September 24, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: "Song of the Vineyard"
Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16
(Other lectionary choices include Exodus 16:2-15, Psalm 105 (selections), and Philippians 1:21-30.)
Matthew 20:1-16
The Laborers in the Vineyard
1"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. 6And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The sermon title is "Song of the Vineyard", and maybe there really isn't a song here - but my mother had a book by that name, and it was written by a scholar I came to admire. His name was B. Davie Napier, and before he died, he lived at Pilgrim Place in Claremont. After I had graduated from Pacific School of Religion, Dr. Napier became president of that seminary. (AFTER his tenure there, I heard that he was a much better scholar and teacher than he was a seminary president! That's okay: we can't all be good at everything we do!)
What is going on in today's Scripture about a vineyard? Several things, which is usually true about the stories Jesus tells. For one thing, those who get hired later in the day get paid the same as those who hired on early in the morning. Is that FAIR? Well, the landowner DID give those who hired on early what he said he'd give them, so he didn't cheat the early hires! Human nature and GREED being what they are, those who hired on early sort of expected something extra....which they didn't get! One point here may be that God is FAIR and that GOD is running things, and God can show mercy to whom God wants! I believe that, and I hope you do, too!
What may be going on here is that in the early church, there may have been some resentment among the Jewish believers who had been with Jesus from the start - and now here the early church was bringing in Gentiles who had only recently heard of Jesus and had decided to convert. "Hey!" said those early Jewish believers. "We were with Jesus from the start, and now these Johnny-come-late-lies get all the blessings without going through what WE had to go through." Maybe that's what's going on here, and maybe not.
The Scottish scholar William Barclay says this, and you and I have known people like this! Says Barclay: "There are people who think that, because they have been members of a church for a long time, the Church practically belongs to them and they can dictate its policy." And Barclay goes on to say, "In the Christian Church, seniority does not necessarily mean honour." That was a message for the early church, and it's a message for us today!
Something else in today's Scripture is quite touching and says something about the landowner's (or GOD's) grace and mercy. Those workers described in the parable really NEEDED to work. (I don't know how it is where you live, but where we live, day laborers can be seen in several places - and these people (usually Hispanics, I would guess) NEED to work to get money to SURVIVE.) Think about this parable the next time you see workers hanging out hoping to get work. The landowner in Jesus's story knew that the day laborers needed to work to survive - and a denarius for a day's work was really not a lot of money. So, he was compassionate as well as generous in giving a full day's pay for just a few hours of work. The landowner KNEW their financial straits and was determined to give just a little bit extra if he could. That's God, Jesus is saying: compassionate as well as generous.
Did you notice how today's Scripture lesson ended? "The last will be first and the first will be last." Jesus seems to say that a lot, and I personally think he says it to keep us from being too prideful. For me, if Jesus hated anything, it was pride. Remember his story of the Pharisee and the publican or tax collector? The Pharisee is so very proud of himself, and he even thanks God that he is not like that lowly tax collector next to him! I find myself wondering if people who heard that story smiled just a little bit that a guy as religious as a Pharisee could actually utter such prideful words! In our physical lives, I have heard that stress is a killer, and I believe that. In our spiritual lives, PRIDE is a killer, or at least I think Jesus thought so. And I think each of us must fight against being prideful almost every day. Do I look down on you because my car is better than yours? That's pride. Do I look down on you because I had a better education than you? That's pride. In our "keeping up with the Joneses" economy, it's hard not to be prideful. Look at so many commercial messages on TV: if you buy OUR product, you'll be so much better off than your neighbors. It is hard not to buy into it, but don't do it! That's pride, and Jesus was against it! Also, the ancient Greeks had a saying: "Pride goeth before a fall." If Jesus knew that saying, he probably agreed with it!
There is something about this parable of the vineyard that reminds me of how NOT to live! Those who came to the job late and received a full day's wage make me think of people I have known who wanted to live their lives the way they wanted, and then luck out with a deathbed conversion! First of all, such an attitude doesn't think much of a relationship with God all one's life. Secondly, what if you miscalculate, and DIE before you expect to? WHOOPS! I am pretty sure that's not the point of the parable, but I DO think of conversations I have had over the years with people who think that way: I'll live the way I want, and THEN I'll "come to Jesus" before I die. That's a sad way to look at life. You could have enjoyed a relationship with God your whole life and found how much more fulfilling such a life can be. It can be a great blessing to have been hired "early in the day".
Let me close with the words of William Barclay. He says, "Christians work for the joy of serving God and others. That is why the first will be last and the last will be first. " He says that many have worked for rewards and may find themselves in a low place in God's kingdom. However, many who were poor in this life "will be great in the kingdom, because they never thought in terms of reward but worked for the thrill of working and for the joy of serving. It is the paradox of the Christian life that those who aim at reward lose it, and those who forget reward find it."
No, I'll close with William H. Willimon! He says, "The vineyard owner challenges our notions of what is right, what is just and unjust, who is deserving or undeserving. Our notions are challenged on the basis of the vineyard owner's actions." Willimon also says that Jesus doesn't stop looking for others to save after WE are saved. He NEVER stops looking! Are we jealous of that? Now....Amen.
Pastor Skip
After I finished the sermon, I saw some other things Willimon said that I like. Shouldn't I have read what he had to say BEFORE finishing the sermon? Yes, but I forgot!
"Most of the action in this parable is spent not with grape harvesting but rather with these constant incursions whereby the farmer leaves the vineyard, goes to the unemployment office, and hires workers. Here's a boss that just won't rest until everyone in town is working in the boss's business. It's not so much a story about how grapes get to be harvested but rather how everyone in town became gainfully employed."
The assumption in this parable is that the vineyard is actually "biblical code for 'Israel'.....One is born into this vineyard; membership is by birthright. Yet Jesus is characterizing membership in the vineyard as based on the repeated seeking, searching, inviting actions of the owner of the vineyard." Does anybody think of the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke's Gospel? It's actually about the PRODIGAL Love of the FATHER! This vineyard story is more about GOD than it is about anybody else!
Back to Willimon's words: "And one more thing: the farmer is never at the farm! The owner of the vineyard spends most of his time not hunkered down with the workers, supervising them in their work in the vineyard. The boss is on the road, bringing in more workers for the vineyard, bringing them in even one hour before quitting time." And then he says to us, "People of God, church, the certified, the vetted, some of you longtime workers in God's vineyard: how do you like this image of God?" Willimon points out that this parable is only in the Gospel according to Matthew. I don't know what that means, but that's a fact, maybe worth mentioning, and maybe not.
And then Willimon said this to a parishioner who was not touched by one of his sermons. The congregant said, "I'm sorry. I just wasn't fed by your sermon today." Do you know what Willimon said to this worshipper? "Maybe the Holy Spirit is on the road today!" Isn't that great? Don't always expect God to be staying at your particular church. "This parable suggests that we should never forget that God has bigger fish to fry than just us and our church." Again, isn't that great?
Finally - and I mean it this time! - Willimon mentions John 3:16. He quotes it this way: "For God so loved me and people who look a lot like me that God gave God's only begotten son." "NO!" he says. "God loved the world. The boundaries of the kingdom of heaven are not defined by the confines of this congregation. He's on the road!"
Amen.
Pastor Skip
