Prayer & reflection by Kyle Oliver for prayr.cc (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: “Hess Vineyards…” by Matthias Klappenbach via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Reflections and a prayer in response to the gospel reading from Matthew 20 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (aka Proper 20A):
“These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.” (Matthew 20:12, CEB)
“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.” (Matthew 20:12, NRSV)
I don’t know enough Greek to weigh the relative linguistic merits of these two translations. But spiritually the second gets to the heart of the matter.
Not “you paid them the same as us” but “you made them the same as us.” There’s the outrage.
We busted our asses. We managed the heat. We have the superior work ethic—at least for today, but we suspect in general. How dare you give them what we earned through our own efforts.
This is entitlement in (ironic) excelsis, self-deception collapsing in on itself.
Wherever we look today we see this malignant mark on the human condition. From suppression of reports of the benefits refugees contribute to society to “People want insurance for their own families, not other peoples’.”
We who perceive ourselves to have been working all the day long cannot or will not abide those whose who at 5 o’clock hadn’t yet been hired. We who have inherited wealth and power and privilege that we cannot or will not recognize seek to leverage every ounce of advantage to protect the same.
Many of us are rich white men. All of us stand in need of repentance.
God of grace overflowing, you are generous, and we are worse than envious. Set us free from the poisonous undertow of our desire to have earned what you have freely given.
Scrape the scales from the eyes of all who see the scales of justice as balanced. Let your gospel take hold among we who confuse luck and exploitation with our righteousness or your blessing.
Amen.