The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

Last week’s pop quiz worked out so well, that I thought I would try another here this week. I hope you are ready for this. Today we are doing fill in the blank here we go.  1.)Good morning, welcome to Faith Lutheran __________.  2.) Can you believe it? The Lions ______ their game last week. 3). Life is not  ___.

That’s right. Life is not fair. Poor Emily, whenever she feels like her brothers get more than she does, and it doesn’t matter what it is, she will often protest, “That’s not fair.” To which my response is, “Repeat after me. Life – is – not – fair.” There is something deep down inside of us that wants things, that wants life to be fair. You work hard, you don’t bother anyone else, and are nice to them, so it is not unreasonable to expect that your work pays off, no one else bothers you, and that they would be nice to you in return. If your brother gets a candy bar at the store, you should get one too. Otherwise, it is not fair.

Our parable for this week is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. It comes right on the heels of another well known story, only this story has not been part of our readings the last few weeks, so allow me to bring it to mind. This will help us to set the stage and allow us to correctly understand what is going on in this parable.

You are familiar with the story of the rich young man. He approaches Jesus and asks him what he must do to be saved. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The man replies by saying that he has done all of this since his youth. Jesus then tells him to go and sell everything that he has, give it to the poor and come and follow him.

The man walks away very sad because he was quite wealthy, and was not quite ready to part with it. And Jesus says how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. And if you could have been there and looked around, you would have noticed that the jaws of the disciples are on the ground. They are astonished.

Why? Because in those days it was thought that rich people were rich because God wanted them to be rich. God was blessing them and showing them favor, and so they prospered. But now Jesus says this thing about camels and the question comes up, “well then who can be saved?”  Jesus says, “this is impossible for people, but with God all things are possible.”

Peter then says, “We have left everything to follow you. What then will we have?”  They want to know what their reward will be. And that is certainly a very human response. I am working hard, I want to know that I will get what is rightfully mine as a result of my work. I want to know that fair is fair. Right?  Jesus promises that they will sit in a position of honor and that everyone who has left home and family will receive a hundredfold, but many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

What Jesus does by saying that many who are first will be last, and the last first, is he begins to shift the focus here from the disciples getting rewarded for their hard works and good deeds to something else. That something else is the generosity of our God. He is shifting the focus from us and what we do, to God and what God does. The very next thing that Jesus says is the parable that we have for our lesson today. This is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.  And Jesus tells this parable in order to answer a question for the disciples. 

A man owns a vineyard. Early in the morning he goes out and he hires workers to work in his vineyard. Now this is not like going and working in an air conditioned office building all day.  This is hard, grueling and exhausting work. This is also a very long day of work. It is basically from sun up to sun down. The agreement that the man makes is for one day worth of wages. The workers agree and they go.

The man goes out again three more times. He goes out at the third, sixth and ninth hours. Each time he goes he brings back more workers to work in the vineyard. He makes one more trip out to recruit workers. This time it is the eleventh hour, and once again he hires more workers. This is not quite the last minute, but it is the last sixty minutes.

When the work day is over, the man has the workers line up to receive their pay. He begins with those who were the last to come and work and they get the full amount of one day worth of wages for working one hour.  Now those who are at the end of the line, who were the first to come and work in the vineyard, they do the math in their heads.

One hour worth of work equals one day worth of wages. They had been working very long and very hard, all the way through the heat of the day, for twelve hours they have been working, so now they are expecting to get twelve days of wages. This is great.  I mean they won’t have to go back to work for almost two weeks. Or maybe they come back for a while and before long they will have enough money to buy their own vineyard. And if they can manage to get a good deal on that vineyard they may even have enough left over to buy an ipad2. How cool would that be?

And their math here is not unreasonable. Right? After all if the owner pays based on the number of hours worked then they have just lucked out in finding this guy to work for. This is wonderful. Now, who knows, but perhaps with all this day-dreaming they were doing they did not notice how much the others in front of them had received. If they had they would have noticed that they too got the same amount. By the time they got to the front of the line they get one day’s worth of wages.

Wait a minute. What?  That can’t be right. There has got to be an accounting error here. But there is no error.  That was the agreement. They agreed to work one day for one day worth of wages. And that is what they are receiving. But now they are kind of upset. Why? Because these other guys, hung around and did nothing, they wasted the day, while we were out here working and sweating and we could have been hanging out on the beach, and they come here at the last minute and they get the same as we get. Well that’s just not right. That is just not just. That is just not FAIR!!!!

But is their perspective correct? No. Not really. No. Because they got what they agreed to. They did not have to accept the offer. They did. And now the owner is keeping his end of the bargain. But that is not really the point. The point here is not how much you get, the point is that the owner of the vineyard is generous. He is generous beyond our ability to understand.

Now I have told you before that parables teach about God, or God’s kingdom of life lived in God’s kingdom. So what does this parable teach us? It teaches us that our God is generous. He is generous beyond our ability to understand or comprehend.

Is God just? Yes he is absolutely just. And this parable upholds that view. Is God right? Yes he is absolutely right. And this parable upholds that too. Is God fair? No.  He is absolutely not fair. And that is absolutely wonderful for us. 

You see, if God is fair, than that means we have to get, have to receive what we deserve. Now before you get too excited about that, let me remind you that unless you have managed to perfectly keep all the requirements of God’s law, then what we deserve is separation from God. And that is not a good thing.

But what do we have instead? We have been reconciled and restored to our God, but not because of anything that we have done to earn it or deserve it. We have these things because of and for the sake of Jesus. He gives them to us, because of his great love for us. Jesus kept all the requirements of that law. Jesus paid the price for our sins. Jesus rose victoriously from the dead. Jesus ascended to the right hand of God where he rules and reigns on our behalf.

Jesus gives to us forgiveness, life and salvation. And it is not because we earn it or deserve it. He gives it to us because he loves us so very much. That no price was too high for him to pay in order to make you his own. Is that just? Yes. Justice has been served, the price has been paid. Is that right? Yes. Because God wants to live in relationship with us, it needed to be done. Is that fair? No.

It is not fair. Because Jesus was sinless. He had no reason to die. But out of his love for us, out of his love for you and me and did this. He takes our punishment upon himself. He pays the price and instead gives us life and salvation, even though we certainly don’t deserve it. That is not fair. But it is wonderful. Thanks be to God for this awesome gift.

You see, as we live life together in God’s kingdom, as workers in his vineyard, as part of this wonderful thing called the church, it is not about who does what. It is not about how good or wonderful we are. It is not about whom the all star is, or who has the most power or influence. But rather it is in living life in God’s kingdom that we receive the grace, forgiveness and love from our God that we need. Life in his kingdom is ultimately life giving. That is why being in it is such a blessing. God does not need anyone of us. However, God wants us. And we see how much he wants us as we see the cross. That was the price he was willing to pay.

We have a God who is generous beyond our ability to understand. He constantly and in many wonderful ways shows his generosity in our own lives. And invites us to share that generosity with others. Even with those who are different from us, or who haven’t been here as long, or who live differently than we do, or who haven’t sacrificed as much as we have. Why? Because at the end of the day it is not about what we do for God. It is about what our generous God has done for us in Jesus. When we understand that, then serving God and one another, while it can be hard at times, is not a burden, but instead a blessing. It is not life-taking, but life giving. This is the wonderful gift that our God gives so generously to us, may it be a source of life, joy, peace and hope for you. Now and always. Amen.