“I worked harder than that guy, I’ll get more than him for sure!” Worldly logic at it’s finest. Not to say that hard work is bad, God delights in diligent work ethic, but here comes Jesus with the parable of the workers in the vineyard flipping logic on it’s head again!
A landowner goes out to hire workers first thing in the morning, they agreed to a days’ wage and get going. But the same owner goes out to recruit more workers just a few hours later, and again after that, another time in the afternoon, and finally just one hour before end of day – all the while agreeing to pay “what is fair”. Come the end of the day, he lines up all of the hired help and pays them each a full days wage. Imagine the feeling of frustration that arose over the workers who had been hard at work all day long! Hadn’t they put in more hours, more effort, more sweat than the latecomers?
Surely they deserved more, they had earned it, hadn’t they?
But here is the radical truth of grace in the gospel, God offers salvation by grace to all who believe, from the one who began as a toddler rolling around on the Sunday school rug to the thief hanging on the cross. It’s not the length of your faith that saves you, but the grace of the One who sets you free.
Verse 16 reminds us “so the last will be first and the first will be last”. But how arrogant my earthly mind transitions into a posture of comparison. Did you notice how later workers gladly went to work in agreement to receive whatever the landowner decided was right. See, the landowner represents God. He pursues all people relentlessly, refusing to leave even the least behind. Think of the remaining workers at the end of the day, they would likely go home with no pay and no way to feed their families that day, a disgrace. But God, He never stopped pursuing, inviting them in. As believers, we are blessed to know that we are in the vineyard working for the most just and fair landowner, our Lord and Savior!
Has your joy in serving the King been replaced by comparison with those who came after you? Gratitude quickly dies when comparison convinces us someone else worked less for the same reward. Time for a change in mindset. We are children of the king, heirs of His gracious generosity. Christianity is not an employee contract built on earned wages. Far from it! We should be rejoicing when the lost sheep returns home, make heaven crowded, enthusiastically share in the good and gracious giftings of your Maker. Stop relating to God in a transactional manner, He is not your genie to grant wishes or a vending machine to dish out what you’ve selected. On the contrary, He is a loving Father generously pouring out gifts onto all of His children. Rejoice in what God has given you, then celebrate what He gives others too. After all, at the end of the day it all belongs to God anyway, we are simply here to steward what He has allotted to us.