When I read the Gospel and heard about the people looking for work at dawn, 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., my thoughts went back to the first reading. The line from Isaiah that says “Seek the Lord while God may be found, call to God while he is near” seemed to be what the workers in the marketplace were doing. They may not have had much optimism that they would find work that day, and yet they showed up and waited in the hope that God would help them find work. Perhaps they had been at a different marketplace earlier in the day. They knew that showing up was the first step.
In the Gospel story the kingdom of God takes the form of a landowner who is checking all day to see if there are any more people in need of work because the landowner needs workers. And, like God, the landowner chooses to be generous to those in need at the end of the day. It is a wonderful reminder that, while we are not God, we can be like God and do what Jesus might have done in any number of situations.
Unfortunately, in our country today, that kind of generosity to workers can lead to charges of discrimination in many instances. Individual employers cannot decide to offer benefits to one person because they are in need and not offer those same benefits to other employees in a similar work position. I thought about who can afford to be generous to those in need and when it is acceptable in our economic system. Charities can be generous to those they serve, churches and religious communities can be generous, but not in discriminatory ways with employees, and wealthy people can be generous through gifts to churches and charities. The landowner in the Gospel might have a problem in the U.S. today. If news got out, people might start coming at 3 p.m. hoping they could get a day’s pay for two hours of work. The employer today might also take the line that says “Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?” and make very different self-centered choices. It seems complicated.
Governments can be generous through social programs and social safety nets. How different things could be if the government was like the landowner, looking for ways to help those in need and being generous whenever funds are available. Or if the government was like the Good Samaritan, helping those that others pass by and ignore. Today it feels more like our government’s thoughts are not God’s thoughts and our government’s ways are not God’s ways.
Justice and generosity are interlinked. Our belief that all people are created and loved by God inspires us to work for justice and to be generous to those in need, not just to those we know and care about. It inspires us to be present when others are seeking help, to see each of them as a reflection of the Divine, and to offer them some support as Jesus might have done. And, at times, we are the ones that need some help and then witness God’s presence in the love and kindness we receive from others.
Perhaps we cannot provide for every need, but we can often provide some help. Support can come in simple forms – a listening ear, a word of encouragement and empathy, a small act of assistance, the gift of forgiveness. Help can also come in more significant forms – ongoing accompaniment, financial support, hospitality, housing, health care for those without insurance and child care. As I created this list, I thought about all the ways that our government has, at one time, provided these kinds of help to those in need. And I thought about the many ways, individually and communally, that we provide help and support. And the many ways that we, individually and communally, have received help and support.
The reading from Philippians could be referring to all such acts of care and support when it says that “If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.” And, again when it says “Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit.” We are all here to be a form of God’s presence in the world and to benefit from each other’s presence. Each of us can recall the times when we were doing some good work and found ourselves on the receiving end. We have learned so much from those we have served, from our co-workers and from each of our companions on this journey. And every day that we are here is another opportunity to serve in some way – in prayer, in action or in presence – or as the reading says, “Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
