Stories of Grace

So in our gospel reading this morning, we see another scenario where there are many invitations offered.

As this landowner continues to hire workers for his vineyard throughout the long workday, And at the end of the workday, the first set of laborers are frustrated because they put in the same amount of work, or they put in more work than the laborers who were hired only one hour before the end of the day.

They were the ones that were getting up early.

And so of course we only hear from the perspective of the workers at the end of the parable, when the day's wages are being paid out.

But we can use our imaginations and we can wonder how things might have gone in the vineyard during the day.

There was clearly a lot of work to be done.

In order for the landowner to keep hiring more and more workers, we needed the people, right? But I wonder, was there a point when the first wave of workers began to panic, like watching additional droves of people coming into the vineyard? Did they tell the new workers to stay away from their part of the vine, saying, hey, back off, this is my work, I got up early to be here, and I'm the one who has to finish it so I can get paid today? Or did they scoff at the newcomers, saying, gee, thanks for showing up late.

Look at everything we've already done.

Not much for you to do.

Maybe they tried to pawn off the hardest parts of the work on those who came later once they realized this pattern so they didn't have to do it.

But however things played out during the workday, it's clear that the first workers hired were feeling pretty self-righteous about the hours they spent at work compared to the later groups.

and they felt that they should be paid additionally for their labor.

Which is interesting, because if you'll remember, they did agree upon what is named as a fair wage at the beginning of the day.

They already knew what they were going to receive.

But it's the comparison trap, right? The thought that those others we've decided who don't deserve or rather haven't earned their reward might receive the same as those who've worked for it, that tends to make the hair bristle.

How much greater, though, is the worth of the payment to the one who does not expect to receive much for their hour of work than for the one who expects to be rewarded for their efforts? How much greater is the invitation to come to the vineyard to the one who's given up hope of being hired for the day than to the one who is confident they will be given work to be paid for? And so Jesus reminds us, the last will be first and the first last.

And really, maybe this isn't even a question of how much or how little a person worked at all, but rather a reflection of the landowner's willingness to keep inviting, to keep filling the vineyard with everyone that he can so that he can be generous toward them.

When we look at our Old Testament passage about Jonah's fit when God does not destroy the Ninevites, this shows the same sort of pattern.

Jonah certainly is not convinced that the people of Nineveh have repented in a manner worthy of God's relinquishment of punishment.

And at the same time, Jonah's not really doing much in his prophetic role to invite the people into that posture of repentance.

If you'll remember, he gives one of the shortest and vaguest prophetic messages to the city, saying, 40 days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.

He may as well have just gone around humming the Jaws theme song.

I think it would have had the same effectiveness.

But somehow, that's all it takes.

And because the people believe and repent from their evil ways, God doesn't follow through on the disaster that was to come on the city of Nineveh.