Keys to God’s Kingdom
Matthew 20:1-16
A title for a best-selling book can be misleading, side effects for medicines using minuscule print can be deceiving, and labels on energy drinks can be ambiguous. Buyer beware. Consumers be alert. That warning is important for us this morning because the commonly-used title of today’s parable can easily lead us down a wrong path. It’s usually called “The Laborers in the Vineyard”. Attention is given to the workers from start to finish. But we know from looking at parables for several weeks that we can be misled, duped, if we think the obvious lesson is Jesus’ real message.
This parable has had some other titles, like “Surprising Salaries” and “Debating a Fair Wage”. These suggest a look at labor practices or contracts between bosses and their workers. Is that what Jesus is drawing our attention to, or is there a subtler message? A third possibility would be to call this parable “The Conscientious Boss”. That reverses things, pulling us away from sympathizing with the first hired workers who got the same pay as the last ones hired.
Any of these three angles can be looked at and we’ll gain some wisdom. But what radicalizes this story is knowing that Jesus told it not as entertainment, or a moral lesson - he used it to reveal how His kingdom can come on earth. The challenge is to perceive how we can help usher in that kingdom. That said, let’s set aside any potentially misleading “title” for today’s story. Let’s just listen with openness, mindful that all Scripture is God’s living word!
We have before us a landowner, a group of laborers, a wage which all agreed on and a large vineyard that needs harvesting right away. We need some historical background to put things in context. Many small families with farms had been gradually forced off their land because of tax debts owed to the occupying Romans. God had commanded that no land be permanently taken away, but this was of no concern for ruling Romans. Consequently, large pools of unemployed men gathered each workday, hoping to be a day laborer. They were displaced, unemployed, or underemployed workers. They hoped to earn enough money to buy food for themselves, and often for their family as well.
The landowner hiring workers at 6:00 in the morning was typical: they’d generally hire all the available workers. We’re told that this owner offered a fair wage, the going rate. It was pay that could supply food for a family for three to six days. There’s nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Where it gets a tad strange is when the landowner returns to town at 9:00 a.m. and people without work are standing around. As a side note, historians have discovered that most communities back then, whether rural or urban, were flourishing. There was economic stability, no indication of starvation or people being destitute. That helps us know that men who wanted to work, whose bodies were capable of it, were in the worker pools. When the vineyard owner came around the second time, he found new and willing workers. Listen carefully to what he said: “I’ll give you what is right (just or fair) for your wages.”
Around 3:00 in the afternoon, the hottest time of day to work in open fields, things get peculiar. The boss makes a third trip into town for workers, and he does the same at 5:00 p.m. Why would he choose to do that? There’s a good reason Jesus is making us see this scene so clearly. So was the boss clueless about how many workers he’d need for the harvesting? Had he miscalculated how much each worker could do? There’s no suggestion he was ignorant or incompetent.
This strange behavior of hiring people at different times of the day is followed by equally shocking things when they came to get their day’s wages. Rather than allowing them to line up haphazardly, he made them sort themselves into a line beginning with the last man hired. The ones who weren’t glistening with sweat, whose clothes were mostly stain-free, were first in line at the payroll table. If any workers were too busy to notice the waves of new workers showing up, this lineup gave them all a chance to see it.
After everyone shuffled forward and got their pay, there was some looking around. Some who were nosy by nature, or maybe just friends with some others, found out that the latecomers got equal pay. That did not sit well. Early in the morning a denarius was a fair day’s wage - they could lift their chins with pride. But this felt wrong; the so-called scale the boss used riled them up. I wonder if cooler heads would have thought things through and realized that the owner of the vineyard had fulfilled his end of the contract that every man first hired had agreed to. No one was cheated. About the only other thing that could be said about the boss is that he’s a generous man.
With this scene before us, what rises out of this story that Jesus wants us to perceive? When a first-hired worker complained directly to the owner, did you notice the first word he used in response? He said “friend”, just as Jesus did when Judas approached him to betray him in the garden. Though disappointed by Judas’ blindness to the truth, he said, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” I think there was unwavering love in Jesus’ eyes. The landowner also says “friend”; that likely reveals that he wasn’t bitter about the man’s questioning, but he was probably disappointed. What truth was the worker unable to see? What was blinding him, making it impossible for him to be part of the joy of ushering in the Kingdom of God?
Part of it was his focus. He was fixated with the denarius in his grape-stained hand. His hard-earned money. It was fair, but he lost sight of that when he began to covet what the latecomers got. They earned more money per hour than he did! As he stood there, fixated on his money and on himself, did much else matter to him? He’d been well compensated but was miserable. That’s food for thought.
Now on to the landowner, who spent a lot of his day traveling back and forth to town to hire workers. The first extra trip is puzzling but going four times had to be highly irregular. What is up with that? I think it’s meant to get our attention. On the surface he’s hiring more workers, but was that his only agenda? Could he have had other reasons, but we can’t yet see them? Our reflection on the first hired worker showed us how shallow it is to be self-centered and how dangerous it is to grip our money tightly; neither will usher in God’s kingdom.
To discover what’s radical in this parable, here’s a brief look at what the Kingdom of God will look like. Jesus is our example; his life is meant to be a blueprint for our own. God’s son didn’t want any person to go hungry, be poorly clothed, or without shelter. No person should ever be neglected: not orphans, widows, or those on the margins. All were to be given compassionate, long-term care. Jesus healed many who had physical pain and restored those who suffered invisible internal pain.
The condensed version is this: Love your neighbors just like you love God. If you’ve had excellent neighbors, you’ve kept a close eye out for them and they gladly do the same for you. You’ve developed and maintained a close and trusting relationship. When they rejoiced in life and threw a party, you got an invitation and vice-versa. But if tragedy struck, you’d do all in your power to help - short term or long, convenient or sacrificial. That is Jesus’ description of what his people are meant to be doing. When a whole lot of what I’ve described is being done… that’s the kingdom of God breaking into our hurting world.
Now, back to the Lord of the Vineyard. He saw the many laborers harvest his grapes; he’d be prosperous through the next year, at least. But did he also see the men in his fields as his neighbors? In his home and life, he had far more than he needed, and they likely had far less. It was in his power to help them as his neighbors, and so he did, with a willing spirit but not drawing much attention to himself.
I like to think that his laborers may have been generous and faithful as well. Those who came last to work may have been delayed because a bereaved neighbor was overcome with grief and asked for their company. Perhaps someone who came mid-afternoon had been patching a friend’s leaky roof. Rather than assume the part-time workers were doing nothing, or were up to no good, why not consider what good they may have done? You and I aren’t the only ones caring for others in need.
Who is our neighbor today? Don’t think small. Can we cast our eyes around the world and claim each person as a neighbor God gives us? Some neighbors are as close as a nearby field. What do we have to offer them? What are they already offering to others? To notice people, all people, and have a desire to help them is what Jesus says a good neighbor is all about. We don’t wait to be asked - we’re paying attention and gladly offer what is ours to share. All who follow Jesus and love their neighbors are ushering in God’s glorious kingdom on earth. Amen.
This parable has had some other titles, like “Surprising Salaries” and “Debating a Fair Wage”. These suggest a look at labor practices or contracts between bosses and their workers. Is that what Jesus is drawing our attention to, or is there a subtler message? A third possibility would be to call this parable “The Conscientious Boss”. That reverses things, pulling us away from sympathizing with the first hired workers who got the same pay as the last ones hired.
Any of these three angles can be looked at and we’ll gain some wisdom. But what radicalizes this story is knowing that Jesus told it not as entertainment, or a moral lesson - he used it to reveal how His kingdom can come on earth. The challenge is to perceive how we can help usher in that kingdom. That said, let’s set aside any potentially misleading “title” for today’s story. Let’s just listen with openness, mindful that all Scripture is God’s living word!
We have before us a landowner, a group of laborers, a wage which all agreed on and a large vineyard that needs harvesting right away. We need some historical background to put things in context. Many small families with farms had been gradually forced off their land because of tax debts owed to the occupying Romans. God had commanded that no land be permanently taken away, but this was of no concern for ruling Romans. Consequently, large pools of unemployed men gathered each workday, hoping to be a day laborer. They were displaced, unemployed, or underemployed workers. They hoped to earn enough money to buy food for themselves, and often for their family as well.
The landowner hiring workers at 6:00 in the morning was typical: they’d generally hire all the available workers. We’re told that this owner offered a fair wage, the going rate. It was pay that could supply food for a family for three to six days. There’s nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Where it gets a tad strange is when the landowner returns to town at 9:00 a.m. and people without work are standing around. As a side note, historians have discovered that most communities back then, whether rural or urban, were flourishing. There was economic stability, no indication of starvation or people being destitute. That helps us know that men who wanted to work, whose bodies were capable of it, were in the worker pools. When the vineyard owner came around the second time, he found new and willing workers. Listen carefully to what he said: “I’ll give you what is right (just or fair) for your wages.”
Around 3:00 in the afternoon, the hottest time of day to work in open fields, things get peculiar. The boss makes a third trip into town for workers, and he does the same at 5:00 p.m. Why would he choose to do that? There’s a good reason Jesus is making us see this scene so clearly. So was the boss clueless about how many workers he’d need for the harvesting? Had he miscalculated how much each worker could do? There’s no suggestion he was ignorant or incompetent.
This strange behavior of hiring people at different times of the day is followed by equally shocking things when they came to get their day’s wages. Rather than allowing them to line up haphazardly, he made them sort themselves into a line beginning with the last man hired. The ones who weren’t glistening with sweat, whose clothes were mostly stain-free, were first in line at the payroll table. If any workers were too busy to notice the waves of new workers showing up, this lineup gave them all a chance to see it.
After everyone shuffled forward and got their pay, there was some looking around. Some who were nosy by nature, or maybe just friends with some others, found out that the latecomers got equal pay. That did not sit well. Early in the morning a denarius was a fair day’s wage - they could lift their chins with pride. But this felt wrong; the so-called scale the boss used riled them up. I wonder if cooler heads would have thought things through and realized that the owner of the vineyard had fulfilled his end of the contract that every man first hired had agreed to. No one was cheated. About the only other thing that could be said about the boss is that he’s a generous man.
With this scene before us, what rises out of this story that Jesus wants us to perceive? When a first-hired worker complained directly to the owner, did you notice the first word he used in response? He said “friend”, just as Jesus did when Judas approached him to betray him in the garden. Though disappointed by Judas’ blindness to the truth, he said, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” I think there was unwavering love in Jesus’ eyes. The landowner also says “friend”; that likely reveals that he wasn’t bitter about the man’s questioning, but he was probably disappointed. What truth was the worker unable to see? What was blinding him, making it impossible for him to be part of the joy of ushering in the Kingdom of God?
Part of it was his focus. He was fixated with the denarius in his grape-stained hand. His hard-earned money. It was fair, but he lost sight of that when he began to covet what the latecomers got. They earned more money per hour than he did! As he stood there, fixated on his money and on himself, did much else matter to him? He’d been well compensated but was miserable. That’s food for thought.
Now on to the landowner, who spent a lot of his day traveling back and forth to town to hire workers. The first extra trip is puzzling but going four times had to be highly irregular. What is up with that? I think it’s meant to get our attention. On the surface he’s hiring more workers, but was that his only agenda? Could he have had other reasons, but we can’t yet see them? Our reflection on the first hired worker showed us how shallow it is to be self-centered and how dangerous it is to grip our money tightly; neither will usher in God’s kingdom.
To discover what’s radical in this parable, here’s a brief look at what the Kingdom of God will look like. Jesus is our example; his life is meant to be a blueprint for our own. God’s son didn’t want any person to go hungry, be poorly clothed, or without shelter. No person should ever be neglected: not orphans, widows, or those on the margins. All were to be given compassionate, long-term care. Jesus healed many who had physical pain and restored those who suffered invisible internal pain.
The condensed version is this: Love your neighbors just like you love God. If you’ve had excellent neighbors, you’ve kept a close eye out for them and they gladly do the same for you. You’ve developed and maintained a close and trusting relationship. When they rejoiced in life and threw a party, you got an invitation and vice-versa. But if tragedy struck, you’d do all in your power to help - short term or long, convenient or sacrificial. That is Jesus’ description of what his people are meant to be doing. When a whole lot of what I’ve described is being done… that’s the kingdom of God breaking into our hurting world.
Now, back to the Lord of the Vineyard. He saw the many laborers harvest his grapes; he’d be prosperous through the next year, at least. But did he also see the men in his fields as his neighbors? In his home and life, he had far more than he needed, and they likely had far less. It was in his power to help them as his neighbors, and so he did, with a willing spirit but not drawing much attention to himself.
I like to think that his laborers may have been generous and faithful as well. Those who came last to work may have been delayed because a bereaved neighbor was overcome with grief and asked for their company. Perhaps someone who came mid-afternoon had been patching a friend’s leaky roof. Rather than assume the part-time workers were doing nothing, or were up to no good, why not consider what good they may have done? You and I aren’t the only ones caring for others in need.
Who is our neighbor today? Don’t think small. Can we cast our eyes around the world and claim each person as a neighbor God gives us? Some neighbors are as close as a nearby field. What do we have to offer them? What are they already offering to others? To notice people, all people, and have a desire to help them is what Jesus says a good neighbor is all about. We don’t wait to be asked - we’re paying attention and gladly offer what is ours to share. All who follow Jesus and love their neighbors are ushering in God’s glorious kingdom on earth. Amen.