Life can easily seem unfair. Consider
two letters written by children to God:
Dear
God, Thank you for the baby brother but what I asked for was a puppy. I never asked
for anything before. You can look it up. Joyce
Dear
Mr. God, I wish you would not make it so easy for people to come apart. I had to
have 3 stitches and a shot. Janet[1]
Our complaints about life’s unfairness are quite likely different than those.
We may point to the death of a spouse, mistreatment at work, illness, or something
else. However, almost everybody at least occasionally feels that life is unfair.
Today’s gospel reading appears to endorse unfairness.[2] In
a scene evocative of hiring of day laborers in many US mainland cities, the owner
of a vineyard goes to the local street corner or marketplace where the unemployed
workers gather and chooses from among them those he wishes to hire for the day.
Then the story takes the first of two unexpected twists – unexpected to
persons unfamiliar with the parable. The owner returns to hire more laborers not
once but three times, at nine, three, and five. Certainly, a farmer would know how
much help he or she needs for the day. Day laborers who have congregated in hope
of a job usually disperse once potential employers have come and gone.
The second unexpected twist occurs when the time comes for the laborers
to be paid. The owner pays them all equally, a deed that feels grossly unfair. Those
first hired have performed back breaking work in the hot sun all day, without cold
water, sunscreen, or bug repellant. Yet they receive the same amount of pay as the
last hired, who have worked only an hour.
Interpreters of the parable have generally gone in one of two directions,
both of which have merit.
Some interpreters view the parable as a lesson in distributive justice.
Day laborers in Palestine literally depended upon their daily earnings to purchase
food and other necessities for themselves and their families. Workers did not have
the benefit of minimum wage laws, unions, or other legal protections. No social
safety net existed. The plight of first century Palestinian day laborers is strikingly
similar to that of undocumented immigrant laborers in the twenty-first century United
States.
In this morning’s parable, Jesus teaches that every person has the right
to a living wage. Baptismal affirmations of the dignity and worth of every human
ring hollow when our actions reflect an indifference to the hunger, thirst, lack
of safe shelter, and lack of access to adequate healthcare of our neighbors in Honolulu,
the US, and globally. We Christians may disagree in good faith about how to best
meet those needs, but the imperative to provide life’s necessities – food, water,
shelter, and healthcare – for all is foundational for Christian ethics.
The second direction interpreters of the parable often take involves spiritualizing
the text, interpreting “day’s wage” as connoting God’s grace, given equally to all,
regardless of whether one arrives early or late to the banquet.
On the one hand, I want to be clear that this is an inadequate reading of
the text. Christians tend to ignore both the fact that approximately three-quarters
of Jesus’ parables deal with economics and the Bible’s consistent emphasis on economic
justice. Christianity must speak to human needs because God cares about our physical
existence. Furthermore, spiritualizing the text conveniently ignores the enigmatic
statement with which the parable ends: “The first shall be last and the last shall
be first.” That ending points to what Christian theologians call God’s preferential
option for the poor.
On the other hand, spiritualizing the parable has just enough truth to be
credible. God’s grace is given to all equally, whether they come to the table late
or early, and regardless of their social standing, wealth, gender, race, etc.
In the mid-1960s, Woodrow Seal, a U.S. Federal District court judge,
founded "The Society of St. Stephen" in a Houston Methodist Church. The
Society of St. Stephen is now a national program with the sole purpose of
helping the needy.
A congregation invited Mr. Seal to explain how they could begin a Society
of St. Stephen chapter. They planned for the Judge to speak on the Society’s
various ministries and then to have time for discussion.
The pastor introduced Judge Seal and the Society’s work. Meanwhile, the
Judge took some cookies and poured himself some coffee. When the introduction
was completed, Judge Seal walked over to the piano, put his coffee cup on top
of it, and began to fumble in his coat pockets. Finally, he pulled out a
wrinkled piece of paper from which he read the name of a mother and her four
children, including their ages and clothing sizes. He noted several other needs
this particular family had, said the address was on the paper, and then laid it
on top of the piano.
After that, the Judge said, "If you want to start a Society of St.
Stephen, you should contact this woman by 11:30 tomorrow morning. If you are
not able to help her, don't worry, I'll be in touch with her tomorrow, and get
her help by mid-afternoon." With that, Judge Seal remarked, "Now,
forgive me, but I really must be going. Thank you for inviting me and for the
coffee and the cookies." Then he walked out the door. It all took less
than 5 minutes.[3]
The needs of our neighbors may easily feel overwhelming. Honolulu has perhaps
five thousand homeless people; tens of thousands of people who live here subsist
below the poverty level, many choosing between buying food, shelter, or
medicine. In the last two weeks, hurricanes and earthquakes have left hundreds
of thousands in the US and elsewhere homeless and without life’s basic
necessities. And, of course, there are the continuing needs of millions of people
in Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, and lots of other places.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed, we do well to emulate Judge Woodrow
Seal in his incarnation of Christian discipleship. God gave him the grace to
respond to the neighbors he saw in need. In founding the Society of St.
Stephen, Woodrow Seal incarnated the two superficially divergent interpretations
of today’s parable. Filled with God’s grace in Christ, he worked to make the
world a little more just. Grace never comes to us only for our own sake but
also that we might be God’s hand, feet, and voice in meeting the needs of our
neighbors.
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