Enough

My grandchildren introduced me to “Madame Blueberry,” a member of the VeggieTales family. This lady has the blues; nothing seems to make her happy or content. She compares what she doesn’t have with what her friends have and expresses her sorrow with heavy sobs muffled by soggy tissue. But then a “Stuff-Mart” opens near her house. The place is huge and filled with all kinds of things that bring delight to Madame Blueberry. She orders lots of stuff. Stuff-Mart workers begin delivering her purchases even before she leaves the store. The tree house in which Madame Blueberry lives, however, can’t handle the additional weight. The tree begins to tilt until the stuff slides from the house into the lake. Relieved of the load, the tree becomes a catapult and launches the tree house into the parking lot of Stuff-Mart where it ends up a pile of sticks.

When do people have enough?

The economy continues to sputter and is often the topic on nightly newscasts and in political speeches. Personnel in financial services companies study government reports on sales of big-ticket items and durable goods for signs of growth. Governmental leaders urge consumers to spend more. Every purchase (they claim) brings industry closer to hiring another worker. When purchases are made with plastic, however, financial counselors warn consumers of the dangers of credit card debt. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, credit card debt topped 2.4 trillion dollars in 2010.

When will enough be enough?

In Matthew 20, Jesus told a provocative story. A landowner hired workers for his vineyard. These were day laborers, the working poor. For those hired at six o’clock in the morning, the landowner pledged to provide compensation adequate for the day’s needs. Since he needed more help, the landowner hired additional workers at nine, noon, and three, and promised each one he would be treated fairly. Still others were hired at five o’clock in the afternoon.

At the end of the workday, 6:00 p.m., the landowner paid each worker a day’s wage. All workers, regardless of when they clocked in, received enough for that day. The first-hired workers grumbled and complained. They had endured the scorching heat as they labored for 12 hours, yet they received the same compensation as someone who worked one measly hour!?! Where is the justice in that?

They had enough, but thought they deserved more.

Emily Polak and Michael McCullough reported on research that showed a negative correlation between gratitude and materialism. Persons who scored high on the gratitude scale tended to score low on the materialism scale. They concluded that expressing gratitude likely reduces the negative aspects of materialistic impulses. The Mayo Clinic, in its tips for cultivating contentment, recommended expressing gratitude when faced with the stress of serious health issues.

I didn’t have to go to the halls of academia or a world famous hospital to learn the benefit of showing gratitude. That’s the lesson Madame Blueberry taught me as I sat with my grandchildren last summer. The closing song has stayed with me, reminding me to say thanks every day.

Paul asked an important question: “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7). The answer was obvious to Paul’s friends in Corinth. They were rich, not because of their own ingenuity, but because of God’s generosity.

In Jesus’ story, the main character is not the grumbling worker, but the generous landowner. The peeved worker was obsessed with wages; the landowner was intent on being bighearted. The landowner promised to pay his workers “whatever is right.” In God’s economy, “right” is always generous.

And that’s enough.

Originally published by Pensions & Benefits USA.