Prodigal Love
- Terry Sweeney
- Sep 21, 2008
September 21, 2008
Prodigal LOVE
Matthew 20.1-16
Fr W Terry Sweeney
“Don’t I have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last shall be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:15-16
In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Yard Sale THANK YOU”S!!
We are all raised with certain social expectations – mores, norms – call them what you want. I’m thinking about a few specific items such as:
People waiting in line should not cut ahead – no cuts! Cut and you’re asked to leave.
Go to an amusement park and two kids ahead of you are joined by their thirty friends and they all fully believe they should be able to jump ahead when one of the two friends invites them to join them!
It’s never wise to try to sneak ahead of the line or just walk right up to the front and assume that’s okay. We find out pretty quickly what the crowd thinks about that. J
Take a number at a meat counter or the license bureau – one expects the numbers to be called sequentially – in order. If someone is perceived as unfairly getting ahead of us we really get upset.
Go to a barber shop – people filter in – sit down – look around to see who’s already there – when it’s their turn they get up and go to a chair. . . . sometimes two guys get up and a little refereeing takes place.
When we work we get paid – now days, work more get paid more – work less get paid the same anyway! J
Many of us have high ideals of our worth and expect to see it in our paychecks – we scratch our employers back they scratch, lotion, rub and put a new shirt on ours. J
What if everyone was paid the same – we’d call that socialism or maybe communism or a bad dream depending on the pay scale J
What if everyone doing the same work got the same pay or had the same opportunity not withstanding talent and desire?
What if the world of mores and norms was turned upside down?
We might call that the Kingdom of Heaven where prodigal love is the norm.
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard is an answer to Peter’s question just a few verses earlier: Mat. 19:27, “Then Peter answered and said to Him (Jesus), “Behold, we have left everything and followed you; what them will there be for us?”
Peter says unlike the Rich Young Man who asked how he could get eternal life and when he heard Jesus say it took sacrifice and a heart to follow Him left sad because he had great wealth he didn’t ant to part with – Peter says they (the 12) have done just that – left family, friends, possessions, safety, security, professions – What then will there be for them?
Before Jesus tells them the parable he said this: "Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."
Keep in mind – the notion of a future reward for following Christ is found in several places in both Testaments.
God makes promises that have future rewards tied to them: The Covenant with Abraham that is renewed with David and fulfilled in Jesus.
The promises in this parable, the parable of the faithful and wise servant in Mat. 24:45-47; the parable of the talents in 25:20-23; the teachings of Jesus (6:4, 6, 18; 19:27-29; 25:34-40) . . . .
All say “Blessing is the promised outcome: it always outweighs the bad we experience.
Look with me – Matthew 20:1-16. I’m using a home grown translation this morning but follow along best you can.
V. 1, “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an owner of an estate who went out early in the morning to hire workmen for his vineyard. v.2, And having come to an agreement with the workmen for a denarius a day he sent them into his vineyard.
I want to underscore the obvious – the owner is searching for laborers to work HIS vineyard. . . . he cares for it . . . . he takes time to oversee it himself.
The owner of the estate could have handed this job off to the foreman – but for what ever reason he decided to do it himself. He cares that much for the vineyard and the work to be done – he may also want to hand pick the day workers.
He’s up early (the work day begins at 6 a.m.) and finds some men who he negotiates with – a verbal contract – you work today and I’ll give you each a denarius – the usual pay for a day.
The word HIRE comes from a derivative of MISTHOO which means to hire: like the hired men who Zebedee was left with when James and John left their boats and followed Jesus (Mark 1:20) or the Shepherd in John 10:12, “who when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.
In this usage HIRE means there is a pure profit motive behind the relationship and that’s pretty much it. . . the reward for work is money at the end of the day.
So they make a deal – 12 hours work gets them one denarius.
v. 3, And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing in the market-place with nothing to do. v.4, He said to them, “You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you”. v.5, So they went. And he went out again about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3 p.m.), and did the same thing.
Setting aside how much had to be done and reasons for hiring more people – the way they came to the vineyard was different then the first group.
There is no set wage for the remainder of the day – not from 9 am to 6 pm or from noon to 6 pm or from 3 pm to 6 pm. . . . . the understanding was “What ever is right I will give to you.”
Make of this what you will but to the point of the parable these characters are now pretty much forgotten – because the real issues deals with the extremes.
The first set of workers and those who follow – look:
v.6, Then about the eleventh hour (5 p.m.) he went out and found other men standing about, and he said to them, “why do you stand here all day doing nothing?” v.7, They said to him, “Because nobody has hired us.” He said to them, “You go into the vineyard too.” (Saying nothing about paying them)
As the day goes by the pool of men standing around gets smaller but so does the quality.
It’s possible these men had worked their own fields and were looking for extra work.
The language used does indicate there was no work available for them, so it wasn’t as if they were lazy or not too willing to work or maybe just picky.
Ever picked teams – ever been the one picked first? Second? Third? LAST!?
The one(s) picked first are often perceived as the best players, whereas the last picked is considered the worst.
When the owner asked the men why they were standing around doing nothing – they said “Because nobody has hired us”.
Now we could assume it was because they were not very desirable workers – maybe they were known to be lazy – dishonest – sick – trouble makers – not very skilled in anything.
We could consider it was just a slow day with not much work going on.
In any case these men are what’s left – they are truly the last available.
In this case the owner doesn’t even say he’d pay them “What ever is right”.
For all we know there’s one hour left in the work day and they may have thought they wouldn’t get any pay at all – it’s impossible to tell for sure.
In any event we don’t have very high expectations regarding them as the parable is being told – they’re just more workers on the scene in a long and busy day at the vineyard.
The owner simply says, “You go into the vineyard too.”
v.8, So when evening had come (6 p.m.) the owner of the vineyard said to the foreman, “Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with those (that came) last and ending with the first.”
The first time I read this parable when I got to this point I asked myself what this was all about? It wasn’t keeping my attention or making much sense to me.
The work day’s done – wages were generally paid when the work day finished (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:15)
The workers were arranged somehow in the reverse order they began their work:
The 5 p.m. crew was first; then the 3 p.m. followed by the noon, then the 9 a.m. and last was the first crew.
The first were paid last and the last were paid first.
v. 9, And when those came who (the master had invited to the vineyard) about the eleventh hour, each one received a denarius. v. 10, And when those who were hired first came, they expected to receive more, but each one of them also received a denarius.
Jesus doesn’t tell us where the owner is but he’s close;
Jesus never reveals how the foreman knew to give everyone a denari
It’s reasonable to say this was the owners custom OR
He told the foreman to do it . . . . . .
And we could even go as far as to say the foreman knew his master so well he knew what the owner would agree to do without asking.
In any event this is an interesting contrast in expectations:
“The Last” don’t expect a full days wage and are surprised and “The First” expected more than a days wage but that’s what they got!
“The Last” worked for an hour in cooler conditions and “The First” worked a long, hard, hot day.
“The Last” are pleasantly surprised – maybe speechless – “The First” are having a conniption. .. . . .
As for the owner and his generosity – worldly wisdom would say he’s foolish; the day laborer had no union or leverage – if they didn’t work they didn’t eat – there was no welfare system or unemployment or government to bail them out.
They were at the mercy of those who would hire them – maybe that’s a key word “MERCY”.
v. 11, They took it (their pay) and began to grumble against the owner of the estate, v. 12, saying, “These late-comers have worked one hour, yet you have put them on a par with us, who have endured the arduous toil and the sweltering heat of the day.”
Paraphrased: In spite of the fact that we’ve worked hard all day in the heat you put these late-comers at the same level as us and we’re generous to them, look what you did for them (and not for us – we worked harder – we deserve more!)
In their envy they forget politeness – they grumble against the owner – because he’s generous with his own money.
The First were willing, maybe even sought, a days work for a denarius. . . . they settled for something they could count on – there was a pure profit motive behind this – they work and get paid and that’s it.
The Last had absolutely no guarantee of any wage – they went to work – albeit for an hour – without any assurance of pay of any sort.
The First were upset to be placed on par with The Last – their basic problem was envy and jealousy.
v. 13, But he answered them, “Friend I am not doing you an injustice; didn’t you come to an agreement with me for a denarius? v. 14, Take what is yours and go home. I want to give this late-comer as much as I give you v. 15, Don’t I have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
I think the translation “FRIEND” is a bit too soft and I’d suggest something more like neighbor or brother even though the word used is used one other place for “False Friend”.
The owner may see them as potential friends but at the moment they’re anything but friends.
The owner in effect says: look in my vineyard no body looses – there is generosity when its least expected and an honest wage for an honest days work.
The owner says – the money is mine to do as I wish – and that’s what I did.
Why be envious because someone received a blessing – did I not keep my word to you?
Why begrudge a brother/neighbor of a blessing?
The First sound strangely similar to the elder brother in the prodigal son (Luke 15.11-32) who refused to participate in the celebration of his brothers return claiming the father has not treated him (the faithful, hardworking, loyal son) the same way.
He in effect says my brother the bum deserves nothing yet you lavish him with gifts.
Why?
Then Jesus in telling the parable repeats 19.30 by saying in 20.16:
v. 16, So the last shall be first, and the first last.
You see in God’s kingdom the undeserving may sit next to the sort of deserving who are pretty close to the very deserving BUT in reality none are fully deserving and will be in God’s Kingdom through His mercy and Grace.
The Kingdom of Heaven is the place where radical prodigal love is dispensed and practiced and honored and lived.
Clearly Jesus wants Peter and the others to understand that their standing with Him comes from His sovereign will and grace and nothing that they’ve done, either bad or good.
He wants them to understand that the freedom and sovereignty of God in imparting the reward of grace comes not because someone is entitled but comes out of radical prodigal love.
This parable teaches us not to pride ourselves in all the accolades we can heap upon ourselves NOR to be gloomy about the sin we harbor in our hearts BUT instead to stand before God knowing through Jesus we are made clean and right with God.
Lastly, the way the owner deals with these men is much different and would perhaps be disastrous in the workplace of today – BUT it does clearly show us the radical difference between prodigal love and the consumerist values of the average worker who is bored with her job but does it out of necessity.
Live each day confident in the Lord not just to get the reward of Heaven but because the reward of heaven is promised to those who run the race to the end with faith in Jesus.
That race could be run for many, many years or it could be the newest convert – it’s not about time it’s about faith and grace and a promise keeper God who practices prodigal love.
Someone say AMEN.
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