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“A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm… [This] show[s] you how a king may go... through the guts of a beggar” (Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 3). Shakespeare has Hamlet say this to illustrate how death is an equalizer among men. Death comes to all, deny it as you might — repent and prepare before it comes to you, or before our Lord’s return, whichever comes first.
Death is an equalizer among men, but only at the end of physical life; it doesn’t equalize anything leading up to the grave. One dies at a day old, another ten, another 50, another at a 100, and a lot can happen in those extra years. The king’s life was full of luxury and pleasure, the beggar’s full of pain and want, and most of us fall somewhere between. This disparity seems unfair, so in some circles the idea of equalizing opportunity and outcomes through the enactment of laws became popular, and a lot of that legislation wound up on the books. Once those laws are enacted, others angrily call for their reversal, both crying, “Injustice!”
This should not surprise us. We have a built-in sense of fairness with the Law written on our hearts. The Ten Commandments show us not only what we should and shouldn’t do, but what others should and shouldn’t do to us. So far, so good, for this is a reflection of God’s own righteous rules. But when you factor in our sinful flesh, then our sense of fairness gets exaggerated and our selfish nature rises up. This is on full display in children: if they perceive unfair treatment, they throw a fit.
Seeing what others get can lead to this react ion. In Matthew 20:1-16 (“The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard”), Jesus says the master of the house instructed his foreman to pay the workers the same amount (one denarius, a standard day’s wage) in reverse order of their hire. The ones who only worked an hour got paid first, followed by those who worked 3, 6, 10, and finally, about 12. This was quite intentional; he wanted the ones who worked the full day to see what happened before they got their wages. Jesus says, “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.’” In response, the master says to one of the complainers: “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?’” The meaning is very straightforward. Jesus begins this parable with “the Kingdom of Heaven is like…” The master is clearly God, the vineyard is His Kingdom in Jesus Christ, which He brings people into at various points in their life, but all for the same payment (which is completely an unearned gift): forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation in heaven. And if God wants to give this gift to as many people as possible (even ones we may not like!), then who are we to begrudge His generosity?
There is something over-the-top about many of our Lord’s parables, especially the ones that have to do with grace. I think this is because illustrating how wonderful the Gospel of Christ is requires us to suspend normal judgments and expectations. The prodigal son was wasteful and unloving in the extreme toward his father; upon returning, it seems like the father at least should give him a good tongue lashing, but instead he is restored fully to the household and the father throws him a party. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the king pardons a 6 billion dollar debt with just a word, when it seems like he should have at least settled for a percentage.
In Christ Jesus, God is generous and merciful beyond all that you could ask or imagine, with full Absolution that gives you life in His household. The parables help us see this. In reality, we are all prodigal sons, all indebted servants, all eleventh-hour laborers, we are all thieves on the cross, yet for the sake of Jesus, God not only pardons us but rewards us for labor we have not done. May we never begrudge His generosity toward all but rejoice together under the great equalizer of His grace, which exalts us into a Kingdom beyond all comparing. Amen.
