Matthew 20:1-16

Pentecost + 14 - Year A

Matthew 20:1-16

Since the future is not directly accessible we need to approach it obliquely, say through a parable.

Since we can note tangent points between a preferred future and a temporary present, a parable may be applicable to today without the fullness of the future being present.

What do you say to a country who has been devaluing all labor to the point of laborers being pitted against one another until each looking is for their own benefit, not that of all labor?

Well, one thing to be said is that a living wage is due everyone.

A second note would be that the generosity of the universe is available to be chosen in favor of. To choose maximal profit for a small group who got theirs early, is to miss out on being able to share the joy of being G*D with others.

Thirdly, might we go back to the creation stories and note the labor Adam and Eve were given, farming - garden care, vineyard care. Produce for the common good does not come easily. Imagine a farmer’s market to come which would have the work of each, from researcher to tomato grower to refuse hauler to money maker to forest manager to healer to fish catcher bring their gifts together and need is shared with need (not on the basis of some arbitrary value for each, but simply as a way to meet a need, knowing mine, large and small, will, in turn, be met).