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September 24, 2023: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle A
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Are we in the habit of telling God how to be God? that some folks do a better job at being God than God does.
One of the curious parts of this parable our Lord teaches of the vineyard owner and the laborers who enter his vineyard to work at different hours of the day is, how those who enter early, the early risers, those who labor all day long with a strong work ethic as they care for their families. This is the person who complains in the parable to the vineyard owner about the generous payment for those who stood outside the vineyard much of the day.
What’s curious is that we wouldn’t expect any complaints from such good people who obviously do things with such dedication and honesty. The way our Lord tells the parable, that just before the payments are given to all the workers, if anyone was going to be jolted by the payout, it would have been those who stood idle all day outside the vineyard. The 5:00 people who entered last. They should have received less pay for being idle all day.
The early risers were expecting to hear spoken to the idlers, “Here’s your nickel for working one hour. Don’t spend it all in one place.” There are vineyard owners in every walk of business today who would follow this procedure of payment. Understandably so. “3 hours of work; here’s $30.00. 5 hours of work; here’s $50.00. 8 hours of work; here’s $80.00.”
But, today’s 1st reading from Isaiah has God speaking to us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” My payments are not your payments. Which is God speaking to all humanity. That God’s thoughts and ways are above our thoughts and ways. Which means that God thinks and acts outside the box of normal business practice.
The business practice referred to here does not involve money, of which God has none. God’s generosity consists of what we need to make it home one day; mercy, forgiveness – that God will forgive where we won’t, or don’t want to, or because it’s too hard for us. God’s business practice referred to in the parable has no boundaries. It has no exceptions, meaning everyone – even those poor atheists – can be touched by the way he operates his business.
The first law God keeps in his business practice is the law of love. He does not tie our hands before we enter his vineyard with a slew of insane regulations, but he does have teachings that call us to love our fellow workers like he does.
The only stipulation there seems to be upon entering the Owner’s Vineyard is that we have to work. Any idleness is done outside the vineyard. Once a person enters the vineyard, which we all have done, once they are baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of the Vineyard Owner, we are to work on his behalf. Never undermining the business; never sabotaging the business, but being faithful and obedient to the Owner.
Sadly, some people will get tired of working for the Owner, or they get confused, or lose their will to remain there, so they leave early. They leave before the day is finished, walking away from the Owner’s generous payment. A pandemic will push some workers outside the vineyard before the proper time for leaving.
But most of us, we enjoy working for Jesus. And doing our work, our ministry, faithfully and honestly. Because working for Christ in his vineyard leads to the greatest payment of all, eternal joy.
This is why the payout is the same for all the workers who remain until the end of the day, whatever the hour they entered. There are not 10 different pay scales in heaven. When I worked for UPS all those years, there had to be 10 to 15 different pay scales. Depending on when someone was hired, what job they did, what shift they worked, fulltime or parttime, what contract they were grandfathered into.
God has one generous payment for all workers who enter his vineyard and remain until the end of our lives. It’s the full day’s pay of complete joy in heaven.
How does this parable speak to us today? First, that God’s thoughts and ways become our thoughts and ways. Remember that Gospel a few weeks ago when Peter tried to stop Jesus from going up to Jerusalem to be handed over and put to death. The Lord had some harsh words for Peter: “You think not as God does, but as humans think.” Which is always faulty somewhere.
There is always a hole to be found in human-only thinking, absent Divine thinking, resulting in thoughts and actions like euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, and the like. To think like God thinks is to know God’s truth, and apply his blessed truth in our lives.
And second, one relevant thought in this parable for us is to invite idlers into the vineyard. There are many souls hanging around the periphery of the Church, waiting for an invitation to come in to work for Jesus.
There are more waiting just outside the vineyard than we may think. It’s no small number. So we imitate the vineyard owner and say, “Come in and work, so they can receive their equal pay with the Saints in heaven.”