Generosity, Fairness, and the Kingdom of Heaven…

From a worldly or meritocratic perspective, today’s parable of the landowner who hires workers throughout the day and pays them equally, seems rather unfair.

But Jesus invites us to see this parable with God’s heart and eyes, a God who is abundantly generous. God’s grace—or His forgiveness and mercy—is not about the amount of work one does, or time spent on a project, but rather it is about His free gift of Love, Grace, and Mercy and its transformative power on us. As St. M0ther Theresa of Calcutta said, “It is not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” We can surely say that the Kingdom of God is not about meritocracy—or our station in life—rather it is about God’s gracious invitation to all, whether early or late in life, whether a lifetime of faith or a recent conversion, it is about accepting His gracious invitation and joining Him on this journey of faith all the way into Eternal Glory. It is indeed about the end result.

This parable calls us to humility and gratitude. Instead of begrudging others who receive the same gift of salvation (for what seems like less work), we are supposed to rejoice that God is loving toward all and that He extends His Mercy to everyone. In many ways, this challenges our individual sense of entitlement and reminds us that no one may claim God’s blessings as owed to them. Finally, and of equal import, this parable of the landowner is a call to trust in God’s justice, which is noted as deeper and greater than human justice. His ways are not our ways, and we must be thankful for that! After all, as the saying goes, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last” because the Kingdom of God, love, mercy, and grace overturn worldly expectations.

May we be inspired to live in generosity and in gratitude that our God does not think or act as we do, but that His gift of Salvation is a free, unmerited gift of Love, Divine Love, that only seeks our excellence. How lucky we are that our God is beyond all human action and understanding; that He is God alone, and that He invites everyone into His Kingdom—early, late, stumbling or walking perfectly straight.

Amen!