Expect.....Accept

Matthew 20:1-15

'Now the kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, "You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage." So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing around, and he said to them, "Why have you been standing here idle all day?" "Because no one has hired us," they answered. He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too." In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first." So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner saying, "The men who came last have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all the heat." He answered one of them and said, "My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the lastcomer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why should you be envious because I am generous?"

Sometimes one word in a scripture passage steps forward, almost as if it is highlighted with one of those neon colored markers we use to help us remember or relocate material we've read. In yesterday's gospel lesson, for me, it was the word "expect".

Years ago I learned the truth that contentment is often related to expectations, but in inverse proportion: The lower my expectation for any given event, the more open I am to what unfolds...and the more content I am with the outcome.

Several factors contribute to expectations as I engage in a task:

My perception of the value of my contribution. When I see my role as one of importance I have a higher stake in the outcome. I run the risk of over-investment...I am in danger of forgetting that my role would be meaningless without the support and equally valuable contribution of the ones who have seemingly peripheral responsibilities.

The temptation to look sideways and compare my role or function with others.
I can think of nothing that kills the vitality of collaboration faster than the tendency to look judgmentally at what somebody else is doing. It is presumptuous to think that the fleeting effort of somebody who arrives to put the finishing touches on the task is less critical than the hours or weeks of effort exerted by the one who outlined the program, assembled the ingredients, and attended to the details. And yet, we all know that it is so human...so natural...to do just that. Jesus reminds us that kingdom work includes and is dependent upon the work of all according to each one's purpose.

My limited and often erroneous vision of the meaning of the task. I do well to remember that there is always much more going on than what meets my eye. Nomatter what...whether I am cleaning a pew, writing a sermon, or convening a meeting...God is seeing and attending to something far beyond my vision and understanding. Even when "nothing" has happened according to my own expectation, I can trust that God has used my labor and my presence in some way...if I have truly and totally commended my time, talent and energy to God's use.

Expectations (even broad ones)set limits upon what we are able to see as possibilities. Rooted in our own expectations we cling to what the outcome means to "me"...and our level of acceptance is actually lowered...especially when results don't match the picture defined by our expectation.

God, the creator and loving giver of all that we have ... time...ability...resources...lavishes all people with outcomes of abundant, rich mercy. I pray for the freedom of heart and mind that transports me joyfully to an openness that accepts that mercy with humility and gratitude.