Mat 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
When reading this passage I couldn't help but apply it to our common idea of fairness. Our idea that we've tried to make it so that everyone has equality in all things and yet at the same time we promote ingenuity and the ability to get ahead. If we are promoting getting ahead we aren't promoting equality. Socialism - based on the idea that we all deserve equal shares in life with no one able to get ahead of another- we frown on that, right? We love the idea of capitalism- America was founded on this idea in many, many ways and a lot of people would say we've abused it until we've caused our own downfall. The rich have gotten way richer while the poor have become way poorer and we say this is okay because the rich have worked for their riches- or family has worked for family to be rich. We say the poor can always boost themselves up out of being poor and become rich- they just have to work for it. Remember- the American dream? Bring us your tired…hungry…you know the rest or the gist of it. We grow up believing we are entitled- even if we don't always work for it. We grow up believing life should be fair. This parable of Jesus' is telling us that we shouldn't have that illusion and if we do our 'eyes are evil'.
Life isn't fair. Those who have lots also have the right to distribute their wealth as they choose, yes? If they follow Jesus they'll do a lot to help the needy but that doesn't necessarily mean that they have to distribute their wealth equally to every single person they meet, right? Sometimes a need is greater than we realize for one and they need more than another. Fairness isn't Godliness, not in the sense that we've come to learn it.
All too often one person has to work hard to barely make ends meet, while another seems to have a nice easy job and they make more money than they know what to do with- and we call that unfair. Some people are born into wealthy families while others are born into poor families- and we call that unfair. We need to get rid of that sort of idea of fairness because it's not good- in fact it is evil. It rears up inside of us as a breeding ground for envy, for coveting, for selfishness and those are evil traits- not godly at all.
More on this tomorrow… too tired to think.
By the grace of our Lord and Savior may we learn HIS goodness, and not have an eye of evil.
In HIS love!
Amen.
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