September 20, 2026

Matthew 20:1-16

“The last will be first and first will be last.”

God’s got a way of doing the unexpected. The opposite of what we think. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, the workers find everything so unfair. And TTYTT, I don’t really blame them. When the master pays them the same as those who haven’t worked very long, they whine, and they complain. They find the masters sense of justice doesn’t always line up with their own. And we can relate, can’t we? From an early age we get a sense of what’s fair. We have it ingrained in us somehow. How many times do children respond to parental decisions as “not fair.” Everything’s gotta be fair, not just for kids, everything at work, at home, at school, everything in life, everything’s gotta be fair. Comparison is the thief of joy and we see it on full display in the reading for today.

Jesus comes along in the gospel reading for today, in this parable of the workers in the vineyard, and He says to you and to me, that this God that we serve, the One true God, all powerful, the One who knows everything, the One who sees everything, the Creator of the heavens and the earth is absolutely, totally unfair in the way He deals with mankind. It’s true. God is unfair. No question about it. You will see why.

Jesus had just talked to a rich, young man who had come to Him asking Him what he needed to gain eternal life, and knowing what his stumbling block was, Jesus said that he should go and sell all that he had and then come and follow Him. And the man just couldn’t do it. The bible says that he went away very sad. Peter, of course, had been watching what was going on very carefully, and he probably thought to himself well, that guy he seemed to have it all together but being too much in love with his money. Us disciples, well, we’re better than that, cause we’re dirt poor, we should be the cream of the crop in heaven! We have been here since the beginning, we are charter members. We are Jesus’ right hand men. So it would only be fair, that we would be #1 in the kingdom of heaven too. Right? So Peter says to Jesus, what’s it gonna be for us? Well, Peter and the rest are about to get a valuable lesson and so are we. God isn’t fair at least not in the way we think of fairness. He does not treat people according to our standards of fairness. Those whom we think, they deserve nothing from God, they seem to get it all. As they are invited by Jesus to repent and believe. They didn’t deserve anything from God, yet Jesus goes to them anyway and brings to them, the gift of life.

And Jesus says to Peter and the other disciples, oh you’ll receive your reward, it’s the reward of faith, it will be wonderful. Something like you’ve never ever imagined, it is the gift of eternal life, your reward is the gift of heaven. But you are not gonna be the only ones there Peter, everyone who believes in Me, will share in the beautiful bliss of eternity. Then our Lord speaks those famous words…. the first will be last and the last will be first. And then Jesus, as He so often does, He illustrates His point with a little story.

We call it The Parable of the workers in the Vineyard. It was harvest time for grapes, right around this time of the year, late September. It was important that the grapes be harvested before the rains came and if they weren’t harvested well then they’d lose the crops. It was a race against time. Either harvest the grapes or lose your crop and anyone who could work, did. Even if it was for an hour or two. And it was common in those days to wait in the market for someone who needed some extra hands to go to their farm or fields. They were waiting for a man just like this guy, the owner of the vineyard. He looked for workers and he goes out there a few times. Five times actually that day! Early in the morning at 6, at 9, Noon, 3 and 5 p.m. He gathers the men and they work in his field and at the end of the day they get paid.

Everything about that story is normal for the disciples except when the paychecks come, that is strange. In fact, its not just strange, it wasn’t fair. The workers who worked last he paid first and he gave them 1 denarius, a full days wage. That’s incredible! He paid them a full day’s wage even though they worked a very, very short amount of time. So when the other workers saw what they paid him they thought yes, boss is being generous today. The next group comes and they get paid. And it’s the same 1 denarius. The next group and the next, all the same, 1 denarius. They say “well that doesn’t makes sense. That’s not fair.” And we’d say the same thing. It’s not fair! Or is it? Ya know, the owner didn’t do anything wrong, he paid the help on what they had agreed on at the beginning of the day. He could pay the others whatever he wanted to do. But the workers grumbled. They grumbled at the vineyard owner’s generosity. They were very jealous and envious of those who worked shorter time but they had been paid just the same as them! And which one of us wouldn’t be grumbling right along with them, if we were in their shoes.

By our nature as sinful people, we are jealous and envious. We are jealous when our Lord says I’ll take anyone into My kingdom. Anyone who believes in Me as Lord and Savior I’ll take em. And we think, “Huh anyone?! Are you sure about that? There’s a lot of rif- raf out there. That’s not fair. I’ll still take em’ He says.

What exactly is Jesus saying about life in His kingdom? Sometimes life treats us unfairly, people treat us unfairly, we should stop whining? Is that the point? Our Heavenly Father, of course, is the Master who gives generously. The vineyard is His kingdom, the church, and we are the workers. And things get a bit strange in this vineyard, this kingdom that is not of the world. For one, what’s important isn’t so much how much or how long we work, but that we are His employees. We belong to Him. He pays a wage we could never earn standing around outside His kingdom. And that is where we are, without His grace….Idle, lost, aimless and hopeless.  But the kind master keeps coming to the market and calling more and more workers.  By the end we get the picture it’s not so much because He needs the work done, but because He wants to be generous. It’s really not a wage, you see, after all, you see. It’s a gift.

There is nothing mentioned about the quality of the work, or the nature of the duties.  He doesn’t measure how hard they’ve worked or how few coffee breaks.  And He certainly isn’t concerned with when these workers clocked in for the day.  The wage isn’t tied to the work. It’s a gift, from the master’s generosity.

And while we all think we’re the ones that have worked the longest and hardest, we should all see ourselves as the ones coming late and working least.  As St. Paul wrote, “I am the chief of sinners.” Scripture tells us what our good works are worth before God – filthy rags. No one is righteous, not one. We can’t earn it, deserve it, or have it coming to us. We have incurred a debt of sin, but instead we often act as if God owes us! How foolish and arrogant. How like the sinner. The only one whose work in the vineyard amounts to anything is the owner’s own Son. (In another vineyard parable, Jesus tells how the tenants mistreated the messengers and bloodied the servants, but when the owner of the vineyard sent his very son – they murdered Him.) Jesus’ own precious blood, shed for the world, worth far more than gold or silver or denarius or dollar…. He paid the price for the wages we really deserve- the wages of sin – the penalty of death.

And here’s the secret of the vineyard, that really is no secret – Jesus, by His Spirit, does it all! He plants the vineyard, that is He builds His church. He calls the workers: calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole church, calls each of us by name in baptism, and calls each of us to tasks and offices in the church and in the world. He makes the fruit grow, and He provides the harvest. He gives us strength for our tasks through His Spirit, wisdom to accomplish them, and a reward at the end we don’t even deserve.

To which someone might say, “hey, not fair!” Not fair that He does it all, our old sinful nature is always trying to take part of the credit for all this, trying to do the work, at least in part. But the work of our salvation is not the work we are called to do. We are called to work, though. In this vineyard, there is the work of sowing seeds and tending vines. Teaching, preaching, showing mercy, encouraging, singing, cooking, cleaning, giving, caring for children. In Christ’s church there is always lots for us to do.  And outside of this church building, the church is still at work – we do what we are called to do in everyday life as service to God and neighbor. Fathers and mothers, employees, coaches, students, volunteers, whatever. Whatever God has given us to do, the Christian does in faith, and the work is done for God.  The neighbor is served. But none of it earns the reward. Not the heavenly reward, anyway. Here’s another strange way of God’s kingdom – the workers work for free. We do it because we’ve already been paid well more than we could hope to earn. Such is life in the vineyard, so is the way of His kingdom. A very different kingdom. Where you don’t earn your pay. Where you don’t get what you deserve. Where God serves man. Where the last are first and the first are last. And where sinners are made righteous because the righteous one took all sin. A kingdom not of this world – a kingdom not of fairness, but of grace. All praise and thanks to the king, the Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, for calling us to faith and service. For His is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Amen

And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus Amen.