Dodos for God

This Sunday we will read and pray our way through Matthew 20:1-16.  This is the Parable of the Laborers in the vineyard.

Whenever a vineyard is mentioned, we should listen for the politics of messianic hope.  This parable all seems to backwards to us.  "First come, first served," we say.  "The early bird gets the worm," we solemnly intone.  Everything is a race to the finish, a game for winners.  We laugh at systems that operate according to the Dodo verdict: "Everybody has won, and all must have prizes."  That seems both foolish and unfair.

Commentators generally treat this parable as a generic morality tale carelessly slipped into the middle of the Matthean narrative.  That can't be right.  The context is all about what we must "do" to inherit the kingdom of God..  This is not about the desire for personal perfection producing individual immortality.  We Lutherans struggle to remember that neither Jesus nor Matthew was a Lutheran. Instead, the questions are all about how to be included in God's Next Big Thing.  In particular, the context before and after the parable is about sitting on the thrones when the kingdom comes (see Matthew 19:28 and 20:21)!

It seems that the latecomers will receive just as much as the early birds.  This makes no economic sense.  This is a formula for bankruptcy.  But if the laborers are first the Jews and then the lost sheep of the house of Israel and perhaps even the Gentiles at five, things make a bit more sense.  

The parable narrates and enacts Paul's words in Romans 10:12--"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him."

God's invitation entitles us to nothing and endows us with everything.  The landowner leaves no one idle while there is work to be done.  We have suspicions that we are not getting our fair share.  And we are absolutely correct!  The landowner is not fair.  The landowner is generous. With God, it is not first come, first served.  It is not only the early bird who catches the worm.  With God, it all pays the same.

If we are among the early risers, can we celebrate God's generosity?  Or will we have stingy eyes, higher standards than God, resentments toward the latecomers?  If God's gifts are abundant, then why should we worry?  If God's heart is good, then why fret that we might be missing out?

Do I trust God's heart?  That's one of the challenges of this parable.  Can I accept my role in the kingdom?  Or will I always gaze with longing at the greener grass on the other side of the gate?

Will we make room in our lives for the latecomers?  Or will we lock the gates and keep the goodies to ourselves?  These are questions worth a prayer or two.