We all want to get in first; to find the best spot, to get the first choice, to get the freshest food. The line forms and when you’re first in line, you’re first. When you’re last in line, you’re last. We live our lives with this basic order and have been taught it since we were very young. It’s not nice to cut in line and doing so can elicit anger from those who feel unjustly treated. One of the best places to witness this behavior is at the airport. Don’t you dare try to board your flight with seating in Boarding Group 2 when your boarding pass clearly says Boarding Group 3. By paying for or receiving a lower boarding number, you have the best chance at finding a storage area for your carryon bag! Those poor losers who are in the last boarding group, they’re going to have to relinquish their carryon bags to a gate check. It’s almost like a personal failure. We have the same expectations when it comes to being justly treated in general. The person who works the hardest reaps the most reward. The person who has the most education or was fortunate enough to be given plentiful opportunities also reaps the most reward.
Some might say that those who did not go to school, or lived with no opportunity, do not deserve the reward. This idea of just reward has become a hallmark of much of our political discussion these days. We could look at all kinds of issues in our society—access to healthcare, immigration, wage inequality, access to education, receipt of government largess… these are all systems of the haves and the have-nots. Those that got in line first or were fortunate enough to be given the tools to get in line first, are those deserving of more reward.
But Christ teaches us a different way: “The last will be first and the first will be last.” This phrase is probably one of the top ten most quoted lines in scripture. Let’s put this phrase in context with today’s Gospel (Matthew 20:1-16). Every time that I read this Gospel, I can’t help but feel like the workers who spent the most time working in the vineyard deserve more compensation than those who worked less time. As a human, it’s just natural for me to think that way. But notice, there’s that word again: “deserve.” In today’s Gospel, God is the landowner, and we are the workers. Some of us were summoned by the landowner at the beginning of the day, some were summoned at the end of the day. But we all were summoned by God. Let us not forget, none of us “deserve” salvation. It is a gift freely given by God, and God believes that we “deserve” an equal gift. God’s compensation is the grace that He gives us. God, like the landowner, is very just, and also very giving.
This parable also speaks directly to a self-righteous sense of faith. No one can think of themselves as being superior to others because they have had faith for longer, or have studied it more, or in their mind—receive more grace because of adherence to rules or notions of biblical fundamentality. God’s grace is freely given to all, at any time, at anyplace. We are equal workers, we are sisters and brothers in faith, and our living God gives us the grace we need, no matter how long we have labored.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!