Principal's Message T3 W8 2021

Grace

There is a well-known Bible story about the owner of a vineyard. He needs workers for his field, so he goes down to the local spot where the unemployed hang out and hires a bunch of people to work in his vineyard all day. He offers them a fair day’s pay and off they go. A few hours later he returns to hire more people, then a few hours after that, and again and again throughout the day. The parable continues that at the end of the day all the workers, even the ones appointed very late in the afternoon, all got the same pay, that is, a full day’s wage.

Of course, those men first hired complain about the injustice and why the other guys got so much, the owner replies something along the lines of, ‘It’s my money, you got what you deserved, what is it to you if I am generous to other?’

The parable can be found in the book of Matthew, Chapter 20 verses 1-16.It is Jesus telling the story and, in the end, he says, ‘So the first will be last and the last will be first.’ Deep stuff.

This Bible passage connects us to God’s grace. It is easy to see that the vineyard owner (God) is equally generous with everyone, there is no greater reward for those who have been connected to Him for a long time, or for those who have only been hooked up later. No matter the size of our separation, God is equally on our side and wants us all to flourish.

For me though the real grace in this story is not simply the equal payment at the end. The generous care of the vineyard owner to continually return and check on how the remaining unemployed were going is worthy of note. He comes back time and time again to see if they have picked up work yet, and when he discovers that they haven’t he keeps engaging them … and paying them generously. He even comes back an hour before knock off and offers work to the last few people there, and pays them fully.

If Grace is important to us in a Lutheran School, and it is, then surely it impacts all that we do. We need to keep going back, to keep checking in on the marginalised, on the lonely, on those struggling with work-loads or learning, with those who can’t find connection, with those kids who stand around all day waiting to be picked. We need to keep coming back. And for the successful among us, the hard workers, the academically gifted or sporty achievers, for the culturally remarkable and popular kids it is good to reflect on the idea of Grace, to be reminded of the generous master who hopes that our satisfaction in what we have does not suffer with the resentment of those who get the extra attention and special treatment.

Treating everyone the same is not treating everyone justly.

I thank the Good Teacher for this place. How wonderful to be part of something so special, to watch this community, and the kids we serve, grow in grace.

Shane Altmann
Principal