Faith In Fiction | The Scandal of Grace
It’s a few minutes before eight this Monday morning, a slight drizzle in the air, but I’m so excited that I barely notice the raindrops falling on my head as I rush to the entrance of SUSEJ Technology. Yesterday’s tweet, ‘Temporary positions, answering phones, available this week only. Fair wage guaranteed,’ caught my attention because this company is well-known for its above-average wages and its fair, honest owner. This is an incredible opportunity to earn extra money.
Finding the reception desk, I fill out an application and am soon whisked into a cozy office to be interviewed by the owner. It surprises me that the interview questions focus not on my work experience, but more on my character. Do I treat my co-workers well? Do I do an honest day’s work? Do I consider myself to be honest and fair? Apparently, my answers satisfy the owner and he hires me on the spot, promising me $1500 at the end of the week. I nod my head, almost too vigorously, when he asks if I can start work in thirty minutes.
Upon signing an agreement, the supervisor, Miss Wells, escorts me and three others into a large theater-style room that has five tiers, each tier with ten desks. We’re seated in the front row, Tier 1, and handed a headset and a short handbook on how to answer the most frequent customer questions. As soon as my phone rings, I’m quickly in the zone helping customers. A few minutes after noon, I’m advised to take a lunch break for “as long as you need.” After a half hour lunch, I return to my desk refreshed, and smile at two new workers, seated at the desks to my right, chatting on their phones with customers. By the time I leave the job at 5:30pm, all of the desks on my tier are occupied.
The higher tier seats fill with workers as the week goes by. This work is tiring; my voice is strained by lunchtime and I’m completely drained by the end of each day.
On Friday, at 5:30pm, Miss Wells thanks everyone for their work during ‘this critical week for the company.’ “An extra reward for all of you,” she says as cartloads of fruit and snacks are wheeled into the room. All of us descend the steps to the front to enjoy the delicious, unexpected treats. “I’ll be handing out paychecks by tier,” she says, “everyone in tier 5, please meet me at the taco bar.” There are smiles on the faces of that group, hired just today, as they open their envelopes. “Wow, $1500 for a single day’s work,” one gentleman shouts. My mind goes into overdrive, “if he was paid $1500 for working just today, how much will I be paid for working the full five days?” A few minutes later, Miss Wells calls for tier 4 and those hired on Thursday greet her to receive their pay. Although there is a bit of grumbling, the only words that I overhear are ‘unfair,’ and ‘it must be wrong.” Tier 3 is called followed by tier 2 and the grumbling spreads, growing louder. It is clear that so far, everyone has received the same $1500 pay, regardless of how many days or hours they worked. In spite of the discontent, I’m certain that those of us who worked the entire week will receive a bonus. When I open my paycheck, I am not only disappointed but also angry and frustrated that I too received only $1500. It is not fair that I worked a full eight hours for five days and received the same salary as those who worked one, two, three or four days. I wave my check in the air and join the voices demanding to talk to the owner, who in my opinion, does not deserve his reputation as a fair and honest person.
The supervisor is genuinely stunned that the workers, blissfully happy a few minutes ago, have turned into an angry mob. Soon after she rushes out of the room, the owner enters, listening for only a moment before he speaks, “Why are you complaining, each of you agreed to a fair wage when you were hired. I chose to hire each of you because you committed to treat your co-workers well, do an honest day’s work and be fair. You have all received an overly generous paycheck. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
This story is a modern day example of Jesus’ parable explaining what the Kingdom of God is like,
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 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 a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:1-16
This scandal of grace reflects the unbelievable goodness of God. God’s grace does not depend on how many ‘good deeds’ you do or how long or how tirelessly you serve him. When we recognize the lavish generosity of God's mercy, it's an amazing game changer. We stop focusing on what’s ‘fair,’ and begin to humbly appreciate God's bountiful and unbelievable benevolence. Hopefully, we recognize what the early workers in the vineyard clearly missed: it is both an honor and a privilege to serve a God who is so kind, generous, loving and unselfish.
