Mixed Messages...
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o”clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o”clock, he did the same. And about five o”clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o”clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
**********
Don’t be jealous of each other. I think that's a first glance reasonable interpretation of this passage. At least, that's what I was taught.
But don't you think it’s reasonable that the workers who were hired first complained? And the last workers... how do you think they responded when they saw that they got the same pay as those who were there all day working their butts off?
It is unfair- and it’s unfair because we have learned this isn’t how the world works!
In the world, we get paid for what we do- and the harder we work... theoretically, the more we are supposed to receive. I don’t want to work all day in the office and my coworker comes in for only an hour at the end of the day and we both get the same pay-
But, then I remember that this parable is not about the world… its about the Kingdom of Heaven (KOH)... How we are supposed to treat each other... How being in community with one another is not the same as the world.
And we think that those involved in KOH type thinking… better known as the church, are supposed to be different than the rest of the world. People are supposed to be nicer, and treat each other better, and not judge, and include everybody, regardless of gender or race or sexuality or income….
But if that were true, than this parable would make sense to us- we wouldn’t have to explain it.
It doesn’t make sense, because we recognize that even in the church, we have put people into categories, much like the workers- and we are the ones who judge which category folks are in. After all, people in the community of faith need to pull their weight, physically, or financially or even spiritually… and we don’t like it when it seems like some people are getting a free ride… well, most of the time…
We don’t seem to mind very much the ones that we can take perpetually take care of… we like having representatives of the blind and the weak in the community. We don’t mind helping out the ones who can’t care for themselves, because it makes us feel good about ourselves when we do.
In fact, we don’t mind being the one to do everything in the church, especially when we can work by ourselves, or lead something, because then we can see that our hard work is paying off… and again, we can feel good about ourselves because of what we do.
But I want you to think for a moment about that. It’s not that feeling good about ourselves is wrong. It’s even healthy that we carry a sense of accomplishment when we are able to use our gifts to serve-
The problem is that we measure our value in works- even works in the church, (spiritual works.) We think that if we have proven that we have worked harder, (again, physically, financially or spiritually) that we have somehow increased our value in God's eyes. We sometimes feel that if we are not “doing” anything productive, that we are getting a free ride- that we are taking and not ‘giving back’- and because of our world model, we are therefore not a valuable asset to the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus says we are valuable, even without doing the work! This is a case of self esteem verses Christ esteem.
And it is not really that we want to be worth more than others. We want to be “worth” period. So, we try to earn our worth, because it is certainly too unbelievable to think that we could be worth something just by existing… that’s ridiculous… right?
We have been taught, even growing up, (whether you grew up in a healthy “normal” family, or in a dysfunctional one), that we can’t just do ‘nothing’ and be accepted that way.
In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that many of us grew up feeling like our very existence caused others to have to work harder just to take care of us. That… love you or not… your parents, or the ones who cared for you, had to make sacrifices for you. That it cost money to raise you, time to care for you, and hopefully what was invested in you…. (Notice that word, invested)… in you, would pay off in the end. Even in the most loving situation, we learn that we need to prove our right to exist. Because if we can’t DO anything… then we become… like the blind and weak in our community... system suckers, burden on society… or on family… or on the church.
Take that in for a moment...
OK, so if we were socialized to have to prove our right to be here… then it is natural that we would want to gain recognition, to work to “stand out” from other people, even to put ourselves higher than other people. But all of that, in the end, is a mask to cover up the fact that we don’t want people to see us as we really are… that maybe deep down we know we are worthless IF we don’t DO anything.
But what happens next is even worse… We project all of that on to God.
We convince ourselves that we have to keep doing, in order to keep being desirable to God. To prove that God didn’t make a mistake in choosing us- in inviting us… to prove our worth to God…because if we are non-productive, we believe, then surely we also become a burden to God- the system sucker, the free ride… worthless to the Kingdom… the one God has to always take care of… the one who God invested in but it didn’t pay off.
But Jesus says, you are have immeasurable worth and you are valuable without doing ANYthing… without having to pay, without having to work to prove your right to be here, without having to even look at what anyone else has because we all have exactly the same. We are all equally valuable in God’s eyes.
The landowner, if you notice, didn’t go out and try to find people who looked like they might be good workers. He went out and invited, and invited and invited… people in the marketplace, people in the square… even people who were just standing around doing nothing! God desired you before you did anything at all, and that desire doesn’t fade whether you do anything or not!
In fact, when we can see ourselves as valuable- when we realize that we are acceptable to God not for what we do, but simply because we exist… that’s when we end up doing more than we ever thought we could for God.
But getting to the place where we can see ourselves that way is not easy. That’s where the ‘working in the vineyard’ metaphor comes into play. It is a lot of work not to look at others and use them as a measuring stick for your own worth.
And you know why it is so much work? Because every day we receive the exact opposite message from the world- and we choose to either listen to that message, or filter through and listen to the one we know to be true in Christ. And that filtering through the mixed messages is not just a grueling process; it can often be a painful one. And more than that, it is a time consuming process. We are busy people- all of us have tasks that have to be completed every day- and frankly, we all live and function as a part of the world- and in some sense, we are forced to buy in to the world ways of payment for work rendered.
So who has time to try to sit and filter through all the counter Kingdom messages we receive about ourselves every day and be still enough to listen to the still small voice that brings us the truth.
And that’s where the rest of the workers come in. There is a reason why the landowner invited and invited and invited. Tell me why? Yes- so we could encourage each other and be part of the counter message of truth. So we can help each other recognize our value and our worth in Christ- recognizing we are all in the vineyard together… so we cannot buy into the world messages, not for ourselves, and not for each other. And that means looking at “us” differently.
You want to know why I spend so much time talking about community. This is why. Because without one another, we are left in our corner of the field trying to do all this and figure out the mixed messages on our own! You have differences with each other? Work them out! Are you in arguments or jealousy or any of that stuff? Things that you feel like you can’t work out? That’s a false message my friends. That’s a set up by the world to keep us pitted against each other and not working together.
We have before us in the church, in the vineyard, the opportunity of a lifetime! I know it might seem difficult, or painful, or even impossible… but I promise you that this is God’s desire for us. Because when it comes right down to it… we are all, the 5 o clock worker. The only one who was here in the beginning was Christ. Christ was the one hired at dawn- Christ has already done the work for us, do you see that? And because of him, we all receive the grace we didn’t work for, and can’t pay for. And he did it for each of us, because he loves us… simply because he created us… simply because we exist. And there is no mixed message in that….
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o”clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o”clock, he did the same. And about five o”clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o”clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
**********
Don’t be jealous of each other. I think that's a first glance reasonable interpretation of this passage. At least, that's what I was taught.
But don't you think it’s reasonable that the workers who were hired first complained? And the last workers... how do you think they responded when they saw that they got the same pay as those who were there all day working their butts off?
It is unfair- and it’s unfair because we have learned this isn’t how the world works!
In the world, we get paid for what we do- and the harder we work... theoretically, the more we are supposed to receive. I don’t want to work all day in the office and my coworker comes in for only an hour at the end of the day and we both get the same pay-
But, then I remember that this parable is not about the world… its about the Kingdom of Heaven (KOH)... How we are supposed to treat each other... How being in community with one another is not the same as the world.
And we think that those involved in KOH type thinking… better known as the church, are supposed to be different than the rest of the world. People are supposed to be nicer, and treat each other better, and not judge, and include everybody, regardless of gender or race or sexuality or income….
But if that were true, than this parable would make sense to us- we wouldn’t have to explain it.
It doesn’t make sense, because we recognize that even in the church, we have put people into categories, much like the workers- and we are the ones who judge which category folks are in. After all, people in the community of faith need to pull their weight, physically, or financially or even spiritually… and we don’t like it when it seems like some people are getting a free ride… well, most of the time…
We don’t seem to mind very much the ones that we can take perpetually take care of… we like having representatives of the blind and the weak in the community. We don’t mind helping out the ones who can’t care for themselves, because it makes us feel good about ourselves when we do.
In fact, we don’t mind being the one to do everything in the church, especially when we can work by ourselves, or lead something, because then we can see that our hard work is paying off… and again, we can feel good about ourselves because of what we do.
But I want you to think for a moment about that. It’s not that feeling good about ourselves is wrong. It’s even healthy that we carry a sense of accomplishment when we are able to use our gifts to serve-
The problem is that we measure our value in works- even works in the church, (spiritual works.) We think that if we have proven that we have worked harder, (again, physically, financially or spiritually) that we have somehow increased our value in God's eyes. We sometimes feel that if we are not “doing” anything productive, that we are getting a free ride- that we are taking and not ‘giving back’- and because of our world model, we are therefore not a valuable asset to the Kingdom of God.
But Jesus says we are valuable, even without doing the work! This is a case of self esteem verses Christ esteem.
And it is not really that we want to be worth more than others. We want to be “worth” period. So, we try to earn our worth, because it is certainly too unbelievable to think that we could be worth something just by existing… that’s ridiculous… right?
We have been taught, even growing up, (whether you grew up in a healthy “normal” family, or in a dysfunctional one), that we can’t just do ‘nothing’ and be accepted that way.
In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that many of us grew up feeling like our very existence caused others to have to work harder just to take care of us. That… love you or not… your parents, or the ones who cared for you, had to make sacrifices for you. That it cost money to raise you, time to care for you, and hopefully what was invested in you…. (Notice that word, invested)… in you, would pay off in the end. Even in the most loving situation, we learn that we need to prove our right to exist. Because if we can’t DO anything… then we become… like the blind and weak in our community... system suckers, burden on society… or on family… or on the church.
Take that in for a moment...
OK, so if we were socialized to have to prove our right to be here… then it is natural that we would want to gain recognition, to work to “stand out” from other people, even to put ourselves higher than other people. But all of that, in the end, is a mask to cover up the fact that we don’t want people to see us as we really are… that maybe deep down we know we are worthless IF we don’t DO anything.
But what happens next is even worse… We project all of that on to God.
We convince ourselves that we have to keep doing, in order to keep being desirable to God. To prove that God didn’t make a mistake in choosing us- in inviting us… to prove our worth to God…because if we are non-productive, we believe, then surely we also become a burden to God- the system sucker, the free ride… worthless to the Kingdom… the one God has to always take care of… the one who God invested in but it didn’t pay off.
But Jesus says, you are have immeasurable worth and you are valuable without doing ANYthing… without having to pay, without having to work to prove your right to be here, without having to even look at what anyone else has because we all have exactly the same. We are all equally valuable in God’s eyes.
The landowner, if you notice, didn’t go out and try to find people who looked like they might be good workers. He went out and invited, and invited and invited… people in the marketplace, people in the square… even people who were just standing around doing nothing! God desired you before you did anything at all, and that desire doesn’t fade whether you do anything or not!
In fact, when we can see ourselves as valuable- when we realize that we are acceptable to God not for what we do, but simply because we exist… that’s when we end up doing more than we ever thought we could for God.
But getting to the place where we can see ourselves that way is not easy. That’s where the ‘working in the vineyard’ metaphor comes into play. It is a lot of work not to look at others and use them as a measuring stick for your own worth.
And you know why it is so much work? Because every day we receive the exact opposite message from the world- and we choose to either listen to that message, or filter through and listen to the one we know to be true in Christ. And that filtering through the mixed messages is not just a grueling process; it can often be a painful one. And more than that, it is a time consuming process. We are busy people- all of us have tasks that have to be completed every day- and frankly, we all live and function as a part of the world- and in some sense, we are forced to buy in to the world ways of payment for work rendered.
So who has time to try to sit and filter through all the counter Kingdom messages we receive about ourselves every day and be still enough to listen to the still small voice that brings us the truth.
And that’s where the rest of the workers come in. There is a reason why the landowner invited and invited and invited. Tell me why? Yes- so we could encourage each other and be part of the counter message of truth. So we can help each other recognize our value and our worth in Christ- recognizing we are all in the vineyard together… so we cannot buy into the world messages, not for ourselves, and not for each other. And that means looking at “us” differently.
You want to know why I spend so much time talking about community. This is why. Because without one another, we are left in our corner of the field trying to do all this and figure out the mixed messages on our own! You have differences with each other? Work them out! Are you in arguments or jealousy or any of that stuff? Things that you feel like you can’t work out? That’s a false message my friends. That’s a set up by the world to keep us pitted against each other and not working together.
We have before us in the church, in the vineyard, the opportunity of a lifetime! I know it might seem difficult, or painful, or even impossible… but I promise you that this is God’s desire for us. Because when it comes right down to it… we are all, the 5 o clock worker. The only one who was here in the beginning was Christ. Christ was the one hired at dawn- Christ has already done the work for us, do you see that? And because of him, we all receive the grace we didn’t work for, and can’t pay for. And he did it for each of us, because he loves us… simply because he created us… simply because we exist. And there is no mixed message in that….
