I often wonder if the people standing around Jesus who heard this parable about the landowner who paid all his workers the same amount of money, whether they had worked the whole day or only just a couple of hours, had the same reaction that so many people have today when they first hear the story: “it’s not fair”.  In reacting this way they, and probably we, have missed the main point of the parable.  It is a story about God’s generosity, not about God’s “fairness”.

Children have a great sense of “fairness”.  If an uncle or aunt comes to visit and brings a gift for one child, the other children generally expect a gift of equal value.  Otherwise they feel that the uncle or aunt is not being “fair” – “why did he get a dollar, and I only got fifty cents?”.  The child would seldom think: “Well, Uncle Tim is being very good to us, and whatever he gives each of us is a gift and therefore I should just be thankful for what he has given me and not be jealous of my sister who got more money than me.”  I know I never thought that way when my sister received more money than I did – even though she always was much better behaved than I was and deserved more.

I think that many of us tend to identify with the worker who it seems has been treated justly but not generously for all the hard work he or she did rather than with the worker who has been generously rather than justly rewarded for the little amount of work he or she did. 

I grew up in Chicago at a time when several gangsters who died had a big Catholic funeral.  They always saw themselves as “good Catholics”.  And so they made sure they got to confession and had Extreme Unction before dying.  On occasion people would say to me: that’s not fair, Larry.  We live a good life and therefore we hope to get to heaven.  These people had murdered people and robbed from them all their life.  Then they go to confession and receive Extreme Unction and they get to go to heaven just like someone who has been good all their life.  “It’s not fair!”

I think the point of the parable is that God (the landowner) will always be just (giving workers the pay they contracted for) but God will also be generous to those who have not “worked the whole day through”.  The story is about God’s generosity and invites us to see ourselves as the ones who are being treated in a generous fashion.  Theologically we know that none of us, no matter how good we are, can actually “merit” heaven.  Living eternally happy with God is a gift.  We are invited to be thankful for this generous gift of God and not be jealous of God’s generosity to others.

Last year I was reading and discussing the book Showings by Julian of Norwich (1343-1423??), a hermit and mystic, with a number of students.  She talks a great deal about God’s generous love for us.  She says that she believes there is a hell, because the Church tells us to believe in it.  But she cannot imagine anyone being in hell.  To her way of thinking it would be impossible for God, a loving parent, to condemn one’s child to everlasting punishment.  She asks: what earthly parent would ever do that?  So how much more would it be impossible for God to punish someone God loves to eternal punishment?  That would go against the generous love that Jesus told us that God has for us.

Perhaps it would be worthwhile for us to identify with the worker who didn’t do a full day’s work and be surprised by and rejoice in the generosity of the landowner.  We know we have received more than we deserve; so let us praise and thank God for being so generous to everyone, no matter what they did, because God loves them all.  I think this is what Jesus is inviting us to do in today’s parable.