At work in the Lord's Vneyard

I have been working away with and struggling over what the Parable of Matthew’s Vineyard (20.1-16) is trying to teach us. I remember times when things had to be don in preparation for the coming season. Hay had to be put into the barn. Firewood had to be cut for the coming winter to keep the house warm in the cold of the winter. Gardens had to be finished up and turned over for the next planting season. Defrosters were placed in the horse’s water troughs and plugged. Grain was bought and stored. Even as I describe what it was like to get ready, the memories educe the smells of the animals, the fields and the rest of creation.

The first thing that we need to do is to consider with the Gospel this week is to ponder the nature of the kingdom of God. It should not be of surprise that the time of the harvest is a busy time. Extra workers are sought – day labours to help with the demands that the vineyard puts on the Owner and his normal staff. The owner goes out early in the morning and draws in those who are ready to work at 6 am. Again, and again over the day, until there is only an hour left and he is still sending people into the vineyard to work.

No comment is made about the quality of the workers and the work being done. And when the time comes, each worker is paid the same. This creates upset amongst those who started early – they bore the brunt of the heat and the work over the course of they day and they believe that they have been unfairly treated by the Household owner.

It is a reminder that every ministry in the Church is important and that they are of equal worth in the eyes of the Lord. One is not more important than another – all work together to draw in the harvest. All have their assigned tasks and all are treated equally when it comes time to be rewarded for a job that is finished. Being first is not a reward, just a reality. And those who came late receive mercy because their situation must need it for one reason or another, the giver determines the gift and the grace and mercy that goes with them. The receive cannot demand what they think they are owed when it is a gift. The kingdom continues to grow and so does the demand for those who will come in and labour with God to bring in the harvest.

This is where it occurred to me that the nature of the kingdom of God needs to be the nature and reality of the Church militant here in earth. The Church by design, should grow like the kingdom. If it is not growing then should we stop and ask why? Ought we not to want to know why the Church Is not expanding and drawing people in? If a young married couple are trying to have babies and don’t seem to manage to conceive, do they not go to the doctor to get things figured out? So why is it reasonable to expect the Church to make disciples when it hasn’t for a long time and see the kingdom grow without figuring out what the problem is?

Life in the Church these days makes me believe that the Vineyard could be in disarray. That’s the bad news. The Good News is that God is in the process of sorting things out and is drawing more labours into the harvest.  He wants everyone to be involved and for no one to be left out. Each worker, no matter how long each has worked, is offered the same pay and the same grace as those who have been around longer. By human standards, that must feel and seem unfair. Mercy is given to those who have not been there as long. Those who have done so much and been so much for the community over a long period of time, might feel that they have been cheated, but they have done what their faith has led them to do.

As I consider that thought, I cannot help but think of the sermon that was preach at my installation, where the preach pointed out clearly that the ministry that was done 30 years ago is now enabling the ministry that is going to go forward from here. That tells us that what we do and even don’t do in this moment, in the Lord’s Vineyard, will have impact and ramifications for decades to come, should the Lord tarry.

As the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers, into the fields, into the vineyard, to send out messengers into the highways and byways of the Land and call people in. The fields are white. The fruit is ready and there is a fest to prepare for.

Jason+