Gentle Jesus meek and mild, I don't think so. Folks often like to focus on Jesus as if he were some kind of doormat, but Jesus is outrageous, doing shocking things, sharing astounding teachings. He's hardly gentle Jesus making mild when he walked into the synagogue, picks up the scroll of scripture, and begins preaching to the religious leaders. Before the end of his message, they not only drove him out of town but took him to the brow of a cliff and tried to hurl him off. Jesus could be outrageous, and this story is outrageous.
I didn't like it, not one little bit, and honestly, it deeply bothered me. I showed up for work one day in my little, tiny eight-by-eight office and there he was. I'll call him Bobby Green, our company's newest employee straight out of Georgia Tech ready to work. He seemed like a nice guy, handsome, winsome, so I showed him the ropes, showed him where the restroom was, how to work the phone system, where the coffeemaker is, told him about some lunch spots. I answered his endless questions about pension, about payroll, about insurance benefits, all that kind of stuff until somebody told me how much he made which was considerably more than I was being paid. I'd been there nearly two years. I had traveled across the country on a moment's notice to make presentations in front of important audiences. Successfully met every challenge before me. Now here he was some upstart straight out of school making more than I made. It wasn't fair at all. He got a corporate parking card, not me. He got to attend the special Amelia Island conference, not me. He was invited to the special reception at the trade show, not me. So my question was where's justice? What about the fruits of my hard labor? What about me? This was not a holy moment, to say the least.
Let's be honest, those who haven't done as much or worked as hard as the rest of us don't deserve as much as those who've earned what we've got, right? But what really bothers me is what Jesus actually says in this parable where the workers' pay is the richest treasure of all the kingdom of God and the blessings of God's grace and how everybody receives it no matter how much they've done. It's outrageous. I mean, the parable starts innocently enough. There's a fellow like Julio Gallo who needs some help. It's harvest time and he needs some assistance in bringing in the harvest out of the vineyard. So he goes to the labor pool, to the marketplace where the laborers gather, and he hires people for a normal day's wage which today would be about $100. Later, he needs some more help so he goes back and he hires some more people. He does it several times throughout the day all the way till almost sundown. And there's not one hint that he's going to pay everybody the same amount, not one hint that some workers laid out to take advantage of the owner's goodness. But there it is, in verse 10, each of them received the usual daily wage. Each worker, the people who worked all day, the people who worked eight hours, the people who worked four hours, the people who worked only an hour. Some who worked in the blazing sun all day got the exact same pay as Johnny-come-lately. It wasn't only unfair, what's worse is there's no explanation. Why? And it just drives me crazy. Well, somebody at least tell me why. I asked everybody, why is Bobby making more than me? And I'd get the same answer. Well, just the way it works around here. Can nobody tell me why?
It reminded me way back to 9/11 and the years afterward when Osama bin Laden became a household name and a household face. And so it took a lot of guts that day when the man who was teaching the children decided to teach the kids about Jesus' greatest commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's always a tough lesson because a lot of us, we really don't want to love. But the man's example was even harder, Osama bin Laden. He asked the kids that day in church, “The whole world hates this man, do you think God loves him?”
Everyone in the church squirmed in their seats thinking of sons and daughters overseas at war. Yet somehow, I think the teacher understood best of all, God sends his reign on the just and the unjust. According to scripture, God is kind to the wicked and even to the ungrateful. God can act however he wishes. He's free to love, however he desires, whether we deserve it or not. Whether we like it or prove it or not. God is God and we are not. Frankly, Jesus sounds a little outrageous, even offensive, doesn't he? And you know what? Thank goodness. Thank goodness God is not just a God who gives us what we deserve. It is also a God of grace. Thank goodness that no matter how much we may think that we've somehow earned God's blessings and gifts, the fact remains that we don't.
No one in this world is perfect, only God is. And every one of us has regularly missed the mark in our lives. We may think somehow that we've earned God's favor, but as soon as anyone thinks she's worthy, it's good to remember, no matter how good you are, there's always someone better. No matter how much you've done, there's always someone who's done more. And none of us matches the holiness and perfection of God. I thought I gave a lot to God until I saw a widow hobble up to the offering plate and give her last coin to invest in the kingdom of God. I thought I worked pretty hard for the lord until I read about a fellow who led a group of 2 million whiny complainers through the wilderness for 40 years. And then Moses didn't even get to enter the promised land. I thought I knew what suffering was until I looked at the body of Jesus, my Savior, my Lord, hanging on the cross, bleeding, asphyxiating, pulling apart, all the way to death. No matter how much you do, there's always someone who has done more. So I say, thank goodness. Thank goodness we don't get what we deserve or what we've earned. Instead, verse 12 tells us that we have all been made equal. Thank goodness that God offers the same grace to the faithful elderly woman who attended mass every Sunday for 63 consecutive years as he does to the thief, gasping for his last breath as he welcomes Christ just moments before dying on the cross right next to him. The ultimate holy moment of all. Thank goodness. No. Thank God. For we deserve nothing, but we've been given everything. Jesus is outrageous, and for that I say, thank goodness.
