Ryan worked for two hours.
Tall Girl moved one chair.
They both got one slice of pizza.
Ryan would like to speak with management.
At first, his case seems pretty solid:
“I worked two hours.”
“You moved one chair.”
“And we both got one slice?”
But Maggie points out the inconvenient detail:
“You got what you were promised.”
Ryan knows that.
That isn’t what bothers him.
“She got what I was promised.”
And there it is.
This Sunday’s Gospel is Jesus’ parable of the laborers in the vineyard, Matthew 20:1–16a. Some begin work early in the morning. Others arrive throughout the day. The last work only a short time.
At the end of the day, the householder pays them the same.
The laborers who worked longest complain:
“These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us…”
They haven’t been cheated. They received what was promised.
What they cannot tolerate is the generosity shown to somebody else.
Back at the Little Station, Tall Girl reduces the entire problem to one uncomfortable question:
“Are you angry because I got pizza… or because you didn’t get more?”
Ryan considers this.
He has reached the stage of Scripture study where the parable stops being about somebody else.
“I don’t like this parable.”
Which may be exactly when a parable is beginning to work.
Sunday ROOK
Different adventures. Same journey.