We’re going to do a little Bible study today – which is, I know, unusual for this space. I was going to paraphrase this story that Jesus tells, but I realized I cannot really tell it better than he did. Plus, the story he tells is so disturbing that if I didn’t quote Jesus directly, you might think I was making at least some of it up. So let me say this: I am not making this up. This is a story Jesus tells. It is found in The Gospel According to Matthew. I have not edited it at all. You very well may not like it. If you want to be mad at me for that, that’s fine – but really if it upsets you, you should take it up with the Lord. Ok, here it goes.
Jesus says, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
This story is often interpreted as being about who goes to Heaven when they die. The idea being that some people spend their entire lives being faithful, and other people don’t decide to connect to God until near the end of their lives, and then there are all the other people in between – but all of them get the same salvation, the same reward, the same access to Heaven. And I must say, this is a lovely vision of Heaven and I probably even believe it on some level. But also it is a terrible interpretation of Jesus’ story.
This is not a story about where you go when you die.
This is a story of how God sees us here and now. Which means it is a story of how God wants us to see each other here and now. It is also a story of how God treats us here and now. Which means it is a story of how God wants us to treat each other here and now.
Whenever Jesus says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” we think he’s saying, “This is what it will be like in the place Christians go after they die.” That is our poor understanding of Jesus. It has led to some very damaging theology, and bad theology kills.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not a golden-walled city in the clouds with pearly gates guarded by angels that you enter when you die if your name is on St. Peter’s holy guest list. The Kingdom of Heaven is the reign of God. Sure, it is where God resides – whatever that means. But the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus describes it throughout the Gospels is that it is wherever God’s will is done – wherever things are the way God wants them to be.
When you see love happening, you are seeing the kingdom of heaven. When you see justice and mercy working together, you are seeing the kingdom of heaven. When you see forgiveness, you are seeing the kingdom of heaven. When you see healing and reconciliation, you are seeing the kingdom of heaven. When you see someone being brought in from the margins, cared for, honored, and respected, you are seeing the kingdom of heaven. Not a sneak preview, and not a pale shadow of the real thing – you are seeing the actual kingdom of heaven here and now.
This is why, in the same Gospel account, Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That doesn’t mean, God please let me go to Heaven when I die. It means God please help Heaven come to earth, God make this world more like you mean for it to look, God show me the kingdom of heaven here and now.
Last week I wrote about meritocracy. And I pointed out we don’t live in one even though we pretend we do. And then I stopped short. I stopped short because I was tempted to write that we should be a meritocracy – that we should work towards making America a true meritocracy, that we should do the things necessary to create a level playing field. But then I remembered this story Jesus told. And I realized I couldn’t say that even though I want to.
Because God isn’t fair.
God isn’t fair and the kingdom of heaven isn’t fair, and our obsession with fairness – whether it be making the world fair or pretending that the mess we’ve made here is actually fair and has been fair all along – that this obsession runs exactly counter to what Jesus teaches throughout his ministry, and especially runs head on into this particular story Jesus tells about how God wants us to act in the world.
I understand this is upsetting. Since we were young children we have been crying, “This isn’t fair!” and our parents taught us things should be fair, and we have sworn that we would try to create a world where things are fair.
And then Jesus tells this story. And it is essential for us to understand that this story is saying that God isn’t interested in fairness. God is interested in every single person being included, every single person contributing to the common good, and every single person being provided with enough.
Jesus says this is what the kingdom of heaven is like. It’s like our ideas of merit and fairness are childish compared to the belonging of God. God says every single person is made in the image of God, every single person has a part to play in the work of making the world more like heaven, and every single person should have enough.
Every single person should have enough.
Do you feel your hackles being raised? Do you have a million questions about how that would work? Are you tempted to argue with or just plain ignore Jesus because to accept his teaching would require you to think differently about the world and the people around you? Good. That’s what it feels like when the kingdom of heaven breaks in.
Jesus is not an idealist or a wide-eyed dreamer. He is Lord. He existed before all time, and through him all things were created. This story isn’t meant to comfort us about what happens when we die. It’s supposed to inspire and inform us about how we partner with God here and now in making this world more heavenly. It will require us to sacrifice our shallow understanding of the kingdom of heaven, and to put to death even our immature ideas of fairness so that we can focus seriously on how to include all people in our communities, to make sure every single person is given the chance to participate, to ensure that every single person has enough. Because if we’re not about that, we have no business in pretending we are following Jesus.
