Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a; Matthew 20:1-6
What is the Kingdom of heaven like? What is God’s way of salvation like? What is the Christian life like?
Once upon a time, a householder set out to hire labourers for his vineyard. Our Lord tells us this story, which may perhaps strike us as somewhat bizarre, then he leaves us without any sort of explanation. So that gives us rather a lot of freedom to interpret or apply it as we can.
As it happens, in today’s second reading we heard St. Paul telling the Philippians that life for him means “fruitful labour”. In our current lectionary is no formal connection between the Gospel and the second reading. Nevertheless, Paul’s “fruitful labour” easily evokes vineyard workers. So that prompts me to try considering today’s parable with St. Paul especially in mind.
We might think of St. Paul as one of the workers called at the eleventh hour. He was after all called later than any other Apostle: having spent the early years of the Gospel proclamation persecuting the Church. So Paul calls himself the “last and least of all the Apostles” (cf. 1 Cor 15, 8-9), and indeed the “least of all the Saints” (Eph 3:8). But on the other hand, Paul loves to count himself among the very first. He boasts to the Corinthians: “I worked harder than any of them” (1 Cor 15:10). Later he writes: “Are they Hebrews? So am I… Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one: with greater labours, more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near death…” (2 Cor 11:22 ff.) Sufferings, punishments, persecutions, dangers, shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, cold, sleeplessness, betrayal, anxiety…
What is Paul’s response to so much toil, in all the heat, for the sake of the Gospel? Simply: gratitude, joy, wonder. Ceaseless astonishment at what God has done for us in Christ; amazement that he himself should have been called; overflowing thanksgiving, in joy, at this revelation of sheer divine gift, this manifestation of superabundant divine goodness. For Paul all is sheer grace, grace, grace, and glory without end. So Paul gives praise to God, and encourages us to do the same. And he tells the Philippians he wants to keep on working, because this is his happiness and his privilege. As for us: analogously we could take being called to labour in the vineyard as our call to faith and baptism: our call to live with Christ, to live in the Spirit; to live in God’s friendship. Sheer grace, privilege and joy. Whereas: standing idle in the market place would be the unthinkably terrible fate of living without Christ.
Yet, for all that: the temptation to murmur remains. Retaining a purely worldly perspective, we can easily build up resentment, and complain that what God has done for us is not enough, or that he should have done it better, or at least differently. Murmuring was the sin of ancient Israel in the desert. Out of all the nations on earth God had chosen Israel to be his own people. He freed them from slavery in Egypt. He led them into the desert as a Bridegroom leads his Bride to a secret place (cf. e.g. Jeremiah 2:2; Hosea 2:16 etc.), in order to prepare them for the great reward he had in store. But no. Again and again, all they do is murmur (cf. also Ps 94/95:8-11; 105/106:24-25). They look back in yearning to their former slavery, which at least gave them flesh pots in Egypt (Ex 16:2), with cucumbers, melons and garlic (Nb 11:5). Similarly, when God came in Christ to his own people: the Scribes and Pharisees could only murmur. If only they had known what it was that God was offering them in Christ! If only they had understood the blessing and privilege that would be theirs, on sole condition that they freely accept it, in humility and gratitude, in love and in joy!
Does God treat all people equally? Certainly not! As the vineyard workers laboured for different hours, so there are great differences in what people have to endure in this life. In fact scarcely two people are alike. Some are born into wealth, some into poverty. Some are healthy, some sick; some successful, some not; some blessed with good families and friends, others not: et cetera, in endless variety. Yet: God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways our ways (Is 55). We don’t see what he’s up to; but we can be sure it’s always better than we could possibly imagine. By the light of Christ’s Cross, and of the Beatitudes, our perspective on so many things is turned upside down. Wealth and power, comfort and prosperity so easily lead to pride and all manner of other vices. Whereas: how can you be patient if you have nothing to suffer? How can you learn generosity if you don’t give beyond measure? As for St. Paul: he gloried especially in his sufferings. So too: any Christian can understand whatever suffering he has to endure as his own providential participation in Christ’s saving passion: leading to a greater participation in his glorious resurrection.
This is not of course in any way to make light of people’s suffering; any more than we make light of the sufferings of Christ. On the contrary: in a special way we surround those who suffer with our prayer; we do all we can for their relief; sometimes we even ask God for a miracle on their behalf, and sometimes too he gives it.
I must end now with the denarius. Let us say: it’s a pledge, an invitation, a foretaste of what is to come: the Kingdom prepared for us; entry into the joy of the Lord; a share in Christ’s divine Sonship, and in his fullness of divine life; eternal union with God in heaven. Or we could say: the denarius is simply Christ himself. In which case: in principle it’s already ours. Or even: the denarius is the holy Eucharist. That gives us Christ, just the same for all: though we receive each according to his capacity, and according to the measure of our response in love to the love we receive.
Back to the challenge of the complainers: is what Christ has done enough for us? What a question! In fact Christ has done infinitely more than we deserve. He has conferred on us in principle an infinite honour, and an infinite reward. He has drawn us up from the dung heap and set us on thrones (Ps 112/113:7). He has washed away our sins in his blood; conferred on us the Holy Spirit; loved us to the end: even when we were enemies of God. And in order to do that he emptied himself of his own majesty, and freely undertook the suffering of the Cross. And will we complain? No: we will thank and bless and praise him forever. And we will receive all he wants to give us with open hands and open hearts.