We in the Western world have been born, bred and socialised into a meritocracy. It is a culture of enterprise where the winner takes all. In our earthly paradise, the achiever reigns supreme. In Darwin's phrase, the only law of life is the survival of the fittest. The person with most points climbs to the top of the dunghill. It should not surprise us if this system throws up some very voracious sharks indeed. Generally speaking, it is highly likely that the more ruthless you are, the more you will accumulate. Those who work hard will be rewarded, those who do little will receive little. But that is not all. In human and commercial terms, we could flattery ourselves by describing this as a culture of fairness. Among the most universally respected ideas in the western world at any rate is the idea of justice: this justice measures what is given by what is had in exchange: more for more, less for less and nothing for nothing. It is a principle which regulates such vital areas as honest trade and fair employment. In fact is has influenced they way in which we look at salvation: this who behave in a particular way will be rewarded with eternal life; more adventurous spirits who depart from these norms are consigned to hell.

But the first reading today warns us against projecting human values onto God. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways." But in reality this tells us little about God. In fact you could apply the same principle to the person in the pew beside you this morning. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways."

It will take the parable in Matthew's gospel to jog the imagination, to illustrate the fact that God operates to a different charter than humanity. And the principle that underlines all his dealings with us is forgiveness and love. "Our God is rich in forgiveness", Isaiah tells us today. In God's Kingdom there are many mansions; there is a place for the loser and the latecomer, for the outsider and the over-looked. In this Kingdom a person is valued for what he or she is, not for what they have, or even do. God's Kingdom is a world of values that seem upside down to us, for, as the first reading reminds us, his ways are not our ways. He is glorified not so much by achievers as by those who live life fully, joyfully and generously.

And so it is that Matthew's parable cuts right across the picket line, the dole queues and the great body of humanity who queue up daily at so many diverse hatches for fulfillment love and meaning. It stoutly defends those who have to queue, who have to wait and wait until the eleventh hour. It is not that these people in the gospel didn't want to work. It is just that they are being ignored. They too will be given a just wage and a chance in God's scheme of things. Inherited privilege is no longer a right to status in the vineyard. This is parable both of reversal and of revolution. It is not the revolution of recycled hatreds and re-enacted wars. It is the revolution of human decency. This behaviour of the master provokes envy among the early workers and they complain: "These have done only one hour and you treat them like us." The Master replies: "Why be envious because I am generous?" The world of the achiever can be a selfishness, petty and mean-minded place.

Moreover, if the principle of achievement dominates all, what is to become of those who are incapable of commercial or industrial achievement, the sick, the handicapped, the elderly? Who decides what value is to be placed on their existence? We must never try to place limits to God's mercy. We should rejoice in generosity and goodness wherever it is to be found. Everything we have is gift. God has no debts. We have no claims -whether we come at the first or at the eleventh hour. Jesus saw his gospel as a leaven in society. He saw it as a humanising, christianising influence in the world. In our own culture, where wealth is so often seen as the only source of value or status, tonight's gospel should be welcomed as a particularly appropriate leaven. Our value in the eyes of God is not dependant upon what we have or what we do. Our real value comes from the fact that he has acknowledged us as his children, each one of us of equal value in his eyes.

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