Daily Lesson for June 22, 2022

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 9:

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage,* he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” 7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.* 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.*

There is an old saying that Jesus' parables were "earthly stories, with heavenly meanings".

Hardly!

This is an earthly story with an earthly meaning! It is a story about unemployment, just wage, and recompense. And how embarrassed I am that I once thought this story was one about going to heaven!

We see what we are taught to see. And we read a parable through the lenses of our own experience, biases, privilege, and predilection. This has mislead a lot of us to misread a whole lot of Jesus' very earthly stories.

In fact, it is a strategy of oppression to take Jesus' words and -- as somebody said -- make them so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good."

Archbishop Oscar Romero said, "Some things can only be seen through eyes which have wept."

Anybody who's ever wept over not being able to find a job that makes ends meet can see the real meaning of this parable from Jesus -- and all the rest also.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.