Labourer or Landowner?

A Reflection on the Gospel for September 20th, 2020:
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Matthew
20.1-16

Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And 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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.

“Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

“What do you do?”


I’ve been asked this question. You’ve been asked this question. Maybe at a dinner party, or your spouse’s Christmas party; on a first date; while networking; at the gym; in an elevator. It is commonly asked when you’re trying to get to know someone. And crazily enough, we prepare to answer this question from a very young age. How often as a child or teen were you asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My answers varied from Wonder Woman to an actress to a fashion designer to a writer to a French teacher. And well, I’m still trying to figure it out!


However, there is a slight difference between those two questions. To “do” something and to “be” something are not the same thing. Oftentimes we can put more value on what a person does rather than on who they are. The labourers in our gospel story have done this. And that makes me a little sad. They believed their sense of worth was solely tied to the work they did. They worked longer so they should be entitled to more pay. Yet the landowner saw things differently. He wanted to make sure those who could work had work, and also that they received the dignity that having work provides. The landowner focussed on who the labourers were, not just on what they could do.


In this parable, we understand the landowner to be God. And God values me for me and you for you. He placed that value in each of us. This is why, as Christians, it is difficult when we see a person’s value being taken for granted or mistreated or sadly even thrown away. This should cause us concern and hopefully call us to action. Unless we choose a “job” that helps to bring out the value God has placed in us, then that “job” is truly what we do but is not and cannot be all that we are.


I can easily lose the value that God placed in me and focus on the values of our world. I can be like the labourers waiting for and wanting what I believe I am entitled to. But there is another choice. I can remember the value I have as a daughter of God, a worth beyond measure. I can choose to be one of the labourers or I can strive to be like the landowner who sees the value already inherent in everyone and help to provide each of my brothers and sisters with the support and care necessary to build up their value.


God places value in us, making us who we are and we can connect that value to what we do. Ultimately we all have the same thing to do: proclaim God’s goodness. Because that’s where our value lies.


So… what do you do?




Aurea Sadi

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