The Gospel
Matthew 20:1-16
Jesus said, “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.”
The Sermon
I
actually attended two bible studies last Tuesday. I was at the one
we had at the church and then I held one at Southgate Senior Housing.
Both groups came to the same conclusion. It was decided that the
people who worked longer in this parable should have been paid more.
We also
came to an understanding that Jesus wanted to give his followers the
message that God's ways are not our ways. I have thought long and
hard about this parable and I think I finally get it. God wants all
of us to follow Him. He wants all of us to become people of faith
regardless of how long it takes to find that faith.
It
takes some of us longer to realize that a materialistic life bent on
acquiring the most stuff really does not fill that emptyness in our
lives that keeps us from becoming whole. Years ago there was a
popular bumper sticker that read, “He who dies with the most toys.
WINS! Wins what? Happiness and satisfaction are only transitory if
we try and find it with material things. What we are trying to fill
is a spiritual hole and the only way it can be filled is with
spiritual things.
Yes,
those of us who come to our faith spend more time praying and
reflecting on spiritual matters. Yes, we may work more among our
fellow man trying to ease suffering for those in need. But, when we
are done feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the
sick, do we really walk away from those experiences thinking, “this
really cut into my television time.”
There
is another saying: The more you give the more you get. Filling that
spiritual hole by being the hands and feet of Christ is not work, I
am thankful that I have been given the grace to have found Christ
early in my life. Will it give me a better seat in the heavenly
kingdom? Probably not. That isn't why I do it anyway. I love God
and love my neighbor not because it is a burden thrust upon me. I do
it because I love God and love my neighbor. It is as simple as that.
For
those who come later to the Christian life I welcome you to Christ's
table. You will now experience the fullness of life that I have
enjoyed all these wonderful productive years.
Amen
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