Today’s Scripture:
Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And 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?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When 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.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Food For Thought:
Scholars refer to this text as the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. This parable seeks to tell us what the kingdom of God is like. God is the vineyard owner and we are the workers. Everyone is hired at different times of the day (just as people become followers at different points in their life and their faith journeys may be much different). We are all equal in the eyes of God. It doesn’t matter if you are born into the faith, come into the faith in early adulthood, or come into it at the end of life. What matters is that you are striving to be a part of the kingdom of God and working towards bringing God’s kingdom here on earth. One of my favorite songs by Stephen Curtis Chapman is called The Invitation. It is a beautiful song about the invitation from God to be part of the kingdom of God. Here are the lyrics:
In the palace in the land of mercy
The King looked down from His throne
He saw the sick and the homeless and hungry
He saw me lost and without hope
And moved with compassion
He sent out His only Son
With the invitation, to come
This is your invitation
Come just the way you are
Come find what your soul has been longing for
Come find your peace
Come join the feast
Come in
This is your invitation
So I stood outside the gates and trembled
In my rags of unworthiness
Afraid to even stand at a distance
In the presence of holiness
And just as I turned to go
The gates swung open wide
And the King and His only Son
They invited me inside
This is your invitation
Come just the way you are
Come find what your soul has been longing for
Come find your peace
Come join the feast
Come in
This is your invitation
So now will you come with me
To where the gates swing open wide
The King and His only Son
Are inviting us inside
This is our invitation
Come, sinner, as you are
Come find what your soul has been longing for
Come find your peace
Come join the feast
Come in
This is your invitation
This is our invitation
This is the invitation
God has invited each and every one of us, how are we going to respond to that invitation?
Prayer:
Inviting God, open our ears to hear your word and draw us closer to you, that the whole world may be one with you as you are one with us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Give us courage to invite others to the table so that your kingdom is ushered into this earth. In your sacred name we pray, Amen.