables: We complain so easily about the problems we see around us: the lack of values, the violence, the evil people do . Then in our prayer we say to God, Look at the world. Why dont you do something about it? If we were to listen a little more closely to God in prayer, we would probably hear him reply, Why are you standing here idle all day? Perhaps we never knew there was something we could do. Perhaps we never had the courage to face the situation and address the matter seriously. Idleness is the one thing the Lord cannot understand. You also go into the vineyard. Some are called early; some are called later. It doesnt matter when, what does matter is to respond the moment we are called.
3. The Surprising Salary: Go ahead and ask the question . Peter did, in the passage just prior to this parable (Matthew 19:27-30): What can I expect from this? Christ is the best bargain in the marketplace. He promises us the full wage, even if we were called at the last hour. Whatever we sacrifice for him, he promises us 100% in this life plus eternal life. So really, the sky is the limit. We have to ask ourselves: What am I willing to give Christ? A few meager dollars, a few fleeting moments of my day, only my leftover time? Christ never obliges; he only invites. It is important never to forget that by helping God to save souls we save our own. This is the way to build up a treasure in heaven.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, today I hear your call more clearly than ever. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work in your vineyard. For you I am willing to do anything. I know there will be moments of difficulty and weakness. Give me your grace and strength, and then ask of me what you please. Make me your apostle.
Resolution: I will give as much of today as possible to God by living each moment and activity with intensity and purity of intention. I will offer it all to God out of love.
But thats not fair!
Most parents have heard this phrase umpteen times. The notion of fairness, also known as justice, is wired into us. It makes us aware that each of us has certain rights that need to be respected.
But it also means that we each have duties. If others have the right to be paid for their work, those who benefit from that work have the duty to pay them. If others have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have the duty not to let our pursuit of happiness infringe on their rights.
But we have to widen our perspective a bit. God, the creator of all, is responsible for all the blessings we enjoy. Life in this world was given to each of us as an undeserved, free gift. We have unequal physical talents, features, and abilities, plus diverse spiritual and intellectual gifts as well. They vary a lot from person to person, but what they all have in common is that they come as free gifts from God who didnt have to create any of us.
This is the background necessary to fully understand a parable that at first shocks our sensibilities. Matthew 20:1-16 records a story of an employer who hires workmen to harvest grapes. He hires members of the crew at various times of the day, so that at the end of the day, some have only worked a few hours while others have worked all day long. Theres grumbling when everyone is paid the same standard days wage, regardless of how long they worked. To add insult to injury, those who started last got paid first. No fair!
Wait a minute. The master paid those who worked all day exactly what he promised them. He just decided to be generous and pay everybody, even the latecomers, a full days wage. Justice does not preclude generosity.
The Pharisees thought that they had always done the will of God and deserved more than the rest, especially the rabble Jesus appeared to favorincluding tax collectors and sinners. It roiled them to think that these Johnny-come-latelies would sit alongside them in the Kingdom of God.
Truth be told, neither they, nor any of us, are really like the folks who consistently did the will of the Master, working uninterruptedly at the assigned task. Our assigned job is to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart, ALL our soul, and ALL of our strength (Deut 6:4-5) every day of our life. This is only fair since we owe God absolutely everything. But weve all unfairly walked off the job at various momentsthumbing our noses at him through our disobedience, pride, and selfishness. Some have gone AWOL longer than others, and the sins of some are more spectacular than those of others. But the bottom line is that, in terms of strict justice, God does not owe any of us anything except, perhaps, punishment.
But in his extraordinary generosity, the Lord has offered us a dealif we will accept his beloved Son in faith as Savior and Lord, and through the power of the Spirit seek to do His will, and if we will repent each time we fail, he will give us what we do not deservefriendship with Him here that opens out to eternal glory hereafter. The first takers for this offer have typically been those most aware of their need for mercy. And this is why the last have usually been first when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
Seems fair to me!
This is offered as a reflection upon the readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, liturgical cycle A (Isaiah 55 6-9, Psalm 145, Phil 1:20-24, 27; Matthew 20:1-16). It appears here with the permission of the author.
Jesus tells a parable that poses an interesting question: Would we ever grumble about Gods generosity?
In the verses preceding todays Gospel, Jesus told the disciples it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:23). A rich young man had just gone away sorrowful from Jesus, because he could not detach from his possessions to follow Him. When the disciples hear that even the rich, thought to be especially blessed by God, would have a hard time entering heaven, they ask, Who, then, can be saved? (Mt 19:25) Jesus gives them an answer that He further elaborates in todays reading: With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Mt 19:26).
In our parable, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a scene in which a landowner hires helpers to work in his vineyard. The landowner goes out early to the marketplace, where workers congregated, to look for laborers. He was not obligated to do this, of course. The vineyard belonged to him; he could have kept it a family affair, using only family members to do the work. Instead, he reaches outside his family to those who would otherwise be idlewaiting for something meaningful to happen. He enters an agreement (or covenant) with some laborers for the pay they will receive for their work, and off they go. The landowner keeps returning to the marketplace, however, during all the hours of the day (Jews divided the time between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm into several hours), finding those who were idle and promising to give them whatever is right for their labor. We have to wonder why he did this. Was it for himself, or for the laborers? Was he concerned that he needed more workers to get the work done, or was he concerned that men would be idle all day if he didnt keep hiring them?
Finally, at the eleventh hour, he goes out again. Realistically, these laborers would only be able to put in an hours work, at most, because Jewish law required that a laborer be paid at sundown (see Deut. 24:14-15). By the time we get to this point in the parable, its hard to avoid the conclusion that the landowner simply wants to empty the marketplace of anyone still standing around, still waiting for something to happen.
When it comes time to pay the workers, payment begins with the last ones hired. This is so contrary to what any of us would expect that it helps us identify the thrust of the parable right away. Had the landowner paid the longest, hardest-working men first, they would not have witnessed what they considered to be an injustice. Jesus uses this inverted order to call our attention to the point He is making. The first laborers grumble when they discover that they are paid exactly the same as the latecomers, who hardly worked at all. Can we blame them? Would our reaction have been different? The landowner reminds the grumblers that they have not been cheated. They had agreed on the usual daily wage. No injustice has been committed. The landowner also reminds them that he is free to do as I wish with my own money. The fact is, any wage coming to any of the laborers depended entirely on the grace and generosity of the landowner. Apart from him repeatedly seeking laborers in the marketplace, none of them would have had anything meaningful to do. They would all still have been waiting for something to happen. We might be able to phrase it this way: With men, no wages are possible, but with a landowner looking for workers, all things are possible. That being the case, are the grumblers really justified in being envious of the landowners generosity? It was this very generosity that gave them work in the first place. Had they understood this at the start of the day, they would not have been surprised at how the day ended.
Jesus concludes the story with a familiar saying: The last will be first, and the first will be last. The Church has traditionally understood this as a parable foreshadowing the generosity of God to include the Gentiles in His covenant, at the eleventh hour in salvation history, blessing them with the same blessing first promised long ago to His Chosen People, the Jews. In this, Jesus is warning His disciples (then and now) not to think of Gods blessings as a matter of record-keeping. Gods generosity cannot be measured. All of us, the worthy and the unworthy, are utterly dependent on it. When we see others with greater spiritual gifts than we have ourselves, do we rejoice in Gods generosity, or are we envious? And, at the end of time, if we see Gods mercy extended to those whom we are sure dont deserve it (we might even be picking those folks out now), will we look as small and stunted as the grumbling laborers in the parable? These are questions worth asking.
Possible response: Heavenly Father, help me to rejoice over Your generosity wherever it appears.
These verses from Isaiah are a perfect preparation for our Gospel reading, because they speak about Gods generosity (generous in forgiving) and about how differentGods way is from ours. Recall the shock we felt in reading the parable and hearing that the last will be first and the first will be last. Here, God tells us, through Isaiah, My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts. This difference between Gods way and ours is what keeps life interesting. If we take it seriously, we might often be surprised by how He works, but we surely wont become grumblers.
Possible response: Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times I have not wanted to be surprised by the difference between Your way and mine.
The psalmist tells us that Gods greatness is unsearchable. That is exactly what both Isaiah and Jesus seek to tell us in our other readings. Our imaginations are not vivid enough to be able to predict how Gods goodness and mercy will break out in His creation: The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all His works. Perhaps the most treasured characteristic of His immeasurable and unimaginable kindness is the one we will repeat in the responsorial: The LORD is near to all who call upon Him.
In the end, isnt this what matters most to us on our journey home to heaven?
Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.
In this reading, St. Paul is an example of one who is completely at peace with whatever God does with him. We would have liked the first group of laborers in the Gospel parable to be able to say that about the landowner. How does a person get to that place of peace with God and confidence in whatever He does, no matter how different His ways are from ours? For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. St. Paul understood that in becoming a servant of Christ, he had gained everything. Even death, which we naturally fear and dread, posed no worry for him. Death (which St. Paul faced on a nearly daily basis) would simply be the door through which he would walk into the loving arms of Jesus. When we have this kind of relationship with the Lord, when He is everything to us, then we are truly free. Knowing the power of His love and kindness, nothing can disturb us, nothing can turn us into grumblers. All that should matter to us is to conduct ourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then, truly, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
Possible response: Lord Jesus, please teach me to trust You and to be at peace in all the events of my life.
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