“The Generosity of God” – Matt 20:1-16 – September 21, 2008

One time there was a golfer by the name of Robert De Vincenzo. After winning a tournament he received his $100,000 check and started walking toward the clubhouse. On the way he was approached by a tearful, young woman who said, “It’s a good day for you sir, but I have a baby with an incurable disease. She has a disease of the blood and the doctors say she will die.” De Vincenzo paused and then asked, “Perhaps I can help.” He then took out a pen and endorsed his winning check and handed it to the young woman. “Make some good days for your baby” he said.

A week later De Vincenzo was having lunch at the country club. A PGA official approached him and said, “Some of the other golfers said you were approached by a young woman after you won the tournament and you gave her your check.” De Vincenzo nodded. “Well, she’s a phony. Her baby isn’t sick. She fleeced you, my friend.” The golfer looked up and asked, “You mean that there is no baby who is dying of s serious blood disease?” The PGA official nodded. De Vincenzo grinned and said, “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”

I am sure that most everyone who heard that story really felt for this man who was bilked out of $100,000. It’s the same feeling we experience when we help someone who says they have a legitimate need but then goes out and spends the money of something frivolous. You know the ones I am talking about, those on welfare who spend their food stamps on cigarettes or liquor. We get folks all the time who come to the church asking for money for food, gas or some family emergency. We don’t know for sure how the money will really be used. We want to help but we want them to be deserving of what they receive.

We live in a society that judges the poor. We don’t want them to receive a free handout. We want them to work just as hard as we do. Life should be fair. People don’t deserve to receive something when they haven’t done an honest day’s work. Sound Familiar?

There are millions of people working in our country who are not citizens and yet they have jobs and receive welfare assistance. There are millions of people on welfare who are not working. There are families whose children have medical cards and receive full benefits while many hard-working families have no health insurance. And so we cry, “Not fair, not fair!”

Fairness is a value we believe in. No one should receive more than someone else, especially when they don’t deserve it. Everyone should be treated equally. My older brother just retired at the age of 65. He now receives social security and no longer has to work. But, I can’t receive the same benefits until I am 66. That’s not fair, right?

Jesus was in the midst of a conflict with the community of faith. There were Jewish Christians, people who had grown up in the faith, followed the laws of Torah, worked faithfully for generations, who had earned their way into the kingdom. And then there were the gentiles, the new kids on the block, who were recent converts to the faith. Jesus treated them all the same. It didn’t matter when they joined the community of faith. They were treated equally and both groups were in God’s kingdom. But, the first group cried foul. Not fair, not fair!

Even the disciples compared themselves to people who had not followed in the way that they had followed. That’s when Jesus replied, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

This is not what we want to hear. This is not the way the world is supposed to work. Those who work the hardest should be first. It’s a first come, first served world we have created. God, however has a different modus operandi. “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

Jesus tells the story of the parable of the vineyard to make his case. The laborers are hired at different times of the day but they all receive the same amount of pay at the end of the day. Those who worked all day were outraged. “They grumbled against the landowner,” although they worked for an agreed upon amount. To make things worse those who were hired last got paid first. This story is outrageous. This is not the way it is supposed to work.

They complained just as we would. What we have to grasp is the landowner’s response. He said, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go: I choose to give to this last worker the same as I gave to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

When someone gets something they don’t deserve we are jealous. We resent those who work less than we do and are treated the same. Remember, Jesus is describing what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is not about fairness or being equal. It is not about being in first place. It’s not about winning or getting what we deserve. It is not about the Protestant work ethic. No, the kingdom of heaven is about GRACE.

First, God’s grace is not ours to control. It is a mystery. In 1978 Joan Lunden was invited to be a co-host with David Hartman on the show, Good Morning America. Hartman got to interview all the celebrities, politicians and important people. Lunden got the information spots. Consequently she received thousands of letters from women who believed she was not being treated fairly. But, Lunden actually enjoyed the spots and she was very good at them. She said, “I couldn’t see any reason to spend my time frustrated, angry or upset about things I couldn’t do or couldn’t have. I was simply grateful for the opportunity and did my very best.”

In other words, like Joan Lunden, God wants us to be grateful for what we have been given. God wants us to live with a thankful spirit. All that we have, all that we have accomplished is due to God’s grace.

Secondly, Jesus was not about fairness. Jesus was about faithfulness. Just as we have been blessed God calls us to be a blessing to others. We are judged not by our standing in the community nor our achievements. We are judged by our faithfulness. Notice that those who were last hired went to work in the vineyard without any contract, without any promise of payment and without any benefits. They were asked to go and they went. They were rewarded not because of the number of hours they had worked or their skill level. They were rewarded because of their faithfulness.

Rabbi Harold Kushner had a son named Aaron. When he was just eight months old he was diagnosed with progeria, a rapid aging disease. His son died of old age in his early teens. Rabbi Kushner felt a deep sense of emotional grief and especially a sense of unfairness. Finally he came to realize that no one is promised a life free of disappointment. The most any of us is promised is that we need not be alone in our pain and that we can draw upon God for help. Kushner came to the conclusion that God did not cause his misfortune but instead helps us by inspiring others to help. That experience gave birth to the book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Kushner rose above his personal loss by being an inspiration to others through his faithfulness.

Finally, the parable of the vineyard reminds us how gracious and generous God is. Just as the landowner in the story was generous to the last group of laborers and just as the golfer De Vincenzo gave generously to the young woman, God wants us to do the same.

I believe we all want to be generous and we all know the joy we experience when we give to others. We will become more like the landowner in the parable when we can overcome our obsession with fairness and jealousy. The kingdom of God is still within reach. Just as the parable inspired the disciples to be more generous I pray that it will also inspire us.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio