[stephenkhoo]

21 August 2013, Wednesday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
THE JUSTICE OF GOD AS UNEQUALLY EQUAL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: JUDGES 9:6-15; MT 20:1-16

Are you envious because I am generous? Today, the gospel asks us to focus on our attitude towards those who are generous. One of the situations we face in life is not simply the fact that some people are not generous but that we cannot tolerate those who are generous. The generosity of others and their success make us react negatively. This happens when we pass spurious remarks questioning the motive of the generosity of others, or we try to discredit them, or worse still, we try to prevent them from being too good because they make us feel uncomfortable. Yes, this is what the parable is driving at. The question that is posed to us is: why should we be envious because God and others are generous in their lives?

So it is important to reflect on why we are envious of the good works and happiness of others. I think it is the whole question of comparison. Whenever someone does something which we cannot do, it becomes a reprimand for us. We are reminded of the lack of something in us. It reminds us that we are incomplete. Such a feeling breeds insecurity and fear that others would be better than us; better loved, better respected and more highly regarded. That is why it is very difficult for insecure people to be genuinely happy at the success of others. They perceive others’ successes as their failures. Thus, the only way they can rejoice at the success of others is when they themselves are seen as the best. Envy, being one of the capital sins, will lead to many other sins, like slander, jealousy, negativity. It can be destructive as well, as it leads to competition. An envious person will always live in deep insecurity. He cannot be happy when others are more successful than him.

This was what happened to the disgruntled workers who started work early and paid last, and worse still, to be given the same pay as the latecomers. They were not unhappy because they were under-paid, but because they felt others were overpaid. They would have been very satisfied if only the late-comers were given less than what they got. So we can see that their happiness has nothing to do with what they got but what others got. And such ill feelings arose because they started comparing.

But this is an unenlightened way of looking at life. The wisdom that Jesus wants us to see in today’s parable is simply this: the wisdom and the justice of God is that all of us are unequally equal. To say that we are unequally equal is not mere rhetoric. Rather, it is the reality of life that we are all equal by being unequal in different ways. That is to say, none of us has a monopoly of gifts in life. All of us in this sense are incomplete. We cannot be perfect in every way. To desire every gift and talent that we see in our fellowmen will make us forever insecure, competitive and unhappy. And we will spend our whole life trying to acquire all the skills and talents of this world. Of course, we can never achieve it, even if God gives us nine lives.

The fact is that we are all good in different ways. Some of us are more brilliant than others, some better at handy work, some at art and so on. Consequently, there is no basis for comparison. How can this be? God is extremely just in His apparent injustice. We are the really unjust ones when we complain. Examine the complaint of the injustices suffered by the workers. Did they ever give a thought to the fact that they would have been without work if not for the owner of the vineyard who called them? Did they ever give a thought to the fact that they would have suffered boredom throughout the day had they not been called to work earlier? Did they give a thought to the fact that in the process of working, they were actually gaining more experience than the late-comers? True, they might not have gained in monetary terms, but surely they have gained in other terms.

Similarly, applying to our situation, when we come across generous or successful people in our lives, why should we be envious? Their success and generosity is also ours as well. When a person is successful, he is happy and he will make us happy as well. But when our brother fails, he becomes depressed and unless we are strong, we become depressed with him also. Then again, if our brother is generous, we become recipients of his generosity. None of us loses. Indeed, no one is a loser. Everyone is a winner. So why be envious?

That is why the parable ends with the phrase: the first will be last and the last will be first. It is not to be interpreted literally. Rather, the wisdom of this statement simply means that there is in reality no first nor last. First or last is perceived by the unenlightened mind, but for the enlightened mind, for God Himself, there can be no first nor last. Afterall, He is the Alpha and the Omega. Truly, what is equal in life is that all of us are creatures of God and are loved by Him, regardless of our status, talents or usefulness. God is genuinely concerned about each one of us just as He was concerned about those men who were without work, idling in the market square. He wants all of us to live with a purpose and to serve Him and humanity. So when we speak of equality, it refers only to our human rights and dignity. There can never be equality in function, roles and talents as they are incomparable. No one is unimportant in this world because, like the human body, we are inter-dependent on each other. The judgment as to what is more important is in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God, the most menial task performed by anyone with his whole heart and soul is considered great in the eyes of God. St Theresa tells us that holiness is doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Whilst it is great to be important, it is more important to be great.