September 18, 2011
GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 20:1-16 [The landowner and the hired workers.]
"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, eYou 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, eWhy do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, eBecause no one has hired us.' He said to them, eYou go into the vineyard too.'
"And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, eCall 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, eThese 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, eFriend, 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."
At the time of Jesus, the work day began at 6 am and went to 6 pm, a long, 12 hour day. People who wanted jobs would go to the market place early in the morning with their tools and wait for someone who needed work done, perhaps carpentry, perhaps field work. In some places of the world you can still see this. There is a famous place here in Japan at the docks in Osaka. Someone who needs warehouse workers or construction site workers can go there and find a crew for the day. In today's parable, we see an example of this where a landowner needed extra men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to give them the standard daily wage of one denarius. Probably it was harvest time and the landowner was eager to get the grapes picked while they were at the peak of flavor and before bad weather came. So the landowner wanted as many workers as possible. He went back to the marketplace looking for more workers at the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 11th hour of the work day: that is, 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, and again at 5 pm, only an hour before quitting time. He agreed to pay the first workers of the morning one denarius for a day's work, and he told the others he would pay them "whatever is right" (vs. 4). At that time, one denarius was the normal wage for one day of labor. For those working only part of a day, only a part of a denarius might be the "right" wage, but the landowner was generous, perhaps because he was thankful for any effort to get in the harvest, or perhaps because he was kind enough to know that if the workers brought home less than a denarius then he and the children wouldn't have enough money to buy food that day. And so he gave everyone the standard wage of one denarius. The men who had labored hard since 6 am through the heat of the day for twelve hours thought they might get more, especially if someone who had worked only one hour got one denarius, then perhaps, they hoped, they would get as much as 12 denarii. And so when they got only one denarius, they grumbled. But the landowner told them not to be envious of his generosity. Jesus' final comment, "So the last will be first and the first will be last," I think means the equality of the first and the last. They both receive the same wage, which was a fair wage, and it is the wage that was promised from the beginning.
Today's parable is about the generosity of God. The first and the last both received the same wage, one denarius, no matter how long they labored in the vineyard. Those who had been hired first were hoping to get more. Those who had been hired last had not expected to get a whole day's wage. The landlord gave them a whole day's wage because they needed it. He knew that they had a family. To feed and take care of the family, they needed a whole denarius.
This is a parable. The master of the house is God. The workers are those who believe in God. The vineyard might be the church or the whole world. The work they do is to love God and to love their neighbor. That means worship, evangelism, and both church work and everyday work as we love and serve our family, friends. Actually, all our occupations are all doing the work of God. Because this is a parable, paying the workers probably means the Last Judgment. And so the denarius would be salvation. One denarius is enough, because there is no double eternal life. Mathematical speaking, two times infinity is still infinity. Now, maybe those who worked longer thought they should get better places in heaven, a nicer mansion or something. In the story after the next story in Matthew 20, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, the mother of James and John, came to Jesus and asked that her sons be given special seats in the kingdom of God. Jesus refuses her request. The kingdom of God is not like human governments of power and prestige, but rather of service, where the greatest is the one who serves the most. And so, one denarius is enough, it is full salvation.
In Paradise of the Garden of Eden, Adam enjoyed his work. Sometimes we enjoy our work so much that it reminds us of Paradise. But the first workers in the Parable complained that they had borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. This is the curse on Adam after the Fall. It is a curse that we all have felt. Our work and activities are not always enjoyable. That is because of sin. Envy and malcontent and greed and begrudging others make us think of only ourselves and only of our own pleasure. Our work is not for the service of others, but only as a way to get something for ourselves. We even work in the church to get something for ourselves: that is when we think we can get salvation by our work. Work hard, trust hard, believe hard, then God will give us our denarius of salvation. But those workers in the parable were not paid according to their work. They were paid according to the generosity of the master of the house. We call that "Salvation by Grace and not by works." The only one who works for our salvation is Jesus Christ. He is the one who bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat. He is the one who suffered. He was the one who became the slave to serve us all. He is the one who died on the cross to forgive our sin. The denarius he received was resurrection on the third day. That denarius has infinite value and gives to us all salvation and eternal life. It is not the wage we receive for our work, it is a free gift from the generosity of God.
I was wondering how many years I have been working in God's vineyard. And I realized that I have spent a lot of hours sleeping in the shade of the barn. We all know about goofing off at work. And so I must rely completely on the generosity of God. What time of the day did you start working for Jesus? What time of your life did Jesus call you to work in his vineyard? When did you answer the call? Today Jesus is calling you again. The Holy Spirit calls you by the Gospel. Sometimes the work is sweat and tears. Sometimes it is joy and love. But it is always service?service to God and to others. We do not work in order to pay for our salvation; we have already been given eternal life. And so there is freedom and the hope of Paradise.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church