Transcript

Matthew 20:3-7 · NOBA @ Noon

Canon Justin Murff: The Gospel of Matthew chapter twenty three seven for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard, and going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour he did the same, and about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him because no one has hired us. And so he said to them, You go into the vineyard too. The gospel of the Lord Jesus is teaching his disciples, and he tells this parable about a landowner hiring workers for his vineyard, and the story reveals the truly scandalous nature of the kind of grace God gives us. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place, and said to them, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I'll give you. And so they went. Now the work day began at dawn. The first hour, six o'clock in the morning, so the third hour would have been about nine AM. These workers hadn't been hired in the initial morning recruitment, they were still standing in the marketplace, the ancient equivalent of day laborers waiting for work. The landowner doesn't specify their wage, only promising whatever is right. Thankful for the work, no doubt, the workers trust him and go straight to work. Going out again about the sixth hour in the ninth hour he did the same, so noon and three PM After all a great harvest needs more workers, so the landowner keeps returning to the marketplace and he keeps finding more unemployed laborers, and he keeps sending them into the vineyard. With each passing hour less work time remains and the plentiful harvest is gathered. Up until the eleventh hour, when he went out and he found others still standing by and he says to them Why are you standing here all day? And they replied 'cause no one hired us. And so he sends them out as well. The eleventh hour, 5 p.m., only one hour remaining of the workday. These workers had been passed over. Their explanation is simple. No one's hired us. They weren't lazy. They were unchosen. Perhaps they were older, weaker, or less appealing to prospective employers. The landowner's response is pure mercy. There's no mention of wages, simply you go into the vineyard too. They're included despite arriving when the work is nearly finished. The parable carries multiple layers of meaning. It addressed the inclusion of the Gentiles, the latecomers to the covenant, alongside the Jews. It also speaks to those whose lives had been spent far from God, but were now being welcomed in even at the eleventh hour. The landowner's repeated return to the marketplace reveals something also about God's seeking nature. He doesn't recruit once and stop. No, throughout the day and throughout all of human history, he keeps going out, he keeps searching and seeking and inviting, and he keeps including those whom others have passed over. No one has hired us. The confession is echoed in so many hearts. People who feel unchosen, overlooked, passed over, too damaged, too late for their life to have any real purpose or meaning, but not when the master's around. The world's marketplace may reject them, but the landowner of the kingdom of heaven makes a final trip and includes them as well. So how does this parable speak to us today? Well, first, it announces grace for the latecomer. If you feel like you've wasted years or missed opportunities or arrived too late to the party, well, this story's for you. The eleventh hour workers receive the same welcome as the first hour workers. Secondly, it challenges our notions about privilege and merit. We naturally assume that the more work we do deserves a greater reward, but the kingdom operates differently. Grace isn't earned by more labor, and we certainly can't work our way into heaven or earn more of God's love and forgiveness than we already have. Third, the landowner's persistence models divine seeking. Thank the Lord He never gives up on us after the first invitation. No, he returns throughout the day. Fourth, this parable invites us to see others through the landowners' lenses, the eleventh hour workers, where the marketplace rejects. Well, do we see certain people in our own field of influence or lives that we might think I just don't know if they've got what it takes? Well, in God's eyes, it matters not. They have an invitation to. Today, if you struggle with feeling like a late comer, Receive the landowner's welcome. Friends, it's never too late to enter the vineyard. Remember you are fully loved by God, redeemed by Christ on purpose, for a purpose. Friends, let's get out to the vineyard.