Matthew 20:1-16 (Labourers in the vineyard.)

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers 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 labourers 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."

I was standing in a supermarket waiting to be directed to the next available cashier. As I waited, I mused about how our shopping experience has changed. It used to be a skill to work out which queue to join – to judge which cashier was most efficient and which queue was moving fastest. Oh the joy of choosing the right line to join, and what frustration when someone in front has picked up an item with a smudged bar-code. It is commonly agreed that the British like to queue. We are expects at it! We know the rules of engagement and we are appalled at the sight of free-for-all stampeding for things that we witness ‘abroad’. How on earth, therefore, do we cope with Jesus’ teaching that ‘the first will be last and the last will be first’? To our astonishment Jesus repeats this warning twice – at the end of Matthew 19, and now in Matthew 20. On both occasions the warning is that those who assume they are at the front of the queue when it comes to God’s favour may will be disappointed.

 

In Matthew 19 it is the rich who will be sent to the back of the queue. This we understand because we know that wealth is not a sign of godly blessedness, nor can God’s gifts be bought with cash. However, in our reading today from Matthew 20 the matter is quite different. On this occasion the queue is disbanded. Imagine that a person has camped out overnight outside Wimbledon tennis courts to get a ticket only to hear that everybody will get a ticket – even those who have just turned up. They still get what they had hoped for, but they are left bemused as they re-evaluate their tactics.

These teachings are all about our attitude towards godly reward. In Matthew 19:27 it is our dear friend Peter who asks, ‘We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?’ That sounds very much like the popular question asked by many as they consider faith…”What’s in it for us?”. All I can say is the reward is attaining that position in life where reward is no longer sought after or expected. Not because we’ve given up, but because we have finally realised the richness of what we have already received.