Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing idle here all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

- Matthew 20:1-16

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children and lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing idle here all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is your eye evil because I am good?'  So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."   My study bible explains that in this parable, the vineyard is life in this world.  The day refers both to the span of a single person's life and also to the entirety of human history.  The laborers are all the people in every nation.  Every hour can refer to varying times in a person's life, whether that indicates infancy, or youth, or adulthood, maturity, or old age.  My study bible adds that it also has a second meaning in the span of human history:  referring to those called during the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ.  Another aspect of this parable is the teaching that God's generosity provides equal reward for both early and late comers.  My study bible says about this that Jesus teaches that the former shouldn't be proud of their long service, nor resent those who are called at the eleventh hour.  For latecomers, the parable teaches that it is possible even in a short time, or at the end of life, to recover and inherit all.  In the early Church, this applied specifically to the Jews (the first-called), and the Gentiles (those who were called later).  At the present time, this can be applied to individuals who have been raised in the Church and those who find the Church later on in life.  Both receive an equal reward.  The paschal sermon of St. John Chrysostom (read in the Orthodox Church each Easter) is based on this parable, and applies it to each person's preparation through Lent in approaching the paschal Eucharist.

This parable illustrates yet another way that the "rules" of the kingdom of heaven do not work according to worldly rules, and in particular according to the rules of material life (or mammon, if you will).  Jesus illustrates this same principle when He tells His disciples at the Last Supper, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).  In today's parable, Jesus gives a clear illustration that "not as the world gives" does God give.  He is speaking to His earliest disciples, and therefore when Jesus tells them that "the last will be first, and the first last" (repeating this phrase which He also stated in yesterday's reading, above, and so giving it great emphasis), He is clearly referring to them in particular.  It is yet again -- for these immediate disciples at that time -- an emphasis on humility, particularly in response to the earlier question about who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven (see Wednesday's reading from last week).  There will be those who come after they who will also be "great in the kingdom of heaven."  In this parable there is a radical reckoning of equality in a spiritual sense.  It possibly emphasizes for us that in this kingdom there is no space and no time, even as at the Transfiguration Moses and Elijah both appeared speaking together with Christ, and each was immediately recognizable to Peter, James, and John.  In short, the "rules" of this kingdom are not the rules of the world.  We aren't rewarded according to worldly rules; there is a different standard involved.  And clearly, it is God who sets the standard.  Our expectations have to be subject to our faith and the perceptions that come from "work" in this kingdom, from participation in it.  On the surface, the parable seems like it is told to the disciples to enforce the message of humility:  that each will be called in a different way, and there is to be no comparison between one person's labor and another's, one person's reward and another's.  That also reinforces the lesson taken from St. Chrysostom's comment on the story of the rich man in Monday's reading, that for each follower the sacrifices asked will be different.  Above all, what is reinforced in today's reading is a galvanizing kind of equality within this kingdom of heaven, that we each have our own part to play:  we are not to look to one or the other nor to compare rewards.  Each is called according to his or her own life; each is called with the bargain being only between the landowner and themselves.  In the final chapter of John's Gospel, St. Peter is told three times by Jesus what his job is to be in this kingdom; Jesus tells him, "Feed my lambs."  But then Peter sees the disciple John, and asks what John must do.  Jesus replies, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me" (see John 21:15-25).  In other words, the things asked of each one apply only to that person.  Yet for all of us, the reward is the same.  As this applies to each one of us today, just as it did then, 2,000 years ago to the disciples, let us consider what Christ asks of us.  In the passage at the end of John's Gospel we've just cited, Jesus first asks Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?"  Let us ask for ourselves this question, and understand that Christ is always asking each one of us the same.  Let us turn to Him and offer ourselves, and leave ourselves open to what He asks.  Don't look around and assume everyone's gifts nor offering is the same; you might find it surprising what it is that God asks of you.  But humility is the key to accepting that answer, just as it was for St. Peter, and for all the rest.