God’s generosity versus human claim for equity
This Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 20:1-16) presents a difference between God and man in their view of salvation. Whereas, man demands equity – the dispensation of the heavenly reward in proportion to one’s time and effort –God pours out his gift of salvation equally to all who heed his call. By making every undeserving person deserving of salvation by virtue of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, God exercises his justice. But by offering the same salvation to anyone and everyone regardless of how much and how long perceives himself to have worked for the heavenly kingdom, God exercises his boundless mercy and inexplicable generosi t y.
The landlord in the gospel paid all the hired workers the same amount of the agreed upon daily wage, regardless of what time of the day they started working. Those who began working at dawn were paid the same amount as those who began working at nine o’clock, around noon, and at five o’clock. As expected, those who spent the whole day working grumbled; they wanted to be paid more than those who worked less, or, wished to see those who worked less paid less. But the landlord disregarded their selfish claim. He said that by paying them the amount due for a day’s work, he was not shortchanging them. Then he added that by paying all the others the same wage even when they worked only for a fraction of the day, he was only exercising his freedom to do what he wishes to do with his own money. He also questioned the motive of the complainers as one that was fuelled by envy for the landowner’s generosity.
Just like the complaining workers, we sometimes cannot fully understand God. However, we can always be assured that in everything he does, God is right. The First Reading (Isaiah 65:6-9) tells us that “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are his ways our ways, and that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts.”
God is just. But God is also loving. These two are dominant attributes of his character. God’s justice is an expression of his love, and his love, a manifestation of his justice.
Nevertheless, the truth of the matter is that in the final analysis, we come to realize that we do not really have the right to demand that God treats us better than he does our neighbors. The fact is that no one really deserves God’s kindness; everything is just pure grace. Why? Because we are all sinners. Had it not been for Jesus’payment for our debts of sin and disobedience, our common lot should be God’s wrath. But thanks be to God, he has given us his only begotten Son to die on the cross to carry the full weight of our guilt.
Only by believing in Jesus in words and in deeds is the wrath of God replaced by his gifts of salvation, healing and a full life. With this in mind, may resist the temptation of self-righteousness and of a “holier than thou” attitude. Like the psalmist in the Responsorial Psalm, may we remember that “The Lord is near to all who call upon him.” And as we receive God’s blessings, may we be reminded of St. Paul’s words in the Second Reading (Phil. 1:20c –24, 27a), “to conduct ourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.”