I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but just hadn’t gotten around to it.
Several months ago, I was reading the book of Matthew in the course of my daily devotions. Chapter 20 features what is probably a pretty familiar parable: “The Parable of the Workers” (or “Laborers in the Vineyard”). At least, it was familiar to me. I’ve read it many times.
To read it, click here, but I’ll summarize: a landowner goes out to hire people to work in his vineyard. At various times throughout the day, he hires more workers. At the end of the day, they all line up to receive their pay, starting with those who have worked the fewest hours. They get a full day’s wage, so those who have been there all day start thinking they’ll get a lot of money. When they are given the same wage as those who have been there only a few hours, they complain about the lack of fairness.
The landowner, though, asks what they’re complaining about. After all, they received a full day’s wage, so what’s it to them if the landowner chooses to give freely of his money to those who worked only a few hours?
I’ll confess, as I started reading the story, I wasn’t excited about it. I’ve never really liked this parable (I know, what an awful thing to say!). However, I was surprised as I started reading through it; I had a different reaction to it than I usually do. In every other case that I can remember, I was frustrated with the moral of the story because I related to the full-day workers.
This time, though, I was extremely grateful for the story, because it dawned on me that, despite how I’d probably viewed myself all my life–as Godly and having grown up in the church and having it all together–I was like one of those who had only worked for a few hours. Not in terms of time spent as a Christian or something like that (though that interpretation works, too), but as someone who is in daily need of God’s compassion, grace, and generosity. For the first time, I read that story and identified with the “least” of the workers, thankful that God doesn’t use a variable measuring stick. I’m a sinner, and by God’s grace alone–grace that He extends to everyone, regardless of how long or how well they’ve labored in the field–I’m saved through faith in Jesus and His sacrifice and resurrection.
And that’s a great thought to end the night on.
