Devotion today was Matthew 20: 1-16. Using the analogy of a vine-yard and the vine-yard owner's strange method of paying people, Jesus explains what the kingdom of God is really like. Here's how the story goes:
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A vine-yard owner goes out early in the morning to look for people to work in his vineyard. He finds some and negotiates a price of one denarius for a day of work and sends the newly employed laborers off to his yard. Walking into the marketplace at about 9 am, he notices some people loitering around, doing nothing. He asks them to go work in his vineyard too and that he will give them the amount he thinks is befitting of them. He did the same thing at 11 am and again at 3 pm. At 5 pm (one hour to the end of a work day), he went out again and found even more loitering people, of whom he queried, "Why aren't you guys working?"
"Well, no one called us to do anything." They replied. The owner says, "Alright, you guys go work too."
So the work day drew to an end and the laborers gathered around the owner to get their pay.
To the guys that arrived at 5 pm, the owner gave 1 denarius. To those that came at 11 am and 3 pm, they got a denarius too. Seeing this, those who were hired at 6 am all thought that they would be getting more. After all, they had done the full day of work, all 12 hours. However, when it was their turn, the owner gave them 1 denarius as well.
Feeling cheated and undervalued, they complained to the owner, "Hey, look here buddy. The last guys you hired worked for an hour and you paid them the same wages as us! Have they done the same amount of work that we did? We were the ones in the scorching heat, you know? 12 hours! That's just unfair! You failed math in school or something?"
The owner looks up at one of them and replies in surprise, "If I didn't remember wrongly, I do believe we had a mutual agreement this morning that you would work a whole day for a denarius. So take what you have and run along. But I wish to give the other guys the same amount as you. I'm not breaking the law by doing what I want with what I own, you know. Or are you guys just being petty and bad-natured just because I'm being generous? So everyone shall receive an equal share."
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When I first read it, I thought, "Well, that's just unfair to the workers who came earlier God. They worked more and suffered so much more!" Then I realized that I was saying this from the early worker's perspective. If I put myself in the late comers shoes, I would be overwhelmed by the grace that was given to me. Wow, I'm getting more than I deserve! Such a generous dude! Oh my goodness, I'm getting the same amount of cash as the people who worked the whole day! Whoa, they look kinda pissed.
When I first read the passage, I was confusing God's character with his kingdom characteristics. I first read it taking Jesus to be the landowner. But something just didn't make sense. Haha, then I read the first verse again. It says: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner.." The Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner, not Jesus like the landowner. There's a difference really. Looking at a room, because there are many bright colors and a well-used violin lies in a easy-to-access place we determine that its owner is probably cheerful and plays the violin quite well. But we don't look at the room and say that the person is colorful and has a violin in an easy-to-access place on his person. Nope nope. The room reflects the person. It is not the person himself.
The landowner (the kingdom of heaven) is not exclusive to who has done more work, who has the better heart or who has the best looks. It was open to all. Anybody from anywhere. Jews and Gentiles. The loved and the abandoned. It was based on a rule of non-exclusivity. You are in heaven as long as you went to work in the vineyard. This characteristic of heaven revealed to me that the Lord was a gracious, merciful God. That he is prone to giving second chances and being pro-active in a relationship. THAT'S AWESOME NEWS. A divine being, taking the initiative in a relationship?! WHOA.
*I came back and edited this post haha. As much as I want to hold God's hand, I hope that this blog presents a carefully thought over contemplation of God's word. Not a slipshod crash reading that may prove to be a stumbling block to others. I am learning that a relationship is a 2 way thing. God does his part, I do mine. One-sided love never works, you see? :)
Questions:
1) This is sounding a bit like Marxism to me. Everyone gets an equal share? Then how would you motivate the former workers? How to prevent feet-dragging?
Actually, this is Marxism at its best. Karl Marx wanted a classless and stateless utopia where there was no oppression (which he deduced came from the upper classes trying to maintain power over the majority of working class by exploiting them). When you think of it, it sounds wonderful. A world where there are no inequalities. But then, world reality bites you in the behind when you suddenly realize: If I'm going to get the same as everyone else, why should I go the extra mile or even work my share? I would be kind of stupid then.
So what makes us operate on this mentality that we must work for a reward? The alternative to working hard for a reward is working hard because you absolutely LOVE what you are doing, isn't it? You can't help working hard! And that's the caliber of a true servant of God. They can't help it. Yup :) THAT'S what I'm looking for.
Hungry,
Jo.
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