Sermon - Septuagesima 2021 - Matthew 20:1-16

 “The kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.” In this parable, God is the Master of the house, the Owner of the vineyard, and the church on earth is the vineyard. When we think of being in God’s vineyard, we often think of what Jesus says, about Him being the vine and we being the branches. But in this parable it’s a little different; we’re not the plants being tended by the divine Vinedresser, rather we’re the laborers. We are laborers in God’s vineyard, and as this parable shows us, it’s not about the labor, it’s about God’s generosity.

Into this vineyard, many are called by God’s Word. The Master goes out to hire laborers for His vineyard, calling to them and promising them a reward at the end of the day. God has called you to be a laborer in His church on earth, and promised you a reward at the end of this life. He’s called you through His Word in the sacrament of baptism, as He’s done this day with Phineas. He’s called you through His word preached from pulpits, written in books, and spoken by grandmothers and friends. God has called you into His church, and promises you a great reward.

It’s not an accident that God refers to us as laborers in this parable. As Christians, we’re not to be lazy and slothful in our calling, but we’re to be active and engaged as ones who labor. St. Paul likens us unto athletes: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” The Christian life is an active life engaged in labor and running the race of faith!

It’s not enough to say “I was baptized, I’m called a Christian, my name is on the books at a church, I’ve given them some money.” It’s not enough to just be called a Christian, but you must also be a Christian. You need to be a laborer in the vineyard, an athlete running the race. 

To illustrate, consider my son Phineas. Having been baptized, the contract has been signed by God, so to speak, and should he die tonight God would keep His promise and Phineas would enjoy the reward of everlasting life in paradise. But, should Phineas live to see gray hairs, and become lazy and slothful as a Christian, never cracking open his bible, never darkening the door of church with his shadow, never kneeling down to pray nor living according to Christian virtue; it’s doubtful then that he would ever receive that imperishable crown of eternal life. 

Or consider also the example of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

God gives us this example to teach us that it’s not enough to be a Christian in name only, but we must be Christians in word and deed. We must forsake our works of evil, and cling to Christ who saves us! We must live as Christians, doing what is good and right according to the Word of the Lord.

Thus the life of the Christian is to be one in which we’re running the race with faith and laboring until the end. Because God gives us direction and tells us to run and labor, this gives us a purpose and a direction in life. A Christian’s labor isn’t just beating the air and aimless running, but it has it’s goal fixed on Christ.

Much of the world is like every athlete who exercises self-control in all things, in order to receive a perishable wreath. Doing that is like boxing the air, or running without direction; it’s ultimately purposeless and devoid of lasting meaning. Our American culture is extremely busy with doing stuff. Doesn’t matter your age, your life is busy. If you’re a child, you spend all day in school and doing extracurriculars. If you’re an adult you spend all day at a job, then come home and do more work and get busy with entertainment.

This modern world with all of its conveniences has made us busier than ever before. And what’s it all for? You work really hard so that you can make more money, so that you can buy more stuff or more experiences, so that you can be more entertained. You do that on repeat every day until one day, you die. You do all that busyness your whole life and at the end of it all, the stuff you acquired breaks and the memories you made are forgotten. It was all for a perishable wreath.

But we Christians have it differently! We labor not just for a day’s wages, or a perishable wreath, but for an eternal crown of righteousness lasting forever in heaven where we shall dwell with the Lord. This gives your life real value because your actions are done in light of eternity. God’s call gives us a purpose beyond a paycheck and a retirement account. You’re important and your work matters because God has ascribed value to you and your work.

But what kind of labor is our Lord commanding us to do? It’s very simple; the Lord is commanding us to each do our duty in our vocations, through faith and love, according to God’s Word. We’re not to labor just at what seems good to us, but what is truly good and Christian according to the Lord’s instruction. 

This doesn’t mean we all have the same job, because just as there are various jobs to do in a regular vineyard, so also there are various jobs in God’s vineyard. Some are called to plant, others called to prune; some are called to hoe weeds, others called to harvest grapes. There are various tasks for many people, and within our labor we are simply called to behave in a Christian manner and work with our eyes set on that future treasure God has promised us. 

But as important as it is that we are to labor in this life, ultimately, it’s not about our labor. “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius.”

Jesus reveals to us here that, pious and Christian as we may be, what matters more is that God calls us and is generous! God doesn’t reward us based upon our merits, but He gives us the treasure at the end of the day because He wants to. It’s not about how hard we labor, rather it’s all about how God is gracious!

Whether you’re the octogenarian mother Teresa type, the thief on the cross next to Jesus, or the week old baby: “the last will be first, and the first last.” God chooses to give to the last worker as he gives to the first. He makes those who work only one hour equal to those who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. 

This is a comforting doctrine. My reward isn't dependent on how much labor I perform. It’s not permission to sin, or to delay being a Christian until right before death, but it’s comfort for we who sin much daily. We who are so readily distracted and get lazy and slothful with our faith, we who don’t pray enough, read the bible enough, speak of the faith enough, behave like a Christian enough: be at peace, God forgives you through Christ, His mercy is sufficient for you. 

You’ve passed through the sea and are baptized. You eat the spiritual food and drink from the rock of the faith, Christ’s body and blood. God signed the contract for your reward with Christ’s blood. Take up the cross therefore, unhindered by trying to merit the reward, and do the work of a laborer in God’s vineyard with joy, run the race of faith with zeal, and in the end, receive the imperishable reward of heaven.