Maybe We Could All Use a Little Grace

Devotional Reflection, Thursday, November 30, 2023

Proper 29, the week of the last Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

6And 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?” 7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.”. . . 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 994)

AM Psalm 131, 132, [133]; PM Psalm 134, 135

Zeph. 3:1-13; 1 Pet. 2:11-25; Matt. 20:1-16

Today we celebrate the Feast of Andrew. (See below.)

David's Reflections

That line, “maybe we could all use a little grace,” comes from a Sheryl Crow song, ‘Sweet Rosalyn.” And, as was true of Rosalyn in that song, we could all use a little grace. Well, maybe more than a little. But, we all need that grace equally.

This parable, found only in Matthew, shares a verbal link with parables told elsewhere, especially in Luke 15. There Jesus told three parables about God's love of the outcast and unlovely in response to the grumblings of the scrupulously religious that he was eating with those ritually unclean who did not live according to the Law. Here those who worked all day grumble because those who worked one hour got paid the same amount as did they.

The owner of the grape vineyard may have been desperate to harvest his crop before the fall rains spoiled the grapes on the vine. That would explain his going to the town market place to hire additional day laborers. Those he found at 5 PM were the least desirable, people with no real desire to work. Yet, he hired them and promised, as he had done with those hired at 9, 12, and 3, that he would be fair with them. He had promised those hired at 6 AM to pay them the usual daily wage (a denarius, roughly 25 cents).

(BTW, we get an English cliché from this parable. The King James translates literally "the eleventh hour" for those hired at 5 PM, because Jewish reckoning of time was from six AM to six PM by counting the hours.)

The climax comes at the end of the day when the day laborers received their wages. Jesus tells the story so that the all-day workers stand in back of the line and see what those hired later in the day receive. To their chagrin, they all were paid the same amount. Their grumbling prompts a question from the owner of the vineyard, "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

His paying had nothing to do with the amount of labor they had expended; rather, it had to do with his relatively generous spirit. Actually, to pay the minimum wage to peasants who might have lost their land to this person or to someone like him does not make this owner a paragon of generosity. Therefore, we should avoid making the landowners a symbol for God.

God's grace levels us all. We all need God equally, no matter what our religious background or our style of life or our educational level. We have ways of buffering our sense of need by religious activity or by comparing ourselves to those less obviously prosperous or moral than we. Of course, such ruminations go on in dark corners of the psyche and are almost automatic ways of thinking that we consciously deny and conceal from ourselves and others.

This parable reminds us that our ways of ranking, assigning merit, and valuing achievement do not correspond with God's. Jesus' entire life could be seen as a subversion of human pride and elitism. This parable subverts all our ways of elevating ourselves above others and deluding ourselves into assuming we are superior.

That lyric from the Sheryl Crowe song, “Sweet Roslayn” gets at it.

Sweet Rosalyn

Sometimes you gotta give in

Sometimes you gotta be loved

She got a number off the bathroom wall

She was looking for a good time so she made the call

Got a strangely calm voice on the other line

Sneaky little priest tryin' to reach out to the swine

He said, "Hello my name is Father Tim

Seems to me your zeal for this life has been wearing a little thin"

Sweet Rosalyn

Sometimes you gotta give in

Sweet Rosalyn

Sometimes you gotta give in

Sometimes you gotta be loved

Maybe we all could use a little grace

To know when to run or when to stay in one place+

+Sheryl Crowe, "Sweet Rosalyn," Album "The Very Best of Sheryl Crowe," 2003.

Collect of the Day, The Last Sunday after Pentecost

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 236)

Today we celebrate the Feast of Andrew the Apostle.

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Andrew.htm

Collect of the Feast of Andrew

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give unto us, who are called by your Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A Collect for the Presence of Christ

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen. (BCP, 124)

For Knowledge of God’s Creation

Almighty and everlasting God, you made the universe with all its marvelous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know

you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 827)

A Prayer for Light

Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord; and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. (BCP, 111)

A Collect for Mission

Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)

Daily Office Gospel Reading, Matthew 20:1-16

20:1‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6And 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?” 7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8When 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.” 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, “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.” 13But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer