Sermon by the Rev. Dr James Currall

What a week its been. A week of drama, a week of passion, a week of hope. For some a week ending in relief, for others a week ending in disappointment. It affected different people in different ways, but there is one notable feature which is quite unusual in our society. For a short while we all became equal, we were all of equal worth.

Those who had campaigned for two years on one side or on the other, those who vote in every election, those who have never voted before, those who have lived in Scotland all their lives, those who have lived here only a few short months, the rich, the poor, the old, the young. All had one vote and all votes were of equal worth. The contribution of each of the 3,619,915 people who cast valid votes was the same.

One of the dehumanising features of our society is that there is a price or a value put on nearly everyone. Be it based on what they earn, on what they do, on where they live, or what they possess. But we are all sons or daughters of God, valued individually for who we are, for who God knows us to be, each inherently precious in His sight.

Many interpretations have been placed on the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, but in trying to discern what it means for us today in this place it is instructive to look at the context in which Jesus used it and then the context in which Matthew included it in his Gospel.

Why did Jesus tell this parable? Was it to extol God’s mercy to the poor? If so he might have stopped after the first part – the hiring of the labourers and the liberal instructions about their payment. But there is a second part. This is a two edged parable. The second part is where those who had been working all day grumbling and muttering about receiving the same wage as those who only did an hour’s work. It is the second part that contains the real punch of the story. So what is the purpose of the second part?

This parable was addressed to people around Jesus who complained about what he was doing. The Pharisees for example. Jesus was minded to show the religious elite how unjustified, hateful, loveless and unmerciful was there criticism of what he was doing and the way that he was doing it. In the same way, we found Jonah complaining because God had originally vowed to destroy Nineveh, he had relented as the population turned over a new leaf.

Jesus understood the extraordinary goodness of his heavenly father. The love that his heavenly father had for all his sons and daughters. The mercy and forgiveness that he showed them. And, said Jesus, if my heavenly father is all of these things then so am I. So he uses his parables to vindicate his gospel against his critics, to hold up a mirror to their pettiness., narrow-mindedness and self-righteousness.

Matthew, whose day it is today, is writing for a community that has internal divisions and is showing all the tensions and human characteristics that any community exhibits. On the last couple of Sundays, the gospel reading has been from the Matthew eighteen. The community for whom Matthew was writing was struggling with how its members relate to each other. In response, the eighteenth chapter is a sort of disciplinary policy, drawing on relevant elements of Jesus teaching. Last week it was about how often members should forgive each other (effectively without limit) and the week before it was about how to deal with wayward members of the community, first by speaking to them privately, then with a couple of others and only then to go public. Before that we have the call to humility, to become like children rather than having airs and graces. and the parable of the lost sheep concerned with bringing back into the fold those that stray. All good stuff and still very relevant to us today.

These elements of Jesus teaching are gathered together to provide a blueprint for community cohesion. So that its members may live together by treating each other with dignity and grace. Matthew addresses this parable of the labourers in the vineyard not to Jesus’s opponents, but to his disciples. In the parable each person receives the same amount. Is this a piece of arbitrary injustice, a generous whim? Far from it! This is not limitless generosity, since all receive only an amount sufficient to support their life, not a massive pay-out, but simply a living wage. No-one receives more than they need.

Suppose that the last hired had been paid the going rate for an hour’s work, they would not have taken home enough to feed a family. Their children would have gone hungry if their dad came home with so little. Even if it might have been the case that it was his own fault that he didn’t get hired in the morning, there was clearly enough work for all. The master is simply behaving in a big-hearted compassionate way with sympathy for all in society no matter who they are, old, or young, rich or poor. The message of the second part is - get over it and stop griping.

In Matthew’s context, he wants the members of his community to play their part. He wants the members to value each other as individuals each with their own needs. He wants them to value one another as God values them, whether they agree or disagree, whether they are more or less devout, whether they have wealth and influence or whether they have very little. He doesn’t want to see them be jealous of each other. He doesn’t want them to be narrow-minded He doesn’t want any of them to look down on others or to think that they are better. In short he wants them to show generosity of spirit in their dealings with each other.

And in our context, the parable tells us that God calls each of us, which means we are each significant. That God gives generous gifts to each of us, which means that we are each esteemed. What is clear from the last week is that the entire population of Scotland are proud to live here. That the entire population of Scotland want the best for our country. That we all want to live in a fair and just society. That we all want to be governed wisely by people who understand Scotland and the aspirations of its people. Two million may have one opinion about how that may be achieved and one point six million may have another opinion, but we can live together, work together and find a way to make it happen together as a united society, so long as we treat each other with generosity, compassion, dignity and grace.

Amen.