"Generosity is the Flower of Justice"--Nathaniel Hawthorne

Today’s Gospel parable (Matthew 20: 1-16) causes me angst. I want to say to Jesus “It’s not right nor fair to pay the last workers hired the same as those who slaved all day long in the hot sun!”. 

In America, we insist that justice has to do with equality. Of course, it’s not fair.  Jesus is teaching us that a God who is “just” is inclined to show special generosity to the poor and outcast.  Who spends the whole day waiting to be hired until the end of the day?  In Jesus’ time, this would have been the weak, infirm, disabled and elderly. In today’s world, we can add the immigrant, the drug addict, and anyone else who is maliciously labeled as “worthless”.

Jesus tells us to be careful about taking things for granted; that we watch out and not put too much emphasis on ourselves and miss the most important part of our existence: the graciousness of God. The whole point is God’s generosity and bounteous love that He lavishes on saint and sinner alike.

In other words it's not up to the amount of work that is done or how much "heat of the day" is endured, or even how well the work is done. It all depends on God's call and invitation, and our acceptance of the invitation. Eternal happiness in the presence of our God is the ultimate wage. That's where we need to focus ourselves--not on grumbling against those we think don't deserve the wages for which we contracted.

In God's vineyard, the last is put first, because the one who is last is the one who's not competing with others to earn first position. This is the person who knows that God's love is always available simply because God is love. We don't have to climb any ladder of heavenly success; we're instantly on the top rung the moment we discover that God already loves us fully. The only reason we serve Him and work hard for Him, giving Him our best, unwilling to be mediocre, is simply because we love Him so very much.

What happens next is so awesome; it's saintly. We lose the selfishness that has kept us from putting others first. We find joy in helping our brothers and sisters receive the Father's assistance ahead of us, happily praying for them more than we pray for ourselves. And we get excited when the "lazy bums" in the family, the ones who've been rebelling against God all their lives, finally join the Christian workforce and benefit from God's love as much as we do.