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Working Class
Pastor Brian
Matthew 20:1-15
With grapes swollen on the vine, the harvest isn’t going to pick itself. Determined, Jesus cranks on the ignition until his farm truck coughs to life. At first light, he drives to the pawnshop side of town, stopping at a gravel parking lot. The labor pool is already assembled: men with curved knives and disfigured skin, reapers in overalls and broken boots. Jesus calls out, “If anyone wants work in the vineyard, jump in the back. Pay is $10.”
After dropping the morning shift off with the field boss, he circles back. More crews are waiting at 9:00, 12:00, and 3:00. They climb in and slam the tailgate shut, relieved to be on the clock. At 5:00, one hour before quitting time, Jesus finds a few unhireables waving handwritten signs pleading for a day in the dirt. Rolling down the window, he asks, “Why haven’t you been picked up?” “No one,” a man says, “needs our sweat.”
“Get in.” Sixty minutes later, the whistle blows. The foreman gathers the early and late comers and begins distributing their earnings. “Ten bucks for you,” he says, “ten bucks for you; ten bucks for you; ten bucks for you.” Once the morning shift realizes what’s happening, they organize a grievance committee: “We’re senior staff, entitled to make more because we worked harder. How dare you cheat us?”
Once the bellyaching stops, Jesus responds: “Brothers, please accept your recompense and excuse yourself for the evening. Payroll is not your responsibility. No one came up short, and we agreed on a daily wage. Why is grace so offensive if it blesses your neighbor?” In this upsetting parable, shared with the disciples as they turn towards Jerusalem, what do we learn about God’s employment practices?
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