Matthew 20:1-16
October 24, 2010
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘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. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
A number of years ago there were twin brothers who both went to a good college to learn business. Both got good grades, and both were inundated with job offers upon graduation. During their senior years, both sensed a call from God to devote their lives to God in their work and lives. Both felt committed to work in business, and this call was to make their work, their earnings, and everything else part of their service to God.
The first brother heard the call and made a pledge to serve God in everything he would do throughout his life. And he did so. He became a missionary, serving God in all sorts of far-flung, and often dangerous, places. Eventually, because of his work among the poor, he was arrested, beaten, and killed.
The second brother also heard the call, but he didn’t respond so whole-heartedly. He started his own business, and was wildly successful. Unfortunately, he wasn’t always as ethical a Christian as he could have been in his business dealings. Still, he tried. He made a tremendous amount of money, and gave a little bit of it to charity when he thought about it. He lived a good life, although he had the potential to serve God in so many other ways.
When the first brother died, he appeared before Jesus, and Jesus said to him, “Well done, my good and faithful service. I gave you ten talents, and you turned them into 1000 talents. Receive your reward. Here are billion, billion talents.” To the second brother he said, “Well done, my good and faithful service. I gave you ten talents, and you turned them into twenty talents. Receive your reward. Here are billion, billion talents.”
The first brother was shocked at first to see that Jesus had rewarded the second brother the same as him. But after thinking a bit, he turned to Jesus and said, “My Lord, seeing that I served you so much during my life in comparison to my brother, and seeing that we both received the same reward in the end, if I had it all to do over again, I would have done it exactly the same. Thank you.”
I love this story because it really speaks to what I believe is the nature of grace.
It speaks to what God is like, but also to what mature love is like. And it speaks to the heart of our parable. Our parable this morning teaches a really important lesson, which is that no matter when we turn to God, God is always ready to take us in. But like everything Jesus teaches in the parables, there is more than one lesson to learn.
All of us have grown up hearing the parables of Jesus, but most of us don’t really understand the nature of the parables. Why did Jesus teach in parables, and what makes them different from stories? Parables are stories, but they are wisdom stories. Their intent is to teach people how to live more wisely in their lives. Also, parables are always based on everyday observations. When Jesus told his parables, he was telling people things based on what they saw everyday, or at least experienced often in their lives. He used farming, shepherding, weddings, the marketplace, and the Temple as his settings. If he were alive today, he might use the grocery store, the neighborhood, being stuck in traffic, or watching sports as the topics of his parables. Although we are very used to parables, the fact that we are 2000 years, and over 4000 miles separated from the setting for them makes it hard for us to really appreciate the depth of these parables. The fact is that we don’t understand ancient Middle Eastern everyday events, and that gets in the way of our understanding the parables.
This parable is teaching a lot more than meets the eye. At first glance this just seems to be a parable about the nature of getting into heaven. We think that perhaps it’s about making conversion at last minute or last minute confessions so that we can get into heaven. To understand the parable, we have to learn more about it. So to help you, let me give you the background of the parable.
The parable takes place in what was a common daily scene in ancient Middle Eastern towns. The time of year is September. How do we know? We know because the vineyard owner is looking for laborers to bring in the harvest. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, the production of wine was not only big business, but an important part of life. You see, people didn’t drink much water in those days. They drank wine. They would mix wine with water. The alcohol in the wine killed the germs in the water. No one back then considered water to be a healthy drink because it was filthy. It was clean enough to wash clothers or hands, but not to drink. But it was okay once wine was mixed with it. So the wine harvest was crucial not just to wine drinkers, but to everyday living.
There was a rush, though. Once the October rains came mold could form on the grapes and ruin the wine. So the vineyard owner had to hire enough laborers to get it all in. Typically he would go to the marketplace where the poorest of the poor would gather every morning. In many ways, these people were lower than slaves. At least slaves didn’t have to worry about where their next meal was coming from, or about having a roof over their heads. These day laborers had no steady job. They were at the mercy of landowners. Typically they were paid a daily wage that kept them at a basic subsistence level. The failure to be hired for that day could mean the difference between a man’s family eating that day or not.
So the vineyard owner would go to the marketplace and begin choosing workers at about 6 a.m. He would assess their work around 9 a.m., and if they didn’t seem to be working fast enough, he would go back to the marketplace and hire more workers. He would assess again at noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. Each person he would hire would be paid a reduced rate of 4/5ths, 3/5ths, 2/5ths, and 1/5th of a daily wage. That was common business practice. The laborers would stand in the marketplace all day waiting for the vineyard owner to come back and hire them, hoping to make some money.
In our parable, the vineyard owner does everything a normal businessman does, except at the end of the day. He pays those who had worked 12 hours a day’s wage. Then he pays those who had worked 9 hours a day’s wage. He then paid those who had worked for 6 hours a day’s wage. Those who worked for 3 hours he paid a day’s wage, and those who worked one hour he paid a day’s wage. The laborers who worked 12 ours were outraged. This was so unfair! But the vineyard owner, who is now seen as somewhat of a fool—although we know him as a “holy” fool—tells the laborer, “What business of it is of yours if I pay the others a day wage? You got a day’s wage. Be happy with what you have, but also be happy for the others, too, because I was generous and they will eat well tomorrow.”
If it were to take place today, where do you think it would take place? It would probably take place in California, and the laborers would be immigrants, legal or otherwise.
Knowing all this allows the parable to come more alive. While there a many, many lessons we can draw from this parable, let me share three of them with you—three lessons that take us deeper than just lessons about making deathbed confessions.
First, this passage is a warning to Jews about the Gentiles, and to Jesus’ followers about new Christians. To the Jews, he was saying that a time was coming soon when Gentiles would join the Jews as God’s chosen people. The Jews had been God’s chosen for a long time, and they had enjoyed all of God’s benefits in God’s vineyard, God’s kingdom. But God was about to call others whom the Jews saw as unfit, and God was going to invite them into the kingdom. The Jews would complain, but God’s answer would still be, “What are you complaining about? I have given you everything you’ve deserved. I’ve treated you well. What business is it of yours if I also treat the Gentiles well?”
There is also a warning to us. There are many Christians among us who are not all that accepting of newer Christians, or at least not to newer members of our churches. I don’t think this is a problem for members of Calvin Church because we’ve always been good at integrating in members who want to be part of the life of Calvin Church. For instance, we’ve called people to be elders who have been members for 25 years, but also those who have only been members for 2 years. Length of membership and service is not a prerequisite for being a full part of Calvin Presbyterian Church. But for many, there are stepping stones and roadblocks put before people, whether it is glaring at others who might sit in our pews, or expecting newer, younger members to defer to our wishes when it comes to worship and music. I remember once hearing the member of a small church say that a particular person was not really eligible to be an elder in his church because she was still a new member—after fifteen years of being a member! The point is that we are called to celebrate the fact that God cares just as much for those who are new in our midst as about us. The warning is that we need to be just as welcoming.
Second, the parable is about God’s compassion. It tells of God’s love towards all. It doesn’t matter when we turn to God, or even that we completely turn to God. God loves us all equally. God cares for those who have been Christians for a long time, and for those who have only been Christians for a short time. All of us will receive an abundance of God’s grace because that’s the nature of God. God has so much to give, and God is willing to give it all to us. It is important for us to be ready to receive it, though. Just as the laborers had to show up in the marketplace, we need to show up to receive the abundance of grace God has to offer.
The third message is about God’s Economy. We don’t normally think about the idea that God has an economic system, but God does. We think in terms of Capitalism or Communism or socialism, but God has an economic plan that we might call Godism. Basically, it’s a free-market system based on generosity. While Capitalism is based on building profits for our own sake, God’s economy is about using profits for other people’s sake.
Our passage tells us that while God does care about harvesting grapes and producing wine, and about the wealthy vineyard owner, it also says that God cares about the impoverished day laborers. God isn’t just content to say that because they are unskilled and haven’t worked hard enough to better themselves, they deserve what they get. Jesus is saying that God cares deeply about their welfare, enough to be generous with them even when to do so seems to make God seem like a business fool.
God’s economy is one built on generosity. And it’s an economy that we are called to be part of. It means taking seriously the call to give, not just out our abundance, but out of everything we have. We are called to be generous, especially with those who are poor, hungry, homeless, and the like. We are called to hear God’s warning to us to be compassionate, and to live under God’s economy. We are called to give to the church—to be generous in supporting God’s work in the world—because God is generous with us. And we are called to live lives steeped in God’s generosity.
So, as you listen to his parable, what lessons do you hear, and are you willing to apply them to your life.
Amen.
