“Do I Look Like I’m Negotiating?”

Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:13-15 (The Message): He replied to the one speaking for the rest, “Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?”

[prayer]

The sermon title is borrowed from a brief movie clip featuring George Clooney, whose character is making it very clear that he’s not negotiating anything. That same message is being conveyed by the landowner in today’s parable. In light of some events that occurred during the workday, some of the workers are bellyaching about being cheated. The landowner answers their complaint with the following words, “… I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage… So take it and go.” He did not negotiate.

Jesus was using this parable to make a point about God’s grace and God’s freedom to extend it as he pleases. He is not talking about labor relations, management styles, fair wages, or any other aspect of running a profitable business. At issue is neither money nor fairness, neither profitability nor the bottom line.

Once again Jesus is addressing the Scribes’ and Pharisees’ complaints and criticisms about those with whom Jesus has been spending his time. In their self-righteous opinion such people were not worthy of Jesus’ ministry to them, in other words, not worthy of God’s grace. Like the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son, they resent the fact that God showers love and acceptance on those who, in their opinion, have not earned it.

Jesus was also letting his disciples know that they had in no way earned the right to follow him in the way of the cross. They had volunteered. Nor had they survived some sort of rigorous program by which Jesus had weeded out the undesirables. They were disciples only because Jesus had chosen and invited them to be disciples. Furthermore there was no seniority among them, no merit raises. Not one of them had a reason to be smug or self-righteous. Nor were they in competition with one another. There was no head of the class. In fact, the only way to be first was to be content with being last.

In the parable those who were hired last received the same wages as those hired first. Why? Because the landowner chose to give them those wages. The landowner didn’t have to pay them. He didn’t even have to hire them. But he did. Why? Because he chose to do so.

Some commentators hypothesize that this fictional landowner was moved by compassion. Maybe so. If day laborers of that time didn’t work their families didn’t eat. It would have been a compassionate businessman indeed who paid folks a full day’s wage for a partial day’s work. And those to whom he extended it received it the only way they could, as a totally unanticipated gift.

People in business, especially those who want to stay in business, just don’t do such things. There really is a bottom line. Profitability is a necessity. That’s just plain common sense. As an editorial aside, however, those of us who are in Christ are not free to conduct business with no thought of compassion. In a marketplace that is often brutally unmerciful, somehow Christians have to model a more Christ-like way. That is, of course, one of those other sermons for another day.

God is not running a business. God isn’t required to be pragmatic. God doesn’t have a bottom line to worry about. God is free to be just and fair. God is also free to go beyond what is just and fair, free to exercise grace without measure. None of us have earned it. None of us deserve it. None of us can demand it. Nor can we negotiate for it. God’s grace is his and his alone to give as he so chooses.

And as Jesus tried to teach Scribes, Pharisees, and other such self-righteous sorts, we who are the Father’s creation do not decide who is or is not deserving of our Creator’s grace. Judgment of our fellow human beings is neither our responsibility nor our right. All we can do is be thankful and celebrate the grace God extends to us while extending, as we can, such grace to one another. And if God extends grace to somebody we consider to be an unlikely recipient, so be it. There’s no need to be envious, jealous, or resentful; no need to complain about what God chooses to give to someone else or shun those who have received it. And there is definitely no need for any of us to ever pout or sit on our pity pot like that elder brother does in Luke 15.

Furthermore those of us who have been in Christ for a long time must resist the temptation to believe that our assumed seniority makes us any more saved or redeemed than those who are babes in Christ. All we can do is welcome our new brother or sister in Christ, and thank God for adding another soul to the Communion of Saints. And that, my friends, is never negotiable. Amen.