Sermon - Septuagesima 2026 - Matthew 20:1-16

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1637

The Joy of Laboring in the Vineyard

1. God receives us into the vineyard by Grace and the aim to be in the vineyard as part of God’s family, not just to receive payment

2. The Kingdom of God is like unto a vineyard, a place of feasting and joy

3. Living in the Kingdom is one of much labor, but because it’s labor in the vineyard it is always pleasant work

I suspect that the parable of the laborers in the vineyard is many people’s most frustrating parable, because it’s just so unfair. Many people experience this today with inflation such that new hires often make nearly the same as a long-time employee with loads of experience. Today’s parable presents us with day-laborers, some of whom began work at the crack of dawn and bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat, and others who showed up at the final hour and hardly did any work. Yet, each of them received a denarius. So the longest working laborers point out the unfairness of the situation: “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.” Indeed, the situation is entirely unfair. The lazy bums are made equal to the most tiresome laborers. 

Like many of Jesus’ parables, this one is ridiculous, and its ridiculousness teaches the point. This parable is not about employment practices. Employers should reward the hardest working laborers with better pay, and the lazy bums should be fired and sent home empty handed. But this parable is about God’s kingdom, and in God’s kingdom the rewards are given not based on the merits of the laborers, but based on the generosity of the Lord. “Friend… Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” The Lord is rich in mercy and goodness, and therefore freely gives to those whom He loves apart from their merits and worthiness. 

This parable very clearly teaches that God is gracious and that we are all saved by grace and not by works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” At the end of the day whether you were the Christian faithful since infancy like St. Timothy, or you were the Christian faithful only for a few minutes before death like the thief on the cross, God calls you into His kingdom to receive the rewards all as a gift.

But the reward offered isn’t just wages due to you, but the reward is to be in the vineyard as part of the family. Look at verse 14, the master said: “Take what belongs to you and go.” The master doesn’t take away the man’s money as a punishment, but he sends him outside of the vineyard. Based on the fact that bums and hard workers alike get money it appears that the master doesn’t care too much about the money, but is more interested in bringing laborers into His vineyard, which is why He’s regularly calling for more laborers.

This means that the denarius in the parable isn’t the gift of eternal life. Perhaps the denarius is the temporal benefit of Christianity, however you want to define that benefit. The real gift that God gives is that He receives all of us by grace into His vineyard apart from our worthiness. This is something that the bums understand clearly because they obviously don’t deserve to be in the vineyard, and the only treasure they’re appreciating is that they’re in the vineyard at the end of the day. They’re not enticed by the promise of a denarius, they just want to be in the vineyard. These are the Christians who live lives of repentance and understand clearly that they don’t deserve anything good, they’re not presumptuous, but that they receive all as a gift.

Think of the Lord in the parable here more like a Father who wants to fill his house with children. Sure, maybe dad pays his kids some of the profits in the vineyard as a benefit. But at the end of the day dad just wanted to work with his kids in the vineyard. He doesn’t really care if they were that good at the work, he just wanted them with him. Our heavenly Father wants us, His children, to dwell in His vineyard beside Him, and His desire is that we would long to be with Him more than want His temporal blessings He gives us.

Afterall, the destination to which the Lord has called us is likened unto a vineyard! He didn’t call us into a ranch or a vegetable garden where we’re raising and growing food just meant to nourish the body, but He called us into a vineyard. What does a vineyard produce? Wine! Nobody needs to drink wine to survive, but we drink wine because it's delicious and makes us feel good. Vineyards are for feasting and celebrating, for wedding feasts and parties. The kingdom of heaven is like a vineyard, and to be invited into the vineyard is to be invited into a place of joy, refreshment, and gladness. It is a blessing to get to work in the vineyard of the Lord.

But it should be noted that the Lord has called us to lives of labor. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are in fact called to labor in the vineyard and bear the burden of the day and the scorching heat, it is going to be hard work. It is not an easy task to spend all day in the scorching heat working the soil, planting grape vines, building trellises, training and pruning the vines, hoeing the weeds, harvesting the grapes, and then still turning the grapes into delicious wine! God has called us to work and labor beside Him, and sometimes this is very difficult work.

Christians, your life of faith and virtuous living according to the commandments of the Lord doesn’t come easily. It’s just as St. Paul wrote in the Epistle today: “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. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” The labors of the Christian are sometimes physical, but not primarily. We are about to enter into Lent and so there are physical labors you can utilize, like fasting or other such things. But primarily this is a spiritual battle and the labors of the Christian are therefore similarly spiritual.

St. Paul writes in Ephesians: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” 

The labors that we Christians have been called to work in do have physical components of the flesh since we live in a fleshy world. So this means you must abstain from various sins using your body, and you must use your body to perform good works in service to your neighbor. However, whether you’re abstaining from sin or serving your neighbor, you must primarily discipline your soul and gird it with the whole armor of God. You need the truth of God’s Word, the righteousness of Christ, the readiness of the Gospel which gives you peace, and the faith which guards you against the assaults of Satan.

Laboring as a Christian in these ways is painstaking, and akin to the labors of bearing the burden of the day and the scorching heat. But in the end these labors are not to be hated or despised, since these are labors done in the vineyard, these are labors performed as Christians who are part of God’s beloved family and it is a blessing to work alongside Jesus and take up our crosses next to Him. It is a blessing and a joy, a privilege, to labor in the kingdom with our fellow laborers. What a joy that we are laborers together! We do not bear the burden of the day alone, but with one another. Together we have been called into the vineyard of the church, together we are brothers and sisters, children of the Master of the vineyard, and so the pain of the scorching heat is bearable as we labor together. We do not face the attacks of Satan alone, we are not tempted in isolation, but we are surrounded by a host of laborers who have our backs and will stand beside us no matter the trials.

Together the Master has called us into His vineyard all by grace; none of us deserve to be in this marvelous place except by His generosity. Here we are in a place of feasting and rejoicing around the throne of the living God, dining at His heavenly altar. Although the evil one is like the sun that incessantly beats us down, we are surrounded by our fellow laborers. When Satan’s attacks wear us down, we are nourished with water from the font and wine from the altar, whereby our sins are cleansed and the blood of Christ makes us fierce to face the day and abide in the Kingdom of Heaven forevermore.