Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 20:1–16a
Remember back in high school when your teacher assigned you a group project? I’m sure you also remember that you didn’t get a say in who was in your group. You worked hard from day one to keep the project on schedule, but of course there was that one guy who rarely showed up, contributed little to nothing, and still got to put his name on the final product. Yes, Kyle, we all remember.
If you share a similar memory, this Sunday’s gospel is for you.
In Matthew chapter 20, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to laborers in a vineyard. The master of the vineyard goes out first thing in the morning and hires laborers to work in his fields. Throughout the day, the master goes back over and again to hire those who have yet to find work, right up until an hour before quitting time. Upon seeing his generous pay—a full day’s wage—to those who barely had time to get dirt under their nails, those who had been hard at work since sunup assumed they’d be handsomely compensated. However, when the master made his way to them and paid them the same agreed-upon wage—a denarius—they were indignant!
You can almost hear the protest starting in their heads:
Haven’t we been toiling all day?
Doesn’t the master know how to do math?
If Mr. Lazy over here, who waltzed in as the sun is going down, gets a full day’s wage, shouldn’t I get double?
Why did I bother working so hard then?
The jealousy of the first laborers might not be pretty, but it does seem understandable. However, there are two problems with this reaction.
The early laborers represent those in the kingdom of God who respond to His invitation earlier in life. They encounter the living God and enter into a relationship with Him, where they strive to remain faithful and to welcome those who are still wayward.
However, these laborers can often fall into the temptation of believing life apart from Christ is the “fun stuff,” where all the excitement is! They may feel that faith and following the rules are a heavy load they are forced to carry, begrudgingly. The reality is: sin and living a life separated from God is a nightmare, not an evasion of hard work. In truth, being first to the faith and tending to God’s vineyard is not a hardship to grumble through; it’s a mercy to rejoice in. Relationship with God is what heaven will be, and what a grace it is to get a foretaste of it earlier than others. What is there to complain about?
If I do XYZ, I am OWED [fill in the blank]. This may be the case in a contractual agreement, but God doesn’t make contracts; He makes covenants. Whatever imperfect offering we present to God is met with the Bread of Life Himself: His unending ocean of mercy, His infinite depth of love. We cannot fit the fathomless love of our Creator and Redeemer into a transaction, as though it can be contained. Dr. Peter Kreeft writes in Food for the Soul, “If you are asking for justice, you are not asking for heaven. If you ask for justice, you are asking for hell.” God is generous to the point of reckless abandon with His children, and in this parable, He is encouraging us to do the same for our neighbor. Yes, Kyle, even YOU!
But this is who our God is.
He has always been in pursuit of the soul furthest out, and He continues to chase down that soul until their last breath. Our God is so desperately in love with His children that the idea of heaven without each of us is intolerable. And so He personally leaves His vineyard time and again. He doesn’t ask a hireling to go on His behalf to conduct business beneath Him; no, He goes personally, over and over. He enters the mess of the market, where His wayward children mill about anxiously, to bring them home.
What’s more, those laborers who were left to mill about all day weren’t ducking work and certainly weren’t to be envied. They were likely worried and aimless, anticipating going home to a hungry, disappointed family. In first-century Palestine, day laborers were at the bottom of the economy, with no steady income or dependable employer. Every day they went to the market, waiting and hoping to be hired for a day’s wage, a wage just enough to feed their families for that day. Being passed over for work wasn’t a desirable scenario; it was a desperate one. Yet, in the gospel, those fortunate enough to be hired at daybreak still met their wages with resentment for the very thing that provided them with the means to live.
And isn’t that us sometimes?
The very grace we begged to receive, the relationship with God which we couldn’t live without, can start to feel like a burden once the commandments that come with it settle in. We can be tempted to see our faith and the guardrails that come with it as handcuffs instead of an open cage door leading to freedom.
However, the truth is that Christ is so generous that He not only gives us salvation but also offers us a role in bringing about salvation for His still-wayward children. In His humility, Christ has chosen to let the world encounter Him—and the salvation on offer—through His Church, and we are His hands and feet!
Working in God’s vineyard is not a chip to cash in. It is what God is owed from His children. Worship, service, and love—these are what we are made for. If our service to God is offered out of annoyed obligation, is it service at all? “If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). God does not measure us according to the hours we’ve logged with Him; He measures us by our love.
Salvation history is marked with example after example of God’s generosity to us, despite all our weaknesses and failures. As disciples, are we not called to imitate Him in all things: in generosity, forgiveness, and self-sacrificial love? The workers called early in the day didn’t earn God’s favor through their toil, but by accepting the invitation when they were called.
With you in the vineyard,
Tierney
Food for thought or journaling …
The master goes out personally, again and again, rather than sending someone else. Where has God pursued you personally and repeatedly, even when you weren't looking for Him? Where might He be calling you to do the same for someone else?
Lord, thank You for drawing us into relationship with You and giving us the holy work of bringing other souls to Christ. When we are tempted to look to our right and left and compare our circumstances, raise our eyes to You alone. Amen.
