Expectations Turned Upside Down

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reflecting on the Word

By Dr. Karla J. Bellinger

In a tight job market, ideal candidates may be handpicked—those  with the best grade point average or the most personable smile,  those who carry themselves as though they came from money, those  with perfect teeth. The others don’t even get called for an interview,  as if implicitly sending the message, “Don’t bother; we’re not hiring  your kind.” 

Who got picked early in the morning in Jesus’ vineyard story?  A savvy winegrower would probably have told his foreman to choose  the younger men first: the tall, the sturdy, and the strong—that is  who we want to work in our fields. Who waited all day and got  picked last? Maybe it was the old. Maybe it was the one-armed or  the crippled. Property owners who sought for success might suggest  to these workers, “Don’t bother; we don’t need your kind.” 

This parable reminds me of gym class. We used to pick teams. (Do  schools still do that?) I hate to admit it, but as a super-athletic kid, it  was a buzz to be selected first. Maybe these guys who had worked all  day in the vineyard carried that same swagger: “I’m good, I’m tough,  I was picked first to work. And who are these losers? And why are  you paying them the same wage as me?” 

Jesus flips our expectations of success upside down in this  parable. When the Lord rewards his team, he values more than  outer appearance. He prizes the heart. He is open-handed with the  late-bloomers. Certainly God’s ways are not our ways. Imagine God  saying, “You, you, and you—you are wanted. You, you, and you—you are chosen.” Can you hear it? “Who, me? You want me?” God  says, “Yes, yes, and yes! Good salary. Great benefits. I do want your  kind. Come!” 

Consider/Discuss 

  • When have you been picked last (or first) for something? What did that feel  like? How did that affect how you saw yourself? How does that influence  the way that you feel about the marginalized? 
  • “God wants you. God has chosen you.” Does that statement land  differently depending on the successes that life has dealt you? Do the  privileges that have come your way or the hardships you have endured  affect how you see God’s innermost desire for you?

Living and Praying with the Word 

Jesus, you continually chose surprising friends. The broken, the  outcast, the unwanted—they all found a home in you. Your way of  seeing people turns our imagination upside down, for your ways of  measuring are not what we are used to. When we are stuck in certain  patterns of thinking about the values of success and power, change  our hearts. Help us to be merciful as you are merciful.

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