So, this one Sunday in church and the gospel reading + the sermon literally opened a new horizon of thoughts in my mind.
I know I don’t usually write some religious stuff.
But I couldn’t avoid not writing this and sharing it with you guys.
The reading was taken from “Matthew Chp 20 V 1-16”
The story:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius ( An entire day’s wages) for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.
When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
My Thoughts:
This story can be seen in two ways.
One way is logically. Since some worked for 12 hours, they were given full pay.
That means those who worked for 9 hours should be given wages equaling 9 hours and so on.
So, the laborers working for 1 hour, receiving a denarius is wrong and unjust.
The other way of understanding this story, is through compassion.
The Almighty explains that whoever works will be rewarded.
He promised the first laborer a denarius. He also gave the last one a denarius as he is compassionate.
Those workers had waited with tools all day, waiting for employment.
It’s not their mistake if no one hired them.
By paying them just for an hour’s wages, it would be tough for them to bring even a proper meal for their family.
He asks those workers who came first, to not grumble, as he fulfilled his promise to them.
It is he who decides what a person gets.. Not us.
So my question to you guys today is,
What do you agree with; the logical conclusion or the compassionate one??
This post is part of Day 7 of The Ultimate Blog Challenge
