What is your opinion? Did those who were hired first and
worked all day have a right to complain that they were paid the same as
those who worked for only an hour?
Some people would scream YES. The landowner was not being
fair.
Other people would say no using the logic to this question that you find
in an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.Calvin is writing
a letter to Santa. Dear Santa, he writes, before I submit my life to
your moral scrutiny. I demand to know who made you master of
my fate? Who are you to question my behavior? What gives you
the right? Hobbes reads the letter and responds - Santa makes the
toys so he gets to decide whom to give them to!
I do not share such logic, but I do agree the workers had no right to
complain. I am telling you the landowner did not cheat those
workers who he hired early in the morning. Lets take a look at
verse one and two of this story. “For the kingdom of heaven is
like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work his
vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them
into his vineyard.
Now, lets look at verse 8 and 10.
“When evening came,
the owner of the vineyard said to the foreman, Call the workers and pay
them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the
first. So when those came who were hired first, they expected
to receive more. But each one of them received a denarius.
The landowner agreed to pay them a denarius and he
paid them a denarius. Where is there any injustice?
We cry foul because the landowner paid every worker a denarius whether the
laborer worked twelve hours or nine hours or six hours or one hour.
The truth is if the landowner had paid the first labors their salary
first, they would not have expected to be paid more than they had agreed
on. But because they saw the laborers that were hired after
them receive a deanrius they wrongfully expected to be paid more.
“When they received it
(a denarius)
they began to grumble against the landowner.”
We must remember Jesus is telling us a story of the
kingdom of God. The landowner in this case is God. God is the giver
of grace and life. Who are we to say to whom God should or should not give
His grace?
The problem is that we are too often like the child who claims the
sibling’s piece is bigger. In truth we don’t mind God extending His
grace to others as long as my portion is bigger.
The problem is that too often we are like the Israelites who grumbled
about everything and anything they could. The Israelites had
been grumbling to God for some 400 years. They grumbled to God
pleading for freedom from slavery in Egypt. Yet when God sent
Moses to free them, they grumbled against Moses. When they are
freed and no longer slaves to the oppressive Egyptian Pharaoh, they
grumble against Moses and His brother Aaron. They grumbled
that they were thirsty. They grumbled that they were hungry.
The Exodus story reminds me of kids on a long car trip. I’m
hungry. I’m thirsty. I have to go to the bathroom.
When will we be there? He took my crayon. She is
on my side of the car. Add to their grumbling the adult’s
grumbling about the traffic and the fact that you are lost and you refuse
to stop and ask for directions and you have forgotten all about how long
you have been excitedly waiting and wanting to take this trip.
Is our grumbling any different from the laborers?
“When they received it
(a denarius)
they began to grumble against the landowner.”
There are any number of analogies I can make between
everyday life and our scripture lessons for this morning.
Siblings grumbling that his piece of cake is bigger than mine. You
love her more than me. She always gets everything she wants.
Remember how exited the older sibling was when he or she learns they were
going to have a brother or sister. You have to wonder what were they
expecting, a living breathing play toy.
Or what about the joy and excitement of getting a new job. How long
will it take for those joyous tones to turn into grumbling about the
amount of work you or your fellow works? I know one thing for
sure your excitement over your salary increase will turn into grumbling on
or before April 15th. That’s the day you realize how
much more you have to pay in taxes.
Recently I received a letter from an elder from another church.
He wrote me because I had been supervisor of that church. In
his letter he said he was resigning from consistory and he was leaving the
church. It was only about a year ago that he voted to call this
minister to be their new pastor. What happened to the cheers?
Well he expected the Pastor to be a traditional pastor instead he is a
Biblical pastor.
Do you realize that for every complaint you have there is someone wishing
they had your problem? Sadly our grumbling doesn’t stop there.
We have even become fickle fans of God. When life is good it is our doing.
When life is bad it is God’s fault
We cheer for our favorite team. But how quickly our cheers turn into
jeers when they aren’t winning. Giants stadium will erupt in cheers
today with every TD pass Terry Collins will throw, BUT let him throw an
interception and the boo birds will be singing their song.
Like the Israelites and like the laborers we all to often grumble against
God. It makes me wonder what do you expect of God. Are
your expectations realistic? Are you expectations Biblically based?
You and I, the entire human race, was created to glorify God. Just
because we have switched tracks and think that God created us so he could
serve and glorify us, doesn’t mean God’s purpose is altered. Paul
said to the believers in Philippi, “To live is Christ.” He went on
to say that we are to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. You have to question if grumbling is a manner
worthy of the gospel of Christ? You have to wonder if our grumbling
is because we aren’t living for Christ.
 |
