YOU ARE HIRED! (MT. 20:1-16)
The economic crisis at the turn of the 21st century that hit the airline industry reflects the cost of doing business. United Airlines and Continental Airlines filed for bankruptcy, and American Airlines avoided bankruptcy after the union gave back $1.62 billion in wages and benefits to the company. Before 9/11, airline pilots earn as much as $150,000 a year for domestic flying and $300,000 for the big international routes. Work security is a thing of the past. Jobs are cut, pay is reduced, and the union is weakening. Terrorists, competition, insurance, tax and technology are threatening to eliminate their job. (St. Petersburg Times 9/6/02 “Dream job becoming demoralizing”)
Engineers tell a joke that the high-tech cockpits of the future will be equipped with a computer, a pilot and a dog - the computer will fly the plane, and the dog will bite the pilot if he tries to touch the controls!
Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a benevolent employer who promises potential employees on His team full employment, full pay, and full benefits. Layoffs, recession and hiring freeze are absent in His company and under His ownership. The theory behind this parable, like most parables, includes God’s open invitation, glad acceptance and full inclusion of those who are receptive, responsive, and repentant into His kingdom – even if they are Gentiles, sinners, or undeserving.
What do we know about God’s hiring practices, operational style, fiscal management and conflict management style from this parable?
GOD SAYS WHAT HE MEANS – A DENARIUS IS A DENARIUS IS A DENARIUS
20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. (Matt 20:1-2)
Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young accountant who was fresh out of school, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The accountant said, "In the neighborhood of £50,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."
The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, full medical and dental, Company Retirement Fund to 50% of salary, Executive Share Option Scheme, Profit Related Pay and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a 5 series BMW?"
The accountant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replied, "Yes, but you started it." http://www.funs.co.uk/jokes/ac1.html
The crisis and challenge to unemployed workers is the loss of income, identity, and initiative. However, being unemployed does not mean doing nothing. An article in Psychology Today provides some suggestions to the unemployed on finding a job: “Make job hunting a full-time commitment. Stories abound of well-qualified people who have been unemployed for a year or more. Is the problem a poor economy or something else? Frequently, it is something else - minimal job-hunting efforts, perhaps. Surveys have shown that most people who have been unemployed for lengthy periods spend fewer than five hours a week actively searching for work. They manage to land only one or two interviews each month. If you are unemployed, you should spend a minimum of 40 hours a week actively searching for work. As a full-time job seeker, your goal should be at least one interview a day with someone who has the power to hire you. For lower-level jobs, even more interviews a day are possible. You’ve heard the saying, "Looking for a job is a full-time job." Consider putting in some overtime as well.” (“How to Land a Job,” Psychology Today 9-10/94)
God is the most charitable, compassionate and coveted employer in the job market and in the free world. He says what he means and means what he says. He does not tell a lie, change His mind, or keep us guessing. In the parable, He paid the workers as long as they reported for duty, entered the fields, and kept the hours. No questions were asked, no supervision was necessary, and no one was fired. He did not ask them about the work they did, the area they covered, or the hours they kept. Also note that the charitable owner did not even ask if the workers had wasted any time, had talked with others, or had taken a break or had stopped for lunch. He kept his promise; he paid at the end of the day, not the next day or next week, or over several days. He also paid in terms of cash, not in the form of goods or livestock.
The landowner’s hiring terms and conditions were unusual but unmistakable. He hired the first group for a denarius and sent them into the vineyard. In Greek, the word “work” in verse 1 is missing; so it should read, “A landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men (skip “to work”) into his vineyard.” Not only in verse 1, but the word “work” in verses 4, 7 and 13 are also absent in Greek. Verse 4 and 7 are identical; it should say, “Go also you into the vineyard.” Verse 13 should read, “Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” Work is assumed but never specified. The job description was flexible and reachable, not harsh or rigid. Presence was demanded, attendance was compulsory, pay was guaranteed, but effort was unspoken. One can say He hired the workers not because he needed help but they needed work. They just had to clock or check in and clock or check out, account for the number of hours, and stay within the confines of the vineyard.
In today’s terms, God is the employer that does not check whether his employees play video game, check e-mails, or go online at work, on the job, or on company time, even if he minds them doing such. He doesn’t even ask them to finish their work before doing such things or to limit their activities and their time on such things. Absence, and not performance, is an issue to him. Employment is for the worker’s sake and good, not the owner’s.
GOD SPENDS WHAT HE HAS - A JOB IS A JOB IS A JOB
3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ’You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ’Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 "’Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. "He said to them, ’You also go and work in my vineyard.’ (Matt 20:3-7)
One of the most generous employers in the world and in history is Bob Thompson, the owner of an asphalt paving company for 40 years. Thompson struck it rich when he sold his company for $400 million, but he gave $128 million away to the hundreds of workers who had helped make it all possible. 77 employees became millionaires overnight and hundreds of other employees received bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Bob and his wife, Ellen, started the company, Thompson-McCully, with only a small savings of $3,500. The Thompsons were not interested in giving all the proceeds of the sale to their three children. Bob feels that it’s not beneficial to give a great deal of money to a young person and he wants to encourage his kids to maintain a strong work ethic.
After much debate about how to divide the money, the Thompsons settled on a plan. The 550 people who had retirement packages would get $2,000 for every season of their employment history with the company. And the 77 people who didn’t have retirement packages were instant millionaires - they would each get $1 million to $2 million. However, the Thompsons stipulated that only those who had reached retirement age would get the money outright. Younger staff members were given an annuity preventing them from receiving the money before they retire. On top of that, their taxes were paid. (ABCNEWS.com 12/10/99 “Owner Sells Company and Shares Profits With Employees”)
The landowner had money but he did not give it all away – he spent it on hiring new workers, giving people hope, and improving their wages, benefits and lives. The workers he hired had potential. They did not have a full-time job, so they actively canvassed, roamed, and frequented the marketplace, the home improvement stores, the busiest street corners, and the unemployment office as soon as morning arrived, looking for a job. The owner hired early in the morning (v 1) and hired additional workers at 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. How early? The same “early” word (v 1) describes Jesus’ prayer time (Mark 1:35), the rooster’s wakeup call (Mark 13:35), and Jesus’ resurrection event (Mark 16:9).
The difference between the earliest workers and the later workers was that the late workers were described as idle. Idle is not the same as lazy. The word “idle” or “doing nothing” occurs three times, once in verse 3 and twice in verse 6. The first idle of verse 6 is the word “around” from the phrase “standing around.” The owner would rather spend money than see people loitering around, doing nothing, and killing time.
However, the landowner, wisely, did not promise the 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. workers a full day’s pay. So he offered them an interesting proposition: “Go also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.” No amount was specified to them - just what was right.
The terms of the last group’s contract were differed also from the first group. The owner apparently did not even say the words “whatever is right” to the 5 p.m. workers. They were even given a question to test their sincerity before they were hired (v 6). To their credit, when they were instructed to work, they wasted no time, they didn’t ask about money, and worked the full hour left.
The owner didn’t make the workers feel worthless, guilty, or blameworthy. He did not take advantage of them, drive a hard bargain, or tell them to laze around. The workers were not dumb either. They took the best and only offer available. They were just thankful for half pay, quarter pay, or minimum pay. For that matter, any work or pay at all. They were in no condition to bargain and what they heard was good enough for them.
GOD SAVES WHOM HE CAN - A CONTRACT IS A CONTRACT IS A CONTRACT
8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ’Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12’These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ’and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 "But he answered one of them, ’Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matt 20:1-16)
Once there were three robbers who terrified the district around Monte Casale in Italy. One day the three robbers came to a friary there and asked Brother Angelo for food. Brother Angelo, indignant for justice’s sake, said: "What? You men who have no shame in stealing from others the fruit of their labor? Now you have no shame to ask us, poor simple friars, for what God has given to us through the generosity of others? Best you get out of here quickly, and don’t you dare come back again." And so the robbers swiftly left the friary door.
In a short while St. Francis came to the friary. He had begged for some bread and wine in a nearby village. Brother Angelo proudly explained how he had reprimanded the thieves. Francis replied: "Sinners are led to God by kindness, not by scolding. Did not our Lord say that a doctor is not needed by those who are well, but by those who are sick? And did not our Lord himself eat with sinners and outcasts?"
Brother Angelo asked, "What should I now do?" And Francis told him: "Take this bread and wine which I was given, and go find the robbers in their den in the woods. Give them the wine and the bread, and fall down on your knees to ask their forgiveness. For you put your self as a friar first, and them as thieves last. And then tell them to repent of their stealing, for there will always be food and drink for them in our house whenever they ask." (Jerry Alan Smith)
At the end of the story, the robbers repented and became friars themselves.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/3577/960922.html
Jesus did not come for saints and the deserving, but also for sinners and the undeserving. He did not only save the first in line but also the last to work. A subtle but significant change is emphasized in the story by Jesus. The word “owner” in verse 8 is now “lord” in Greek, not the same “landowner” word of verse 1. He is not your usual landowner, but the Lord of the human harvest. The terms of salvation are not the same as the language of the marketplace. Jesus repeated in the opening verses that the vineyard was unequivocally “his vineyard.” He desires all men to be employed, to be paid, and to be saved. This kind of talk usually upsets those who think they have labored the hardest, done or accomplished the most. When the lord summoned the foreman to pay the workers their wages, unexpectedly from the last ones to the first, only the earliest workers complained.
The earliest workers did not complain against the 9 a.m., 12 noon, or 3 p.m. workers but only one group: the last to arrive, the first to leave, the single hour performer. In their mind, they thought they should receive more compensation, a sizable bonus, or an attractive package. The pride of working hard for the money, giving value for the buck, and subtracting from the unemployment figures were lost to the workers who were previously unemployed and out on the streets. After all, didn’t they bear the burden and brave the heat? They were hardened perfectionists, professionals, and performers.
However, the misunderstanding was not on the master’s part; he did not owe, mistreat, or deceive the first group. A contract was a contract. The first groups talked in relative terms but the lord talked in legal terms. The owners’ reply in Greek is slightly different from the words “unfair” (v 13) and “right” (v 15) in NIV: “Friend, I did no INJUSTICE (not “unfair”). . . Is it not LAWFUL (not “right”) for me what I will to do with mine? Is your eye evil because I am good?” He did not pay them less, work them longer, or pay in goods. They did not complain about not having enough, but not having more. The disgruntled group confused their personal worth with comparative or relative worth to others.
The true unfairness in the text is why the last group of workers was unfairly singled out by the first group. The last group did not know who were hired previously, when they were hired, and what was promised them. They had taken a big risk by not securing a written note up-front. They were idle all day long because nobody hired them (vv 6-7), but they were resisted work. Even the landowner recognized that when he asked then the last group why they had been standing there all day long. The eleventh hour workers could have stayed at home and not showed up, but they did not. Work was better late than never. Day by day they showed their face, swallowed their pride, and hid their disappointment – but they never gave up, turn around, or stop coming. They didn’t want to hang their heads, travel for nothing, and return home empty. The day was ending and most had left, but they stood, waited, and lingered. They were hoping to get back at least travel expenses or dinner money. Further, they needed work to occupy themselves, feel useful, and keep contacts. They had families to feed, rent to pay, and things to buy.
Benefiting the last is not the same as praising, favoring, or rewarding the last, which the owner did not do. The owner did not praise the eleventh hour worker any more than he praised the first worker. The later groups, to their credit, did not ask; the lord in his abundance freely gave.
All people are equal before God: Red and yellow, brown and white, they are precious, lost, and helpless in His sight. He is not a cost-cutting, money-making, and slave-driving employer. He urges, invites, and welcomes people to work but he never forces, drives, or enslaves them. The hardest thing in salvation is the thinking that we earn or deserve what we were offered. As a friend explained the text, “The privilege is being invited or hired. The pay is just bonus.”
Conclusion: God is not only the best boss in the world; he’s the ideal or most perfect. He’s offering you something more lasting than a job; he’s offering you salvation, what is eternal and priceless. God did not choose you because you are strong, smart or successful. Fred Smith says, “God does not love me because I am good. He loves me because I am precious, and I am precious because Christ died for me." (Haddon Robinson, Christian Salt & Light Company 48)
Victor Yap
http://epreaching.blogspot.com/
www.riversidecma.org(For sermon series)
www.preachchrist.com (For Chinese sermons)
