Landowner, part 1

So, I've been hangin' out in Matthew lately. Thanks to my SS teacher, I've seen the Gospels in a way I never have before (Thanks, Brett!). Recently, I've been stuck in chapter 20, verses 1-16. This is the parable of the landowner who hires a bunch of people at different hours of the day, but ends up paying them all the same. Remember that one? Well, Jesus begins by saying, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner..." In the past, I've always assumed the kingdom of heaven to be in the future, and the landowner to be God. I still think this is a very proper way to interpret this story. However, I've missed something all these years by not thinking about how this story applies to me TODAY. As a follower of Jesus, I am to bring about His kingdom... here... on earth... right now. And if the landowner is God, then isn't that an example I should emulate in my life today?

So I began to study exactly what the landowner did in this parable. Here are a few things I came up with:

He got up early (ugh!) and he went looking for laborers: He needed people who needed work, and he went out to find them. He didn't sit at home and tell himself that these people didn't exist or must not want to work because he couldn't see them out his front door. He went to where he knew they would be.

Just because I can live my life in a 10-mile radius of white-collar suburbia and go weeks without seeing anyone any different from me, doesn't mean that people in need don't exist. They're out there, and I know where they are. They're somewhere around 15th street, but I just don't go there. It makes me uncomfortable.

He didn't just give those in need a handout; he gave them dignity: Now I'm not just being critical of giving handouts. Sometimes, a handout is exactly the appropriate response. However, most of the time, what a person really needs is a JOB. I don't own a business or have a vineyard to employ people, but I can look at how my actions and attitudes strip people of their dignity and fuel the flame of their worthlessness. How many times have I handed someone a dollar just to get rid of them quickly? How many times have I avoided eye contact, jumped in my car, locked the doors and sped away? Not exactly the example of the landowner.

Now, I know what you're thinking: But the people in the parable WANTED to work; most people these days are lazy and just want a handout. Yeah, there may be some truth to that. But I finally had to admit to myself that I don't KNOW that, I just make assumptions and judgments about people so that I don't have to feel guilty about turning a blind eye. But what if it is 100% true? There's no Biblical model for us to turn away someone in need simply because we judge them to be unworthy. Praise God He didn't do that to me.