Proper 20A 2008                  Matthew 20:1-16

A young boy found a magic lantern.  When he rubbed it a "Genie" granted him three wishes.  The first wish was that his stern stepfather disappear.  His wish came true at once.  After the stepfather was gone, the boy remembered the stepfather's good qualities.   So he asked the Genie to bring the stepfather back, and his wish was granted. 

Now he had one wish left.  He fretted and agonized and worried about that third wish.  He was determined not to make another mistake, since he could not correct it.  He couldn't decide on immortality or wealth or power or money or anything.  Finally, in desperation, he cried out, "Someone tell me what to ask for!"  And he heard a voice answer: "Ask to be content, no matter what you get."

Be content!  There is a sense in which that is the underlying message of the Gospels.  Deep down at the center of all of us, there is the longing for wholeness of life: to be complete persons; to have peace of mind and soul; to be free of anxiety and frustration.   My peace," Jesus says,  is no ordinary, worldly peace.  The peace the world offers is only a temporary lull between conflicts.  Jesus' peace is "Shalom," absolute peace.

 A young college woman was not happy with the young men who tried to date her.  After listening to her complaints, her roommate offered to arrange a blind date:  "Would you prefer a Southern boy or a Northern boy?"

"What's the difference?” asked  Linda.  Her roommate replied, "Southern boys are more romantic.  They will take you walking in the moonlight and whisper sweet nothings in your ear.  Northern boys are more active. They like to go places and do exciting things." 

Linda thought and then asked, "Could you please find me a Southern boy from as far North as possible?"

We often try to negotiate with God, like that.   We want to put our own "spin" on life.  And then we discover that we're in a blind alley.   For some, the search for wholeness of life is doing better than our peers:  our good looks or our clothes, or our great houses, or our many toys.   The only genuine source of wholeness of life is the love revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  Material, financial, emotional satisfactions are only temporary; they alone will only let us down.

The mystic Thomas Merton put it this way:  “I know that myself exists and I know that God exists, and the whole business of living is getting the two together.”  Shalom.

In the story of the laborers in today's Gospel Lesson the owner of the vineyard hires field workers at different times in the day.  At the end of the day, he pays those who came later the same wage as those who worked all day.  So the first workers complain:  "You have treated them the same as us."  To which the owner replies, "Why be envious because I am generous?" Jesus then concludes the parable,  "Thus the last will be first and the first last." (Mt 20:16).

For many children in school, gym is their least favorite class.  Often what makes gym class even worse is the time to pick teams.  The gym teacher selects two students to be captains.  They take turns choosing who they want on their team.  And while teams are being picked, your entire sense of self-worth and dignity is threatened.  If you are one of the first drafted, your ego gets a boost and you feel special.  But if you are last, you know no one wanted you on their team. 

Yet in this parable Jesus turned all that kind of thinking upside down.   What Jesus was saying was that whether we are first or last or somewhere in between, God loves us all just the same.  But this parable rubs us the wrong way.  We don't mind it if we get something that maybe we didn't deserve. But when someone else gets something that they don't deserve, we're ready to object.

            In debates about a minimum wage increase, it was pointed out that raising the minimum wage affects everyone's wages.  Someone making $1 above minimum wage before the increase still wants to be paid more.   That's exactly what happened in the parable.  The workers who had been there all day didn't want to come out even.  They wanted to come out ahead.  Not only were they not content – they were filled with discontent. 

The Quakers tell the story of one of their number who put up a sign on a vacant piece of ground next to his house. The sign read, I WILL GIVE THIS LOT TO ANYONE WHO IS REALLY SATISFIED!

A wealthy farmer saw the sign, and said to the Quaker, "I may as well have the land you are offering because I qualify: I am rich. I have everything I need. I am satisfied."   "Are you really satisfied?" the Quaker asked.

"Yes, I am.  I have everything I need and I am well satisfied," said the rich man.   "My friend," said the Quaker, "if you are satisfied, why do you want my land?"

Be content.  Shalom.  Amen

Drawn from InterNet and print homiletical sources.