Parable of the Vineyard
The Parables Re imagined • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsGrace has no regard for time
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Today we celebrate “Independence day”. I want you to imagine you are at the local 4th of July celebration. As you walk the assembly, you notice people are shooting off fireworks, they are grilling, and everyone is having a good time as they celebrate the freedom of living in this country. However, what sticks out in your mind the most are the people you meet. The first family you meet are the “Fletcher family”, they came to the new world from England in the early 1700’s. They’re ancestors fought for the 13 Colonies in the U.S. War for independence. The second family you meet is the “Johnson Family”, they come from West Africa several hundred years ago. Unfortunately the choice to come to this country was not their own, as they were brought to this country as slaves. Johnson was their given surname, they are unsure of what their original family roots are. Their family endured hardship for years. However they finally received their freedom and opportunity in 1863, When Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. Their family have been proud American Citizens ever since. The next family you meet are the “O’Sullivan family” of Irish descent. They immigrated to the U.S during the great potato famine. When they arrived in this country, they were not well received. They were abused and mistreated for years. However after generations of hard work, this family has been proud American Citizens for generations. The next family is the “Schultz family.” This family immigrated to the U.S from Germany in 1914, just before the outbreak of WW1. Life was hard for the families during both world wars, as they were treated poorly. However they endured, and have been proud American citizens ever since. The last family you meet is the “Rodriguez family” . They immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 2019, and they have been American citizens ever since. Which of these families is the most “American” I am guessing we’d each be willing to say they are all equally American. You don’t get extra points for being here longer, or having to endure more. Once you are a U.S citizen, we are all equally entitled to the rights therein. Everyone is united in the same cause for celebration on independence day.
READ Matthew 20:1-16
“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. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And 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.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 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 a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
The story begins with a set of workers who are hired by a landowner at the beginning of the day. They agreed to work for 1 denarii as their days wages. Everything seemed to be working out great. Little did the workers know the landowner was constantly hiring people throughout the day, even as late as one hour before quitting time. You can Imagine the people hired at the beginning of the day probably felt superior to the ones hired at the 11th hour. They would have felt as if they had higher status and would likely feel entitled to more privilege.
When the workers line up to receive their pay, the ones who started at the beginning of the day are no doubt excited when the workers hired at the 11th hour are given a denarii for their wages. They no doubt thought to themselves “If the landowner is giving a denarii to the people who hardly worked, how much more will he pay the people who worked hard for him all day. When the workers hired at the start of the day are also paid a single denarii, they become angry.
Why do you think the workers who were hired first were so angry? The passage mentions the workers who were hired in the morning had to suffer through harder conditions,while the workers hired at the end of the day didn’t have to suffer as much. So the workers hired at the beginning of the day questioned whether or not it was fair.
The second reason the workers are angry is likely because they are jealous. The people who showed up at the 11th hour probably spent most of their day in the A/C and showed up at the 11th hour, and they were paid the same amount as the people who suffered through the heat. The workers who started at the start of the day wish THEY could be the people who showed up at the 11th hour and were paid the same wage as the people who started work at the beginning of the day.
However this story Jesus tells isn’t really about wages is it? It’s about salvation, wages are a convenient illustration of the way we tend to view salvation. When people come to salvation, they do so in all walks of life. Some people are faithful Christ followers from their childhood, while others spend their lives indulging in greed and worldly pleasures, then realize their mistake and sin, and come to salvation at the end of their lives.
We’ve all heard of deathbed confessions right? Do all Christians rejoice in such occasions? No. But wouldn’t they rejoice?
They don’t think it’s fair. They’ve labored all their lives, why do the late comers to Jesus get rewarded the same? (Similar to the older brother in the prodigal son)
They are Jealous.They basically wish they could live willfully sinful lives, and come to salvation at the very end. But what does that say about the way people view Jesus. It would basically be admitting. I wish I could exclude Jesus from my life until the moment I need him. That’s not a sign of a healthy faith.
These are the attitudes that Jesus is directly attacking.
Jesus was consistently and constantly trying to show us that our works will not set us apart as greater in the kingdom of heaven. Instead we are also saved the same way. Let’s suppose that on one hand you have a Wall Street tycoon who owns six Maserati’s he never drives and 4 mansions they never live in. However on their 85th birthday they realize the folly of materialism and their need to be saved. They give their lives to Jesus, and they die a week later. On the other hand you have an individual born in a third world country who gives their lives to Jesus as Children. However they die of starvation at 38 years old because they couldn’t provide for their family. Both people are given salvation in equal measure. The first thought in your mind may be “Wait God, that’s not fair. Remember an alleged lack of “fairness” has been at the center of this whole story. You are correct. God isn’t fair, and you should be thankful he isn’t
Let us take a moment to be thankful that God doesn’t deal with us through the means of “being fair” If God was being fair to us, we’d have to account for our sins, and pay the penalty. Thankfully we serve a God who is gracious, and provides the means for the penalty to be paid on our behalf.
In our reimagining of this parable, we reached the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter when your family immigrated to this country. When you become a citizen, you are equally American with everyone else.
Likewise with Christ. It doesn’t matter if a person has followed Christ your whole life, or they gave a deathbed confession minutes before passing away. Both are equally saved in the eyes of Christ. If this doesn’t sound fair to you, it’s because it’s not. God isn’t fair, he is gracious.
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