A Different Look at the Laborers in the Vineyard

 I'm reading the book Short Stories by Jesus, written by Amy-Jill Levine.  I just finished the chapter called Laborers in the Vineyard, based on Matthew 20:1-16.  To briefly summarize the parable, a householder hires workers beginning at dawn, for a reasonable wage, and then continually, every three hours, throughout the day, until the last group is hired and works for only an hour.  They are all paid the reasonable wage of one denarius.  Those who worked all day complain about the fairness of the pay - they worked longer; they should be paid more.

Levine make a (good) case for the parable not to be a statement of God rewarding everyone the same - those who have been believers for a long time (or those who were Jewish followers) and those who came to believe just lately.  Instead, she asks that we look at the parable differently.  What if the parable is really about how the rich - those who have the means - should treat those who have need.  The householder goes and looks for those who need to work, employees them, and pays them a reasonable wage.  Everyone has the funds to support themselves.  Those hired first receive what can be expected for their work - they complain because the householder is generous. 

What if this is what the kingdom is like?  What if the kingdom of God is a place where those who are able, who have the means, provide for those who don't have the means?  What if the work of some of us supports all of us?  Levine says, "[Jesus's] focus is often less directly on "good news to the poor' than on "responsibility of the rich."  Can the workers be content with what is right rather than what they perceive to be fair?

What if the message of this parable is for us to learn "what it  means to act as God acts, with generosity to all."?  What would that generosity look like?  It would be counter to our entire society.  The goal of the householder (or the business owner) would not be to keep as much as possible and pay as little as he can get away with.  The reaction of the workers would not be to analyze what would be fair and complain about the good fortune of others, but to join the householder in generosity, grateful that everyone has enough money to live.