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Matt 20:1-16

Centrifugal Faith©

(the parable of the jealous vineyard workers)

When I read the Gospels, it seems to me that everywhere Jesus goes he is always on the move, always walking swiftly with his posse and teaching them about the Kingdom of God; going from city to city meeting people and campaigning for God’s coming presidential administration. It seems that Jesus was many times just using whatever was at hand in the market place as object lessons for the people who believed in the coming of God’s reign.

So for example, while speaking to some shepherds Jesus picks up one of the smaller sheep and asks,

       -who of you wouldn’t abandon your 99 sheep, who are safe in the fold, to go on a risky search and rescue for the one small sheep that has wondered off, will you not go beat the bushes, and then when you find it, bring it back on your shoulders and announce to your friends and colleagues that we should now throw a party because your small sheep that was lost has been found? Now which of you wouldn’t do this?

Or when speaking to some the local chapter of united Methodist women Jesus asks, “if one of you lost a quarter who of you wouldn’t”: rip up all the carpets, and move all the heavy appliances in order to find the quarter, and once you have found it call all your friends and family to celebrate that you have found your coin? Now who of you wouldn’t do this?

Or perhaps while speaking at the father-son camp out retreat Jesus asks, let’s say there a father who has two sons and one day the youngest son says, dad drop dead.

Draw up your will and give me the stuff. Cash in your IRA and 401K and liquidate your assets so that I can have my inheritance now. Which one of you will not do what this son asks and give him what he wants? Which of you wouldn’t do this?

And when he goes off to New Orleans and spends your life earnings on boos and loose women. And when all the money is gone and he comes crawling back to you asking to mow your lawn and wash your car. Which of you won’t warmly take him back in, throw your arms around his neck and then call your home owner’s association to reserve the street for the biggest this town had ever seen? Which of you wouldn’t also do the same thing Jesus asks?

The point of all these stories is that no one in their right mind would do such things, no sane rational person would do any of that. But that’s what the Kingdom of God is like. That’s what people are going to be like when God rules the hearts of many.

In our Gospel passage today Jesus is teaching yet again on this crazy Kingdom of God. Jesus has just run into a rich and successful young man, perhaps fresh out of Harvard Business school, and perhaps CEO of his own .com company.  This rich young man approaches Jesus to ask him what he should do in order to get in on the ground floor of this new Kingdom that is coming. He says “Jesus, I’m a moral person; I don’t do what my peers do; I don’t womanize, or drink heavily, I give to charity, and I call my mother; what else must I do to be a shareholder in your Kingdom?” Jesus turns to him and says, “Yes you are doing very well; there is only one thing more that you must do...go and sell every last thing you own and give it away to the poor!” The young man is shocked and cannot accept the ultimatum and sulks away.

       But this exchange seems to have animated Peter. With a tinge of pride in his voice, Peter says “we have given up EVERYTHING to follow you, my brother and I left a boat load of cash on the shore to follow you, what will our reward be in God’s Kingdom?”

       At first it seems that Jesus is actually going to appease Peter’s blatant fishing request for affirmation. “Sure Peter, when the time comes you and the other disciples will fully rewarded. You will sit on some of the most important boards, and agencies in the new Kingdom. You will be senators, congressmen, secretaries, diplomats, and ambassadors. Everything that you have left behind and sacrificed: your families, sons, mothers, daughters, children, uncles, aunts, grandparents, neighbors, houses, fields, your new suped up donkey 2000, everything you have left behind you will receive back 100 times more in gain!” At this point you can picture Peter giving Thaddeus and John a big time high five.

       But then Jesus continues, “but those who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” “What?!”, the disciples say in unison under their breath. “What do you suppose he means by THAT” Thomas might have asked. “That’s a downer, isn’t it? He could have talked all day and skipped that one, as far as I’m concerned. If I ever write a Gospel of Jesus’ teachings, I think I’ll leave out that little saying. No one will ever miss it, I’m sure.”  Perhaps sensing these side conversations, Jesus launches into the story of the jealous vineyard workers.

A Story About Workers

 1-2 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. So They went.

 "He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'

 "They said, 'Because no one hired us.'

 "He told them to go to work in his vineyard.

 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'

 "Those hired at five o'clock came up to the desk and were each given a full dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. Taking the dollar, they became angry towards the manager, 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'

 "The owner replied, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? So take it and go. I have decided to give those who were last the same as you. Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?'

 "I tell you again, in God’s Kingdom the first will be end up last, and the last first."

When Bishop Willimon used to be Dean Willimon at Duke University he once led an undergraduate Bible study. One night they were looking at this same passage and he asked the group “does anything stand out to you about this story?” Someone finally spoke up, “this farmer is never at the farm!” And the student was right!

       This farmer is pretty peculiar.  The owner himself is spending all his time burning up his truck’s tires on the road between his plant and downtown. This peculiar farmer seems more interested in employment than the harvesting of grapes, and he is determined not to stop finding workers until he has single handedly ended unemployment in his town. This farmer is passionate, pushy, relentlessly pursuing, reaching out, inviting, transforming outsiders into insiders.

       “Come to my vineyard, I will give you justice” is what the greek says literally. “Come to my place, I’ll treat you right.” “You’re hired, take your place at the front of the line.” “Stay for dinner, the table has a place for everyone, don’t stay away, come be part of my family.” ‘You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!’

       One of the scenes in this story that was really standing out for me this week was the late afternoon conversation the farmer has with last group in the market. The owner challenges them: why have you been standing there all day, doing nothing? Why have you wasted your lives away, so to speak? In a world where there is work to be done, why have you been idle in the marketplace? The landowner wants a good reason from these idle persons if he is to open his vineyard to them. Badly as he seems to need workers, he nevertheless isn’t about to engage these people if their idleness is without explanation.

               But these last workers’ response is poignant and they pull at the sacred heart of the land owner: we are still unemployed because no one has hired us. They wanted to be employed. They were seeking employment. That’s why they had been in the marketplace all day. But no one had hired them. No one wanted them.

       There are few experiences that leave a human being more demoralized than to realize no one wants you. We have all experienced this in some way. Maybe you were the puny kid who is always last picked when teams are divided for dodge ball (like I was); or the shy high school student who never makes it to the homecoming dance because you were never asked; or the college girl who never gets a bid from any of the campus’ sororities.

       In our parable we are never told why these last workers are still stuck unemployed in the centre of town, wandering the streets.  Perhaps it’s because they arn’t the most skilled. Or they were the wrong color, or they were the mentally ill, physically poor, educationally deprived, perhaps they didn’t have a green card, perhaps they arrived late because they missed the bus, or they had to stay home with a sick child, or perhaps there simply wasn’t enough work that day.

       While we are never told the exact reasons why this last group were still  unemployed we do know that the world’s rejection of them moved the owner to accepting them. The world says that we should give up on such people, that the selection of the stronger over the weaker is simply the way things are. But we as the church of Christ our Lord do not have the liberty of giving up on those whom society despises and spits on, because we have a God who absolutely refuses to leave anyone out, a God who keeps burning the pavement back and forth into downtown, relentlessly determined not to knock off work until all are done justice.

       As people who have been found by this Owner ourselves, let us not continue to stand idly by, but let us join this ruthless, relentless, and pursuing God in inviting those who are still standing idly by to come join us in the vineyard because we have a good master who will give them justice.

Amen.

Copyright © 2009 Stephen Palmer. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this writing may be reproduced in any form without specific, written permission of the author.

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