Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, March 5, 2023
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: All people are valuable to God.
This story is hard to hear. Many of us reading this consider ourselves the early laborers, working hard and deserving compensation for our commitment and loyalty. So to hear that people who worked less got the same as those of us who work more doesn’t seem fair.
Let’s look at fairness as it comes to wages. Some of the hardest jobs to do get paid the least: cooks, cashiers, amusement attendants, childcare workers, housekeepers, home healthcare aids, and recreational protective services (lifeguards). None of these jobs allows for consistent breaks, and these workers are on their feet all day.
Some of the highest paying jobs include several in the medical field, computer/IT, architects, marketing and advertising, financial managers, and executives. Certainly these jobs can be hard work. But do these people work harder? Do they deserve more pay for their 40 hours than others? It seems we don’t pay for working hard as much as we pay for perceived value of that work. One way we might change this inequity is to change our perception of what’s valuable to us. If we valued people over what those people can do for us, there might be more equity in pay.
Jesus valued people over what the people could produce. The people who were hired in late in the day were no less valuable than the workers fortunate enough to get hired early in the morning. All people deserve to be fed. God’s sees value in all humanity and God’s generosity is grander than we can imagine.
