But of course the whole thing isn’t going unnoticed, and some of Louie’s buddies are being less subtle about what’s in their envelopes. So when the early birds get their turn, they’re expecting a pleasant surprise too. They don’t get one. They get the $150 they agreed to.
Some of these guys notice Lindeman, who is back in his convertible, heading home. He says, “is there a problem, boys?” Some of the group call out to him, “Yeah! We worked here all bloody day! Why should these losers get paid the same as us?”
“Buddy”, says Lindeman, pulling his shades half-way down his nose, “you got what we agreed to. Why do you begrudge my generosity? Can’t I do what I like with my money?”
Literally, in the Greek, the landowner asks, “why is your eye evil because mine is good?”. What’s it to you if I choose to be nice to somebody else. You‘ve been looked after!
Says Jesus, “the Kingdom of God is like that! The first come last, and the last first!”
Hang on a second Jesus! What do you mean “the Kingdom of God is like that!?”
Do you mean that lazy no-hopers all get the same reward in Heaven as we who sweat away down here, trying to do the right thing?
Do you mean that God is like this rich twerp, who obviously has no idea about how to run a business?
Do you mean that good, honest, hard-working people like us don’t get rewarded for all our good work, while useless good-for-nothing lay-abouts like my no-good son-in-law pick up the same heavenly pay-cheque at the final checkout?
There is something very offensive and even irreligious about this story that Jesus tells!
I know that we’ve moved beyond the “all good children go to Heaven” type of religion, but surely we haven’t abandoned altogether the idea that being godly in this world has something to do with honesty and hard work!
What sort of model is this for our society? I hope my children haven’t heard this story!
For I’m sure you tell your children the same thing that I was told when I was at school. ‘Don’t cheat! Don‘t take short cuts! Do your homework! Work hard!’
Most likely you were sold the same line as you now sell your kids - that those who take short cuts only hurt themselves in the end!
I knew what my mum and dad were right! When old lazy Joe says, “hey Dave, can I see your maths homework? I had a big night last night!” I say, “sure, Joe“. Because I know that in the end this guy is only hurting himself! He’s not really learning. He’s not really getting ahead. It’s not really going to do him any good.
Then, come the HSC, old lazy Joe got a better mark than I did!
Something is not right! It’s not supposed to work that way! I did the work. I deserve the reward! Jesus says, “yeah, the Kingdom of God is like that!”
Come on! It’s not just that we begrudge the other guy his good fortune. It’s because we have a sense of fair play. And it’s not just that we begrudge the other guy getting what he didn’t deserve. It’s just that we know that whatever he got, we deserve more.
I heard a Trade Union leader quoted recently, saying that there had never been a strike called over low pay, only over pay differentials.
In other words, it’s never that we feel we’re not getting enough, in some absolute sense. It’s that we’re not getting as much as the guy next to us! That’s the problem. Jesus says, “yeah, the Kingdom of God is like that!”
We had it drummed into us as kids. We grew up believing that a hard day’s work deserves a good day’s pay. Hey, I wonder if we aren’t born with some instinctive sense of personal justice, for I can’t remember a time when my children didn’t argue over who was getting the greater share of lollies!
If you’ve got two kids you know the deal. If you’ve got a piece of cake to share, one child cuts, the other chooses. Why? Because the grumble will never be, ‘I didn’t get enough’. It will always be, ‘she got more than me’, with the assumption being that we deserve to get exactly the same!
Now the truth is, if religion is about getting what we deserve, we’re all in trouble.
“All have sinned“, says St Paul, “and fallen short of the glory of God“, and we know that it is true. When we stand back and look at the big picture, we know that none of us is really any more worthy than any other.
Before God, we know that there is nothing really separating us from the guys in the clinic or the guys we know in prison. We’re all made of the same stuff and make the same sorts of mistakes. Some of us find ourselves in the wrong situation at the wrong time, and some of us get caught. But none of us really has any claim on God. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God“
Jesus taught us that there is something greater than justice. It’s called grace.
Jesus taught us that there is something greater than fairness. It’s called forgiveness.
And so we come together this morning as the fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God in the cross of Christ - forgiven, recipients of grace, glorying not in our own achievements, but in the love of God poured out for us in Christ Jesus.
You know, last time I spoke to Kon about this passage, he told me that he’d got over the parable of the workers and was more upset about that story of the father whose son spent all his money on prostitutes, but then came home and his dad threw a party! What sort of father is that?
What sort of father indeed?
Sermon first delivered at Holy Trinity Dulwich Hill, September 2005
Rev. David B. Smith
(the 'Fighting Father')
Parish priest, community worker,
martial arts master, pro boxer, author, father of three
www.fatherdave.org
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