Workers in the Vineyard Matthew 20:1-15 July 8, 2012 Once there was a man who went out early in the morning to hire some men to work in his vineyard. Thus begins our scripture lesson this morning. As Jesus told this parable people could identify with the situation. It was a common practice for land owners to hire individuals to bring in the crop. Even today men and women are hired to pick certain crops. With all the advances that have been made in farm equipment, there are some crops that still need to be picked by hand. I remember a brother of a friend that would go down to Florida every winter to pick oranges and other crops. From what I can tell it is hard work. The closest I have come to harvesting any quantity of crops is picking a couple baskets worth of apples at an orchard or filling several quarts of raspberries at a pick your own farm. In our story the fruit was grapes. The men are hired early in the day to work the vineyards. As we heard, throughout the day more men were hired, even as late as five o clock. When it came time to pay the workers, the men lined up in reverse order from when they were hired. The twist of the story is that everyone received the same pay. Those that spent the whole day working hard in the vineyard got the same pay as those that worked only a couple hours. So what is this story about? The most obvious answer is fairness, or as the Good News Version states the generosity of God. Is it fair that those that worked only a couple hours got the same pay as those that worked the whole day? When we consider the amount of effort that was put in by those first hired, it doesn t seem right that they were compensated the same as those that worked only a few hours. Were they paid what they agreed to work for? Yes. Were they relieved when they were hired, knowing they could provide for their family that day? Yes.
They would have been perfectly content if they did not know what others were paid. But once they saw what others received, they were miffed. What once seemed like a good deal suddenly became a rip off. When we hear a story we sometimes identify with one of the characters. When we read this story of the workers in the vineyard, who do you identify with? Are you the land owner, the workers hired first or the workers hired last? Our reaction to the story depends a lot on where we see ourselves in it. If we are the workers who worked all day, then the issue is fairness. If however, we see ourselves as those hired at the end of the day, then this is a story of generosity. If we are the land owner, then this is a story of the right to do as one chooses. Now in the story, who is Jesus focusing on? We would say God. God can be generous with whomever God chooses to be generous. Our reading ended at verse 15. There is one more verse that concludes this section of scripture. In verse 16 it says Jesus concluded, so those who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last. This phrase also shows up at the end of the 19 th chapter in Matthew. It appears to be Jesus way of pointing out God s favor for those put upon by human society. Those deemed less worthy, will indeed be treated with more favor by God. Back in Jesus day it was women, children and the poor that were at the bottom of this ladder of society. Shepherds and field workers would have been included in that list. Now days the poor are still in that list, but there are others. One group of people that have been given a lot of attention recently is undocumented immigrants. They are not only poor but they here illegally. What should we as a nation do with them? A lot of heated opinions are lifted up as this subject is debated. As I think about this story of the workers in the vineyard I see several connections to our undocumented brothers and sisters. Like those hired to work the vineyards, many undocumented immigrants work out in the fields harvesting fruits and vegetables. They do the hard, hot, back braking job of picking the foods we enjoy eating.
One statement that is made about these farm working immigrants is that they take out jobs. There was a book on the United Methodist Women reading list They take our jobs! And 20 other myths about immigration". As you can tell by the title, the author provides evidence that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are providing a service that would not be filled by most US citizens. In fact our economy has been dependent on having a secondary workforce, made up of immigrants willing to do hard work with low pay and no rights to demand changes. Another connection I see with immigrants coming to work in our country is the Johnny come lately attitude. We have been here for so long, why should these newcomers get the same pay and benefits that I do? That is the attitude of many in our country. The question is, are we going to be as generous with these new residents as God was in the story? When President O Bama signed a version of the Dream Act several weeks ago, a provision where children of undocumented parents can go to college or get a job without worry of deportation, were you glad or angry? Do you want your political candidates speaking out against undocumented immigrants, issuing warnings if they are elected? Or do you look for candidates that are open to finding solutions to this National concern? Granted this is an important issue. With concerns about the economy and health care, does it make sense to freely welcome all who want to live in America? No. not at all! But the parable about the workers flies in the face of fairness when it comes to employment practices. Clearly it points out that God operates on a different level. Our God is a God of generosity not scarcity. In God s perspective, people living free from danger, people being able to provide for themselves and their family, is more important than man made borders and laws. Are the immigrants those that are last and we Americans considered to be the first in God s eyes? Just something to consider if we are ever tempted to judge other people? As I have said several times during this sermon series, I am borrowing the concept of this series from Rev. George Covintree. He shared with me the
sermon titles and scripture texts for all six Sundays. So far I have used the same pattern George did. Today I chose to go in a different direction. Today s message was to be Finding the Right Help. If you kept the promotional sheet we made up for this series, you know that was the title I had intended on using. As the worship planning team and I were reflecting on the direction of last Sunday s message and today s we saw an overlap. The original scripture lesson for today was Matthew 9 verses 35 through 38. This is where Jesus said to his Disciples, The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out more workers to gather in the harvest. Those here last week will remember my encouragement of you to nurture someone to the faith. I handed out fig newtons and asked us to identify someone who did not belong to a church and seemed dis-connected to God. Eating the cookie was a symbolic act of committing ourselves to give care and attention to that person. (There was a reason it was a Newton. If you were not here last week, you might want to ask a fellow church member what significance that cookie had.) When Jesus says the harvest is large, he is saying the number of people that would benefit from being in a right relationship with God is huge. There are so many lost souls in the world. God needs us to help them get on the right path. We are the workers. It all ties into the great commission, our call to make disciples. Besides making disciples, Jesus also expects us to help those in need. As he said about feeding the hungry, giving clothes to those without, and visiting folks in prison, as you did it to the least of these, you did it to me. The world is filled with people in need. Maybe we can see the vineyard as a metaphor for a world that is hurting and hungry. Is God calling us to be workers in the vineyard? And whether we have been doing the work for decades, or we just got started, God is pleased with all of us. We will all receive God s love equally. And since the job is so great, the task of helping a broken world so large, God continues to recruit new workers. If you have not already said yes, if you have not already enlisted to serve as one of God s vineyard workers, then today is the day. All you need to do is let God lead your life.
God will take your gifts and your talents and use then in the task of Kingdom Building. God will open up your eyes to see the need around you and then provide a way to respond. And when you are finished, when your time has come for eternal rest, God will say the same thing to you as has been spoken those that went before you, well done good and faithful servant.