Creekside Church Sermon of September 22, 1996 "The Unfair Goodness...of God" Matthew 20:1-16	Rev. David Bibbee
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But if you would read it to someone who never heard it before, the gauges would go haywire. They would likely take offense and complain that is neither logical nor fair, and that response is exactly what Jesus was after. If you can swallow this parable without choking, you're the sort of person who could take a root canal without anesthetic. With this parable, Jesus sought to disorient his listeners and turn their and our notions about God, fairness, and justice topsy-turvy. It tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't run by our standards, but God's. So let's try it one more time and see what happens.

It was harvest time, and the vines in Mr. Julio Gallo's vineyard were heavy with grapes. At six a.m. he drove to town to the Union Hall where ambitious day laborers had gathered to find work. Wanting the best wages, they asked Mr. Gallo what he would pay. They agreed on a fair wage. A silver coin...a denarius. We'll factor inflation and taxes and say it was a hundred dollars. About nine a.m. Mr. Gallo realized he had underestimated the number of workers needed, so he drove back to town for another truckload of workers. Even they were not enough, so he went back at noon and again at three. Each time he said he would pay a fair wage. The sun was getting low, and if Mr. Gallo was going to get the harvest in he would have to get more help. When he got to the Union Hall the only ones left were the jokers who slept till noon and were willing only to work enough to have enough money for a good time that night. He would only need them for an hour so he told them they'd be treated right and he dropped them off in the vineyard. They hadn't even broken a sweat when the whistle blew ending the day.

With the harvest in the tanks ready to be pressed, he had his payroll manager hand out envelopes to the workers starting with those who were last. The first guy peeked inside and couldn't believe it. A hundred bucks? Obviously a mistake, but he kept right on walking. He waited for his buddies to catch up to tell them and discovered that they got a hundred dollars also. When the ones who toiled since dawn came along the late comers asked what they got. "One hundred dollars..." The others laughed. "Hah! You were out there all day pickin' and sweatin' when you could have worked in an hour in the cool, cool, cool of the evening for the same amount!"

Well, as you would expect, the men who woke early and worked hard were livid. They marched back to Mr. Gallo's house and demanded to know why they who had worked so hard so long and on the verge of heat stroke had gotten no more than the late comers who hardly did squat. Wouldn't you be angry too? Mr. Gallo then asked, "What did I say I would pay you?" "One hundred dollars." "What did I pay you?" "One hundred dollars." "So what's the problem? Why is it such a concern to you what the others received? I am a very generous man. Is there a law against generosity? Can't Julio Gallo do what he wants with what is his?" End of parable. Does anyone still think this is reasonable? Fair?

What do you suppose would happen if someone ran a business like this--equal pay for unequal work? Wouldn't you be at the head of the line crying foul and calling the fair labor bureau? Of course you would. But this parable is no blueprint for business. Jesus said it was what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He tells us how utterly, unbelievably gracious is the love of God. So great is God's grace that it defies every reasonable, manageable version of it. We can't contain it. We can't control it. It's much too big for that. Last month NASA scientist's said they have meteor from Mars which contains evidence that life once existed there. A theologian was asked what such a discovery would mean in our understanding of God. He said it would mean that God is bigger than we realized. Sounds like something a theologian would say. Yes...God is so much bigger than we know.

But what about you? Who do you identify with in the parable? If you feel kinship with the last hour laborers, this parable is good news. Because society ties what a person is worth with what they produce, perhaps you felt diminished. Maybe you've spent years comparing your life to others thinking because your accomplishments haven't equaled theirs, that you're less of a person. Maybe you've spent years pursuing lesser things and pleasures which vanish and you've woken up to the spiritual side of life. It seems that so many know so much more and they are so much further along the path of discipleship, then this parable floods you with the wonder that God's love for you is no less than for those who have come home before you.

Jesus so wanted people like you to know how loved you are that he wrapped this same message in other parables. There was a tax collector whose accounts were bulging with other people's money but who felt spiritually bankrupt. He prayed, "Be merciful to me a sinner." And his prayer was heard over the righteous Pharisee's. There was a young man who blew his inheritance on booze and babes, who, when the money ran out came crawling home and before he could say "Sorry" his love-sick father threw a party and treated him like royalty while his older obedient brother fumed and refused to join the fun. If you've ever been far away, living for yourself, immersing yourself in many dangers, toils, and snares, Jesus has good news about a good God who is waiting for you.

But my guess is that most of us identify with those who toiled from dawn till dusk. We believe in a fair wage for an honest days work. We resonate with the message of the T.V. commercial from several years back where John Houseman said, "Smith- Barney makes money the old fashioned way...they earn it." Industrious, hard working, honest, obedient, never miss a Sunday at church, don't smoke, cuss, or chew or go with those who do--that's who we are. How do we hear this parable. How do you suppose the righteous, religious folks reacted to it? How did the PHD in prayer Pharisee react when Jesus said the tax collector knew more about prayer? How did big brother greet the news of the party for his playboy brother? "All these years I've worked these hot fields and never disobeyed. I never got a party, but you're hell-raising son is treated like a King!" It doesn't seem fair, does it. If you are into doing good for what it gets you, if God's acceptance is tied to what you've done to deserve it, this parable is quite a shock. The issue for those who toiled all day wasn't the pay. What irritated them so was that the dead beats who came last received the same. Its called jealousy...jealousy that sinners get grace instead of just desserts. Jealousy that keeps the heart hardened and the foot from tapping to the tunes from another's welcome home party. Jealousy that tries to keep a tight leash around God's love letting it loose only to those who have come to God as we have.

Malcolm Muggeridge was a literary genius who gave merciless critiques of literature and culture. For years he was a commentator for the BBC. He boldly proclaimed his agnosticism and took pride in his intellectual arrogance. Most of his life was spent in self-indulgence. Whatever the pleasure, he pursued it with no thought of anyone but himself. Then late in his life something happened. He became a Christian and he wrote a book on his life apart from the faith called CHRONICLES OF WASTED TIME. The key mind that had ridiculed the faith became one of its finest ambassadors and earned him the affectionate title, "Saint Mug." But George Thompson said that many felt it was unfair. "All the fun he had while not being a disciple; not attending those long Anglican eucharists. Not having to sit through years of boring sermons."

How can it be that the Lord's love is so great, His mercy so immense, while the recipients of it can be such misers? A verse from a hymn we'll sing in a few moments offers an answer, "But we make God's love too narrow by false limits of our own, and we magnify its strictness with a zeal God will not own." "I want to give those I hired last as much as I have given you. Can't I do as I wish with what is mine? Are you jealous because I am generous?"

If you find this parable unsettling, its a good sign. It means the gospel is trying to penetrate your heart. I keep being struck by the fact that Jesus' sternest warnings were not for those outside the faith. It's for those on the inside who know themselves to be accepted by God but who find it hard to accept God's acceptance of others. "In the Kingdom of Heaven," Jesus said, "there is an equal wage for all who come to serve. Don't become the elder son who was keeping score all those years and could only pout and fume when the father ignored the score and gave the prodigal a wild and loving welcome." With the elder brother we fail to understand how God could love so much.

This is a parable of judgment on those who have worked so hard at being good and obedient, who think God should dispense His love more judiciously. But while judged for keeping God's love narrow, there is no rejection. Mr. Gallo didn't take back what he had given. The loving father who came to his eldest son to bring him into the party said, "I've welcomed your brother home, but you're still my son. You will always be with me. All that I have is yours."

At my High School Reunion last month a friend said, "You won't believe who called me." I made the wildest guess I could. "Jerry McKenzie." "Yes!" Early on Jerry established himself as a bully. He retained this title through high school when he dropped out after being expelled for threatening the principal. Growing up I was in maybe half a dozen fights. Four were with Jerry. The last was when he called my mother and unrepeatable name to her face. Jerry was the epitome of cruel and mean. He was in and out of trouble with the law. Truly one of the scariest people I've known. Thirty years passed since anyone had seen him. We assumed he was in penitentiary somewhere.

"Do you know who I am?" the voice asked Mike. "No." "It's Jerry McKenzie." A shudder shot through Mike's body. He called to say that he was back in town. He said he knew what a mess he had made of his life, but that since he met Jesus, he was a different person. Said he had written about his experience and wanted to get together to share it and become reacquainted. Mike then asked me, "Would you want to meet him again?" And before I could even think, the words came tumbling out, "No way."

When I who know something about God's love, being bathed in it for so long and opening others to it, catch myself thinking and talking like this, I know how much like the day long workers I can be. This parable judges me, but it also makes me glad.

I don't know about you, but I for one am grateful that God isn't fair. I'm glad because if fairness is the stick by which we are measured and not grace, we are all in trouble. I'm glad Jesus was accused of partying with sinners. I'm glad because he'll come to anyone, anytime. I'm glad because as somebody said, "God has given up on salvation by the books. In Jesus, God gave up his job as an accountant, closed the books forever, gathered all our IOU's and nailed them on a cross." I'm so glad. Are you?

[Thanks to Dr. William Willimon whose thoughts on the text inspired the shape of this sermon.]

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