 |
| Photo by ZSun Fu on Unsplash |
“Is there some law forbidding me to do with my money as I please? Or is your eye filled with envy because I am generous?”
The Parable of the Vineyard Laborers rankles our sense of fairness and entitlement. Why would God, the vineyard proprietor, reward his workers equally when they had not worked equivalent hours? Shouldn’t they be rewarded in proportion to their service?
Most parents and teachers can respond to this question, because they have played the role of the vineyard owner. They may have also played the role of the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In desperate love for those who have reneged their responsibilities, they make concessions or rewards to restore their place in the family or in the class. Their heartfelt wish is for that son or daughter to succeed and be reunited with the faithful ones.
But when we are the early laborer or the elder son, we are stung by the generosity of the proprietor or the father. We can only interpret this generosity as a slight of our faithfulness. It is not the principle of equality that we feel has been offended, it is more personal. It is our own status in the eyes of the proprietor or the father that has been threatened.
This is the real reason that the wealthy and the gifted struggle at the doors of the Kingdom of God. The wealthy and the gifted have reason to resent the extravagant generosity of the proprietor. They feel they have earned their place in the kingdom, whereas the late-comers, the pretenders, have been given a free ride. The loyal employees want to be acknowledged for their success, their faithfulness.
The proprietor, in his apparent capriciousness and disdain for equality, has set an example for us. He has indiscriminately shared his wealth with anyone who “showed up.” He has substituted the principle of redemption for the principle of equality: we should redeem whomever we can at the expense of equality. That degree of love makes no sense outside the vineyard, but in the vineyard it turns every malingering soul into a faithful laborer. God’s uninhibited generosity: that is the principle of redemption.
Bill Tucker
Reprinted with permission of the author: https://lentenblog.wordpress.com/page/2/March 11, 2010 by ypsilantibill
No comments:
Post a Comment