14th Sunday after Pentecost (Matthew 20:1-16)  9/18/2011

Welcome back from summer. You might say to yourself that I am a week late, as last week was Welcome Back Sunday, but this week is the start of Sunday School and our Sunday morning forums – so the school bell rings for the first time this week and I hope that you will join us as we learn and grow together each week. The start of the school year reminds me of the importance that the school year seems to have on each of us, even if we are no longer full-time students we are all affected in some way or have vivid memories of our school days.

A vivid school memory of mine is my first day of Navy Nuclear Power School. On that first day, after being welcomed and filling out some paperwork, everyone was provided with a test that we were assured had no meaning and no impact on our academic records…although the rumor was that the test determined where each person was to be seated in the classroom, with the smart folks in the back of the room and the low-scoring students sitting in the front. As we received our seat assignments the next day I think the rumors might have been true, as I saw many of the smartest kids in the class sitting behind me as I looked out from my second row seat. The opening week of school was a sign of things to come, as my front-of-the-room friends and I studied for many, many hours during the next several months while my back-of-the-room classmates had more leisure time on their hands. By the end of the program we were ranked according to our grade averages and one’s rank order determined the selection order in which you could pick your next school location: either Idaho, NY or CT. As a young man engaged to a woman living in CT, I was filled with nervous anxiety as I waited for my turn. I might have even grumbled as I watched my classmates who did not study as hard as I did select their locations before me. I remember thinking, “I studied as hard as I possibly could for 6 months; shouldn’t that count for something?”

The early morning laborers who toiled in the hot and dusty vineyard worked as hard as they could for the entire day; shouldn’t that count for something? The early morning laborers we hear in this morning’s Gospel reading were eager, responsible people. They understood that in order to get a full day’s wage, they needed to be in the marketplace early in the morning. They had families to provide for, hungry mouths to feed, and they understood that sacrifices must be made. They were successful at finding a job and given the assurance of a full day’s pay. Throughout the day of difficult work additional laborers arrived in the vineyard and joined the early morning group. The landowner had promised these late arrivals that they would be paid, but that they would be paid “whatever is right.” (Matt 20:4) The story continues and the workers continued to arrive in the vineyard, with the late day laborers finally arriving just one hour before the end of the day. These last ones received no assurance of payment, not even “what is right;” they are simply told “You also go into the vineyard.” (Matt 20:7b) As the early morning laborers continued to work throughout the day, they also continued to observe the arriving workers and wondered how the landowner would reward these new arrivals when the day was done. As Jesus tells this story, we anticipate the landowner’s actions through an expectation that justice will be done. Those who toiled throughout the day will receive a full day’s wage and the rest will be compensated, but will be paid with lesser amounts. Work equals pay: this is a just solution.

As the day in the vineyard came to an end, the laborers are paid for their work, beginning with those who spent just an hour in the vineyard. As they received their payment, everyone noticed that the landowner gave them each a full day’s pay. (Apparently they did not have sealed white envelopes and direct deposit in the 1^st century.) The early morning laborers are surprised and their emotions begin to change: perhaps confused and anxious in the beginning as they try to make sense of this surprising turn, followed by the joyful thought that they will receive more than one day’s pay. Their expectations, like ours perhaps, have changed from an understanding of justice to an understanding of generosity. God works in ways that we do not understand!

The early morning laborers finally reach the end of the line and received their payment – one day’s pay! How can this be true?! Their expectations had changed from justice to generosity and their payment did not feel very generous. How could the landowner’s generosity be limited to only those who worked less than the full day? Their grumbling began because they experienced a betrayal of generosity that was present only moments before…but there was no betrayal. We know there was no betrayal because the landowner agreed to provide these workers with a full day’s wage and that is exactly what they received. But the payment of one day’s wage for one day’s work now appeared to be disappointing in light of the landowner’s generosity to others. The expectation of justice had been replaced with the expectation of generosity. Their expectations led to their disappointment, and if you are like me, I share their surprise and their disappointment. But why are we disappointed and surprised when the early morning laborers received what they were promised? As we listen to the story, we begin with our expectation of justice; and we replace this expectation with our assurance of generosity. But the landowner has not replaced one expectation with the other, as the early morning laborers had done, but has done something we might find surprising. The landowner is both just and generous at the same time. God’s just and loving care for all his children is made plain in this parable story and the truth of God’s treatment toward us is made known to us regardless of how surprising or challenging we may discover it to be in our lives. God’s grace is the abundant grace of unconditional love; the just and generous love of a creator who cares for all his children, regardless of when they answered the call to come into the vineyard. God works in ways that we do not understand!

As I stood waiting in line to discover my next school location, my hopes to go to CT was rooted in the expectation of generosity (and in my hope that my classmates loved Idaho and NY). My name was called and my location was CT, which made me very happy indeed! And as I think back to those days in school, all these years later, the memories that seem to be most important are the shared memories of working with others to learn and grow. An important element of the parable story we hear Jesus tell this morning is that the laborers answered the call to come to the vineyard. As we begin our new season of Christian education, I invite you to join us as we come together every Sunday morning to learn and share with others. And as we grow in the knowledge and love of God, we will discover God’s abundant grace and be strengthened to do his work in the world. AMEN.