“You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.”

Another way to read the vineyard owner’s response in today’s parable, as it applies to working towards the kingdom, would be: “I will give you purpose and good work. I will give you what you need and take care of you.” God gives us far more than is just! A mature faith isn’t a transactional relationship. God doesn’t just pay us for working towards the kingdom. God gives us what God wants us to receive, in love.

What is a gift? If I give something to another person with the expectation or hope that they will then do something for me in return, it’s not a gift – at best, it is an investment; at worst, a bribe. Gifts are freely given. If I think I deserve something and then I get it, it’s not a gift – it’s payment to which I am entitled, the return of something I have already claimed in my heart. Gifts are not transactional. In Ignatian terms, gifts (or graces) don’t have attachments on either end. I cannot earn them; I can only receive them.

“Are you envious because I am generous?”

This is the same question that the father could ask the son who stayed at home in the parable of the lost son. Frankly, I could often answer “yes.” But as soon as I recognize my envy, it seems absurd. It reveals a misunderstanding of how God works, how love works, or even how people work! Of course someone can be generous to whomever they wish! There’s a logic of finite love hidden in that envy: if God loves and cares for someone else, God can’t love and care for me as much. As humans our time, energy, and resources may be limited in that way. God’s love transcends those limits. The vineyard owner in this parable cares for each worker by providing what they need to live for the day, regardless of when they were able to start working or how deserving their peers judged them to be. The question then becomes, “Can I be grateful that God is generous to others? Can I share in the joy of God’s generosity?”

The 23rd Psalm by Bobby McFarrin (dedicated to his mother)