Proper 20 A

September 21, 2008
The Rev. Susan J. Latimer

There is a story out of the Hassidic tradition – a rabbi told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts. One day someone asked him, “Why on our hearts, and not in them?” The rabbi answered: “Only God can put Scripture inside your heart. But reading and learning sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.”

Our hearts can break with sorrow, but they can also break open with compassion for the suffering of others. Sometimes an experience of great joy and love causes our hearts to open up and break open. I still remember my good friend Cindy, who had her first child about a year before I did, telling me that she was amazed at the deep well of love that she found inside herself, when her daughter was born. Cindy’s heart had opened up with joy, and the force of it astounded her.

Reading and learning the Sacred stories, so that they become part of our very being, is part of what we are about, as teachers and students of God’s love. In a Christian community, all of us are teachers, and all are students at times. We all learn from one another. Some of us have the more formal teacher’s roles, leading children’s classes, the Journey to Adulthood for youth, or our adult study classes. Parents are de-facto teachers for their own children, for they learn from us even when we are not trying to teach them. But even in the more formal settings, the teachers often learn as much from the young people as the young people do from their elders.

Today we have a Gospel story that needs a long time to settle into our hearts. We know it as the parable of the workers in the vineyard, but a better title is the parable of the generous landowner.

It would seem that we are all born with an innate sense of fairness.

How often have you heard, “That’s just not fair!” How often have you said it? Siblings seem to always want things to be equal, even when they are of vastly different ages – and younger siblings often end up on a different timetable from their older sibling.

Human nature demands that life be fair. Of course, what we consider “fair” can vary widely from sibling to sibling, or person to person. The parable of the workers in the vineyard plays right into our human need for “fairness”, and turns our normal expectations upside down.

Many scholars agree that this parable is one of the most important parables for our spiritual journeys – that we need to wrestle with it as we try to understand God and what God would have us do.

Perhaps you know this parable well, or maybe you really only heard it this morning for the first time. In either case, remember your reaction as you listened. Which workers did you identify with? Probably most of us identify with the workers who were out there all day in the scorching heat. After all, these folks embody the American/Protestant work ethic.
What was your reaction when these folks received the same wages as those who came in at the last hour?

Then think about those workers who came in at the last hour. There was no suggestion that they had done anything to get out of working – they had been waiting in line all day for a chance to work. They did nothing wrong. They simply worked as they were able, and then received a very generous wage. How would you feel if you were one of those people?

Most of us, I would bet, can remember a time when we received something that we clearly did nothing to deserve. Perhaps we were part of a project that received great praise, but we ourselves did virtually nothing. Perhaps your brother found just the perfect gift for your mother’s birthday, and signed your name to the card as well.

Most of us have had a feeling of gratefulness for an undeserved blessing.

The point of this disturbing parable, I suggest, is to remind us of that feeling of gratefulness.
The point of this parable is to remind us that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love.
The point of this parable is to remind us of God’s great mercy and loving-kindness to all people.

The human idea of fairness does not explain how the kingdom of God works.
God’s justice is much more than human fairness.

God does not give us what we deserve – God gives us what we need.

And so the Israelites in the desert received manna from God – each day enough food for the day, and no more.

And so the workers in the vineyard each got the daily wage – the ones that worked 12 hours, and the ones that worked 1 hour - so that each family would have food for the day.

God, in God’s mercy, responds to our human need.

And so if we cannot let go of our frustration when others seem to get more that they “deserve”, we are missing the point. Like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son, we can waste our time and energy with anger and frustration, instead of rejoicing and joining God’s party.

A difficult parable? You bet it is.

God is inviting us to hold this parable to our hearts. And someday, when our hearts break open with joy or sorrow or compassion, the wisdom of God’s ways will find room in our hearts.