Text: Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning, he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon, he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “’Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came, and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Usual title: “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard” ~ but this assumes the workers are the focus of Jesus’ story.

But the focus of this parable is the owner of the vineyard: “The Parable of the compassionate employer.” This man shows incredible grace, compassion, and sensitivity throughout the day for the unemployed. He is kind and generous ~ and misunderstood ~ as is often the case with the kind and generous.

Q. Will I get work today?
Q. Will I be able to feed my wife and children?
Q. Or will I return home penniless & ashamed to the hungry faces of my family?

And so, many of these men stay in the marketplace, hoping against hope. In our story, the ones who stay get rewarded…

The parable includes five groups of workers:

Group One: employed at 6am.
Group Two: employed at 9am.
Group Three: employed at noon.
Group Four: employed at 3pm.
Group Five: employed at 5pm

It was a twelve-hour working day, and the going rate was a denarius, the usual daily wage of a labourer. Today, a denarius would be worth about $60.

Those employed at sunrise would work hard throughout the heat of the day, hoping they’d be hired for a second day or maybe longer.

The landowner travels four more times to the marketplace to reward the raw courage of those who remained there hopeful for work. Most labourers would leave by noon, having given up hope.

But others stayed. Standing firm in hope. Eager and able to work and not amongst those that give up. They are those who say, “We will stand here until the light fades and go home in the dark if we have to.” (Kenneth E. Bailey). Many of you have proven to be people of Christ-like character, in the same way!

The owner doesn’t offer them charity. He’s interested in giving a hand up, not a handout.

By day’s end, there are five groups of workers. Only Group One had a verbal contract: “He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.”

Groups two, three and four had a promise: I will pay you whatever is right.

Group 5 was only offered work with no mention of pay.

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

Q. Why does the master instruct the foreman to pay the last first?

If he’d done it the other way around, no one would have complained. Everyone would have been happy.

Q. So, why deliberately upset people?

Equal pay for equal work is not the focus of Jesus’ parable. This story has to do with the overpaid, not the underpaid. In fact, no one is underpaid. “This story focuses on an equation filled with amazing grace, which is resented by those who feel that they have earned their way to more.” (Kenneth E. Bailey).

The complaint from group one reveals the deep prejudice of their hearts: you have made them equal to us. Their words echo with the same intensity as the older brother, who just couldn’t stand the extreme grace showered by the loving father on his wasteful son.

Or the words of Judas when Mary poured expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. “Why this waste?” he cried: Judas, the treasurer, the thief.

The sad fact is some people find grace infuriating.

Q. I wonder what the take-home truth is from this parable?

I’ll tell you: The “all-day” workers are the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They are the people who have kept the law all of their lives. And then, Jesus comes along and spends time with tax collectors, sinners, and other undesirables and extends them precisely the same level of grace. He says, “they are equal to you.” The Pharisees don’t like it.

I have come across many Christians like this in 30 years of Bayside Church. Good people. Jesus-loving people that find it too much when the amazing grace they have received is extended to those they deem unworthy. And the same words echo through two thousand years of church history: “You have made them equal to us.” And Jesus says, yes, that’s right, I have.

In Christ, everyone IS equal to you – get used to it!

The thief on the cross, beat Peter to heaven…
“So, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

I want to honour those who have stood strong with us. Those who have stayed laboured and not given up.

There are people who have been part of Bayside Church for the entire 30 years! Who were with me on day one in the funeral chapel in Cheltenham. Others joined Bayside back in the 90s. Others have been part of this church since we moved into this building, over two decades. I honour you and thank you.

Some of you are new to Bayside Church. Welcome! But whether you’ve been part of this church for decades or years or months or weeks we are all equal in Jesus. My hope is that we will serve Jesus together well into the future. Amen!