I hope this is thought-provoking….
Matthew 20:1-16
That day when the landowner
came to the town square to choose workers
for his vineyard
he didn’t pick me at dawn
or 9
or noon
or 3.
I stood there all day
Thinking about Sarah at home with the baby
how we didn’t have money for a crib for Eli
and maybe not enough for food.
I didn’t eat lunch
or look in any shop windows.
I stood in the town square hoping, waiting.
At 5, the landowner returned, asked me
“Why are you not working?”
And I kept my eyes down,
Tried not to tremble
Even though I was tired and hungry,
Said “No one has picked me.”
“Come with me. You can work
the rest of the day for me.”
One hour later, he paid me first
of all the workers, gave me
a full day’s wages for one hour of work.
I tried to return it saying
I only worked an hour.
He said, “I know that.”
I could hear the others grumbling
Saul who had a sick mother at home
Benjamin whose baby had a crib not a box.
They received the same wages I did.
And they worked longer.
We are workers, not businessmen
but we know bad business when we see it.
This landowner was not a good businessman.
But he was a god to me.
Food. And a little toward a crib.
And the real God will tell you
That this is grace.
And you can’t earn grace.
And sometimes you don’t get
what you deserve.
You get what you need.
–By Pam O’Brien
