When another’s good feels like our loss
The first labourers were not angry when they received their denarius. (Matthew 20:1–16)
They became angry when they saw the same denarius placed in someone else’s hand.
Nothing had been taken from them. The householder had kept his promise.
Their wage became intolerable only through comparison.
That is one of envy’s strangest powers: it can turn a genuine blessing recieved from God into a grievance simply by showing me someone else’s blessing.
The workers complain: “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the burning heat.”
Their account of the day is accurate. They did work longer. They did endure the heat.
The householder does not deny any of that.
Instead, he asks: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.”
Then comes the question that exposes what is really happening:
“Is your eye evil because I am good?”
The “evil eye” is an ancient expression for envy, resentment and grudging generosity.
The worker’s eye has not been injured by injustice.
It has been distorted by comparison.
The householder’s goodness appears unjust by reaching someone whom the worker considers less deserving.
But what about heavenly rewards?
At this point someone may reasonably ask: Does Scripture not speak of crowns, rewards and differing glory?
If everyone receives the same denarius, why does St Paul say that each will receive according to his or her labour?
The New Testament speaks of an imperishable crown, a crown of righteousness, a crown of Life and a crown of glory.
And also says that each person’s work will be tested and that faithful servants may be entrusted with differing responsibilities.
Scripture therefore does not describe eternal Life as a featureless existence in which everyone becomes interchangeable.
But the biblical crown is not primarily a royal diadem establishing one of th Baptized faithful Church’s superiority over another.
The Greek word usually used is stephanos—the victor’s wreath which represents faithfulness, perseverance, completion and victory in Christ.
Indeed, St Paul sometimes calls the people brought to Christ his “joy and crown.”
His crown is not an ornament displayed above others in Christ’s flock.
His crown is the life of another person flourishing in Christ.
And in the Revelation, the elders do not sit upon their thrones comparing crowns.
They cast their crowns before God.
Whatever honour the saints receive becomes thanksgiving offered back to the One whose grace made their faithfulness possible!
The same Life, differently received
The denarius can therefore represent what is common to everyone who enters the Kingdom:
eternal Life; resurrection; communion with Christ; citizenship in the Kingdom; the enjoyment of God.
No one receives half a resurrection, three-quarters of Christ or a lesser grade of Eternal Life!
The person who enters at the eleventh hour does not receive a temporary permit for the Kingdom!
Eternal Life is not divided into larger and smaller portions, as though one person possessed more Christ or more eternity than another. (PGFWABF-Praise God From Whom All Blessing Flow!)
Nevertheless, the Church has long allowed that there may be differing honour, fruitfulness, responsibility and capacity for glory according to each person’s response to grace.
St Augustine pictured this through the human body. The finger does not envy the eye, and the eye does not despise the finger.
They differ in place and function, but both belong to one body and rejoice in its common life.
We might also think of vessels of different sizes, all filled completely.
None is half empty.
None experiences another’s fullness as its own deprivation.
There may therefore be distinction without deprivation, and order without rivalry.
Greater glory would mean greater conformity to Christ—and therefore greater humility, love and delight in the blessedness of others.
Anyone imagining heavenly reward as the opportunity to enjoy eternal superiority has already misunderstood the nature of the reward!
The first labourers receive everything the householder promised. Their years of service, sacrifice and endurance have not been erased.
But grace frees them from needing the latecomer to receive less.
This is where the parable becomes uncomfortable!
Sadly, it is possible to serve God faithfully while quietly turning that service into a claim against God:
I have been here longer. I carried the parish when others disappeared.
I remained obedient while that person wandered. I endured the heat.
Surely I should receive more.
The householder does not call faithful service worthless.
He asks whether long service has brought us closer to His goodness—or merely persuaded us that He is in our debt-whoops!
Those who began at dawn have spent the whole day in the vineyard of a good Master. That was already grace.
Their tragedy is that comparison has made the vineyard feel like slavery and their neighbour’s daily bread feel like an insult.
Freedom from envy does not mean pretending that everyone has worked equally or suffered equally.
Freedom means that when good happens to another person, I can rejoice without feeling that God has overlooked or fogotten me.
We can begin practising that freedom with some difficult questions:
Can I hear another person praised without mentioning what I have accomplished?
Can I welcome a restored sinner without reminding everyone how long I remained faithful?
Can I rejoice when mercy reaches someone who began much later?
Can I serve without keeping a private ledger?
Can I see the denarius placed in another person’s hand and still call the householder good?
Gratitude receives my life as gift rather than entitlement.
Discernment recognizes when an appeal to fairness is concealing envy.
Courage admits the resentment truthfully. Love rejoices in another’s good. Hope trusts that the goodness of God is not scarce.
The crowns do not overturn the denarius.
They reveal what grace has accomplished in particular lives—and then they are laid before the throne.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your grace is Your uncreated action and presence, communicated to us in the Holy Spirit.
Your generosity does not cheat the faithful but heals us of needing someone else to receive less.
Teach us to rejoice in another person’s blessing without believing that our own has been diminished.
For Your Son is given wholly to each of us without being divided, shared without being diminished, and received without becoming scarce.
Free us from envy, and fill us with Your genrosity of heart so that when we see the denarius in another person’s hand, we may rejoice and still call You good.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Discover more from Holy Trinity Clearview
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.