Matthew 20: 1-16 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 20: 1-16 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 20"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Verse 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Verse 3When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; Verse 4and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. Verse 5When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. Verse 6And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' Verse 7They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' Verse 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' Verse 9When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Verse 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. Verse 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, Verse 12saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' Verse 13But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Verse 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Verse 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' Verse 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Devotion
When our first child was born, I was like a "born-againer," filled with gratitude and walking with a new lilt in my step. I loved that little girl and the days were filled with newfound bliss in life. Then we found out we were to have another child. I was in trouble. How could another child ever be loved as much as I loved the first? It seemed I though love was a pie. There was only so much of it. You could only cut it into so many pieces and then it would be gone. But when our son was born, I discovered I was wrong. Love is not like a pie, but rather like an ever-flowing stream, an artesian well, no end in sight! I discovered I loved and love our son as much as our daughter. God's love and grace are so much more extravagant than my own. God's love never runs out. That is why in Jesus' parable, all the workers get the same reward! So much for "report card" theology. Good thing it is God who sets the final table in the Kingdom!
Prayer
O Holy and Abundant God, you created a world in which there is not only enough for all, but an abundance for all. May we also learn to love this fact and live it. Amen.