And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
We should take a moment to sit with this complaint. We shouldn't be too quick to spiritualize it. It is natural to be sympathetic with those who worked the whole day but got the same as those who only worked for an hour. It is natural because we are used to a world where we earn by working, where we are valued based on our performance. But this is not how the economy of the Kingdom works. If we don't take the time to feel our first responses to this revelation we will never truly understand what the landowner means when he explains.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?
There is no parity between the work and the reward. The landowner does not simply give us what we earn. What we receive is so much more than usual daily wages that we could never earn them if we labored forever in the field. From that perspective there is not much difference between an hour and a day. This was how the good thief on the cross was able to receive the same gift of eternal life as Peter, Paul, or the rest of the saints.
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (see Luke 23:43).
There is a sense in which the rewards differ in heaven. Those who by grace open themselves to love will have more room to be filled by God. It is in this sense that Jesus speaks of some as being greater in the Kingdom. But there is no connection with effort, much less with time. Because it is by grace the whole transformation, which can open us to the unimaginable fullness of grace, can take place in an instant. Were it not so, children could not have the first place. Yet this is exactly what Jesus tells us.
We may rightly wonder, what then of the field and the labor? If the landowner will simply pay us all, why make us work at all? It seems that if he actually needs us for the work, then the work has value, and that value should increase with the amount of work done. Right?
Going out about five o’clock,
he found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
The landowner thinks we should not be standing around idle all day. He recognizes the dignity of work and invites us to share in it, even if just for an hour. The work itself, without regard to pay, is already a privilege. This is especially true of Kingdom work. But we can also reflect here on the inherent dignity of all work.
Work is a good thing for man-a good thing for his humanity-because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed, in a sense, becomes "more a human being.” (St. John Paul II, On Human Work [Laborem Exercens], no. 9)
Other shepherds exploit sheep for their own benefit. Only the Good Shepherd truly has the interests of the sheep at heart. We can trust him whether he is calling us to labor in the vineyard or to rest in pastures of repose. He won't let us be consumed for some arbitrary value we can provide. He loves us before we can offer anything. He himself gives us all we have to offer back.
I will save my sheep,
that they may no longer be food for their mouths.
For thus says the Lord GOD:
I myself will look after and tend my sheep.
The real revelation today is the value we have does not stem from what we can do or what we can offer. When we are first annoyed at the apparent injustice to the laborers who labor all day we realize that we haven't entirely internalized this revelation. We still don't completely trust that God isn't just one more evil shepherd using us for his own ends. So let us pray for that trust. We can begin by placing ourselves in the position of the good thief on the cross and with him pray "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (see Luke 23:42). We can be sure he will answer.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
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