#discontentment

by Thomas Gisborne

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.' So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius." - Matthew 20:1-10

When the laborers assembled to receive their wages, the owner of the vineyard bountifully directed that a sum of money--the same with that which he had contracted to give to the persons who had been hired early in the morning--should also be paid to the others who had been hired at later periods of the day, even up to an hour before sunset. This determination raised considerable discontent among the laborers hired earlier and who now imagined that they should receive an additional sum to the terms for which they had bargained. Disappointed, they murmured against the landowner, saying, "These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day." The landowner answered, "Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?"

We may easily suppose the landowner, kind no less than just, had various motives and principles inducing him to act as he had done. Perhaps it was not from unwillingness to work that several groups of his workmen had lost part of the day, but merely because no man had hired them. Perhaps he observed them working with greater diligence than their companions who had been hired sooner. Perhaps he reflected that those hired at the eleventh hour would have to pay as much for necessities during the past day as the others. At any rate, he was under no obligation to account for his liberality. Those who murmured did not complain that he was withholding from them any portion of the sum which he had promised. They did not intimate that the sum which they received from him was not an equitable recompense for their labor. Their eye was evil because he was good. Because he was kind, they were grudging.

Let us learn a lesson from this parable. Discontent involves folly, ingratitude, and presumption. It charges the wisdom of God with folly. It implies that He has not distributed His gifts to the greatest advantage, that we could have chosen better for ourselves than He has chosen for us.

Discontent is base ingratitude to our Heavenly benefactor. Because He withholds some one particular gift on which we have fixed our desires, we refuse to render the tribute of cheerful thanks for the benefits which He has bestowed. He has crowned us with numberless blessings. He sustains and protects us by night and by day. He has mercy upon us, notwithstanding our continual transgressions. He has given his own Son to die for our iniquities. He sets before us a kingdom of everlasting glory. Yet because there is one object which He withholds or refuses--and withholds or refuses because He loves us--we are dissatisfied with His dealings and slight His immeasurable goodness.

Discontent is presumption against the Lord of the whole earth. It forgets that we are His servants. It assumes God's prerogative, and aspires to regulate after its own will the course of His providence, to dispense according to its own pleasure the works of His hand and the offices of His household. Shall an earthly master choose his own servants for the different posts in his house, and do you deny the same power to God? Shall an earthly master judge what is the situation in which this man may serve him best, and would you interfere with God in a similar exercise of His rights? Shall an earthly proprietor dispense his bounty according to his discretion, and do you call to account the Proprietor of all things for the manner in which He distributes His blessings?

Let me now suggest some considerations which may be instrumental, under the grace of God, in strengthening you against discontent. First, when you have procured those objects which you were so anxious to obtain, recall that they many times did not fulfill the expectations you had cherished. Second, when something you had set your heart on has proved unattainable, have you not learned by experience that its possession was of less importance to your welfare than you had supposed, and you have lived in reasonable comfort without it? Third, how often has the coveted object repaid you with more uneasiness when once acquired than before you possessed it?