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LINK TO SCRIPTURE READINGS
Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let scoundrels forsake their ways,
and the wicked their thoughts;
let them turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.
Is 55 6-9
Jesus' parable about the vineyard laborers awakens in us the same instincts as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Just as the prodigal's older brother cannot wrap his head around his father's forgiveness of the returning profligate, so we balk at the seemingly unjust pay scale in this Sunday's parable. Both the father and the vineyard owner demonstrate a generosity that defies logic, leaving us feeling more than a little outraged. Like the older brother, we cannot understand how those who work hard, follow the rules, and are a credit to their families seem to be on an equal footing with those who bring shame on their lineage. And like the industrious vineyard laborers who have sweated under the sun from daybreak to dusk, we feel that if those hired at the end of the day receive a full day's wage, then the workers who slaved all day should at least receive a bonus -- and a hefty one at that! Even a traditional theological approach to The Workers in the Vineyard does little to alleviate our indignation: Why should those who have last-minute conversions or come to faith after decades of disbelief waltz into the Kingdom of God alongside those who have plodded the straight and narrow path from infancy?
Both parables point to the same problem: human thinking is limited. The issue is not the father's excessive generosity or the vineyard owner's inflated pay scale. Rather, it is the human tendency to view justice from our own vantage point. Despite all our talk of The Golden Rule, or treating others as we would have them treat us, we really haven't progressed much beyond An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth; in fact, when it comes to enemies, it is not uncommon for perfectly rational humans to want to obliterate those who have wronged them in any way. Sadly, we see this on a global scale where a single incident suddenly gives rise to the use of weapons of mass destruction. Instead of trying to de-escalate conflicts, world leaders today seem bent on inflicting as much misery as their arsenals will allow.
But if the parables reveal the limitations of human thinking, they also illumine the breadth and depth and utter incomprehensibility of Divine Love. While our loving is limited by self-interest, God's love embraces the cosmos; while our egos drive us to seek revenge or feel entitled to special treatment, God's love pours out without restraint on the "worthy" and "unworthy" alike. So limited is our thinking that we are like the scoundrels and the wicked that Isaiah condemns in our first reading. Our pettiness leads to all the deadly sins—anger, jealousy, hatred, pride, greed, lust, sloth, deceit, cruelty, and self-idolatry... Not only do we see ourselves as the center of the universe, but
if we could, we would bend God to our wills, demanding that the Holy One advance our agendas. No wonder the prophet cries out, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD" (Is 55:8). To overcome the "older brother syndrome" and avoid picketing with the vineyard laborers, we clearly need a mind-shift.
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- In what ways is your thinking limited, and what are the consequences of this?
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With which set of workers in the Parable of the Vineyard Workers do you identify, and why?
- What are your first thoughts when someone wrongs you profoundly?
- What experiences have you had of God's mercy?
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