Going out about five o'clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
We see a recurring theme in the parables of Jesus, that it is never too late, up until the very last moment of our life in this world, whether the moment of our death or when he himself comes again in glory. We see, for instance, the prodigal son coming home to a celebration even after spending wasted years squandering his inheritance (see Luke 15:11-32). We think also of the first son who at first refused his father's command to go and work in the vineyard but later "changed his mind and went" (see Matthew 21:28-29). We are meant to appreciate the Lord's generosity and mercy, that even the good thief could come to faith as he died on the cross next to Christ, and could that day be with him in paradise (see Luke 23:43).
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
Rather than being glad to see the Lord's mercy and his generosity we sometimes grumble against him, like those in this parable and like that generation that grumbled against Moses in the desert. The problem is apparently envy, the uncomfortable idea that someone somewhere has it easier than we do, or is getting more for less. This might arise when we misconstrue our own difficulties along similar lines as bearing the day's burden and the heat. Or like the generation of the exodus we might complain that God's provisioning of miraculous bread strikes us as monotonous. There might be something real underlying each complaint, but the larger part is a matter of perspective.
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
Did those called first really wish to spend their day idle and without purpose, up until the very last? Did those who left Egypt really wish to return even if it meant being slaves? Of course not. Did anyone really desire the life that up until the last minute consisted in "standing around"? Being engaged in the labor of the vineyard was meant to be a blessing. It was in and of itself the master sharing his own life with all those who would hear his call. We get the impression that the master was working the hardest of them all, going into the marketplace at dawn, nine, noon, three, and five in search of laborers. We would not be surprised to discover that he himself was working alongside the others in the vineyard during the intervals between his hiring trips since he was so convinced of the goodness and the importance of the endeavor.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
They were paid what they were promised. It was enough. It was the right amount. It only now seemed to them to be too little because of envy and ego-drama. They were so self-involved now that they could no longer appreciate that which once seemed sufficient to motivate a day of labor. Thus we see both the twin dangers of comparison and complaint, and how they can wreak havoc on what might have otherwise been a joyful mission. It was above all their own perception of the situation that made them feel themselves to be "last".
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Paul knew better than to compare himself with others or to envy them. He already saw himself as late to the party, as "one untimely born" (see First Corinthians 15:8), well aware that his current situation was due entirely to unmerited grace. This awareness and thankfulness was what made him accept either much longer labor in the vineyard or a more immediate final reward. The fact that one could come late to the party did not mean he wished simply to cash out his chips and go home. He knew on some level that was better. But he also knew that working on the vineyard was so much more than bearing the day and the heat. It as "fruitful labor" to the degree that it was almost competitive in his mind with going home to Christ. It was no doubt this right mindset that enabled him to work "harder than any of them", by knowing that "it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (see First Corinthians 15:10).
Complaint and comparison will slow down our days and make the experience of the scorching sun seem unbearable. When we learn to lose ourselves in labor of the vineyard we will come to our final goal more quickly and with greater joy along the way than any who stood idle until the last. This should be a joy that we desire to share with others just as the master of the vineyard first shared it with us.
Let us leave aside merely human ways of thinking that trap us in the prison of our egos. The Lord's thoughts are not thoughts such as these. Let us instead by transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we can, like Paul, find joy wherever the Lord may call us.
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