We expect God to be at least as fair our society. But that is not how God operates.
For the last several weeks Jesus has been upending His disciples’ thinking about life. Those who hope to find life, He told them back in Matthew 16:25, must lose their lives for His sake. This means losing human ways of thinking and adopting, instead, the mind of God (see Matthew 16:23). A few weeks ago, Jesus taught them to lose their ego by becoming like children. Last week, He taught them to lose their scorecard by forgiving as they have been forgiven. This week, He teaches them that finding life means losing their sense of fairness.
Like the previous parable of the unforgiving servant, the parable in this week’s text is not difficult to understand. The difficulty lies in accepting what it clearly teaches about God and His ways. The simple truth in the parable is God is not fair. This is especially challenging for Americans in the Twenty-first Century.
The specific challenge in the parable comes from two related angles. First, Americans have a deep and personal attachment to their money. In his provocative book on stewardship, Mark Allen Powell tells a story of the conversion of the warlike Gauls in northern Europe in ancient times.[1] When Christian missionaries converted them, Gallic warriors exhibited a strange behavior during their baptisms. As their bodies were dunked in the river or stream, the warriors would hold one arm high in the air. Later, the missionaries learned what they were doing. When the next battle came, the warlike Gual proclaimed, “This arm is not baptized!” and proceeded to use it to destroy his enemy in a most un-Christian manner. Powell shares this story, not to disparage any Gauls or their descendants, but to make a comparison to Americans. He suggests that when American Christians are baptized, they hold out their wallets high in the air, free from the influence of their baptism. “God can have the rest of me,” the thinking goes, “but my money is mine.”
Second, Americans (ostensibly) hold equality as one of their highest values. Accordingly, we insist on such noble ideas as equal rights and equal opportunity. We also insist on equal pay. Notice how many laws have been passed to ensure equal pay for equal work. The Equal Pay Act (EPA; 1963) prohibits sex-based wage discrimination. Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts (1964) expands the EPA by prohibiting compensation discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967) protects workers aged forty and older from being paid less than younger workers or being let go for their age. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) prohibits discrimination against people with physical or mental disabilities. Repeatedly, the United States Congress has acted to codify equal pay for equal work.
Make no mistake, these laws are wonderful gifts. Because of our collective sinful inclinations, society runs much better when laws like these keep us in check. But we should be aware of what they condition us to expect from God. We expect God to be at least as fair our society. But that is not how God operates.
The Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus describes it in His parable, does not run by an economy of equal pay for equal work. It runs by the economy of God’s generosity.
The Old Testament reading from Isaiah 55:8-9 helps here.
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
The Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus describes it in His parable, does not run by an economy of equal pay for equal work. It runs by the economy of God’s generosity. As the master tells the greedy workers (20:15):
“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”
To those who have nothing to offer, who have not even earned an hour’s worth of wages, God freely gives forgiveness, life, salvation, resurrection, and eternity, which is why it might be helpful to extend this week’s reading by a few verses. Immediately following this parable, Jesus announces (for a third time!) the unconventional and otherworldly generosity of Jesus Christ. Once again, Jesus re-minds His disciples that He would suffer, die, and rise on the third day. In other words, He tells them once more that He will lose His life before finding it again on the third day.
So, it is with us too. Those who find life in Christ, who have been generously sought and found and united to Jesus in His death and resurrection also lose. They lose their ego. They lose their scorecard. And according to today’s parable, they lose their deeply ingrained cultural sense of fairness and equality.
The good news you get to proclaim to your congregation is how losing such earthly ways of thinking is good for them. It is good for us, and for all who find life in Christ. He is life, after all, and we truly live in Him.
What impact does this have on our relationships with others? When we live in the economy of God’s generosity, we no longer grumble when our Lord deals generously with our brothers or sisters. Instead, we rejoice with them. We help and support them in all their needs, and we strive to improve and protect their possessions and income. Overall, we give thanks to God for His grace and mercy, not only to us, but to all who call on the name of the Lord.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Matthew 20:1-16.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Matthew 20:1-16.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] Powell, Mark Allen. Giving to God: The Bible’s Good News about Living a Generous Life. Eerdmans, 2006. xi.
