David Bahn – Reflections

God is looking for workers in his kingdom’s cause. He continues to seek people who will join themselves to this work. He promises a fair wage (“whatever is right” – v. 4) as he sends them to work. The reward will come at the end. When it comes, however, so does the distress: everyone receives the same pay. Those who worked only one hour and those who bore the heat of the day receive payment for a day’s labor. “Not fair!” goes up the cry. But God says, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong…” In effect he says that his generosity to someone does not undercut his fairness to another.

The clearest parallel I can draw to this parable has nothing to do with a deathbed conversion where a sinner with last-minute repentance receives salvation the same as the life-long follower of Christ. Though such might be a lesson worth considering another day, there is a more pressing lesson to grasp. It has everything to do with those who have served in the church for a period of time only to see their labors enjoyed by new folks who come in after the heavy lifting has been done. It could be the start of a mission outpost where the planning, meetings, endless setup of chairs and equipment, recruitment of volunteers, and publicity efforts have defined a group for its formative months. Along come new people after all the work has been done, slipping into the seats, and drinking from the cup of God’s grace and favor.

But as we look forward to entering and worshiping in our new worship center this is particularly pointed. There will be those who join us on the first day of the new space’s use, and enjoy the same benefit as those who have sacrificed toward its building, endured meeting after meeting, and otherwise borne the heat of the day along the way to completion. And they get to sit in the same pews, hear the same word and song, enjoy the same air conditioning, and smell the same new building smell (I guess that’s a benefit!) as do those who got us to this point.

The only way I can embrace the truth of Jesus’ teaching here is to remember his call. Here he reminds us: “So the last will be first, and the first last.” Just a few verses later Matthew tell us:

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 29:25-28)

Our calling in the kingdom of God is to be as much like the King as possible: giving, sacrificing, serving, rescuing. For we are beneficiaries of his efforts in our behalf, and in behalf of the whole world. When we put ourselves last, not only will we become great, but we will discover a largeness of life, purpose, meaning, and significance that is far more fulfilling than receiving a day’s wage for an hour’s work. To be a host in God’s kingdom, a servant for his cause is the highest honor of all.

Matthew 20:1-16

[Jesus says,] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹²saying, ‘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.’ ¹³But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last.”