The kingdom of heaven is like a professor who had many papers to grade.
She asked her teaching assistants to start helping her early in the morning, and agreed to take them all out to dinner when the grading was finished.
About mid-morning she realized she would need more help, so when she saw other graduate students standing in the hallway doing nothing, she asked them to help her, and agreed to reward them appropriately.
Again at noon she found other graduate students eating lunch, and got them to help her, and again at mid-afternoon.
About 5 p.m. she found still others and asked, “Why are you standing around doing nothing? Come and help me grade my papers.“
When they were finished grading, the professor took them all to a restaurant. When she paid for the dinners of those who had started work at 5 o’clock, those who started early in the morning expected to receive more.
But when she only paid for their dinner too, they began to grumble, “These others who only worked one hour got just as much as we did, who slaved all day over those papers.”
But the professor answered, “I am not being unfair to you. You got what we agreed upon. I want to give the students who only graded one hour as much as I gave you. Don’t I have that right? Or are you envious because I am generous?” A God Provide
This is a modern retelling of Jesus’ parable of the workers who were hired at different times of the day to go and work in the owner’s vineyard. (Matthew 20:1-16)
Jesus is saying that God can be generous to whomever God wishes to be generous. How do you struggle with being generous to people other than your own family members or people who can return the favor?
Must anything and everything a person has always be earned? When we are generous to non-family members or not looking for a favor in return, are we more like who God is?
