Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 21, 2008
Scripture	Matthew 20:1-16 20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 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?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 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.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 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.’ 13 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. 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous. 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Devotional	The worker’s in the vineyard. There are so many places to begin with this parable. Those with money, land, and privilege are able to exploit those who have none. The union steward would have reason to complain to management. This could be an excellent example for social justice. Jesus probably did not intend this story to serve as an illustration of social justice in his day. If Jesus had something to say to the wealthy land owner, he would probably say it directly to them. Jesus is saying something about God. He is pointing especially to the last group of workers. Why has this group been overlooked all day? Were they not given a job because no one wanted to be around them? They could be among those people who we have nothing against; they are as good as everyone else but. Jesus could have been warning the disciples about their own attitudes. Two of them wanted seats on each side of Jesus and Peter was talking about having left everything to follow Jesus. Did this story fit them? The kingdom of heaven is not where they will receive riches and privileges. Jesus is warning them not to be surprised if some late comers get the place in front of them. God’s grace is not a commodity we can trade and bargain with. You may have been with Jesus for a long time but there is not a special place reserved for you. Grace has to be re-defined over and over. We seem to forget the meaning when we apply it to ourselves. Dallas Willard, Southern Baptist minister and professor at USC, sums up our problem with grace. “We have a problem today in Evangelical circles. We're not only saved by grace, we're paralyzed by it. I'm Southern Baptist, and we often preach to you for an hour, telling you you can do nothing to be saved, and then sing to you for forty-five minutes trying to get you to do something to be saved. That's confusing! And, as we look at these verses (many similar ones could be chosen), I hope we can see within them the union of passivity and activity because spiritual formation is something that requires us to take wise steps in accomplishing it. The "old man" will not be put off, and the "new man" put on, unless I do something--and, indeed, unless I do the right things. And so the need as we approach the topic of spiritual formation, is to understand as well as we can what is our part and what is God's part, and take care of our part that God may be able to work with us in bringing us to be the kinds of people that we need to be and he wants us to be. (If the idea that we must do something to "enable" God to do something bothers you, you have just hit a major barrier on the pathway of spiritual formation.)” Paralyzed by grace. Does this describe the Christian community or do you believe Willard has made an unfair judgment? Do we spend too much time worrying about God’s part and too little worrying about ours? http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=58