“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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 the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:1-16 (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from the blessed Trinity: Creator, Sustainer, and Comforter. Amen.
Throughout Lent, we’re continuing to think about what God’s reign looks like, using the theme “The Ways of the Kingdom.” As Jesus has done before, in our reading this morning, he uses a parable to help us understand.
We’re going to play a little game this morning to help us better understand the unexpected and unpredictable nature of parables. I need six of you this morning to help me tell a story. In this basket, I have several different words. I’ll start the story with the words “Once upon a time…”. Then, as I point to each of you, you will continue the story by adding one sentence that must contain the word you drew. The last person should end his or her sentence with the words, “The End.” Got it? Let’s begin.
Did this story that we just told end the way you expected it would from the opening sentence? I think it’s fair to say that the story was very different than any of us could have expected. There were twists and turns and things that might have seemed a little unpredictable.
As we learn the parables in this series, we will realize that God’s kingdom often flips things around. Catching us off guard. A few weeks ago, when we were studying the parables of the wheat and the weeds, and the mustard seed, we learned that Jesus’ parables were intended to have little twists in them that surprised the listeners. These twists highlight the fact that God’s ways are often different than ours. And different from what we might expect. God’s ways can also seem a little unpredictable.
In today’s story, the workers who were hired first thought they knew what was going to happen. But, in the end, they were surprised. And a little grumpy.
So, let’s move to our story. Our story is one of these surprising parables that, once again, tries to help us understand how God’s kingdom operates. To tell the story today, I need a little help. I need five volunteers to be workers. I’ll play the part of the landowner.
The story opens with the landowner needing help in his vineyard. (You all know how much I like vineyards, right? I’ve even been able to help with a grape harvest, so I know how backbreaking this work can be.)
The landowner goes out early around 6 a.m. to the nearest Home Depot, because he (or she) knows that this is a place is where one can find workers. Day laborers. So, that’s what I’m going to do.
After the landowner gets to Home Depot and finds the day laborers, he negotiates with them a daily wage. I have a lot of experience negotiating, so I’m going to do this with these workers.
We all agreed that $60 was a fair wage for the day. So, then, the landowner hired one of the workers, who he took back to work in the vineyard. About nine o’clock, he went back and hired one more. Then, around noon, he did it again. And, around 3 in the afternoon, he did it a fourth time. Around five he went back out and found others standing around. He asked them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They answered him, “Because no one has hired us.”
So, the landowner hired the remaining workers and sent them into the vineyard to work.
Then, it was evening time. An hour later. Around 6 o’clock. It was the end of the work day. So the owner of the vineyard told his manager to give the workers their pay. The owner said, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last. And then going to the first.” When the workers who were hired at 5 o’clock came, they received the daily wage of $60. When the other workers came - the one hired at 3 in the afternoon, the one at noon, the one at 9 in the morning, and the one at 6 a.m. - when those other workers came for their pay, they expected that they would receive more. Because they had worked longer than the one hired at 5 in the afternoon. But they each received the usual daily wage. Sixty dollars. A fair day's wage. The amount that had been agreed upon at the beginning of the day.
When these four got their wage, they started to grumble. (Can each of you grumble?) “These last workers only worked for one hour. You have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”
The landowner said to them: “Friends, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?"
The last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Thank you for helping me with the story. Now, let’s talk about it for a few minutes. In our story, the workers who were hired early in the day, felt like the landowner wasn’t being fair to them. Do you agree with this? Or disagree?
If we look at the story from their perspective, then I would agree that it doesn’t seem fair. If that same landowner did this in our world today, he or she would probably be reported to the Department of Labor. For not being fair. For not paying each of the workers for the hours they had worked. What they deserved. This is how we most likely see this story.
Now, I want you to think of a time when someone was surprisingly generous to you. Think of a time, if you can, when someone completely surprised you with their generosity. When they didn’t have to. How did that feel to you?
What if we looked at this story from the perspective of the last worker who was hired? He had waited all day long to be hired. Standing there. With nothing to do. Thinking about his family at home. And the money he needed to bring home so they could have food on their table that night. Needing a full day’s wages, yet not getting hired. Until the very end of the day. What if, the entire hour he was working, all he could think about was what he would tell his wife when he came home with less than a full day’s wages? And how, once again, they wouldn’t have enough food on their table to feed their family?
But, then, when it came time to be paid, he received a full day’s wages. He was beyond joy. And fell to his knees with gratitude. That even though he was hired last - after all of the other workers - the landowner, in his generosity, knew that, to feed his family, he needed that full day’s wage.
How might our perspective change if we looked at it from his perspective? Instead of from a perspective that brings envy. Or, as the Greek puts it, with an “evil eye?”
We live in systems that are characterized by status differences and by privilege that result in some people being valued more than others. This results in a system of “haves” and “have nots.” A system that becomes our way of living. What if this was the way of God's kingdom? What if, in God's kingdom, we got what we deserved?
But, thanks be to God, this is not the way of God’s kingdom. In God’s reign, we don’t get what we deserve. Instead, we receive what we don’t deserve. We receive God’s grace - an undeserved love that is given to everyone. In equal measure. God’s reign is marked by a surprising equality. The same equality witnessed in today’s parable. Where all receive an equal measure of God’s grace. And where we witness the extreme generosity of God. A generosity fully embodied in Jesus. Dying on the cross. For us. And for all people.
This is the way of God’s kingdom. In the world’s eyes, it is a way that is twisted and unexpected. It may seem unfair to us, who are so influenced by the world’s perspective. Yet, it is the way of God. A way of love. And a way of amazing generosity. For everyone.
May it be our way. May we, who have received everything we need from God and so much more - may we live with gratitude. May we model God’s unquestioning generosity. May we love and serve all people. Generously. Without envy. Amen.
Preached March 17, 2019, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Lent 2.
Readings: Matthew 20:1-16; Psalm 16:5-8.
The film, “Remember the Titans,” is based on a true story, set in the 1970s in Alexandria, Virginia. For years, schools have been segregated between black and white. Under a federal order to integrate, two schools, one white and one black, are forced to close and form T.C. Williams High School, a fully integrated school.
The white head football coach of the Titans is replaced by an African-American coach from North Carolina, Coach Herman Boone, who is played in the movie by Denzel Washington. There are deep tensions on the team, between black and white players, between black and white parents, between black and white coaches. There are deep tensions in the city.
Then the team goes on a two-week training camp--a boot camp of sorts--in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania--the site of the deadliest battle in the Civil War, a site of massive casualties for both Union and Confederate troops over three days. It is there, at training camp in Gettysburg, where our scene begins. Let’s watch!
The message for these young men was that, just like the soldiers in the Civil War, they, too, were part of a struggle that was much bigger than themselves. A monumental struggle. Something long--spanning history. Something epic. Something that has spanned the arc of our nation’s history into their own time and even into our time.
Eventually, though, these young men began to understand. They began to come together. And in the process, they were changed. Their coaches and parents were changed. The entire community was changed.
You and I are also part of something epic. Something monumental. A part of a story that spans the entire arc of history, beginning with the creation of our world, the deliverance of Israel out of slavery, the coming of the Messiah to, once and for all, deliver all people from sin into forgiveness, from death into life, from slavery into freedom.
You and I are part of God’s story.
Today, we begin the liturgical season of Lent. In the early church, Lent was a time of learning, just like a training camp. A journey for those new in the faith to prepare for their baptisms and to receive holy communion for the first time.
During this time, they would immerse themselves in the three traditional disciplines of Lent--almsgiving, or caring for the poor; fasting; and immersing themselves in Scripture and prayer.
At the end of Lent came the Three Days, or the Triduum. The Triduum was one service that began on Maundy Thursday, continued on Good Friday, and culminated with Easter Vigil on the evening before Easter Sunday. During the Three Days, these new believers would remember the movements of Christ during Holy Week--the Passover meal, Jesus’ death on the cross, and his resurrection. And, at the culmination of the Easter Vigil, they would be baptized. And they would celebrate how they had been joined with Christ in his death and resurrection and delivered from sin and death to righteousness and freedom.
The key to this Lenten journey for the new believers was conversion, or as the ancients put it, a change, a turning from one way of walking to another, from one way of life to a new way. For these new believers, Christianity was not simply something more to do or to take on, but it was a complete change, a totally new way of living. And, in a pagan world, a world where Christians were a very small minority, it was a change that could also result in their death.
Like those early believers, we’re on a journey, too. Now, it isn’t a journey that, for most of us, will result in a martyr’s death. But, it is a journey of dying. Dying to our old selves, dying to our old way of living. And, for us, Lent is an opportunity in that journey to step back a bit, both as individuals and as a community. To step back and take an inventory. To take an inventory of our hearts.
In the last verse of our lesson for this evening, we read these words, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What does your heart look like? Where is your treasure?
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes that “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
You are the righteousness of God. Where your heart is reflects how you are living into being that righteousness of God. How are you living now? Are you living in a way that reflects the wonder, the gratitude, the joy that is our life in Christ? Too often our lives rest in the anticipation of a future life with God, rather than living life in the here and now and in the assurance of God’s presence in the here and now.
Now, living into that wonder and gratitude and joy that is our life in Christ doesn’t ignore the brokenness or the suffering that is so present in our world today. It doesn’t deny our own brokenness or our own complicity in that suffering.
Yet wrapped into these realistic truths of our broken human existence is a greater truth--the truth of the resurrection.
In Romans 6, Paul writes, “We have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live a new way of life.”
Today, on Ash Wednesday, we remember our mortality. Without Christ, we face a sure and permanent death. Yet, death is not the end for us. In our baptism, we have been joined with Christ in his death and his resurrection. Lent doesn’t have to be a season of mourning and sacrifice. It is okay for us to have joy during Lent, to lean into the life that is ours as resurrected people of Christ. To step back and to wonder and see with gratitude where God is at work in our lives, in our church, in our community and in our world.
And it is okay to sing.
So, sing! Sing during this season of Lent. Sing the song of the epic story that spans the entire arc of salvation history. Sing the song of deliverance sung by Miriam at the Red Sea, by Mary at the angel’s announcement, by the angels at Christ’s birth, by Simeon in witness to the Messiah, by the early Christians in a hostile, pagan world, by Luther in a medieval world of reform, by the faithful leaders of the Civil Rights movement as they marched for freedom, by the whole church today and by all the church triumphant.
At the end of Lent, you will look back and you will see how you have been changed by this song. This song of joy and wonder. This song of humble awe and gratitude. This song of Jesus, who is with us here and now, and forever into all eternity. Amen.
Preached March 1, 2017, at Grace and Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Ash Wednesday
Readings: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20b - 6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
