The passage we will be looking at this evening is from Matthew 20 vs. 1-16. Often subtitled the workers in the vineyard. The approach I am going to take is that we will split the passage up into sections – read the story together and then I will offer you some thoughts on each part.
But before that I want us to think about where this passage fits in.
Matthew 19:16-22
DRAMA
This dialogue draws on The Rich Young Man as important background to the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Jacob and Ezra are puzzling over Jesus’ treatment of the young man in contrast to "some of the undesirables Jesus has picked up on the way" -people like Matthew and Mary Magdalene! Jacob’s "I wonder how late a person can turn back to God and still be accepted anyway" is a question that keeps recurring in the Gospels - perhaps to be finally answered by Jesus to the thief on the cross. All of these questions fail to grasp the grace of God - so central to the teaching of Jesus, and so needful for all, good and bad alike.
Jacob and Ezra have joined the crowd that has met Jesus across the Jordan on the way to Jerusalem. Some amazing things have happened.
JACOB: I think Jesus was a bit tough on that rich young man.
EZRA: You mean young Benjamin? I knew his father well - an honest businessman with a real flair for making money.
JACOB: And - Benjamin, you call him? - he got the lot when the old man died?
EZRA: I have watched the young lad grow - really seeking to know the truth, to do the right thing, to know God!
JACOB: And the money - it all came to him?
EZRA: It did! It certainly did! Would have meant disaster for a lot of young people, but not Benjamin!
JACOB: I think I know what you’re talking about. Some of us are sure we could do with a lot more, but for those who have it...
EZRA: ... trouble! trouble! trouble!
JACOB: So I judged the boy right, and you agree that Jesus was a bit tough?
EZRA: Especially since he has always lived strictly by the commandments!
JACOB: Not everyone can say that, can they?
EZRA: I can imagine Benjamin as an old man, having always done the right thing, having given generously to support the widows and the orphans...
JACOB: A whole life of being good - how pleasing to God!
EZRA: Rather preferable, I would say, to some of the undesirables Jesus has picked up along the way!
JACOB: Some of them - like Matthew the tax collector and Mary the prostitute - seem to have made good. We should be happy about that!
EZRA: Don’t get me wrong, Jacob! I am genuinely glad about their reform. But they’ve spent maybe thirty years or so doing the wrong thing. That’s coming into the picture a bit late, don’t you think?
JACOB: I wonder how late a person can turn back to God and still be accepted anyway.
EZRA: Don’t worry, Jacob! Stick to the law, be generous, worship the Lord - I’m sure that will secure the best possible favours from God!
Speaker returns
The disciples are shocked that someone he seemed so obedient so good, so wealthy – with all these advantages are unable to enter into the kingdom of heaven. If he’s not allowed in – then who will be –
They even begin to doubt there own future – look at Peters words in v27 –
There is real doubt they can make it – if someone of such stature, who has kept all these laws can’t get in – then what is this heaven place.
Looking at v29 – we can see that the key does not appear to be in a person’s stature or what they have done – but whether people are willing to lay things down “for my sake”. “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
SO the rich man despite all his good deeds, all these commandments that he has kept for such a long time – doesn’t make it and the disciples are confused they complain to Jesus – that’s not fair….
What hope is there for us then??
It is this background which leads us into the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Lets start reading the passage together
Let’s begin by reading Matthew 20:1-2 together. “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.”
Let us picture the scene - In the days of the Bible – people’s days started with the light when the sun rose and finished when the sun set. Working in a vineyard sounds like an exciting place to be but we can guarantee that this is hard work. At harvest time, which was about this time of the year in Palestine, the grapes had to be picked, often in temperatures of 100 degrees or more. If for some reason the grapes were slow in ripening, the time for harvesting could be significantly shortened. Consequently, the grape harvest was a hectic and demanding time. Everything had to be collected in a short space of time. The mountain slopes of Canaan have always been famous for the large clusters of grapes which they produce
These workers were promised the pay of a denarius. Now I can’t tell you what this is in UK equivalents – or what this is worth in terms of buying power – but whatever it was worth – there was no debate involved they agreed to this rate with great eagerness suggesting they were entirely satisfied with the offer
Now, it appears this particular landowner’s property obviously was large, and so he needed more laborers to get the job done.
Let’s read verses 3-7: “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 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?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’”
The Jewish workday began at 6:00 AM. This was called the first hour. The third hour began at 9:00 AM, the sixth hour began at noon, the ninth hour began at 3:00 PM, and the eleventh hour at 5:00 PM.
Here it is important to note – what the men were doing – they were standing around all day long. We can conjecture whether they were lazy or geninunely unemployed but we don’t know the answer. The key thing to take away is that they were not in work – they were not employed in valuable and useful activity. And in this society no work meant no food, which was a serious situation. Here rather than being promised a denarius they are promised “whatever is right” in v5 – you can imagine them talking to the lot who were hired in the morning. “How much are you earning?” “A denarius for a days work”, “Well I’m doing half a day – and have been promised “whatever is right” , “do you think that means half a denarius” “Yeh probably. “
These workers do not query the man they appear to trusted the owner as a man of his word -- while the owner does not promise a particular wage, these workers knew it would be fair.
. This pattern continued for the hirings at the third hour, sixth hour, and the eleventh hour.
Even despite the fact that the time is almost 5pm, the landowner continues to hire workers. Typically this would have been the hour that most work would have started to wind down. Anyone still hanging around at this point would have lost hope. “Whose going to be interested in me now” The day is almost over - my time is almost gone – and no-one wants me to work for them.
Yet on this particular day it was different -- because of the generosity of the landowner. It is clear that he is interested not only in his vineyard but also passionately interested in those not yet employed.
The Owner Pays the Workers
Let’s read verse 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.”
The typical mode of payment back then was “first come first served.” Not surprisingly, Jesus turns it around to, “last come first served.” I’m sure those who worked all day were beginning to get a bit confused at this point.
Let’s continue with verses 9-10, “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.”
You can just imagine the scene – those who were paid first must be getting excited as they see those hired last receive a denarius. “Wow what are we going to be getting then.” “If they get a denarius we should be getting a bunch of money as we’ve put in a full days work. But this is where the twist in Jesus tale kicks in, there hopes are dashed and they receive the same pay.
In verses 11-12, we see that the attitudes of the workers head south. Let’s read it together: “When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘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.”
Working in a vineyard was very hard work. It involved laboring on a hillside in the heat of the day with few breaks! We can sympathize with these workers. We can understand their complaint. Their joy turned to anger as they realized that they received the same pay as those who had worked for only one hour. As such, they were determined not to leave until they received “satisfaction” from the landowner. “if I have done a full days work – and only get a denarius then how can these good for nothing lay abouts get the same as me.”
However the real problem and why they were upset is that the landowner had made the other workers equal to them.
The Owner Responds
Verses 13-15 give us the owner’s response. Let’s read it together: “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
The owner answers their complaints full on. Firstly you agreed to be paid – we had a deal and you accepted it. I made you a fair offer – and you took it. Secondly – it is my money I can do what I want with it. Thirdly and probably most importantly – we see the landowner questioning “Why they are envious of his generosity.” What does that reveal about your hearts. If I have a kind and generous heart – what does that tell me about yours..”
And so Jesus concludes the passage “So the last will be first and the first will be last”
Now the question is how we apply this passage – is it a moral tale on how everyone should be paid the same no matter how much work they do. Who do you associate with this passage. What does this teach us about the kind of church we are to be? Well to do that I want you to spend time in groups of 3 or 4 reviewing the passage, and then I will draw our thoughts together
Questions for discussion (in groups of 3)
1) Who do you associate with in the passage?
2) What does this passage teach us about God and how does this contrast with the world at large?
3) What does this teach us about the type of “disciple” we are to be
4) What does this teach us about the type of “church” we are to be
5) Is there a spiritual truth in this section that is especially significant for you?
Ø Your worth in God’s eyes is not based on your service or success but his love
Finally a word of comfort. Do not find your value in how you are, the no. of quiet times you have, the amount of prayer you do. All these things make a jot of difference to your salvation or God’s love for you.
Yancey P67-68.
“The renowned theologian Karl Barth visited the University of
Chicago, students and scholars crowded around him. At a press conference, one asked, "Dr. Barth, what is the most profound truth you have learned in your studies?" Without hesitation he replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." I agree with Karl Barth. Why, then, do I so often act as if I am trying to earn that love? Why do I have such trouble accepting it?As Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson, the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, first devised their twelve-step program, they went to Bill D., a prominent attorney who had flunked out of eight separate detox programs in six months. Strapped in a hospital bed as punishment for attacking two nurses, Bill D. had no choice but to listen to his visitors, who shared their own stories of addiction and the recent hope they had discovered through belief in a Higher Power.
As soon as they mentioned their Higher Power, Bill D. shook his head sadly. "No, no," he said. "It’s too late for me. I still believe in God all right, but I know mighty well that He doesn’t believe in me any more."
Bill D. expressed what many of us feel at times. Weighed down by repeated failures, lost hope, a sense of unworthiness, we pull around ourselves a shell that makes us almost impervious to grace. Like foster children who choose again and again to return to abusive families, we turn stubbornly away from grace.
I know how I respond to rejection letters from magazine editors and to critical letters from readers. I know how high my spirits soar when a larger than expected royalty check arrives, and how low they sink when the check is small. I know that my self-image at the end of the day depends largely on what kind of messages I have received from other people. Am I liked? Am I loved? I await the answers from my friends, my neighbors, my family-like a starving man, I await the answers.
Occasionally, all too occasionally, I sense the truth of grace. There are times when I study the parables and grasp that they are about me. I am the sheep the shepherd has left the flock to find, the prodigal for whom the father scans the horizon, the servant whose debt has been forgiven. I am the beloved one of God.” (taken from What’s so amazing about Grace’)
You can see how these words fit in with rich young ruler – he thought his status would get him to heaven – NO – ultimately only God’s love and generosity for those who are willing to come and be workers with him get them there. The disciples may be shocked that the richyoung ruler don’tmake but that’s because they still think heaven must be earned rather than received. Friends you may feel like you’ve been working your butt of for God, you may feel like the bum off the street who is letting God down in the vineyard, sloping around not doing your job properly – well in wither case this parable is about you – you have not been accepted because of your merit – and you will not be rewarded because of your merit – you are loved and accepted by God for all that you’ve done simply because that’s the kind of God he is.
God loves and accepts people because of who God is not who they are – do we?
Ultimately people are all paid the same no matter how much they have done. Yet I think often in our churches we might expect people to conform to a certain image – it’s OK as long as they don’t do X,Y,Z
Believing then belonging or belonging then believing
Love then membership not membership then love
On Wednesday in our small discussion Will said we must be willing to accept people for who they are – laying no expectations on them. Here in this parable each person got paid the same no matter what they had done. There is an equality in God’s kingdom – yes we should want people to grow and mature – but that should never be a condition upon which they can be part of who we are.
Are we simply looking to earn our denarius or call people into the ‘vineyard’?
Why are you a Christian? I would be interested to see who you associated with in the parable – most people associate with the person hired first thing in the morning. But when I read this parable it made me rethink the question It may sound like an obvious question – but I was challenged by reading this passage why I was a Christian – yes we can comer up with answers like it is true, because I love Jesus, in fact all manner of reasons. But I was struck by this passage in the external focus of the kingdom. It is about bringing people in, bringing in new workers. The landowner could have stopped at 9am – right I have enough workers now. I’m happy with where I am at. They can get on together and do their stuff. But no – the economics of God is “full employment” – I will go and out and bring all in who will come. This parable summarizes the kindness and generosity of God – to reach out to people who are unemployed. For this parable ultimately says there are only 2 types of people, a worker for him or someone who is out of work. So when someone asks you what you do for a living you need to reassess your answer. But also we need to have a greater vision to see our friends and neighbours outside of Christ as unemployed. Again we face a choice we can see being a Christian as a private contract between me & God all about earning my denarius and making it to heaven OR we can focus on the generosity and kindness of God in bringing others in
On Wed night - Matthew 9:35-38, 10:5. Here is this parable being lived out by Christ.
Lord show us your heart and help us
TIME OF PRAYER
I now want to lead us in a time of repentance – maybe there is something tonight where youhave recognosed you have been bl;ind about. Maybe there is something God has convicted you of. I want to allow some time of quiet where you can come before God and confess to him. You may want to think about the kindness and love of the vineyard owner – and contrast that with your own heart, you may want to say sorryfor trying to earnGod’s favour, or you may want to repent of not letting God accept you for who you are
In the quietness of your own heart, and in your own words, confess your sins to God now and ask Him to forgive you.
heal you of any spiritual blindness in your life. Ask him to enable you to both understand and live out the reversed values of the kingdom of God.
Forgive our sinful ways and heal our brokenness. Set us free from all that enslaves us, and raise us to new life in Jesus Christ, that we may be your faithful servants, showing forth your healing love to the world, to the glory of your holy name.
Hear the good news! Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. In the strong name of God our Creator, in the assurance of the Holy Spirit, in the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Read Isaiah 55:1-7
Lord we offer you these prayers in the name of the loving Son, the forgiving Father and the empowering Spirit
