September 21, 2008 Message

Philippians 1:27; Matthew 20:1-16
“The Last Will Be First, Is Good News?”

Today Paul says, “More important than anything else, “live in a way that brings honor to the good news of Christ.” (Phil. 1:27) What is the good news of Christ? Jesus telling us “the last will be first” is good news?

Why does the landowner go to the marketplace five times in one day, including just one hour before the pay time to bring in all the workers he can find?

And why does he give the same pay to every worker, regardless of whether they began at six in the morning, at noon, or at five in the afternoon.

What's he doing in this story, anyway?

Or when he settles up at the end of the day, not only does he pay those who worked a little the same as those who worked a lot, he pays them first. What’s that all about? Imagine how that must have made the ‘first-comers’ feel as they watched the landowner give everyone in the vineyard the same pay regardless of how long they had worked.

So those who had worked the longest - the ”first comers” - grumbled. They protested. I can understand that, can’t you? To them, it just wasn’t fair. They had worked the entire day and had the blisters to show it. But the landowner answered their complaints by saying, "Can’t I do what I choose with what belongs to me? Can’t I be generous?" It sounds a lot like the father of the prodigal son talking to his older son, doesn’t it? The part where the older son complains about his father’s generosity to his brother and says, “I’ve never gotten even a small cookout for the work I’ve done around here, let along a big barbeque with all the neighbors invited.” It just isn’t fair. And what does the father say? He says, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours" (Luke 15:31).
Generosity is often the subject of many of our stories both from the Bible and from real life.
A woman was chatting with her next-door neighbor...
"I feel real good today. I started out this morning with an act of unselfish generosity. I gave a twenty dollar bill to a bum."
"You mean you gave a bum twenty dollars? That's a lot of money to give away like that. What did you husband say about it?"
"Oh, he thought it was a good thing. He said, "Thanks."

In our reading for today, the point of the story is the generosity of the landowner. The fact that he wants to give everyone a days wage for another day of living – regardless of who’s been in the vineyard the longest or who has worked the hardest. He is giving to everybody according to their needs, not on the basis of their merit. The landowner very much wants everyone to have a place in the vineyard. That’s why he goes back to the marketplace so many times in one day, even at five o’clock in the afternoon. The text says he goes back not because he needs someone to work, but to see if there are workers with nothing to do. The landowner doesn’t want anyone left out.

And our other questions concerning equal pay for everyone and the “last” being paid first, what about them? First, consider the context of today’s reading: Peter has asked what the disciples, the “first comers” who have left everything for Jesus will get, what will be their reward, to which Jesus promises "a hundredfold"; he also tells the disciples that "whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave," and that he "came not to be served but to serve." So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

The vineyard in Jesus’ parable (or story) is the kingdom of God, a world that is totally different from ours. In our world, time plus effort equals production, and production equals pay. Those most skilled, those who work the hardest deserve to be paid more, right? But Jesus’ ‘vineyard’ is characterized by something other than profit margin, something greater than incentive and reward – and that is an owner who wants to be generous and kind to all who “go to the vineyard.” It doesn’t matter when they go – early or late. The landowner gives every worker the same pay.

In this parable, Jesus tries to help his followers, those who were called first, to comprehend or understand the new world into which they have been invited, and to join him in inviting the last ones — the sick, the poor, the women, the latecomers, the unimportant. He asks those of us who have been called first to understand the nature of the kingdom that, in him, is near. We are to be workers with him, becoming others' servants and humbling ourselves. (Matt. 23:12). The last, the least in the world, are most in need. Some might suggest they are the closest to God’s heart. Therefore they are the first recipients of God’s generosity. Because of their need and because they would have been left out had he not gone back to the marketplace one more time, the “least of these” are placed first in line. The landowner pays the last first.

Jesus saying “the last will be first” IS good news, isn’t it? The whole story of the landowner is good news, because it informs us about God. God’s concern for us all is the same. God’s love for all creation is equally great. God’s gift is available to everyone. The story of the landowner is about God, the Father, who cares about all of us – to the point of inviting even the least of us and the hopeless among us to the vineyard, to God’s kingdom, where our needs for the day will be taken care of. And that should be good news for everyone.

So, as Paul advised, let us honor this good news by working together side by side in all we do to help others know this of God as well.