The Judgment of God

Exodus 32:1-14; Philippians 1:21-27; Matthew 20:1-16

Our gospel lesson for today deals with how an employer went out at various times during a particular day and hired people to work for him. So, when the end of the day came, some people ended up having worked for the man longer than others. Yet, despite the number of hours each person worked, the employer paid each one of them the same amount of money. Now, we might think this as strange as did the apostles did when they heard the story. Because as we look at things, it doesn't seem at all fair that the person who worked less should be paid as much as the person who worked more. Indeed, the logic of the world dictates that a person should be paid according to the time he/she puts in.

But, then, even in the world this isn't always the case: For instance, several years ago actress Shirley MacLaine was given a handsome handout of $800,000 for doing nothing. She did not even appear in court. The judge awarded a summary judgment against the Century-Fox Corporation for breach of contract. Shirley MacLaine had been contracted for a production that was to net her $800,000 for her work. The production later had to be abandoned. She was offered an alternate picture at equal pay, but she refused. "The judge agreed that she was not obliged to accept a role in another picture." Rather than work on another picture, the actress preferred $800,000 without working.

It might be argued that she was hindered by contract from making other money. But what is interesting is that in little more than a week Shirley MacLaine got as much doing nothing as the President of the United States earns in a whole year, working like a slave.

But, isn't that how we are going to feel in heaven? After all, there is nothing that we could possible do in this life that could ever earn us what awaits us in heaven. Indeed, there was only one person who's work had the power to save. And that person was Jesus Christ. And the saving work which he did, didn't simply save himself, but made it possible for everyone who puts their faith in him to be saved, as well.

Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard has been called "one of the greated and most glorious of all" because it contains truth which goes to the very heart of the Christian faith. And what are these truths?

First, it is a warning to the disciples. It is as if Jesus said to them, "You have received the great privilege of coming into the Christian Church and fellowship very early and very soon, right at the beginning. The time will come when, in the later days, others will come in. When that happens, you must not claim special honour and a special place because you were Christians before they were. All persons, no matter when they come, are equally precious and valuable to God." There are people who think that, because they have been members of a Church for a long time, the Church practicially belongs to them, and they can dictate and control its policy; such people resent what seems to them the intrusion of new blood into a Church, or the rise of a new generation who have different plans and different ways. In the Christian Church seniority does not necessarily mean honor.

But, there is something else in this parable of Jesus for us to pay attention to: Not only is there a warning to the disciples, but there was a warning to the Jews who became Christians in the early days of the church. The Jews knew that they were the chosen people. As a consequence, they looked down on the Gentiles. Sometimes they even hated and despised them, and hoped for nothing but their destruction. If the Gentiles were to be allowed into the fellowship of the Church at all, some early Jewish Christians felt that they should only be allowed in as inferiors. But "in God's econimy," as someone has said, "there is no such thing as a most favoured nation clause." Christianity knows nothing of the conception of a master race. In fact, it may well be that we who have been Christians for so long have much to learn from those younger Churches who are the late-comers to the fellowship of the faith.

These warnings to the disciples and to the Gentiles were certainly the original lessons of this parable of Jesus, but, as we read it now, centuries after it was written, it has very much more to say.

One of these lessons is to be seen in the comfort that God provides to those who put their faith in Christ. The parable says that no matter when a person enters the Kingdom, late or soon, in the first days of youth, in the strength of the midday, or when the shadows are lengthening, he or she is equally dear and precious to God.

In the book of Revelation there is a description of 12 gates. There are gates on the east which is the direction of the dawn, and whereby a person may enter in the morning of his/he days. And then there are gates on the west which is the direction of the setting sun, and whereby a person may enter in his/her old age. No matter when a person comes to Christ, that person is equally dear to Him.

And, so, the comfort of God is seen very clearly in this parable of Jesus. But, there is something more: There is the generosity of God, as well.

The workers in the vineyard didn't all do the same work; but they did receive the same pay. There are two great lessons here. The first is, as it has been said, "All service ranks the same with God." It is not the amount of service we give, but it is the love in which it is given that matters. A who has a lot may give you a gift of a thousand dollars. And most of us would be very grateful to receive such a gift. A child may give you a birthday or a Christmas gift that cost only a few cents, but which was painstakingly and lovingly saved up for -- and that gift, with no value of its own, touches our heart far more. God does not look on the amount of our service. So long as our service is all we have to give, all service ranks the same with God.

But the second lesson is greater: It is that all God gives comes from his grace. We can't earn what God gives us; we can't deserve it; we can't put God in our debt; what God gives to us is given out of the goodness of God's heart, out of God's grace. What God gives is not pay, but a gift; not a reward, but a grace.

And that, then, brings us to the most supreme lesson of this parable -- that the whole point of work is the spirit in which the work is done. The servants in this parable are clearly divided into two classes. The first came to an agreement with the employer; they had a contract; they said, "We work, if you give us so much pay." They worked for the money, and, as their conduct showed, all that they were concerned with was to get as much as possible out of their work. But in the case of those who were employed later in the day, there is no word about a contract or agreement. All they wanted was the chance to work, and they would willingly leave the reward for that work to their employer.

There is the basic difference. A man is not a Christian if his first concern is the pay. The Christian works for the joy of the working and the joy of serving God and his fellow human beings. That is why the first will be last and the last will be first. Many a man or woman in this world, who earned great rewards, will have a very low place in the Kingdom, for their sole thought was about the reward they would get. But, many a person in this world, who, as the world counts reward, is a poor person, will be great in the Kingdom of God, because that person never though in terms of reward, but worked for the thrill of the working and for the joy of the serving. It is the paradox of the Christian life that the person who aims at the reward loses the reward, while the person who forgets the reward finds it in the end.

There once was a painter by the name of Paul Verones. Like many other great painters, he was given to eccentric moods and odd habits. On one occasion he accepted the hospitality of a family at their beautiful country villa. While he stayed in the home, he assumed great liberties during his visit, claiming absolute possession of his room, allowing not even a servant to enter. He would not let the maid make his bed. Even even swept the room, himself, leaving the sweepings outside the door for the maid to remove. And then when it came time for him to leave, he simply left without bidding the family good-by.

After his departure the maid entered the room and found that all of the sheets which had been on the bed were missing. Going to the head of the household, she reported that the painter must have stolen them. But, after a more careful search, a roll of linen was found in a corner. Carefully unrolling the linen there was found a priceless picture which had been given the title: "Alexander in the Tent of Darius." It had been painted on the missing sheets of the bed and the artist had chosen this curious way of rewarding his hosts for their generous hospitality.

God is like this with us. For God's gift to us is also priceless, far greater than we could possibly deserve. Amen.