Our Generous Lord

Scripture Reading: Matthew 20:1-16

I have repeat customers. A lot of them. Some of them are extremely generous. I never concern myself with whether we need to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s about payment. I know they are going to reward me well for my work. Other people, on the other hand, are tight-fisted. I know they are going to pay as little as possible. A few of them I don’t trust at all. A small number I won’t work for again because it isn’t worth the time and effort. The generous customers have earned my trust. The rest I view with a healthy level of skepticism.

In Matthew chapter 20, Jesus tells this curious parable about the kingdom of heaven. It involves a master who hires laborers for his vineyard. The first hires are promised a denarius a day for their work. As the day progresses, the master keeps hiring more laborers, but the succeeding groups are told only that they will be paid fairly. No set wage is offered.

At the end of the day, the master pays everyone the same as the first hires, one denarius. This upset the laborers who had gone out first and had an agreed-upon wage. They thought it unfair that those who came later were paid equal to them even though they worked fewer hours. The master replies to their complaint by reminding them that they were paid exactly what they agreed to. Further, if he wants to be generous to the others with whom he had no specific pay agreement, that is his business.

I believe the point Jesus is getting at is we can trust the generosity of God. It is better to not strike a bargain with Him but to trust His generosity. If we demand a wage, we might get what we demand, but we will miss out on blessings that would have been ours had we just relied on God’s goodness.

Those that trust the Lord, know that they receive more from God than they deserve. They live in gratitude and joy as they labor in the Lord’s vineyard because the return is far above the investment they have made.