(Audio)
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.'
Although the Jews had been the Lord's people since the beginning of history it was no violation of justice for God to share his benefits with the Gentiles as well. This had in fact been his plan the whole time. Though they had been idle while the Jewish people had been in the vineyard of the Lord it did not imply that they should receive less as a result. It wasn't as though God truly needed the involvement of either people. Rather he involved them both in different ways and at different times to demonstrate his generosity and his mercy through them. Part of the lesson was precisely the gratuitous nature of the gift. God did not need anyone, was in fact able, "from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (see Matthew 3:9).
What was true about periods of history and the difference between the other nations and Israel was also true about the calling of different people at different times in their lives. Whether one is called in youth, in middle age, or repented like the good thief on the cross moments before death, the fundamental reward was still the same: eternal life. Yet it is also true that there is a sense in which some were rewarded more than others, but it requires a reversal of assumptions to understand it. Only when we come to see that the work in the vineyard is a privilege and not a mere obligation do we begin to see how those who are able to show greater love and mercy while still in this life, and perhaps in spite of great suffering, are actually uniquely privileged. It seems clear to us that the landowner sees things this way. He is borderline obsessed with putting as many people to work as possible, going again and again to find any he might have missed on earlier visits. He seems to do this, not so much because he needs the help, since, after all, how much will it really contribute to have people working the last hour of the day? But he appears to sense the indignity endured by those who were standing around idle and without purpose. They are, he knows, meant for more.
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
This is good news for those of us who have turned to the Lord later in life. But it is also good news for those who have labored long in the Lord's vineyard. We can see something of this attitude in Paul, who would have been content to receive the reward of eternal life common to all, which is, in one sense, incomparable. But he did not begrudge the importance of the ongoing work he could do in the vineyard during his mortal life.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
A more selfish man who was similarly convinced of his eternal destiny and in love with Jesus might have been less willing to put up with longer years of suffering and service before seeing him face to face. But not Paul. He wanted what the landowner wanted. He knew that human ways were different from God's ways and he decided to relinquish his own right to preference when it came to the God's judgment.
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
'These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day's burden and the heat.'
Although the Jews had been the Lord's people since the beginning of history it was no violation of justice for God to share his benefits with the Gentiles as well. This had in fact been his plan the whole time. Though they had been idle while the Jewish people had been in the vineyard of the Lord it did not imply that they should receive less as a result. It wasn't as though God truly needed the involvement of either people. Rather he involved them both in different ways and at different times to demonstrate his generosity and his mercy through them. Part of the lesson was precisely the gratuitous nature of the gift. God did not need anyone, was in fact able, "from these stones to raise up children for Abraham" (see Matthew 3:9).
What was true about periods of history and the difference between the other nations and Israel was also true about the calling of different people at different times in their lives. Whether one is called in youth, in middle age, or repented like the good thief on the cross moments before death, the fundamental reward was still the same: eternal life. Yet it is also true that there is a sense in which some were rewarded more than others, but it requires a reversal of assumptions to understand it. Only when we come to see that the work in the vineyard is a privilege and not a mere obligation do we begin to see how those who are able to show greater love and mercy while still in this life, and perhaps in spite of great suffering, are actually uniquely privileged. It seems clear to us that the landowner sees things this way. He is borderline obsessed with putting as many people to work as possible, going again and again to find any he might have missed on earlier visits. He seems to do this, not so much because he needs the help, since, after all, how much will it really contribute to have people working the last hour of the day? But he appears to sense the indignity endured by those who were standing around idle and without purpose. They are, he knows, meant for more.
'Why do you stand here idle all day?'
They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'
He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'
This is good news for those of us who have turned to the Lord later in life. But it is also good news for those who have labored long in the Lord's vineyard. We can see something of this attitude in Paul, who would have been content to receive the reward of eternal life common to all, which is, in one sense, incomparable. But he did not begrudge the importance of the ongoing work he could do in the vineyard during his mortal life.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
A more selfish man who was similarly convinced of his eternal destiny and in love with Jesus might have been less willing to put up with longer years of suffering and service before seeing him face to face. But not Paul. He wanted what the landowner wanted. He knew that human ways were different from God's ways and he decided to relinquish his own right to preference when it came to the God's judgment.
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
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