Rev. Deacon Allen J. Batchelder

Trinity Church
Waltham, Massachusetts
September 21, 2014, Pentecost XV

Exodus 16:2-15, Psalm 105:1-6, Philippians 1:21-30, Matthew 20:1-16

From the Book of Exodus:
And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

From St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

And from the Gospel of St. Matthew:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard…So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Let us pray:
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer, our Strength and our Salvation.
Amen!

Yesterday, our church had a fundraiser on the city common for Waltham Days. Once again we sold popcorn, soft drinks, water, and juice boxes. As with other fundraising events, some people worked hard all day; some came in the morning and had to leave; others came in the afternoon; while others just came to help clean up and take down the tables and other equipment. Regardless of how long a person helped on the fundraiser, everyone got the same “reward.” Everyone who helped on the fundraiser will be thanked and mentioned during announcements in the worship service. Is that fair?

This is similar to the parable that’s mentioned in our Gospel reading this morning. Jesus used parables when describing something that was almost incomprehensible to the people around Him. Jesus used parables to teach about heavenly realities. When you read a parable that Jesus taught, there is always one main teaching behind that parable. Jesus used today’s parable to focus people on His grace and on His mercy.

When Jesus tells this parable to those around Him, He continually focuses His discussion around the wage. In this parable, the wage that He gives is not based upon what you do, but upon what He wants to distribute. And there were actually two kinds of workers hired that day: those who wanted a contract and agreed to work for a penny a day, and those who had no contract and agreed to take whatever the Landowner thought was right.

For instance, the wage He discussed with the workers early in the morning was presented to the workers and agreed upon. The Landowner states that the wage, or payment, for working in the vineyard is a denarius, which is a standard day’s wage. In the morning, these men were quite happy with that agreement, but as the day went on the agreement began to sour. At nine o’clock in the morning, noon, and three o’clock in the afternoon, the Landowner again went out into the marketplace and offered a wage that the Landowner would decide. One last time, at five o’clock in the afternoon, the Landowner goes into the marketplace and seeks workers for His vineyard. Again, He tells them that He will pay them a wage that is right. In other words, the Landowner tells the workers hired from 9:00am through 5:00pm that the wage will be right, but the wage is up to my discretion.

At the end of the day, the Landowner told His steward to call the laborers, starting with the ones hired last, and pay them all one denarius. From an outsider looking in, we can plainly see that this landowner is very generous. However, when He paid all of the workers the same wage, even though some of them put forth more effort, He angered the ones that had been there longer. Even though Holy Scripture does not provide us with the response from all of the workers, it is not difficult to imagine that each group hired earlier than another (and therefore laboring more) were somewhat envious of that earlier group and dissatisfied with their payment. However, the Landowner paid to each group hired what He believed was just and right. This really hits home for all of us today.

For example, think about the lives of the apostles. Jesus came to them and said, “Follow me” (Matt. 4:19). They dropped what they were doing to be with Jesus. Some of the apostles walked away from a prosperous, family fishing business. When Jesus called, they dropped their nets and followed Him. Still, other apostles had occupations and livelihoods, which they walked away from just to be with Jesus. They gave up everything they had and yet when it comes to the Kingdom of heaven, who is raised higher? Who is mightier? Who receives the better wage, the apostles or the thief on the cross? Did the thief being executed for living a horrible life, worthy of punishment by crucifixion, receive greater wages than the apostle that walked with Jesus after walking away from the family business?

Do the apostles have a right to be upset? After all, they gave up everything they owned and worked longer in the mission field with Jesus. The answer is, NO. The apostles received a just and right wage. You may say that the apostles worked harder than the thief on the cross. Yet, it is Jesus who decides what the payment is, and in this case the payment is extremely generous.

The lesson for Christ’s disciples is obvious. We should not serve Him because we want to receive an expected reward, and we should not insist on knowing what we will get.
God is infinitely generous and gracious and will always give us better than we deserve. We must trust Him unreservedly and believe that He will always give what is best.
Some of you have been Christians all of your life. Some of you have been brought into the fold much later in your lives. However, the Holy Spirit found you all standing in the marketplace, idle, and invited you into the vineyard to receive a just and right wage. That wage is the gracious gift of eternal life, which is not based upon how long you worked or how hard you worked, because the gift is nothing other than grace and not based upon your works.

Another interesting point of this parable concerns the sovereignty of God. In the parable, the Landowner pays wages, not only in the amount, but also to whomever He pleases. Of course the Landowner has a concern for having His vineyard tended to, but the Landowner also persistently goes out again and again inviting workers into the vineyard. Even at the very last hour, the Landowner seeks workers for His vineyard. This is precisely how God works in our day and age. He never gives up on seeking workers for the Kingdom.

As we pray for the people in our community; we pray that the Holy Spirit will one day break their hearts and we will see these people at worship. We grow frustrated with the task. However, God does not! He continually sends His Holy Spirit into the marketplace and the community seeking workers for He has a wage of eternal importance to the people. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to break the hearts and minds of unbelievers and He is very persistent. As a matter of fact, we ought to thank the Holy Spirit on a daily basis that He did not give up on any of us. Actually, once we are in the vineyard, the Spirit continues to work in our lives driving each worker to become, even more so, a child of God.

This parable contains another important message. The workers who came early in the morning, as well as those who came later in the day, worked. They did not simply come to the vineyard and stand around. They worked and I am certain they worked hard. Have you ever considered how difficult it is to work in a vineyard? How easy it is for us to purchase a bottle of wine and not realize all the man-hours that went into producing it.

The soil needs to be tended and the grapes need to be planted. Once the plants grow, they must be trained to grow up the trellis and then pruned occasionally. The grapes need to be picked at a certain time before the cold rains or hot sun rays destroy the flavor. The grapes must be pressed and crushed and then mixed with the correct ingredients to cause fermentation. Once the fermentation process has completed, the wine is bottled and aged before a single bottle is ready. Each and every bottle has a great deal of work upon it and the labor is not easy. In fact, it is quite intense.

The labor in the kingdom of God is also not easy. It is difficult. In fact, it also is quite intense. God’s kingdom needs people to plant seeds and He needs people to water and help the vines grow. All of this labor is difficult and each of you has been given certain gifts from our Creator that is perfect for a particular job in the growing Kingdom.
Matthew writes in his gospel that Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matt. 9:37). How true it is for our small congregation. As a congregation, we are all workers called into the vineyard and the Landowner, Jesus, has an expectation that each of us will work at different jobs while we are in the vineyard.

Lastly, Christ points out in His parable that envy will not be tolerated. Be happy with what you have received. Beware of the danger of watching other workers and measuring yourself by them. “Judge nothing before the time,” Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 4:5. We see the worker and the work, but God sees the heart.

I appreciate how the Landowner of the parable has a very friendly tone towards His ignorant workers. The workers who came first expected something more. Perhaps they were standing in line expecting a bonus for the hard and lengthy work they contributed. That is not what they received. They received exactly what they agreed upon with the Landowner. When they became angry and quarrelsome, we hear these beautiful words, “Friend.” It is so lovely the way the Landowner begins the conversation with the angry workers. Friend, what is the problem? Am I being unfair? It is very easy for us to say here today, no. Of course, in our place of employment, I would expect to hear you all say, “Yeah! I worked my tail off! You have given the other workers the same wage you have given me, this worker arrives later than I do and he leaves earlier. In fact, he does not put the same amount of effort in that I do.”

We cannot allow ourselves to think in this manner, especially about the work in the Kingdom. In the Kingdom, our wages are not based upon what we do. In fact, praise God that we are not given what we deserve. Instead, we have a generous Landowner in Jesus Christ. In the parable, Jesus tells us that the wages He has He gives freely to whom He desires. His payment comes from His grace and if the Landowner desires to give freely, who are we to question His generosity?

We must beware of criticizing God and feeling that we have been left out. Had the early morning workers trusted the Landowner and not asked for an agreement, the Landowner would have given them much more. He was generous, but they would not trust Him. They did not rejoice that others received more; instead, they were jealous and complained. The goodness of the Landowner did not lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4). It revealed the true character of their hearts.

Our payments will be received, each and every one of us, paid in full upon our death. We will be welcomed into that beautiful vineyard, the gates of heaven, and we must receive generously the gifts that Jesus has given to us and rejoice in the same generosity shown towards others.

Let us pray:

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen. †