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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
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Time After Pentecost – Lectionary 25 (A) Matthew 20:1-16 September 21, 2008 “Life isn’t fair.” How many of us have ever heard of that expression before? The fact that life isn’t fair is one of the hard realities we all learn early on. Some of us learned that reality when growing up – when a brother or sister was treated differently by our parents than we were – maybe they got away with something or received a special privilege that we didn’t. Maybe we felt (or feel) that way in school sometimes. Yes, life isn’t fair! We keep on learning that lesson again and again. Sometimes older employees feel that way when young “hotshots” come into the workplace – and the older ones get shoved out into the unemployment lines. It’s how veteran athletes feel when rookies get drafted with multi-million dollar contracts while for years the veterans have been slugging it out at much smaller salaries. Some coaches even treat these rookies differently from the rest, giving them special privileges the way we sometimes do with our children, or our employees, or our students. Of course, there was one coach who supposedly never did that. Once when commenting on the legendary coach Vince Lombardi’s fairness, one of his Green Bay Packers noted that he treated every player the same: “He treats us all like dogs.” We have also certainly seen plenty of evidence about the unfairness of life in connection with what has happened in the stock market and financial services industry during the past several weeks. Some companies, like Lehman Brothers, were allowed to go bankrupt. But others – like the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies – and then this week – AIG Insurance – were deemed by the government powers that be as being “too big to fail” – and received government bailouts that will leave us taxpayers responsible for billions of dollars of debt. But one thing that really upset me in connection with that whole mess was an article I read a couple of days ago on msn.com about the CEOs of some of these failed companies. For example, under the terms of the government bailout – Fannie Mae’s Daniel Mudd and Freddie Mac’s Richard Syron have been removed from their positions. But don’t cry for them too much – because they have both received “golden parachutes” of a sum that most Americans will never see in their lifetime. By conservative estimates Mudd and Syron will leave with an additional $7.3 million and $6.3 million respectively as part of their severance packages. This is in addition to salaries that were already beyond most people’s imaginations – Mudd earned $11.6 million last year, and Syron made $18.3 million. Even in the midst of the failure of their companies, they are financially secure – while millions of more ordinary people are facing financial distress or even disaster because of what has been going on. Yes, life isn’t fair – as we can certainly see from the examples I have given. But at the same time, we need to understand that “fairness” is often in the eye of the beholder. If we are the ones who are being blessed, we usually do not complain about it. I feel sure that we will not hear those former Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs complaining that they were paid too much. Many less well to do Americans may complain – but then again, they probably will not complain that they will be paid much more for their work than say, someone in a third or fourth world country like Bolivia or Bangladesh. Today’s gospel text is about fairness, but not in the sense that we usually tend to think about it. In our gospel, Jesus begins by telling us that the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. This was a common scene in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. When the grapes ripened in the fall, they had only about two weeks as the most before the winter rains would come and ruin any grapes not yet harvested. So naturally, the owner would want to get as many workers as possible so as to harvest the grapes in the shortest possible time – much like it is with the grain and sugar beet harvests in our area. And so the landowner in Jesus’ parable went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage (a denarius) – he sent them off to work. As we heard, the landowner wanted even more workers, so he kept on going back to the marketplace at various times during the day. And every time he went there, he kept on finding others standing idle and invited them to work for him for “a fair wage.” And then we come to the punch line of the parable. All of the workers, even those who had worked only one hour, received the very same wage! And naturally, the early workers got rather upset. After seeing that the latecomers were paid a denarius – the usual daily wage – they thought that would receive a BONUS for having put in a full day’s work! But they didn’t – instead they were paid exactly what they had agreed upon at the beginning of the day. As they saw it, what the landowner did just wasn’t fair! And yet, as I have said earlier, “fairness” is in the eye of the beholder. We by nature do not like people receiving something that they do not deserve – unless that person happens to be us! The laborers who were hired later certainly were not complaining about the “golden parachute” which they received any more than those former CEOs of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies did about theirs. The later workers did not question the “fairness” of the landowner’s actions – nor would have we if we had been in their place. We only complain when others receive “golden parachutes” and we don’t! Jesus’ parable, however, is not about “fairness” but rather about grace. The landowner knew that if those later workers did not receive the usual daily wage of a denarius, they would end up going hungry. They did not deserve the extra amount that they were given, but the landowner knew that they needed it. He therefore decided to give the later workers the full daily wage so that they and their families could buy their “daily bread.” Jesus in his parable shows that God is like that landowner. God doesn’t give us what we deserve – God rather gives us what we need – not just physically but spiritually as well. God gives us forgiveness of sins and eternal life in his kingdom – not because we have earned it, but because he loves us. And now God calls on us to love and forgive each other in the same way – even when it doesn’t seem to be “fair”. As I said at the beginning of this sermon, life isn’t fair. But let us remember, this often means that we experience blessings that are not “fair”, but are gifts of undeserved grace. May we as God’s children be thankful for whatever God gives us day by day – and not begrudge the “unfair” blessings which others may receive. That is when we will know and experience God’s joy and peace in our hearts. Yes, this is what life is about in the kingdom of God. It isn’t fair – it is grace – it is always sheer grace! Thanks be to God for his grace to us through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen! -------------------- Pastor George R. Karres 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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