“Please talk with him,” the older sister of a critically ill patient in the ICU pleaded with the Chaplain. “He lost his faith when his wife died; he blamed God for her cancer and for her suffering. He said he was done with religion. And now I’m afraid he’s not saved, so please, talk with him, convince him to come back to the faith, he won’t listen to me.” Her husband who was within earshot chimed in, “He’s made his own bed, now he has to sleep in it and deal with the consequences of his own choices.”
Life is full of choices. One might argue that is what life is – a series of one choice after another. That’s a good thing though, right? That is what free will is all about, the ability to choose. But there is nothing free about free will when each choice carries a consequence, has a cost along with a benefit. And what about the choices made by others and their effect on us?
Let’s look at an example: The choices made by the master in Matthew’s Gospel on the parable of the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) were no doubt upsetting to the agrarian culture of Jesus’ time. It turns out to be no less unsatisfying to today’s urban culture obsessed with hunting for and assigning blame for perceived social justice inequities.
For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
– Matthew 20:1
In this parable Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven in terms of a vineyard where the master goes out first thing in the morning and hires workers to spend the day tending his vineyard. They agree to a day’s wages in return. Later in the day the master hires additional workers and still later he hires more. At the end of the day, he pays them all the same full day’s wage.
Grumbling and complaining ensues at the perceived injustice to the ones who worked all day being paid the same as the ones who worked fewer hours. The master admonishes them for not seeing their compensation as just and that his generosity was his alone to give as he chooses.
What is it in our human nature that causes such indignation and self-righteousness? Could it be that we naturally identify with those laborers who put in the full day’s work and thus feel entitled to more than those who showed up later? Are we only capable of seeing ourselves on the “right” side of truth and justice, particularly when the “right” side is our truth and justice is only as it relates to me? Why is it so hard to relate to the laborers who stood by waiting until later in the day, seeing them as somehow less entitled to the master’s generosity?
The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
– 1 Samuel 16:7b
The title given to this parable in most Bible versions refers to the laborers in the vineyard as we are predisposed to seeing things from their perspective; again, the ones who worked all day, that’s us, right?
Instead, I’ve titled this essay The Generous Master as I think that is the better perspective for the way things might appear with the Kingdom of Heaven; after all, isn’t that what Jesus states at the beginning of the parable, “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like …”
Biblical parables by their nature can be confusing and upsetting; they often go against our expectations, upsetting our preconceived ideas of what is right, fair, and just. But invariably it turns out that is exactly what Jesus intended. He spells out to His disciples His purpose for teaching in parables in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 8:9-15): “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.” Got it? Confused? Jesus is pointing out our spiritual blindness, our deafness to the Word when we chose to interpret His message through the lens of this world.
For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.
– Matthew 13:15
Living with and following Jesus, the disciples had been given a special looking glass to recognize the signs of salvation. The rest of us are left with the instruction that emerges from His Word (although one wonders about the disciples sometimes and how Jesus could have possibly dumbed it down even more for them).
That looking glass given to the disciples to see and know the secrets of the Kingdom of God is spelled out in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13).
Aha, of course, it’s the lens of love. Saint Thomas Aquinas helped make this crystal clear with his definition of love as “the choice to will the good of the other.” And there it is, proper love is a choice. Love is the lens by which we truly see and perceive.
Looking back at the parable, we, the all-day laborers, are given the opportunity to choose to will the good of the other, the less than all-day laborers, but what instead do we choose? Our initial reaction says it all – jealousy, the deadly sin of envy – such a powerful weapon for undermining the good in any situation. It reminds one of the Aesop’s tale of the jealous neighbor who was granted a wish with the condition that his neighbor would receive double what he received and opting to have one of his own eyes plucked out so that his neighbor would be completely blind. Such is human nature; such is our blindness that we may see but not perceive when we do not choose love.
Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
– T.S. Eliot in The Rock (1934)
So now, choosing love, i.e., willing the good of others, and with that as our lens into this parable our perspective changes. Suddenly, we realize that as the all-day laborer, we were blessed to have spent the entire day working in God’s vineyard, gardening with Our Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven. What would we pay for such a privilege let alone to be paid?
Empathizing with those that were hired later in the day, we recognize that while we were gainfully engaged, they sat idle with worry whether they would find work at all, wondering how they would feed and support themselves and their family; working in the vineyard we did not suffer those anxieties. With humility we come to realize that compared to the great saints, and many others more deserving than us, we seek the same reward as they have achieved in the Kingdom of Heaven; compared to them aren’t we now like the laborers who showed up late?
Enlightened by the light of love we are reminded that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6) We have been given the blessing of experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth, here in this life – the Kingdom is the journey of faith. We can begin to experience the reward of the Kingdom now by choosing love. Laboring in God’s vineyard truly becomes a labor of love as we cast all anxieties aside and store up our treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
– 1 Peter 5:6-7
Returning to the patient in the ICU, in that story which person was looking through the lens of love and who was the grumbling laborer? Had the patient really lost his faith if he still believed in a God he could blame? Were words of admonishment and instilling fears of damnation what he needed most at that time?
We are blessed with some great saints in the Catholic tradition whose wisdom and experience help shed light on our own journey of faith. They are often people who struggled a great deal with their faith, feeling lost and abandoned, yet persevered in their search for truth recognizing God’s presence in the hardships of life. One of these saints provided resonating guidance for me in coming alongside and journeying with this patient and his family. It was St. Bonaventure, a 13th century Italian bishop, who said, “Three things are necessary to everyone: truth of faith which brings understanding, love of Christ which brings compassion, and endurance of hope which brings perseverance.”
That was certainly what our grieving patient seemed to be needing most from those who professed to love him; understanding and compassion for what he was feeling and experiencing, and a reason for hope in the face of suffering and loss. His family’s misplaced love once redirected toward their shared memories, stories, and relationship brought a visible sense of peace to them all.
There are two loves, the love of God and the love of the world. If the love of the world takes possession of you, there is no way for the love of God to enter into you. Let the love of the world take the second place, and let the love of God dwell in you. Let the better love take over.
– St. Augustine of Hippo
In the end, we all long to be laborers in His vineyard; some are blessed to be called early in the day, others later. Out of love we rejoice for all who labor in the Kingdom. Recall St. Dismas, the thief crucified next to Jesus, finding God’s mercy and salvation literally at the eleventh hour; no one begrudges him when Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Could that be because we hope and pray that when our turn comes to step out into eternity, that we too are deserving of God’s mercy and long to hear those same words? Do we think that the saints in heaven will rejoice? Or will we hear a chorus of “that’s not fair” or “there goes the neighborhood!”
Reflection questions:
- Is free will best characterized as the freedom to do whatever we want or the power to do what we ought? How do consequences provide a check and balance on our life choices?
- Put yourself in the ICU as the patient discussed above; what are you feeling, what are your hopes, your fears? What might your family say or do to bring you comfort?
- The three things St. Bonaventure said everyone needs listed above; do you agree or disagree? Is there anything you would add?
- St. Bonaventure had also said, “In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within.” How does this thought marry up with your understanding of Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
Scripture References
Matthew 13:15, 20:1-16 1 Samuel 16:7b Luke 8:9-15, 23:43 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 John 14:6 1 Peter 5:6-7
Leave a comment