Ordinary 25

The Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2020 – Cycle A – Isaiah 55:6-9; Psalm 145; Philippians 1:20c–24, 27a; Matthew 20:1-16a

The kingdom of heaven is like…

This summer we have heard the kingdom of heaven is like…a mustard seed or a buried treasure found in a field, is like a net thrown into the sea as well as a farmer who sowed good seed in a field. The kingdom of heaven is like…a merchant’s search for fine pearls or like yeast in a batch of dough.

What is Jesus trying to convey to us? Why doesn’t Jesus just tell us directly what the kingdom of heaven is rather than talk all around it? We may not have thought of asking that question because these stories of Jesus are all very familiar to us, may too familiar?

These stories are meant to challenge how we think, look at life and our values and reflect on the mystery of God; are meant to provoke and not comfort. Thus they require that we intently listen and reflect on what we hear. For Jesus’ first listeners they often roused resistance and anger.  They took the familiar, farming baking, fishing and twisted it; like looking into a fun house mirror.

When was the last time any of us were scandalized or shocked by these Jesus stories? Probably not, right? See, like wolves tamed into domestic dogs by humans, we Christians long ago have tamed these stories so they no longer threaten or provoke us even if we are intently listening. Our resistance has become passive and we settle for easy interpretations: be caring like the good Samaritan, be forgiving like the father of the prodigal son or persistent in prayer like the poor widow. We got the message and move on with our lives untouched, unprovoked, unchallenged by Jesus.

By the way, what is the kingdom of heaven? What is Jesus referring to? Sometimes Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is in your midst, at other times, the kingdom of God is at hand [Matthew 4:17; 10:7].“The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce [it]” he says or “The kingdom of God is within you” [Luke 17:20-21]. Jesus is not much help here. The kingdom of heaven is present though not observable, within us and yet sneaks up on us unexpectedly. In the Beatitudes the kingdom of heaven belongs to people who are poor in spirit and who are persecuted for the sake of justice. [Matthew 5:3, 10]. All of this is quite perplexing.

We do know that, the kingdom of heaven is not heaven in the afterlife nor the church in the present.  Reflection on what the kingdom of heaven is may be more puzzling than the shocking stories themselves.

So, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner…”

What do you make of this story? What do you think of this landowner, this owner of a vineyard? Does it seem fair that he pays all the labourers the same wage regardless of how long they worked that day? That’s anywhere from 12 hours in the hot sun to 1 hour at sunset.

On the other hand, the labourers hired at 6 AM agreed to the usual daily wage which is what they received at the end of the working day. So, why did they complain? Why did they come to think they should be paid more?

Those hired at 9 AM, noon and 3 PM were simply told they would be paid what is just. Were they expecting a pro-rated wage for less hours of work than the usual daily wage? The final group was just told to go to the vineyard and work for the hour with no mention of pay.

Now remember the story is about the landowner and his actions that reflect the kingdom of God.

Why did the landowner keep going out to the market place? Did he not know how many workers he needed for the day? What prompted him to pay everyone the same wage? And wouldn’t you pay the labourers who worked for 12 hours first? Why does he reverse the order of payment?

And what about those workers in the marketplace later in the day. Why has no one hired them? Is there not enough work in the area? Were they not hired because they are incompetent or lazy? Whatever the case, they are unwanted.

How do you feel about the outcome of the story; all the labourers, whatever their competence or hours of work, get paid the same usual daily wage? Be careful here, the parable is not about economics and labour relations, it is revealing a facet of the kingdom of heaven which is within you. What is Jesus trying to reveal to us?

Though it might seem to be, is the parable about fairness and justice?  And whose sense of justice and fairness? Sometimes our human sense of justice is really about revenge. Consider for example, that we have the largest population of incarcerated people than any other nation in the world. And how much of that burden falls on the shoulders of people who are primarily poor, black, brown and male? Is wealthy white collar crime treated the same? Is that justice and fairness?

But again, we are not reflecting on our human kingdoms but on qualities of the kingdom of heaven. I expect you will agree with me that from our perspective the story of the landowner has a quality of unfairness to it. Those who laboured all day should, despite their agreement with the owner, have gotten at least some sort of bonus, don’t you think? How does it make you feel that God’s sense of justice can seem to us like an injustice and lacking in fairness?

Next Sunday through the prophet Ezekiel, God questions us, “You say, “God’s way is not fair!” Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?””  A question that needs to be pondered. Through the prophet Isaiah we are reminded, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways”.  Is God to conform to our sense of justice and fairness or are we to conform to God’s sense of fairness and justice?

By whose sense of justice and standards do you want to be dealt with and in the end judged?

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[Ideas and phrases taken from short stories by Jesus: The enigmatic parables of a controversial rabbi by Amy-Jill Levine, HarperOne Publications 2014. Levine is a Jewish scholar who reflects on Christian Scriptures.]

PLEASE NOTE: Homilies presented here are also being videotaped and put up on the Saint Mary, Oneonta website: http://www.SMCCOneonta.org