I vividly remember a hot summer day in the middle of July, when over one hundred campers and staff stood on the deck waiting for lunch. After we had prayed the counselor responsible for dismissal said, “the last will be first and the first will be last.” The campers at the end of the long line rejoiced. The campers at the beginning of the line complained. This happened almost every week that I worked at camp and the results were always the same. The last being first was not fair. The first being last was not fair. The hungry campers had forgotten that there was always an abundance of food at our meals. Instead, it was just not fair.
Our text today about the parable of the workers in the vineyard can cause us to see unfairness, too. The first workers were hired early in the morning, around 6am. Other workers were hired at 9am, noon, 3pm, and 5pm. At the end of the day, they were each paid a full days wage, regardless of the amount of time they had worked in the vineyard. The landowner even goes so far as to pay the workers that were hired last before paying the workers that had been hard at work since 6am. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The last being first was not fair. The first being last was not fair. The equal pay for unequal work was not fair. They had forgotten that at the end of the day they had made more money than they expected to make when they headed to the marketplace in the morning unemployed. Instead, it was just not fair.
Life is not fair. I am sure you have each heard that a time or two. And I would venture to say that you have also said those four simple words several times throughout your life. It’s true; life is not fair. Life is not fair when someone you love is diagnosed with cancer. Life is not fair when you get a lower grade on a test, even though you studied many hours. Life is not fair when your colleague is promoted before you, even though you have worked at the company longer. Life is not fair when you are paid the same wage as someone who has worked much less time than you have. Life is not fair.
Often I think our idea of unfair stems from our sinful humanity. As humans, who always fall short of the glory of God, we are sinful. One sin that we often commit is coveting. I think there is a reason that coveting appears twice in the 10 Commandments. It is very easy to covet what others have. When we admit that life is not fair, usually we are comparing ourselves, our possessions, and our lives to those of others around us. We covet what God chooses to give others. In our text today the laborers that worked all day in the vineyard coveted the pay of the laborers that worked only for an hour. In coveting, they think it is not fair that all the laborers in the vineyard receive equal pay.
Have you ever coveted the pay of someone else? Have you ever thought your pay was not fair for the work you had done? Now I have not had many jobs throughout my life, but there was one job in particular that I had where I probably wasn’t paid fairly. I was a babysitter, a cheap babysitter. I would usually get paid one dollar an hour for each kid I babysat. Most people are often shocked to learn that, as the going rate for babysitters and day cares is much more than one dollar an hour today. Some of the youth that I met during my internship last year in Washington, DC made 5, 10, or 20 times as much per hour as I had made as a babysitter less than ten years ago. It seemed unfair to me. Often we get caught up in comparing our salaries to the salaries of others. The workers in the vineyard were not exempt from that salary comparison. They coveted the salaries of others and declared that their pay was not fair.
So what is fair? God’s grace is fair. God’s grace is for the last and the first. God’s grace is for the wealthy and the poor. God’s grace is for the healthy and the unhealthy. God’s grace is for the young and the old. God’s grace is for the worker that put in a twelve-hour day and the worker that put in a one-hour day. God’s grace is fair.
So what do you hear in this parable? Do you hear unfairness or grace in the parable? Did you work a whole day or only an hour? Are you the first or the last? As I first hear this parable I think I am an exhausted worker that was busy all day long. I was hired early in the morning. I certainly put in my time. I deserve my pay. Then I realize that I am more likely the worker that was hired last. I probably did not put in more than an hour of work. Instead I should be greatly surprised by the abundance of my pay. I got more than I deserved. In fact, we all get more than we deserve. If we got what we deserved we would each be hanging on a tree, like our Savior Jesus Christ.
I am certain that Jesus does not tell this parable to show injustice. It is not to show impartiality. It is not to show unfairness. It is to show the abundance of God’s grace. God’s justice is God’s grace. God’s grace comes to us in the waters of baptism. God’s grace comes to us over and over again through the meal that is shared at this table. God’s grace is given abundantly, over and over again to those who are first and those who are last. Amen.
