“God’s Reasoning Not Ours” Many have questioned what looks like an uneven ‘Justice’ dealt to the workers in the parable. “Why did those who worked the whole day, not get more money than those who came later? It doesn’t make sense. It’s not logical. Unions would see fault with this, according to our labour laws, correct?”
But God tells us he does not reason like us, although we are his creations, made in his image: “My ways and my thoughts are higher than yours”. After all, with our very limited intelligence, how could we ever hope to know the mind of God? This is part of today’s lesson, but there is an even more important part: that of kindness, love, and generosity, in our thoughts and in the ways we do things. Those who heard Jesus’ parable in person, understood his point in ways we would not today. In Christ’s time, men would be waiting in a market place each day for employment. Those who were hired first were usually the Jews; the last were usually the Gentiles, in a kind of religious favouritism. Therefore, Matthew was calling his audience to recognize what the real issue was: the false sense of superiority in the workers hired at the beginning of the day caused them to be ungenerous and unkind to those who also had mouths to feed. It really did not have as much to do with a logical, human understanding of fairness, as it did with their own pride and desire for material gain. And like any father, in this case, a parallel with our Father in Heaven, the Lord and Master even goes out himself, rather than sending his labour manager, to hire with kindness and even mercy workers, who are, in allegorical terms, us – his children. So, Matthew, a Jew who is writing for his Jewish brethren, uses Christ’s message to illustrate in terms, which they would definitely understand at the time, just how Jesus wants us to rethink our lives: to live within the true meaning of the Letter of the Law, which is Love, and Not to seek the things of this world, but of the next. Naturally, to live with communal order in society, with a balanced, fair systematic way of equal distribution of material things in this world, and for the safety and protection of life, rules and guidelines are required – human law – such as the medical directives now in place to keep us safe and well during the pandemic. Out of care and concern for each other’s welfare, we are called to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” with masks and distancing and controlled numbers of people. But human beings are also Not robots. “If you work little, then you get paid little”, may be an OK place for labour laws to begin, but we are also governed by our hearts as well as our minds. God dwells within our hearts, calling us to hear his guidelines as well which do not rely on the ‘merit’ system. His measurements are based on love and mercy, kindness and generosity, and he calls us to do the same! In fact, the parable points out a third lesson: over centuries of debate we realize we also cannot justify ourselves by good works. We cannot ‘earn’ God’s grace. Grace is something God in his thoughts and ways gives to us as he so desires. So, our goal in life should Not be to seek rewards from God, but to relish the joy of serving him. We might consider: working with our hands, thinking with our minds, but deciding with our hearts, asking throughout our work day, “What would Jesus do?” Khalil Gibran, author of the celebrated, spiritual work, The Prophet, once told us, “Work is love made visible.” So, we can take away three things today in prayer: 1.) We can never know God’s reasoning, but let us try to reason like God. 2.) We cannot earn grace, but let us be grateful for the grace God gives us. 3.) We must give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but let us give generously and kindly, with mercy, forgiveness, and love, just as God gives us in his thoughts and ways. Rev Fr Christopher Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish Saugeen Shores, Ontario
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Father's Blog
Rev. Fr. Christopher Tracey
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