SCRIPTURE
20 “The kingdom
of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers
for his vineyard. 2 After he agreed with the workers to pay them a
denarion, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 “Then he went
out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace
doing nothing. 4 He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll
pay you whatever is right.’ 5 And they went.
“Again around noon and
then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. 6 Around five in
the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them,
‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’
7 “‘Because
nobody has hired us,’ they replied. “He responded, ‘You also go into the
vineyard.’
8 “When evening
came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give
them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to
the first.’ 9 When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came,
each one received a denarion. 10 Now when those hired first came, they
thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion.
11 When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner,
12 ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same
pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’
13 “But he
replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you
a denarion? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this
one who was hired last the same as I give to you. 15 Don’t I have the
right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because
I’m generous?’ 16 So those who are last will be first. And those who are
first will be last.”
SERMON
To, “pay whatever is
right.”
To, “pay whatever is
right,” the landowner says.
But what is right the
people ask.
Is right the scale of
time worked, divided by (the denarian of) its percentage of a day’s wage?
Or is right for each
one to have their daily bread?
Is right determined by
when we were picked up, or how long we waited,
Or is right the
forgiveness of our debts and forgiveness of our debtors?
Is right the weight of
our gathered harvest bundles multiplied by a base price?
Or is right our
deliverance of evil, and the Kingdom forever and ever no matter the fervor of
our prayers tallied up against the atrocity of our sins?
What we view as right
depends on with whom we identify in this text.
Are we the worker who
got picked up last, and was paid the grace of a full daily wage,
Or are we the worker
who showed up first, and expected more?
Do we speak of our
bootstraps, or do we mention the gifts that gave us a leg up?
Do we talk about our achievements
or our gratitude for moments of grace bestowed?
Right depends if we
are living in the world, or glimpsing the Kingdom.
The kingdom is where
the landowner lives, and we are invited to join.
The kingdom is a
generous tip to the musician who got you dancing.
The kingdom is a need
based scholarship.
The kingdom is the Special Olympics.
The kingdom is a ramp
as opposed to stairs.
The kingdom is a good
doctor or an attentive teacher.
The kingdom is the
village it takes to raise a child.
The kingdom is a great
book recommendation or a fitting song.
The kingdom is the
right assisted living.
The kingdom is
hospice.
The kingdom is the
birth of a child.
The kingdom is the
children of the church, and being a Child of God throughout our ages.
The kingdom is
sunshine on a Saturday, and Saturday itself.
The kingdom is enough
rain and snow to bring us out of drought.
The kingdom is getting
enough sleep and sabbath.
The kingdom is time
with family and friends.
The kingdom is safety
walking along a street at night.
The kingdom is
children playing in the neighborhood.
The kingdom is spell
check, a calculator, and a detailed map.
The kingdom is being
picked up for church, a birthday card in the mail, a meal when you were sick,
or a listening ear.
The kingdom is Sunday
School teachers, and worship volunteers.
The kingdom is each
person in the pews.
The kingdom is the
kindness of strangers.
The kingdom is
breakfast to middle school kids.
The kingdom is this
bread, broken for us.
The kingdom is the
juice poured out for us.
The kingdom is this
life given for us
and the kingdom is the
life before us.
The kingdom is the
dust from which we came and the dust to which we will return,
Ashes to ashes, dust
to dust,
all kingdom.
It’s not equal, even,
or earned, but it’s right.
It’s the true meaning
of right - the flourishing of the kingdom to the thanksgiving to God.
Grace is what’s right.
So as we approach
Lent, this season where we recognize our distance from God, let our practice be
observing the kingdom in our midst. Let us meet resentment with gratitude,
entitlement with grace. Let our deserving become a place of our offering, and
our indignant-cy show the depths of our humility. Right is grace upon grace,
ashes and communion, death to resurrection, Good Friday to Easter. And all of
that is right in our world.
Let us pray.
You who is landowner
and bearer of the harvest.
May we be picked up
may our labor be an
offering
and our payment your
grace
That we may see and
receive. Amen.
