No matter what time period in history we are considering, humans have a tendency to look around first before looking up to God. With today’s incredible amount of connectivity, it has never been easier to see what others are doing, where they are traveling, and how they are generally living their lives. But even with this intense level of connection, the phenomenon remains the same as in Jesus’ time – we are a species very concerned with what others of our same species are doing. To be blunt, we are a bunch of busybodies.
Look at how nosey the workers are in Jesus’ parable. The wages of the workers should be between them and the landowner. And yet the first round of workers to come to the vineyard, knowing full well what they had arranged with the land owner, still expect some kind of shift in situation because they had been eavesdropping on the first to be paid.
In the video for this week, I talk about how we are meant to live in community and some of the ways that we are supposed to look out for one another. Looking out for someone is different than looking at someone in comparison. It is very difficult to live in a fruitful, healthy community if so much of our time is spent worrying about what others are doing from a position of judgment or envy. Our time would be much better spent looking for opportunities to to help one another, assisting from a place of love and care for the other individuals in our community.
It is also interesting to consider that just as the workers in the parable didn’t get to choose what they were owed at the end of the day, as workers in God’s vineyard, we don’t get to either. There is no accounting from our end when we die. We don’t get to come to God with a list of receipts in order to receive payback for the times we felt were unfair. We have already received salvation. If we are baptized, we have already received admittance to the Church and membership in God’s family as sons and daughters. If you are reading this, you have received the gift of life. These gifts are beyond compare when weighed against life’s imbalances.
Life isn’t fair. Jesus’ parable pretty much spells that out for us. Not all people who are in heaven today did exactly the same amount of work, suffered the same amount of loss and pain, or achieved the same level of holiness here on earth. Everyone has their own struggles and triumphs. No one is repeated or repeatable. We are unique individuals on a unique journey to heaven. We can help one another along on our collective journey by looking out for one another. We encourage, rather than compare. We support, rather than strive to pass by. We forgive, rather than holding onto anger. Above all, we trust that at the end of our days, we will meet our Creator who loves us beyond all forms of measuring and it is His esteem we only need to be concerned about.
Daily Graces 