“Applying the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard”

Monday, March 16, 2020

Sunday morning we continued our kingdom parables series by looking at the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. It is a parable that challenges our hierarchies and motivations.
In the context, Jesus had just told his disciples that the kingdom belongs to “little children” (Matt. 19:13-14). These are those of lowly position who depend entirely on what they’ve been given. This sets up the contrast with the rich young ruler who is a man of great status in wealth. By all accounts he is a righteous man who presumably had been blessed by God but he had not become like the little children. He was still clingy to power and possessions (Matt. 19:16-22).

The disciples on the other hand had given up everything! They sacrificed relationships, opportunities to grasp at position and possessions for the sake of serving Christ. They had lowered themselves and become “last” in this world and therefore God would make them first (Matt. 19:23-30).

And yet Peter’s question, “what then shall we have?” betrays an improper motivation and a proclivity to elevate oneself to a higher position through the back door so to speak. This is demonstrated by the parable Jesus tells of laborers who had great expectations of great reward only to begrudgingly complain when those expectations went unmet. These expectations were fueled by the workers observation of their master generously rewarding those who had by comparison down very little work. They thought to themselves, ‘if they got rewarded graciously, how much more will our reward be? After all, we have labored longer and harder than they have. We are better workers than them. We deserve more than them.’

 The disciples needed to understand that they would probably sacrifice more than others would, have a harder journey than others would, have to leave behind more than others would and yet this is still not grounds for making themselves first. They were in danger of boasting in their lowliness, having pride in their humiliation and feeling like they had earned something from God. Jesus reiterates, “the last will be first and the first will be last.” We must become like little children, entirely dependent on the Father shirking all notions of status. Oh how we all need this lesson today.

The laborers that the master rebukes had a begrudging perspective, literally an evil eye. They saw their service not as a response to a benevolent master but simply as a way to get something. This led to ingratitude and rivalry. Like the toddler who throws their Christmas gift to the side when they see their sibling open up their present, they forgot the good that they had been given. This is the way comparison works. Comparison is the vat where ingratitude festers and where rivalry is fermented. When the evil workers looked outward at their coworkers they did so with a downward gaze. We must change our perspective.

We begin by looking upward. God has rewarded us bountiful, far beyond what we deserve. Read and consider the lavish blessings in Eph. 1:3-14. We deserve none of it yet the God who is above us loved us enough to bless us far beyond what we deserve. We must start by looking upward in gratitude.

Next we look inward. The workers had a high estimation of themselves because of comparison. The problem with comparison is that it rarely leaves room for honest introspection. We must ask ourselves the hard questions and realize that we aren’t the greatest thing since sliced bread, we haven’t earned anything, God doesn’t owe us anything.

Only once we have adjusted our gaze by looking first upward in gratitude and then inward introspection are we prepared to look outward toward our fellow workers. Now we see the work that they HAVE done, the sacrifices they HAVE made, the steps they HAVE taken and the ways in which God has accepted and begun to bless them. Our jealousy turns to joy, because God has been gracious toward them also.

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