Tuesday, September 16, 2008

How generous is our God? Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus' story, about the generous vineyard owner and the equally paid workers, gives us a glimpse into God's values and principles.
Listening to the story it becomes clear that there are two different views not just about our actions in our world but what we think we'll earn at the end of the day. On one side is the vineyard owner who pays a full days wage to those who worked a full day and to those who had only worked for the last hour of the day. On the other side are the workers who grumbled that they had only received a fair wage and that those who hadn't worked as hard received the same.
We debate if this is fair or not. The workers who'd finished a whole day in the sun expected something more for their hard efforts after watching those who worked for a fraction of the day get the full wage. When they only received what was promised they grumbled wanting more.
There's no doubt that we humans value fairness. It's a modern virtue that pulls at us and motivates us in our interactions especially in issues of money and employment. But God has a different view. Heaven is God's alone to offer. We look for an angle a way to get aplace of prestigue, but God's offering us something beyond price a place in the kingdom of heaven.

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