20TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.

Wouldn’t you be upset if you worked all day and got paid the same amount as someone who worked just one hour? “It’s not fair!” you would tell your employer.

But this parable doesn’t seem fair from a landowner’s point of view either. Even if he wanted to pay the same wage to his laborers no matter how long they had worked, he couldn’t. He would quickly run out of money and have to sell his land!

When the landowner is God, however, there are no limits. He is infinite, and so is his grace. It can’t be measured or parceled out, and it never runs out. He keeps pouring it out on the people he has created and loves so much—whether they have worked for him all their lives or turn to him minutes before their death. That’s the good news that Jesus came to share with us.

There’s even more good news that we can draw from this parable. Once the day is over, our “wages” will be infinite as well: eternal life with our God. In heaven we won’t be thinking about who worked longer and harder or who deserved more or less. Instead, we will be rejoicing together with one voice, united in love with both God and one another.

We all possess a sense of justice that cries out, “It’s not fair!” That can be a good thing when it energizes us to address unjust situations in our society. God cares about these things, as should we. But there’s no such thing as “it’s not fair” when it comes to God’s mercy, grace, and the eternal life he died to give every one of us.

Jesus knew we would find this parable jarring; as humans we are so used to limits and comparisons. He told it in order to expand our understanding of how generous God is and how much he longs for us to be united with him. So even if it’s a struggle, today try to imagine the joy you will feel in heaven when your brothers and sisters who came to the vineyard later than you receive the same blessings you are enjoying. What a celebration that will be!

“Jesus, I praise you for the unlimited, never-ending grace and mercy you pour out on me!”

Ezekiel 34:1-11
Psalm 23:1-6
Matthew 20:1-16