Matthew 20:1-16
September 24, 2017
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL
Christina Berry
Clarence Jordan of Koinonia Farms wrote: “When Jesus delivered his parables, he lit a stick of dynamite, covered it with a story about everyday life, and then left it with his audience. By the time his hearers fully unwrapped the parable, Jesus and his disciples were long gone.”[1] And man, oh, man, was Clarence right! Last week we heard a story Jesus told about forgiveness. This week, we hear a story that he told about some workers in a vineyard. Or at least, the story seems to be about some workers in a vineyard. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in 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.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
In 2015, the CEO of a Seattle company called Gravity Payments made an announcement to his employees.
Everyone was getting a raise.
Everyone who worked there.
Not only was everyone getting a raise, the lowest paid workers were getting a substantial raise. His plan, Dan Price said, was to set a base minimum pay for every employee in the place: a base minimum pay of $70,000 a year. Price had learned that research supported the idea that an income of $70,000 was the optimal level at which most people would be happy with what they made. It was enough to pay the bills and live comfortably, but not so much that they would experience the stress of having too much. His thinking was that by being generous with all employees, he’d get an increase in worker loyalty and morale, a promise of good productivity with less-stressed workers, and, yes, maybe some good publicity, and some new clients. He planned to pay for it by reducing his own salary.
Imagine for a moment that you were one of his lower paid employees.
You’d welcome that news, right? Of course you would.
What if you were one of his higher paid employees?
You’d get a raise, but not the same percentage raise as other workers.
Imagine now that you were one of Dan Price’s clients.
Would you care one way or the other?
And what if you were, say, Rush Limbaugh?
What would you think about this decision?
What would you say?
I will tell you what actually happened in a minute, but I have to tell you, running across this news story this past week felt like a gift from heaven. Because Will Campbell, that wise old scoundrel, was right. This parable is a stick of dynamite wrapped in a story. Let’s tell the truth about what Jesus said: it is not fair.
Nobody thinks it makes sense for an employer to pay the people who work one hour the same as those who work ten. The workers who have worked all day don’t think it is fair. The other employers don’t think it is fair. And probably, those workers who worked only an hour would agree that being paid a day’s wage for an hour’s work simply is not fair. Once again, Jesus, we would respectfully request that you explain yourself. “The kingdom of heaven is like…,” Jesus starts out, and we know this is not going to be easy.
Anytime Jesus starts out that way, you can wait for the explosion. But it starts out with a familiar scene: a landowner needs workers. He goes to the place where laborers congregate, early in the morning, waiting for a day’s work. In some cities, that is the Home Depot parking lot, or the unemployment office, or the Co-op grain elevator, but every town of any size has such a place. He pulls up in his pickup and says, “I need some vineyard workers. I’m paying the usual daily minimum.”
He goes again at nine in the morning and does the same.
He goes again at noon and about three o'clock, and does the same.
Then at about five o'clock, Jesus says, “he went out and found others standing around;
and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here unemployed?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' So he hires them, too!
I will tell you what actually happened in a minute, but I have to tell you, running across this news story this past week felt like a gift from heaven. Because Will Campbell, that wise old scoundrel, was right. This parable is a stick of dynamite wrapped in a story. Let’s tell the truth about what Jesus said: it is not fair.
Nobody thinks it makes sense for an employer to pay the people who work one hour the same as those who work ten. The workers who have worked all day don’t think it is fair. The other employers don’t think it is fair. And probably, those workers who worked only an hour would agree that being paid a day’s wage for an hour’s work simply is not fair. Once again, Jesus, we would respectfully request that you explain yourself. “The kingdom of heaven is like…,” Jesus starts out, and we know this is not going to be easy.
Anytime Jesus starts out that way, you can wait for the explosion. But it starts out with a familiar scene: a landowner needs workers. He goes to the place where laborers congregate, early in the morning, waiting for a day’s work. In some cities, that is the Home Depot parking lot, or the unemployment office, or the Co-op grain elevator, but every town of any size has such a place. He pulls up in his pickup and says, “I need some vineyard workers. I’m paying the usual daily minimum.”
He goes again at nine in the morning and does the same.
He goes again at noon and about three o'clock, and does the same.
Then at about five o'clock, Jesus says, “he went out and found others standing around;
and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here unemployed?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.' So he hires them, too!
When it is time to pay everyone, he starts with those who came latest, and he pays them the usual daily wage. Then he pays everyone the usual daily wage. And those early-morning hires were not one bit pleased about 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.'”
As would I.
I worked all day in this heat and you pay me the same as those who worked for an hour or so? But Jesus is no Calvinist. He has the landowner answer them with two questions:
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious because I am generous?'
This story probably did not sit well with Jesus’ first century audience, and it does not by any means sit well with American Protestants. We are so steeped in the Protestant work ethic that this kind of story is almost unimaginable. If we sympathize with anyone in the story, it is those hard working people who showed up early, did the job, stuck with it, and expected proportional compensation.
Sure, Jesus, it is okay to say “So the last will be first, and the first will be last,” when we are talking in spiritual terms, but you are talking about the workplace, about our livelihood.
That Protestant work ethic, by the way, built this country. No matter what your view of American history and the founders, most everyone agrees that the colonists who first came to this country were hardworking, thrifty, committed people, willing to work for anything they got.
We get a little twitchy, we Presbyterians, when the Protestant work ethic is challenged. After all, Max Weber pointed out, way back in 1905, in his book, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” how the Calvinist view of hard work and thrift as signs of salvation contributed to the economic success of Protestant groups in the early stages of capitalism. Weber was well aware of the nuances of his argument, and did not go so far as to wed Calvinism and Capitalism permanently. But he did see how a religious system that often interprets worldly success as a sign of God’s favor, that emphasizes the duty to make good use of all resources, that regards decency and orderliness as important might be understood as being closely tied to an economic system
As would I.
I worked all day in this heat and you pay me the same as those who worked for an hour or so? But Jesus is no Calvinist. He has the landowner answer them with two questions:
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious because I am generous?'
This story probably did not sit well with Jesus’ first century audience, and it does not by any means sit well with American Protestants. We are so steeped in the Protestant work ethic that this kind of story is almost unimaginable. If we sympathize with anyone in the story, it is those hard working people who showed up early, did the job, stuck with it, and expected proportional compensation.
Sure, Jesus, it is okay to say “So the last will be first, and the first will be last,” when we are talking in spiritual terms, but you are talking about the workplace, about our livelihood.
That Protestant work ethic, by the way, built this country. No matter what your view of American history and the founders, most everyone agrees that the colonists who first came to this country were hardworking, thrifty, committed people, willing to work for anything they got.
We get a little twitchy, we Presbyterians, when the Protestant work ethic is challenged. After all, Max Weber pointed out, way back in 1905, in his book, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” how the Calvinist view of hard work and thrift as signs of salvation contributed to the economic success of Protestant groups in the early stages of capitalism. Weber was well aware of the nuances of his argument, and did not go so far as to wed Calvinism and Capitalism permanently. But he did see how a religious system that often interprets worldly success as a sign of God’s favor, that emphasizes the duty to make good use of all resources, that regards decency and orderliness as important might be understood as being closely tied to an economic system
in which hard work is rewarded with financial gain,
in which thrift is considered to be a cardinal virtue,
and in which upright living, tidiness, and discipline are valued.
In short, Weber knew that Calvinism and Capitalism were not wedded, but he saw that they were in a very serious relationship with one another. That relationship spawned a child that tends to be fought over by both Calvinists and Capitalists: the prosperity gospel. Which is why, I think, that the reaction to Dan Price’s pay raise idea was so strong, and surprisingly to me, not all positive. There was a lot of praise and positive response: “Talk show hosts lined up to interview Mr. Price. Job seekers by the thousands sent in résumés. He was called a “thought leader.” Harvard business professors flew out to conduct a case study. Third graders wrote him thank-you notes. Single women wanted to date him.”[2]
But there was serious negative backlash: Rush Limbaugh hated it. Some of Gravity’s clients left them. At least two of the top performing employees quit. And Dan’s brother sued him.
One employee who quit after receiving a raise said: “He gave raises to people who have the least skills and are the least equipped to do the job, and the ones who were taking on the most didn’t get much of a bump,”[3]
Another employee who received a $9,000 a year pay increase said, “Now the people who were just clocking in and out were making the same as me. It shackles high performers to less motivated team members.”[4]
Does any of this sound like that parable to you?
I can almost hear Jesus asking, “Are you angry because I’m generous?”
Well, I would be.
After all I’ve done for you, Jesus, yeah, I am a bit peeved.
Sure, sure, you can do what you want with what is yours.
But I don’t have to like it.
You ask me to forgive, and I’m working on it.
You ask me to love my enemies, and I’m working on it.
You ask me to put God first in every aspect of my life, and I’m working on it.
But now you ask me to set aside the just rewards of my labors, and take the same pay as those others, those latecomers, who appear to me to be lazy and no-account.
That work is too hard.
Besides, you said your burden was easy. It isn’t easy.
I’d like to get the reward I deserve.
I punched the clock, put in the time, did the work.
So I’m bringing my time card to you, Jesus.
I’m bringing it to the cross, to demand what I deserve.
And the good news is that I’m not going to get what I deserve, and neither are any of you. Because when we bring our resentment to the cross, we are met with the same generosity that the landowner showed. When we come to Jesus with our productivity reports, and our time and effort records, he doesn’t give us the payment we demand or deserve.
The payment we receive is more than we can ask or imagine,
more than we could ever dream of,
more than we could ever earn in a lifetime of twelve-hour days:
grace upon grace,
mercy upon mercy,
lives overflowing with abundance.
Then, fellow workers in the vineyard, he sends us away from the cross with a job description:
to love as we have been loved,
to be generous as God has been to us,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to serve and sacrifice until sunset,
until we are called in from the fields
to sit down at a table prepared for us,
to feast with him, not as servants, but as friends.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
[1] https://books.google.com/books/about/Cotton_Patch_Parables_of_Liberation.html?id=bQ9MAwAAQBAJ
[2] Cohen, Patricia, July 31, 2015, “A Company Copes With Backlash Against the Raise That Roared” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/business/a-company-copes-with-backlash-against-the-raise-that-roared.html?mcubz=1
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
in which thrift is considered to be a cardinal virtue,
and in which upright living, tidiness, and discipline are valued.
In short, Weber knew that Calvinism and Capitalism were not wedded, but he saw that they were in a very serious relationship with one another. That relationship spawned a child that tends to be fought over by both Calvinists and Capitalists: the prosperity gospel. Which is why, I think, that the reaction to Dan Price’s pay raise idea was so strong, and surprisingly to me, not all positive. There was a lot of praise and positive response: “Talk show hosts lined up to interview Mr. Price. Job seekers by the thousands sent in résumés. He was called a “thought leader.” Harvard business professors flew out to conduct a case study. Third graders wrote him thank-you notes. Single women wanted to date him.”[2]
But there was serious negative backlash: Rush Limbaugh hated it. Some of Gravity’s clients left them. At least two of the top performing employees quit. And Dan’s brother sued him.
One employee who quit after receiving a raise said: “He gave raises to people who have the least skills and are the least equipped to do the job, and the ones who were taking on the most didn’t get much of a bump,”[3]
Another employee who received a $9,000 a year pay increase said, “Now the people who were just clocking in and out were making the same as me. It shackles high performers to less motivated team members.”[4]
Does any of this sound like that parable to you?
I can almost hear Jesus asking, “Are you angry because I’m generous?”
Well, I would be.
After all I’ve done for you, Jesus, yeah, I am a bit peeved.
Sure, sure, you can do what you want with what is yours.
But I don’t have to like it.
You ask me to forgive, and I’m working on it.
You ask me to love my enemies, and I’m working on it.
You ask me to put God first in every aspect of my life, and I’m working on it.
But now you ask me to set aside the just rewards of my labors, and take the same pay as those others, those latecomers, who appear to me to be lazy and no-account.
That work is too hard.
Besides, you said your burden was easy. It isn’t easy.
I’d like to get the reward I deserve.
I punched the clock, put in the time, did the work.
So I’m bringing my time card to you, Jesus.
I’m bringing it to the cross, to demand what I deserve.
And the good news is that I’m not going to get what I deserve, and neither are any of you. Because when we bring our resentment to the cross, we are met with the same generosity that the landowner showed. When we come to Jesus with our productivity reports, and our time and effort records, he doesn’t give us the payment we demand or deserve.
The payment we receive is more than we can ask or imagine,
more than we could ever dream of,
more than we could ever earn in a lifetime of twelve-hour days:
grace upon grace,
mercy upon mercy,
lives overflowing with abundance.
Then, fellow workers in the vineyard, he sends us away from the cross with a job description:
to love as we have been loved,
to be generous as God has been to us,
to forgive as we have been forgiven,
to serve and sacrifice until sunset,
until we are called in from the fields
to sit down at a table prepared for us,
to feast with him, not as servants, but as friends.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
[1] https://books.google.com/books/about/Cotton_Patch_Parables_of_Liberation.html?id=bQ9MAwAAQBAJ
[2] Cohen, Patricia, July 31, 2015, “A Company Copes With Backlash Against the Raise That Roared” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/business/a-company-copes-with-backlash-against-the-raise-that-roared.html?mcubz=1
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
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